As is usually the case with my life, I put everything in the context of comic books. My two weeks covering a murder trial for my day job is no different, so I thought about comic books in the courtroom. Not actually reading comic books in the physical courtroom (though that would be fun!), I mean when comic book writers put their heroes and villains on trial. The whole point of superhero comics is fighting crime, right? So you’d think that, in theory, all of these super-villains eventually have to appear before a judge, right?

Sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t. And sometimes, it’s the superheroes who are put on trial!

I sense prejudice on the bench

So I scoured the Internet and the world of comics to find 6 cases when a superhero was forced to face the judicial system as part of a story. I mean an actual, normal courtroom with a judge, a jury and everything! And not those weird cosmic trials, like when Reed Richards went to Universe Court for the genocide of the Skrulls, and Galactus was called as a witness. That’s just crazy. Here are 6 cases when heroes were put on trial for their crimes!

6. Batman

At least he didn't wear the costume in court

Getting charged with murder has got to play hell on your secret identity. In truth, it wasn’t Batman who was on trial, it was Bruce Wayne. In 2002, the body of Wayne’s former girlfriend Vesper Fairchild was found murdered in Wayne Manor. Bruce is taken into custody for murder, then is denied bail and is thrown in county lockup like any other murder suspect. Bruce is arraigned and, of course, has the best attorney money can buy.

Even arraignments can be dramatic if you want

But that doesn’t do him any damn good when Bruce Wayne – being the god-damned Batman! – breaks out of lockup and goes on the run. So he barely made it past his arraignment! Anyway, the evidence is stacked pretty hard against Bruce, causing some of his superhero supporters to doubt him. Fairchild’s personal effects were tampered with to make it look like she was about to uncover Batman’s secret identity. So rather than deal with this and clear his name, Batman has decided to simply shuck the Bruce Wayne identity and be Batman 24/7. This pisses of Robin and the rest of the Bat-Family, and there’s a big falling out.

In the end, Batman, Robin and the rest of the gang all reconcile and figure out that Bruce Wayne was framed by the world’s greatest assassin, who was hired for the job by the President of the United States of America. Comics, everybody!

——————————

5. Wonder Woman

That video should make it to Youtube soon

Here’s a head-scratcher for you: What do you do when a super-villain is using his mind-control powers to take control of freakin’ Superman, and then uses Superman to kick your ass? You snap that little bitch’s neck, of course! Wonder Woman did exactly that, killing secret agent Maxwell Lord, because she is hardcore. Then the footage of the neck-snapping was broadcast for the world to see – with the ‘saving Superman’ part conveniently edited out. Eventually the U.S. Government chose to prosecute Wonder Woman for the murder of a federal officer (they didn’t know Lord was evil). Wonder Woman turned to defense attorney Kate Spencer for help, because Kate was also the superheroine Manhunter. All of this took place in Kate’s Manhunter series in 2007.

Remember when Batman wore a nice suit? Not so for Wonder Woman, who feels just fine in her star-spangled lingerie

Instead of a trial, the story is actually about a grand jury, where the prosecutors must first present evidence to secure an indictment against a person. Once they have the indictment (an official list of charges), then they proceed to actual criminal court with pleas and a trial. To add to the drama, the writer just has Wonder Woman and Spencer sit in on the grand jury proceedings. They also throw in some superhero craziness with a shapeshifter, and Superman tells the judge about the doctored video.

But in the end the grand jury chose not to indict anyway. So, like Batman, Wonder Woman didn’t even make it to trial.

——————————

4. Magneto

The best super-villains are the ones with a strong legal defense

Several times in his super-villain career, Magneto, the Master of Magnetism, has switched sides and joined the X-Men. It happened back in 1985, which is around the time he was put on trial for general crimes against humanity. Magneto went before the World Court in Paris, with Professor X as part of his defense team. There was a huge hububaloo about the whole mutant terrorist thing, with riots and protesters and the like, but Magneto went before the judges like a man.

If only 'world domination' wasn't against the law

That is until the villainous Fenris Twins crashed the court and got into a big brawl with the X-Men. That kind of put a crimp in the legal goings on. But before that, defense attorney Gabrielle Haller (longtime Magneto and Xavier friend) argued that the case was not as black and white as the prosecution would have the World Court believe. Magneto’s crimes were committed for a just cause, that of mutant civil rights, instead of for greed. Also, there’s something in there about him recently being turned into a baby, and the World Court agrees to drop all charges prior to his ‘rebirth’ but that’s all just weird comic book nonsense.

In the end, the big fight kind of just nulls the court proceeding, and Magneto takes over as head of the Xavier School when a sickly Xavier goes into space. That’s justice for you.

——————————

3. The Flash

Not cool, Kid Flash. Not cool at all!

The Flash was put on trial in the 1980s for killing his arch nemesis Professor Zoom, aka the Reverse Flash. Zoom was about to kill Flash’s fiancee, and he stopped Zoom with a grab around neck, killing him. Some might argue that this was a case of justifiable homicide, since Flash was saving another person’s life. Well screw that logic, we’re gonna have us  a trial! We’re also going to have a ton of super-villain attacks, a defense attorney that hates the Flash’s guts and several people wondering where Barry Allen (Flash’s secret identity) has disappeared to all this time.

They're just throwing charges around willy nilly

As you can see in that picture, things go from bad to worse on Day One of the trial, as the Flash’s manslaughter charge is boosted up to second-degree murder even after the jury has been seated.  I’m pretty sure they can’t do that. But then this trial breaks a lot of rules. Basically, it’s a trial built around the kind of showmanship and theatrics you see on TV, with little research into how an actual trial is conducted. The prosecution argues that, because the Flash was traveling faster than the human eye can perceive, none of the eye-witnesses on the scene really knows what happened. The defense, at one point, argues that since Zoom was a time traveler, then upon his death he perhaps merely returned to life in his original time period (not true). Kid Flash is called as a surprise witness, even though courts don’t do surprise witnesses anymore, even in the 1980s.

In the end, the jury was ready to acquit the Flash when they learned he was really Barry Allen, and that Zoom had already killed his first wife, Iris Allen, some years prior. But then the time-traveling super-villain Abra Kadabra hypnotized the jury into finding Flash guilty. Once convicted, Flash teamed up with some other time-travelers and The Rogues to uncover the truth and prove him innocent. Rather than declare a mistrial though, Flash is simply cleared of all charges and the whole thing is dropped.

——————————

2. Ultimate Hulk

HULK SMASH PROSECUTOR!

HULK SMASH THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM! The Ultimate Universe is a spin-off of the normal Marvel Universe, in which all the classic characters and heroes are reimagined in a much more serious and realistic world. As such, when the Ultimate Hulk went on a rampage (the way Hulks do) and killed upwards of 300 people in Manhattan, he was put on trial. The Ultimates (this world’s Avengers) tried to keep the whole rampage under wraps, since Bruce Banner was one of their own. But the truth got out and Banner went before a jury. Though since he was the Hulk, they didn’t let him in the courtroom, and just broadcasted him from his cell.

Curing AIDS is much better than curing a case of 'Not Hulk'

Banner had Daredevil as his defense attorney. If you remember your Ben Affleck movies, Daredevil is secretly blind attorney Matt Murdock, and he’s usually the go-to guy for legal representation in Marvel Comics. Murdock tries to argue that Banner was using a government-sponsored steroid (Banner worked for the government). He also argues that instead of the death penalty, Banner should get life in prison so he could use his vast intellect to help people and cure cancer – as opposed to using his smarts to invent Hulks.

In the end, the jury wasn’t buying it. Banner was sentenced to death by nuclear warhead. (He got better).

——————————

1. Daredevil

Not wearing the costume in court? Smart move

Speaking of Daredevil, in 2006, writer Brian Michael Bendis had Matt Murdock arrested for being Daredevil. Many hail Bendis’ run on Daredevil to be the highlight of the character’s long career. Bendis wrote a labyrinthian plot around Daredevil and his arch-nemesis the Kingpin, one that combined legal and political machinations as much as it did superheroics. During the story, a stool pigeon comes clean to the FBI that Murdock is Daredevil, and soon that news is plastered on every newspaper in New York City! Eventually this leads to the FBI taking Murdock into custody and charging him with the various troubles he’s caused as Daredevil, not to mention all the violations he committed as both a vigilante and an attorney.

Lying through his teeth

Murdock’s law partner and all around nice guy Foggy Nelson takes the case. Unfortunately, the case doesn’t go to trial. Murdock is denied bail and sent to Ryker’s Island while the case proceeds, and we get a badass story where Murdock doesn’t put up with any crap from the other inmates. They’d love to take a crack at Daredevil, after all. Through complicated stuff that involves the Punisher and a prison riot, Murdock breaks out of prison and goes on the run, just like Batman did. But Murdock can’t exactly prove that he isn’t Daredevil.

In the end, it’s revealed that the Kingpin’s wife was behind all this trouble. She saves the day by murdering the FBI guy who was pursuing Daredevil. Then she makes it look like a suicide, and forges a suicide note that claims the FBI fabricated the proof that Murdock was Daredevil. The charges are dropped and there is some doubt in the mind of the public that maybe Matt Murdock isn’t Daredevil. So win win!

And then, once Murdock is a lawyer again, he gets the charges dropped against the Kingpin too. Because why the hell not? He’s just the freakin’ Kingpin!!