Robbing banks with a flying sundial

One comic book conundrum that has never sat right with me is how these costumed super villains made astounding inventions and then just used them to rob banks.

If I could make an anti-gravity platform, I could sell it. Either privately or publicly, to the military or mass produce them, I think this would net more money, legally, than robbing one or two banks!

Comic books never really said these guys were smart, but they would realize selling a product could get them more power in the end.

But that's early comic books for you.