History MundaneUtility / Comicbooks

** One issue of ''Comicbook/SpiderGirl'' has him climbing on the ceiling to fix a banner that MJ had put up for their daughter's party.

** He's also fond of using his powers so he can pull stupid pranks (such as making a web-bat to freak out Johnny Storm, and then ruin his suit).
*** Johnny himself uses his powers to pull pranks on his fellow Ben Grimm or on Spidey.
** He got so accustomed to using his SpiderSense he just uses it instead of just looking for danger with eyes. When he temporarily lost it he was almost hit by a car because he hadn't bothered looking both ways before crossing the street in years.
** Used against Spidey in one UltimateSpiderMan comic where the web head learns of a movie being made about him without his consent. He goes down to taunt SamRami by pointing out how lame the actor playing him is and how he can't do all the tricks Spidey can (and proceeds to do). Sam than thanks Spidey... for saving him a fortune on special effects. Spidey spends the rest of the shoot sitting on a wall in full view of the crew and doing nothing but glaring.

* ''ComicBook/{{Empowered}}'': One advantage of shacking up with a girl with a super-strength granting alien battlesuit? Darned easy to rotate the tires on your [=SUV=].

** In several adaptations, Superman is seen using his heat-vision to shave. Then again a single one of his hairs can hold a ton of weight comfortably, so it's not like he could just use a razor.

** In ''Comicbook/TheSupergirlFromKrypton'', Linda uses her powers to tidy her bedroom up. She bends the iron leg of her cot straight, dusts out her room in a big blow and fixes a broken mirror.

* An issue of ''Franchise/TheFlash'' comics had Wally West musing on a particular superspeed move that his uncle Barry Allen would do...spinning his hand at high speed to create a little wind tunnel. Wally noted that this was weak enough that Barry primarily used it to catch falling curtain rods from across the room. Wally himself was once shown using this maneuver to catch a bee that was flying near his girlfriend.
** Both Wally and Superman also like to pull the "Honey, I brought home Chinese takeout! From China!" thing.
** After getting married and moving to a new house he got impatient and unpacked everything in an instant. His wife Linda was not pleased with the results: "Books do not go under the sink!"
** There was also that one comic where he was using it to do his Christmas shopping.
** Yet another issue had Wally doing the dishes in seconds. Again, Linda was displeased because she wanted to spend the time to actually have a conversation with him while they did chores.
** When Jay Garrick, the first Flash, got his powers, nearly the first thing he used them for was to save his girlfriend a trip to the library.
** The Chunk, one of the Flash's supporting cast in the '90s, was a large man whose internal organs had been replaced by a portal to another dimension. He needed to send things through the portal to "feed" himself, but he could also use it as a storage facility; when the Flash moved into a large house he'd inherited, Chunk helped him move by sucking up all his furniture and spitting it back out at the new place.
** Bart Allen uses his powers to get away with just about anything possible (eg. multitasking video gaming, eating and/or chores); part of the reason he was sent to live with Max Mercury is so that he could be trained ''not'' to do this as a reflexive reaction. At one point, he dealt with a library research assignment on France by ''running to Paris.''

* One of the (many) things that pissed ''Franchise/GreenLantern'' Hal Jordan off about Guy Gardner was Guy's habit of using his ring (a weapon limited only by the will and creativity of the user) to do utterly mundane things like open beers and change the TV channel.
** A story arc with Kyle Rayner showed that when he first became Ion, he not only used his power to help stop civil wars on separate planets and cure world hunger, but also unlock creative portions of his brain so he could work faster on his comic strip (Kyle otherwise never uses his ring to help his art).
*** Kyle did however outright abused the power of his ring several times, like using it take out the trash while he was busy working on something else, or making a spare key when he forgot his.
** Soranik Natu only accepted the Green Lantern Ring -- thanks to Sinestro's tenure as planetary dictator, the rings were considered evil weapons of terror on Korugar at the time -- because she was desperately trying to save someone's life, and she lacked the medical equipment needed for treatment. She used the ring to construct the sophisticated equipment needed to save her patient's life.
* Sara Pezzini has used her ''Comicbook/{{Witchblade}}'', a cosmic artifact of nigh limitless power to move furniture while moving, make toys for her daughter and [[ModestyTowel to hold up her towel]] while she answer the phone.
* ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'''s Doctor Manhattan constantly uses his god-like powers in the laboratory, and he creates duplicates so he can *ahem* lavish attention on Laurie while working on an experiment. She actually gets pissed about that, both because he didn't ask (it's implied they've done this before) and because he was working while they were making love.
* [[Comicbook/XFactor Jamie Madrox]] is greatly upset when he discovers that his duplicates are living beings and develop independent identities the longer they stay separate from him. Once he comes to grips with the metaphysical ramifications, he decides to use his power as a super-learning tool, sending his duplicates off to study different walks of life and learn a variety of skills to rival Franchise/{{Batman}}. Another story shows him using his power as a super-babysitter.
* ''Creator/MarvelComics'' villain ComicBook/{{Taskmaster}} has photographic reflexes and can [[MegaManning mimic any motion he sees]]. He uses this to copy his opponents' fighting styles, learn martial arts by watching movies, and also improve his golf swing and learn to ski from the winter Olympics. In high school, he became a star quarterback after watching one pro football game. And thanks to being an ''Series/IronChef'' fan, he's also an excellent cook.
* In ''ComicBook/TheDarkness'', Jackie once sent the Darklings, (foul-mouthed lesser demons that he creates and controls, typically used to kill at will) [[VillainsOutShopping to pick up his dry cleaning.]]
* ''ComicBook/{{Empowered}}'': One advantage of shacking up with a girl with a super-strength granting alien battlesuit? Darned easy to rotate the tires on your [=SUV=].
* ''ComicBook/{{Hellboy}}'''s Liz Sherman uses her pyrokineses to light her cigarettes on occasion.
* In the same vein, Mad Jim Jaspers once lit his ever-present cigarette with a fireball during his reign of terror in ''ComicBook/CaptainBritain''.

* The Plutonian in ''ComicBook/{{Irredeemable}}'' is seen using heat vision to warm up a cup of coffee.
* Billy Batson turned into ''ComicBook/{{Shazam}}'s'' Captain Marvel (with casual clothing) and posed as his own father to get an apartment. Captain Marvel can also [[LightningCanDoAnything use his lightning bolt to power up machinery, act as a defibrillator, etc.]]
** In a subversion, Billy turned into Captain Marvel to use the Wisdom of Solomon to cheat on a test. As Captain Marvel, he was too moral to go through with it.
** After gaining his powers in the New 52 reboot, one of the very first things that Billy does as Captain Marvel is buy beer for Freddy.

* ComicBook/{{Zatanna}} and her cousin Zatarra of Franchise/TheDCU often use their awesome magical powers for utterly mundane tasks, such as [[MagiciansAreWizards giving their magic shows that extra bit of dazzle]]. Zatarra also uses his powers to summon free pizza. In one scene he used his magic to levitate a slice of pizza to his hand even though the box was all of five feet away.
** If your audience knows that your stage magic is powered by real magic, does that count as revealing the secret of how it's done?
*** In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' and in several comic books, it's stated that her act is all regular stage magic, except for the last trick, which she throws in to give them their money's worth.
* Well Spoken Sonic Lightning Flash of the ComicBook/SuperYoungTeam has been known to use his super speed to tear up the dance floor.
* The title character of ''ComicBook/ThePro'' uses her SuperSpeed to give 1,000 blowjobs in a single night.

* ComicBook/PowerGirl uses her combination of EyeBeams and SuperToughness to shave her legs.
** She has also used her EyeBeams to tease her cat as one would use a laser pointer.
* In his new post-Flashpoint series, ''Comicbook/AnimalMan'' often uses his power to channel animal abilities for mundane things. In the first issue, he comes home late, so he takes on the weight of a bumblebee so his footsteps won't wake his kids up, then the napping ability of a cat to get to sleep quickly.
** He also uses it to make a good living as a movie stuntman ([[RealityEnsues although he doesn't usually get too showy with it, because that would put the special effects people out of work and their union would refuse to work on any film that Baker was involved with.]])
* The ''ComicBook/AstroCity'' story "On the Sidelines" is centered on this trope -- it's about a group of super-powered beings who use their abilities in everyday life, with no interest in being superheroes or villains. Examples include a [[MindOverMatter telekinetic]] who controls things for stunt work, [[PlayingWithFire a fire-manipulator]] who's a glassblower, an [[TheEmpath empath]] who's a club deejay, and a man with SuperStrength who works in construction. Then a super-villain comes along who thinks their lack of world-breaking ambition make them ripe for exploitation...
* ''ComicBook/ExMachina'' gets a lot of use out of this. As the main character is a retired superhero who isn't legally allowed to fight crime any more, he's as likely to use his {{Technopathy}} to change TV channels as to defend himself.
* Several superheroes have figured out that cleaning under large items of furniture is easier when you can pick them up with one hand.
* Clara of ''ComicBook/DeathVigil'' can draw magical portals in the air which can cause a monster charging at her to suddenly find itself a hundred meters in the air and falling to its destruction. Or, she can use them to scratch her own back.
* Livewire of ''Comicbook/{{Harbinger}}'' is a technopath who can text and tweet at once. She's used this skill to save her team before, albeit, a different one.
* Young Loki repeatedly used their magic to move their Manhattan apartment in ''Comicbook/LokiAgentOfAsgard''. Why go through all the trouble of moving if you can bring the whole thing, walls and all?

*** One cover has Wolverine barbecuing a sausage on his claws. Some very [[FreudWasRight thick, juicy sausage]].

* In several adaptations, Franchise/{{Superman}} is seen using his heat-vision to shave. Then again a single one of his hairs can hold a ton of weight comfortably, so it's not like he could just use a razor.

** In [[http://mises.org/story/2242 this]] article, an economist argues that if he were real, Superman [[ReedRichardsIsUseless should also spend his time making billions of dollars doing mundane things]] like lifting satellites into orbit or manufacturing diamonds. The author notes that if Superman objects to the crass materialism of the situation, he could simply donate all his money to charity and likely solve world hunger.
*** Superman ''did'' try to solve world hunger... and failed.
*** Superman has ''also'' manufactured a ton of diamonds in ''Superman: True Brit''. [[YouFailEconomicsForever Unfortunately, he made WAY too many...]]

** [[http://superdickery.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=685:superlandscaping&catid=36:stupor-powers-index&Itemid=38 Super-Landscaping]].
** Does Clark Kent "interviewing" Superman to get his job at the Daily Planet count?
*** It does if one accepts the "super hypnosis" explanation for ClarkKenting.

* ''Comicbook/{{Supergirl}}'' has used sometimes her heat vision to roast marshmallows and her SuperSpeed to tidy an apartment (as seen in a flashback during the storyline ''Comicbook/RedDaughterOfKrypton'').

*** Superman ''did'' try to solve world hunger...[[TearJerker and failed.]]

* ''Creator/MarvelComics'' villain {{Taskmaster}} has photographic reflexes and can [[MegaManning mimic any motion he sees]]. He uses this to copy his opponents' fighting styles, learn martial arts by watching movies, and also improve his golf swing and learn to ski from the winter Olympics. In high school, he became a star quarterback after watching one pro football game. And thanks to being an ''Series/IronChef'' fan, he's also an excellent cook.

** The movies did a good job showing {{Magneto}} using his powers casually, to pull up chairs for people or keep some steel balls bouncing back-and-forth in midair without strings suspending them.

* Young SelfDemonstrating/{{Loki}} repeatedly used their magic to move their Manhattan apartment in ''Comicbook/LokiAgentOfAsgard''. Why go through all the trouble of moving if you can bring the whole thing, walls and all?

** TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks basically turned him into a ''full-bore doormat'' with this; flying dinosaur skeletons into the Metropolis Museum (with a specially-designed removable roof, no less!), smoothing out a ship's transport for Lois Lane by lifting it over his head...

** Early in the ''DarkPhoenixSaga,'' Jean Grey uses her powers to change her Phoenix costume into normal clothing at the molecular level. Seeing her use such incredible power so casually unnerves Cyclops quite a bit.

* ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'''s Doctor Manhattan constantly uses his god-like powers in the laboratory, and he creates duplicates so he can *ahem* lavish attention on Laurie while working on an experiment. She actually gets pissed about that, both because he didn't ask (it's implied they've done this before) and because he was multitasking.

* Livewire of ''Comicbook/{{Harbinger}}'' is a technopath who can text and tweet at once. She's used this skill to save her team before, albeit, a different one.

** Bart Allen uses his powers to get away with just about anything possible (eg. multitasking video gaming, eating and/or chores); part of the reason he was sent to live with Max Mercury is so that he could be trained ''not'' to do this as a reflexive reaction.

* Livewire of ''Comicbook/{{Harbinger}} is a technopath who can text and tweet at once. She's used this skill to save her team before, albeit, a different one.

* Clara of ''ComicBook/DeathVigil'' can draw magical portals in the air which can cause a monster charging at her to suddenly find itself a hundred meters in the air and falling to its destruction. Or, she can use them to scratch her own back.

* In the same vein, Mad Jim Jaspers once lit his ever-present cigarette with a fireball during his reign of terror in ''CaptainBritain''.

** He got so accustomed to using his SpiderSense he just uses it instead of just looking for danger with eyes. When he temporarily lost it he was almost hit by a car because he hadn't bother looking both ways before crossing the street in years.

** {{Gambit}} will occasionally charge an object without causing it to explode for these purposes. Most commonly, he'll use it as a light source or to light a cigarette.

** Another issue had Quake Woman, Centaur Man, Elec Man, and - surprisingly - [[HeartIsAnAwesomePower Time Man]] using their abilities to save lives during a global blackout.[[note]]Respectively: drilling holes in doors/walls to let trapped people escape, running through floodwaters to rescue people from drowning, [[NoConservationOfEnergy acting as a generator]], and slowing down time to assist in surgery.[[/note]]