Yes, it's the rivalry of rivalries for social issue superheroes: Dr. Philanthropy vs. Miss Misanthropy! Who is this stalwart superhero and this dastardly super villainess, and how did they come to be and come to grips against one another? Well, read on, intrepid reader:
Dr. Philanthropy, superhero of philanthropy (actually, he doesn't have any real super powers per se, but rather a genius, expertise, intelligence network, and deadly martial arts skills; and as such, he's more like a Batman type), is the hero of charities and good causes worldwide. By day, he is the research doctor and charity organizer Dr. Phil N. Thropy; by night, he is the crusader for funding and mustering volunteers for charities, hospitals, etc. How does he do it? Why, Dr. Thropy is a master of the schmooze and of surveillance, and he overhears everything spoken at swanky gala events and social functions, the kind attended by all the rich and powerful, including crime kingpins and corrupt politicians and business leaders; and finding out their dirty little secrets, he blackmails them into contributing money and volunteering their time, as well as appropriating manpower from their subordinates and business associates to deserving, worthwhile charities. And while this may sound like a crime, it actually helps everyone: the needy get the help they need, medical and scientific researchers get the funding they need to cure diseases and solve social and scientific problems, and the blackmailed criminal/corrupt leaders end up finding out the true nature of giving and helping others, making them become better people who feel better about themselves and eventually go legit.
And who could possibly object to such a thing, wherein everyone comes out a winner? Why, there is one person, the nefarious and mysterious Miss Misanthropy! Oh, but it's not quite as cut-and-dried as you might think, for you will see that this issue is complex and runs deep when you find out her origin story, which is:
Miss Misanthropy is the spurned, vengeful daughter of Dr. Phil N. Thropy, one Miss Anne Thropy, and she wants to spoil all her father's good works because of how they tore apart her family. Yes, you see, Dr. Thropy is a brilliant, wonderful, caring, hard-working, virtuous man, but in his work for others he neglected his family. His long hours working days, and complete absence fighting for philanthropy nights kept him forever absent from his family who needed him, causing his wife to become an alcoholic who had affairs to numb the pain of her feelings of rejection and loneliness, and when the press got a hold of the story, the scandal rags dragged her name through the mud, leading to a divorce and, after she lost custody of her daughter, her eventual death from liver failure. Well, Anne has never forgotten nor forgiven her father, and with her mother gone, she was always sent off to boarding school or camp or simply handed money to entertain herself, leaving her bitter and isolated. And playing with her father's computer once, she stumbled upon his secret identity. And so, finally finding a path for revenge, she created a new identity for herself as well, and used her generous allowances to pay for martial arts and computer hacker training, becoming the super villain Miss Misanthropy. And so it came to pass that Miss Misanthropy attempted to subvert and sabotage all of Dr. Philanthropy's good works by hacking into charities and transferring funds, outing criminal contributors to the newspapers, revealing corrupt politicians' crimes so they could no longer aid in charities, etc. Plus, she beats people up and threatens them not to make charitable contributions nor volunteer for charities or else. And in this way, she seeks revenge upon the absent father whose caring for others left her family abandoned and ruined. And living as she does at the very secret hideout of our virtuous superhero, she strikes from within, like an insidious, malevolent Batgirl (she was Commissioner Gordon's secretary, you remember {but don't tell anyone!}).
Who will win in this battle of the titans? Can these two finally bury the axe, or will these complex and overlapping motives merely weave a tangled web deceit and destruction? Only time will tell...
Tune in for the next exciting episode: Charity Chicanery and Donor Doom!
