Matt Baker Signed Photo from June 1950 in Mexico

Great stuff, man. He sure gave off the appearance that he was well off and living an above average lifestyle with those dashing threads he always seems to be wearing in photos. In those days it was normal to be dressed in a suit while drawing comics at the offices of the publishers, but the fact that baker seemed very well and fashionably dressed even on his own time makes it seem as though he ALWAYS dressed well, even in casual situations, and that runs contrary to what we all know about how poorly comic book illustration paid, especially back then. An interesting dichotomy to be pondered....

Fashion choices were limited back then.  American dinero went further in Mexico.  They also didn't have to pay for internet and cable TV back then.

Yeah, but what about the ladies? They still had to pay for the ladies in all those little cafés, remember? You know the ones I'm talking about, just sitting there giving you looks that make your mouth water. So you start walking their way and suddenly one of the locals tells you they belong to a bad man, José, and that's when you know you should leave, but then you hear her say "Come a little bit closer. You're MY kind of man. So big and so strong! Come a little bit closer, I'm all alone and the night is so long!". Next thing you know, you're waking up to find your clothes AND all your money is gone, with a bad man looking at you through the window (probably José) looking like he wants to kill you!

Nah, I'm convinced there has to be another explanation as to why and how Matt Baker was likely in the upper middle-class.

He did go by the nickname "Sundance"