Shadowedeyes
Adventurer
True, but that pretty much applies to most superheroes to some degree. Besides the Superman example, over at Marvel you've got Reed Richards who should have been able to fix major world problems with his inventions.
Marvel vs DC
True, but that pretty much applies to most superheroes to some degree. Besides the Superman example, over at Marvel you've got Reed Richards who should have been able to fix major world problems with his inventions.
Ryujin
Legend
Perhaps, except that he didn't have the funding of a Bruce Wayne. Hell, I don't think that even Tony Stark has Bruce Wayne money.
Nah, they’re pretty apples to apples in that regard. The man was an international arms dealer/military contractor with numerous companies and patents.
According to a 2013 Forbes fluff piece, Wayne came in at just under $10B net worth, while Stark topped $12B. However, building on that, Money‘s 2015 list used some of Marvel’s writing to point out that the richest superhero of either company was T’challa*, based on his control of his country’s technology AND (more importantly) its mineral wealth. Hence, his wonderful toys.
* they pegged him at $90T.
Shadowedeyes
Adventurer
Yah, Stark definitely is on par with Batman. He has the money to build hoards of suits of armor while still funding the Avengers. Reed probably has less money than Wayne, but still has enough for his family to live in the Baxter Building while being able to build his inventions, which are generally way more impressive than Batman's usual gear.
Dire Bare
Legend
Arguing which wealthy comic book hero is more wealthy . . . . it's like their powers, who'd win in a fight? Whomever the writer wants to, as their powers, relative strengths, and relative wealth are all flexible in service to the story.
And who'd read comic stories about rich people starting effective philanthropic efforts?!?! Or inventing amazing technology to cure disease and . . . that's it!?!?
Rich people haven't solved the real world's problems with their oodles of money. Some have tried. Bill Gates comes to mind, he works pretty hard at various philanthropic endeavors, and hasn't enjoyed tremendous success in doing so.
Money can't solve the world's problems, in the real world or in the comic-book world. Of course, it can certainly HELP . . . .
And who'd read comic stories about rich people starting effective philanthropic efforts?!?! Or inventing amazing technology to cure disease and . . . that's it!?!?
Rich people haven't solved the real world's problems with their oodles of money. Some have tried. Bill Gates comes to mind, he works pretty hard at various philanthropic endeavors, and hasn't enjoyed tremendous success in doing so.
Money can't solve the world's problems, in the real world or in the comic-book world. Of course, it can certainly HELP . . . .
ShinHakkaider
Adventurer
During Jonathan Hickman's epic Fantastic Four run that DID become a major focus for Reed.
Unfortunately he got side tracked because the Council of Reed's (a bunch of Reed Richards from alternate timelines) showed why one man (or in this case men) trying to solve all the world's problems was...problematic.
ShinHakkaider
Adventurer
Yup during Matt Fraction's IRON MAN run one of the subplots IIRC was Stark attempting to develop a renewable energy source that could be mass produced. I think to an extent that Idea made it over to the very beginning of the 1st Avengers movie, as far as creating a renewable energy source. When we first see him in the movie he's in the process of attaching a power module to an underwater cable that effectively takes Stark Tower off of NY's power grid and using an offshoot of his arc reactor to power the building.
Interesting side note, I think it was my 2nd or 3rd rewatch of THE AVENGERS that I caught that the energy source that Howard Stark had been attempting to replicate his entire life and that Tony succeeded in doing (with the arc reactor) was the power of the Cosmic Cube aka the Tesseract.
doctorbadwolf
Heretic of The Seventh Circle
The degree to which Bill Gates actually tries all that hard to spend his fortune helping people is...debatable.
Dire Bare
Legend
Again, we don't really see that happening in the real world, not on the scale we seem to be expecting of Bruce Wayne and other rich comic-book heroes here. You also seem to be moving the goal posts a bit too.
People with lots of money CAN put that money towards good causes and make a difference . . . and Wayne does that in a lot of the Batman stories. Wayne is known as a playboy, and as a philanthropist. Naturally, this side of the character takes a backseat to the punching of bad guys . . . .
Inventors and engineers, wealthy or otherwise, can make significant impacts as well . . . but again, not on the scale folks seem to be expecting here. Granted, the kind if things Bruce Wayne and Reed Richards invent are fantastical . . . but so are their superpowers.
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