The economy is slowly recovering, but that won’t save everyone from losing their job,
even if things are looking up.
Some of the most striking job losses are in newspapers, due to both lack of profit and the rise in electronic media. However, one photographer from New York is going to be out of a job. His name is Peter Parker.
That’s right; Spider-Man is getting fired. The Associated Press elaborates, “Don’t fret, the web-slinger will still be keeping New York City safe from Venom and Carnage and any number of other dastardly villains he’s tangled with over the years.
But beginning Wednesday, he’s going to have to do it between trips to the unemployment line.
That’s the day Peter Parker, Spider-Man’s nice guy alter-ego, hears the words, ‘You’re fired’ from his cranky, long-suffering boss, Mayor J. Jonah Jameson.
Worse still, Jameson not only sacks Parker, who makes his living as a photojournalist, he blacklists him with every news organization in town.”
While Peter was fired over violating journalistic integrity to protect his boss – as to how this occurred, I have no idea – the fact remains that in a troubled economy, even superheroes don’t have job security.
And this goes beyond just one – what about Clark Kent?
He works at a newspaper, too. Or at least, he used to – that might have changed.
Of course, this stretches beyond the news industry, several heroes are also billionaires, and their ability to fight crime is based on the wealth of their corporations.
Batman and Tony Stark are the prime examples here. If Wayne Industries went bankrupt, how would Bruce pay for all those Bat gadgets? Would he rent out the Batcave to pay for them?
Not to mention he has to deal with thugs with guns, and bullet holes need mending – that can’t be cheap.
Tony has a lot of military contracts, so he’s probably safer, which is good, because even if they’re made from scraps in a cave in the Middle East, those powered armors are likely pricey, too.
But the economic crisis will mean little to the superheroes who rock super-human capabilities, such as Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, and the like.
Super villains tend to run corrupt corporations, so the biggest worry of all may be that with a reduction of superheroes, the super villains could wreak havoc.
It wouldn’t surprise me if the people who caused this problem were actually super villains in disguise.
Most of Peter’s powers are more natural – at least, as natural as powers gained through a radioactive spider’s bite can be.
The fact that his web is not naturally made by him in the comics may be his biggest issue, that and costume repairs.
He used to have a wife to help him with that, but that’s a separate issue.
The point is that when the economy turns bad, it’s not just ordinary people who suffer.
The various heroes who don those ridiculous costumes and cause millions in collateral damage are also at risk, and that is why preventing such crises in the future is so important.
