I was not looking forward to this episode, not because of any fault or flaw in your work, but because this issue, and its conclusion in Action Comics #583, hit me so very hard at the time they were published, and even to this day, I have a hard time reading the story. I think your coverage of this was good, as usual.
I had problems with the issue starting with the text introduction at the very beginning, that ended with, “This is an Imaginary Story. . . Aren’t they all?” Alan Moore famously grew up reading (and was a fan of) Silver Age stories. He, of all people, had to have known, as any dedicated Silver Age fan would, that “Imaginary Story” doesn’t simply mean “a product of someone’s imagination”; it means “a story meant to take place outside of, and not affecting, normal continuity”, and the fact that “Imaginary Story” was capitalized shows that someone knew that, and meant that, here. It irritates me no end when anyone quotes that line as if it’s something profound.
I don’t want this to devolve into merely a rant about what I dislike about this story, though, so I’ll give you something to ponder, that I’ve wondered about since I first read it — Pete Ross. We, as readers, know that Pete is connected to Superman, but why would Prankster and Toyman think there was a connection. I’d think Pete was pretty much unknown to the general public. They say, through the action figures, “We’d planned to work through your friends (to find your secret identity), starting with the furthest away, but we hit paydirt the first time!” This always felt odd to me. Also, on the “Pete Ross — Huh?” list: How did the Legion of Super-Heroes explain to Superboy why Pete was made and Honorary Member? Lana had a super power as Insect Queen, but Superboy must have wondered what it was about Pete that earned him that honor. I don’t recall that ever being explained or even referred to in any Legion stories, but maybe I missed it somewhere along the way.
One reply on “SiC 61 — Whatever Happened…?”
I was not looking forward to this episode, not because of any fault or flaw in your work, but because this issue, and its conclusion in Action Comics #583, hit me so very hard at the time they were published, and even to this day, I have a hard time reading the story. I think your coverage of this was good, as usual.
I had problems with the issue starting with the text introduction at the very beginning, that ended with, “This is an Imaginary Story. . . Aren’t they all?” Alan Moore famously grew up reading (and was a fan of) Silver Age stories. He, of all people, had to have known, as any dedicated Silver Age fan would, that “Imaginary Story” doesn’t simply mean “a product of someone’s imagination”; it means “a story meant to take place outside of, and not affecting, normal continuity”, and the fact that “Imaginary Story” was capitalized shows that someone knew that, and meant that, here. It irritates me no end when anyone quotes that line as if it’s something profound.
I don’t want this to devolve into merely a rant about what I dislike about this story, though, so I’ll give you something to ponder, that I’ve wondered about since I first read it — Pete Ross. We, as readers, know that Pete is connected to Superman, but why would Prankster and Toyman think there was a connection. I’d think Pete was pretty much unknown to the general public. They say, through the action figures, “We’d planned to work through your friends (to find your secret identity), starting with the furthest away, but we hit paydirt the first time!” This always felt odd to me. Also, on the “Pete Ross — Huh?” list: How did the Legion of Super-Heroes explain to Superboy why Pete was made and Honorary Member? Lana had a super power as Insect Queen, but Superboy must have wondered what it was about Pete that earned him that honor. I don’t recall that ever being explained or even referred to in any Legion stories, but maybe I missed it somewhere along the way.