Chapter 90: Knock-off Superman
[Time Gem Shard (1/9)]
Main World, Messenger Newspaper office.
Colin stared at the text, a thoughtful expression on his face.
This line of text hadn't existed before; it had appeared along with the [Time Shard (Human Torch/Flameman)].
Perhaps this also explained why he could travel between the main and reverse worlds.
So, is the text's meaning a reminder for me to collect the shattered Time Gem?
If that's the case, you're a little late to the party.
Colin grumbled silently to himself, pulling his gaze away from the text and turning toward the main door of the Messenger Newspaper office.
His weakened Super Hearing in the Main World had picked up the sound of hurried footsteps coming from outside the office.
"Mr. Colin..."
The half-closed door of the Messenger Newspaper office was pushed open, revealing the freckled little face of Newsboy Jimmy.
"Jimmy?"
Seeing the newsboy appear inside the office, Colin put on a look of surprise. If he remembered correctly, this was the busiest time of day for the newsboys selling papers.
"Is something wrong?"
Adjusting the large newsboy cap on his head, Jimmy handed a newspaper to Colin.
"Sir, this is the latest issue of the *World Daily*. I think you should see it."
A newsboy's work never stops. In fact, from the moment they open their eyes each morning, they have to work hard just to get by. On days when *The Messenger* wasn't published, Jimmy would also stock up on other newspapers to sell.
Colin glanced at the panting newsboy before him, then followed his suggestion and looked down at the paper.
UberSoldier (Super Soldier)
There on the serialized comic page of the *World Daily*, a figure wearing a yellow cape with a 'U' emblazoned on his chest was brazenly featured in the comic.
Super Soldier?
I remember the *World Daily* was serializing the *Flameman* comic before.
Looking at the UberSoldier on the newspaper, which reeked of being a knock-off, a hint of confusion flashed in Colin's eyes. To be honest, he had actually quite enjoyed the *Flameman* comic. He was even a loyal reader, having followed the serialized story right up to the latest issue.
So, the *World Daily* dropped the previously serialized *Flameman* to rip off my *Superman*.
The plot of the UberSoldier (Super Soldier) comic gave one a strong sense of déjà vu.
The main plot of the comic told the story of an alien scientist who created a Super Soldier in a giant test tube. Due to an accident, the experiment exploded, and the Super Soldier ended up on Earth. He was born with incredible Super Strength and, after the death of his adoptive parents, decided to use his powers to save humanity.
And so, UberSoldier (Super Soldier) was born!
As Colin looked at the scene in the comic where the Super Soldier, wearing a yellow cape, chased after a car, the expression on his face became subtly strange.
Without a doubt, the plot of the *World Daily*'s knock-off Superman, this 'Super Soldier', heavily plagiarized from his own comic. At the same time, it stitched together content from *Flameman*, creating such an incongruous superhero.
You might think that the *World Daily*'s act of plagiarism was a bit too shameless, completely unbecoming of a major newspaper.
But in reality, this was the very essence of the *World Daily*.
Back in the day, when Joseph Pulitzer bought the nearly bankrupt *World Daily*, he relied on publishing all sorts of sensational news reports to attract eyeballs. While covering major international news, he also chased after crime, disasters, and accidents, using inflammatory and stimulating page layouts to excite the readers' senses.
In order to attract readers, the *World Daily* had once published a news story with the headline: "French Scientist and Explorer Discovers a Tribe of Wild Men with Well-Developed Tails."
It was accompanied by an illustration of a male, dubbed a "Man-Ape," crouching in a tree.
According to later reports, this story about the "Man-Ape" was a complete fabrication. The *World Daily*, in its quest for a sensational page layout, had published it directly without any investigation and even printed a large run of it as the front page of the weekend edition.
Under Pulitzer's direction, the front page of the *World Daily* often featured hoop-twirling dancers and sensational headlines like "Loved Her for Her Money," "Playboy Drinking," and "Went to Jail for His Brother."
During the most intense period of newspaper competition, the *World Daily* and the *New York Journal* would stop at nothing, even frequently launching sham reform campaigns in their pages to boost their distribution.
Stimulating the senses, inciting war, fanatical reporting, and doing anything for sales—this was the true nature of the *World Daily*.
...
"Thank you, Jimmy."
Colin looked up from the *World Daily* in his hands and thanked the newsboy before him.
Although, even without Jimmy, Colin would have found out about this Knock-off Superman from other sources later.
However, that didn't diminish the newsboy's good intentions.
"I didn't do anything, sir."
Shaking his head, Jimmy adjusted his wide newsboy cap and then touched the rope tied around his waist that held his newspapers.
"You're a good man, Mr. Colin. Your generosity lets the newsboys earn more money. The *World Daily* is always trying to figure out how to squeeze even a single cent from us."
In the world of journalism, Joseph Pulitzer was a towering figure, one of the wealthiest media tycoons of the early 20th century. However, in the eyes of the newsboys, he and his *World Daily* were constant objects of dissatisfaction. One of the main targets of the newsboy strike back then was Joseph Pulitzer's *World Daily*.
"No, the information you brought is very important to me."
Colin took a 5-cent coin from his pocket and placed it into the newsboy's ink-stained hand as a reward and a show of gratitude for the tip-off.
Jimmy didn't refuse the gesture. He clenched the 5-cent coin tightly in his hand—this was perhaps why he had brought the newspaper to the office in the first place. He then lifted his freckled face, looked at Colin, and asked.
"So, Mr. Colin, are you going to fight back?"
"Of course."
Colin didn't deny the newsboy's question. He pointed a finger at the *Super Soldier* comic in the *World Daily*, at the character with his arms raised high in a smug expression.
"I'll do it just like Superman... and land a solid punch right in this imposter's face."
(end of chapter)