Real World Problems That Shouldn't Exist in the DCU

[ducklord]

One of the thornier things about the existence of super-heroes in the DCU is that, "realistically" (an admittedly dicey word), on a planet teeming with hundreds of super-heroes, some things just shouldn't be a problem any more. And I'm not talking about multifacted, difficult-to-solve issues like world hunger or peace in the Middle East, I'm talking about things like:

Large Scale Forest Fires
With all the Supermen, Green Lanterns, Flashes, and so forth running around on the planet, there's really no excuse for any decent-sized forest fire in the DCU to gain any traction.

Giant Hurricanes Making Landfall
The nice thing about hurricanes is that you can see them coming. If it looks like they're catastrophically big and about to hit a population center, some Green Lanterns, Flashes, and Red Tornados can steer them away. Probably.

Big Time Flooding
Again, there are lots of folks on the planet who can literally change the course of mighty rivers. It would seem that most flooding disasters should be severely mitigated in the DCU.

And that's not even getting into how much Climate Change should probably have been addressed by the Big Brain characters.

Anything else that really shouldn't be much of an issue in the DCU?

[superduperman]

Dictators invading their neighbors. The moment Putin invaded Ukraine, Superman would have chucked every single tank back across the Russian border. And while we're at it...

Dictators persecuting their own people. Assad would have been overthrown by now. Basically it would be hard to be a dictator in the DCU.

[ducklord]

Dictators invading their neighbors. The moment Putin invaded Ukraine, Superman would have chucked every single tank back across the Russian border. And while we're at it...

Dictators persecuting their own people. Assad would have been overthrown by now. Basically it would be hard to be a dictator in the DCU.

Yeah, straight-up invasions of sovereign nations would seem to be right out. I mean, I get the whole "not interfering with internal politics" thing, but countries just strolling into other countries unprovoked? You'd think that wouldn't fly.

I can see where interfering with internal politics might get more problematic, as it can lead down a slippery slope, and the next thing you know you've got the Justice Lords. Still, you'd expect your authoritarian dictators in the DCU to be constantly balancing their brutal instincts against a fear that Wonder Woman might show up on their doorstep.

[Jon Clark]

One of the thornier things about the existence of super-heroes in the DCU is that, "realistically" (an admittedly dicey word), on a planet teeming with hundreds of super-heroes, some things just shouldn't be a problem any more. And I'm not talking about multifacted, difficult-to-solve issues like world hunger or peace in the Middle East, I'm talking about things like:

Large Scale Forest Fires
With all the Supermen, Green Lanterns, Flashes, and so forth running around on the planet, there's really no excuse for any decent-sized forest fire in the DCU to gain any traction.

Giant Hurricanes Making Landfall
The nice thing about hurricanes is that you can see them coming. If it looks like they're catastrophically big and about to hit a population center, some Green Lanterns, Flashes, and Red Tornados can steer them away. Probably.

Big Time Flooding
Again, there are lots of folks on the planet who can literally change the course of mighty rivers. It would seem that most flooding disasters should be severely mitigated in the DCU.

And that's not even getting into how much Climate Change should probably have been addressed by the Big Brain characters.

Wasn't there a Superman issue at one point where Aquaman explained to Superman that doing stuff like stopping hurricanes was essentially messing up some environmental balance.

[scary harpy]

One of the thornier things about the existence of super-heroes in the DCU is that, "realistically" (an admittedly dicey word), on a planet teeming with hundreds of super-heroes, some things just shouldn't be a problem any more. And I'm not talking about multifacted, difficult-to-solve issues like world hunger or peace in the Middle East, I'm talking about things like:

Large Scale Forest Fires
With all the Supermen, Green Lanterns, Flashes, and so forth running around on the planet, there's really no excuse for any decent-sized forest fire in the DCU to gain any traction.

Giant Hurricanes Making Landfall
The nice thing about hurricanes is that you can see them coming. If it looks like they're catastrophically big and about to hit a population center, some Green Lanterns, Flashes, and Red Tornados can steer them away. Probably.

Big Time Flooding
Again, there are lots of folks on the planet who can literally change the course of mighty rivers. It would seem that most flooding disasters should be severely mitigated in the DCU.

And that's not even getting into how much Climate Change should probably have been addressed by the Big Brain characters.

Anything else that really shouldn't be much of an issue in the DCU?

Wasn't there a Superman issue at one point where Aquaman explained to Superman that doing stuff like stopping hurricanes was essentially messing up some environmental balance.

yeah, that's what I thought.

Forest fires are awful...but aren't they a natural part of a forest's life cycle? Don't some trees only seed during a fire?

[Goldrake]

Dictators invading their neighbors. The moment Putin invaded Ukraine, Superman would have chucked every single tank back across the Russian border. And while we're at it...

Dictators persecuting their own people. Assad would have been overthrown by now. Basically it would be hard to be a dictator in the DCU.

We see it like that, but many other people in this world would tell you the same of USA not minding their own business. What would have Superman done when the USA invaded Iraq?

[James Cameron]

With characters like Vixen and Aquaman in real life, world hunger would be eliminated. With dozens of Batfamily characters running around Gotham, petty crime in general should not exist in that area. After the countless massacres and disasters, especially the Bialya genocide and WW3, there would be some sort of world government formed. Those are just a few that come to mind.

[Jon Clark]

We see it like that, but many other people in this world would tell you the same of USA not minding their own business. What would have Superman done when the USA invaded Iraq?

Superman would have done nothing for fear that someone might accuse him of interfering in President Luthor's foreign policy,

[Goldrake]

Instead of going into politics, I would like to think that with these characters problems like serious crime from drug cartels to pedophile rings etc would be solved. Although in comics they aren't really good at that, Take Gotham city it has the largest percentage per inch of superheroes yet people still get killed etc

[hotroddii]

I don’t believe religions (as we know them) would exist … with literal gods, angels and demons wandering the earth … and people returning from the dead on the regular.

[Jokerz79]

These things wouldn't go away but I find them funny.

I personally don't believe in a God or Afterlife but also don't rule out the possibility. But I read somewhere in recent years Batman said he was an atheist like dude you know literal gods, spirits, and ghosts.

Speaking of Bats wouldn't every criminal he caught be let go due to him violating civil rights and liberties? Maybe people don't escape Arkham they're just let out due to Batman. Also, a rich white man we can see his chin and he has expensive toys so it's not hard to figure out he has money, beating criminals wouldn't probably go over well today vs 1939.

I also saw a cover of younger heroes like Jon Kent and Aqualad protesting Climate Change something I do believe in to be clear. But one of the people on the cover had a sign that said "This is our only planet" which makes sense in our world but not when you're standing next to a Kryptonian.

[James Cameron]

Speaking of Bats wouldn't every criminal he caught be let go due to him violating civil rights and liberties? Maybe people don't escape Arkham they're just let out due to Batman. Also, a rich white man we can see his chin and he has expensive toys so it's not hard to figure out he has money, beating criminals wouldn't probably go over well today vs 1939.

Batman is aided by the police, and he is effective in what he does, so there could conceivably be elements in place protecting him and his efforts despite their illegality. We see in real life how the police can shield their own from the consequences of law, so if Batman existing is a net good for them and their unions, I believe that they would not only be letting him get away with it but also backing him up. With the right people in local government advocating for him (Gordon alone is huge) and making sure he can continue operating, they can freely violate these criminals' civil rights and liberties and write it off as something else. This corruption is what opens up Gotham City government to further more nefarious corruption, like cops or Arkham security guards working for crime bosses.

[Digifiend]

These things wouldn't go away but I find them funny.

I personally don't believe in a God or Afterlife but also don't rule out the possibility. But I read somewhere in recent years Batman said he was an atheist like dude you know literal gods, spirits, and ghosts.

Speaking of Bats wouldn't every criminal he caught be let go due to him violating civil rights and liberties? Maybe people don't escape Arkham they're just let out due to Batman. Also, a rich white man we can see his chin and he has expensive toys so it's not hard to figure out he has money, beating criminals wouldn't probably go over well today vs 1939.

I also saw a cover of younger heroes like Jon Kent and Aqualad protesting Climate Change something I do believe in to be clear. But one of the people on the cover had a sign that said "This is our only planet" which makes sense in our world but not when you're standing next to a Kryptonian.

You should've mentioned something else there, given that Krypton blew up and thus does not exist any more. Thanagar, Tamaran, Oa?

[Refrax5]

These things wouldn't go away but I find them funny.

I personally don't believe in a God or Afterlife but also don't rule out the possibility. But I read somewhere in recent years Batman said he was an atheist like dude you know literal gods, spirits, and ghosts.

Speaking of Bats wouldn't every criminal he caught be let go due to him violating civil rights and liberties? Maybe people don't escape Arkham they're just let out due to Batman. Also, a rich white man we can see his chin and he has expensive toys so it's not hard to figure out he has money, beating criminals wouldn't probably go over well today vs 1939.

I also saw a cover of younger heroes like Jon Kent and Aqualad protesting Climate Change something I do believe in to be clear. But one of the people on the cover had a sign that said "This is our only planet" which makes sense in our world but not when you're standing next to a Kryptonian.

Stuff like that, I just assume the laws are somewhat different in the DCU.

A lot of this stuff is kind of what Watchmen (and to an extent, stuff like Kingdom Come and the Ultimates) was about. These guys in costumes beating up criminals and interfering in global conflict and politics wouldn't ultimately solve much of anything and might actually make things much worse.

A lot of the problems that face humanity are not things that can be fixed with physical strength.