chapter 185 part 2
Although the Daily Messenger had started using color printing several months ago, this particular photograph was presented in black and white printing.
It was precisely this black and white image that allowed one to feel the family's helplessness amidst The Great Depression.
If they had a choice, who would willingly live in a "Hooverville," forced to use rainwater even to wash themselves?
What was even more despairing was that The Great Depression was not a thing of the past; it was the reality of their times.
"Didn't he say there would be a Superman serial?" the pedestrian muttered to himself after staring at the photo in silence for a long time.
As he spoke, he flipped through the pages of the Daily Messenger, finally finding the comic serial on the page the newsboy had flipped to.
So, what the boy meant by seeing the Superman serial every day was just this one page.
"I should have asked for more details," he thought, a little regretful of his haste. But his eyes were now glued to the content on the page.
Compared to previous installments, the Superman comic story published in the Monday edition of the Daily Messenger was much shorter.
It told the story of a planet where Superman had lost his powers, and the usual supervillain, Luthor, had become the planet's hero.
"Luthor becomes a superhero?"
The pedestrian, who had just been complaining, was instantly intrigued by the comic's content.
In the comic, Krypton didn't exist, and Superman was just an ordinary young man living on a farm, without any of his well-known superpowers. Luthor, however, had used his superhuman intellect to become a hero.
Looking at the statue of Luthor erected in the center of Metropolis, the pedestrian felt a strange sense of absurdity.
As a loyal reader of the Superman comic, he was used to Superman as the superhero and Luthor as the supervillain. Therefore, seeing Luthor become a hero in this short story gave him an inexplicably odd feeling.
"So, if a world doesn't have a Superman, Luthor won't become a supervillain?"
With this thought in mind, he continued reading.
The comic showed that after saving Metropolis yet again, the heroic Luthor suddenly encountered a powerful enemy.
She wore an extravagant dress and called herself Miss. Mxyzptlk.
Miss. Mxyzptlk's appearance was comical, but her power was unexpectedly immense. She claimed to be a magician from the Fifth Dimension, possessing a variety of powerful magical abilities.
"Miss. Mxyzptlk?"
Seeing the character who was clearly a female version of Mr. Mxyzptlk appear in the comic, a slight smile touched the corners of the pedestrian's mouth.
"I wonder what expression the real Mr. Mxyzptlk would make if he saw Miss. Mxyzptlk."
As the pedestrian pondered, the story in the comic continued.
Miss. Mxyzptlk used her powerful magic to control Luthor and send him to another universe.
He opened his eyes in the Metropolis of another universe.
Luthor looked at the figure flying in the sky and couldn't help but ask.
Hero Luthor: "Who's that?"
Pedestrian: "That's Superman."
Hero Luthor: "Superman?"
"Miss. Mxyzptlk sent Luthor to Superman's world! Does that mean this world now has two Luthors, one hero Luthor and one villain Luthor?!"
Because it was a short comic, the story ended just as Luthor arrived in Superman's world.
However, seeing the scene of Superman flying in the comic, the pedestrian became incredibly excited. He no longer cared about the Daily Messenger issue and was only concerned with the continuation of this short story.
Clutching the newspaper, the pedestrian imagined the scene of Superman meeting this different Luthor. The mere thought made his heart pound.
"Why did they only publish this little bit? I want to see what happens next."
"The next part won't be until Wednesday..." the pedestrian said, his eyes fixed on the last panel of the comic, a look of longing on his face.
"No, I don't have to wait an extra day!"
Then, it dawned on him. He flipped the newspaper back to the front page headline. Looking at the words "Daily Messenger" on the newspaper, a look of realization crossed his face.
"I only have to wait one more day to see the rest of the story."
Thinking of this, the pedestrian calmed down a little.
"From now on, I can see Superman every day."
Muttering the newsboy's slogan to himself, the pedestrian read the short Superman installment one more time before finally closing the Daily Messenger.
Undoubtedly, Colin had used a little trick in this promotion. Although the newsboys claimed that you could read the Superman serial in the Daily Messenger every day, they never specified whether it was a long installment or a short one.
This approach would certainly cause some dissatisfaction among readers, but the brilliance of the short story happened to extinguish that sentiment, turning their frustration into anticipation for the story's continuation.
In particular, the concept of different universes within the story left readers who saw the comic's premise utterly captivated.
The concept of a parallel universe was still a rare theme in this era.
The concept itself wouldn't truly take shape until 1957, after physicist Hugh Everett III proposed it. It was only after a period of development that it became widely known to the public. Before that, it existed merely as a nascent concept, rarely known by the masses.
In other words, Colin had unknowingly depicted the concept of the parallel universe through his comic long before it was formally introduced, giving the public a preconceived understanding of the idea and becoming a leader in popularizing the concept.
Of course, Colin himself might not have even noticed this point.
After all, in his time, the parallel universe was a very well-known trope. Especially since the Anti-World he was in could, in fact, be considered a parallel universe created by some superhero's time distortion.
Thanks to Mu You Lin Jian for the 500 Qidian Coin donation.
(end of chapter)