My fantasies about my hero Delgado continued on my walks around town, usually to three drugstores, which I visited so that I could check the spin-racks for science fiction that I didn’t own yet. Back in those days I could find some books for twenty five cents. My fantasies also kept me occupied while riding with my parents to visit my father’s family in North Dakota. The drive, back then, took two nights each way.
But I got bored with my fantasy hero. He was like one of those guys who overdevelop on steroids, but with extra body parts like wings and horns and other things — all very embarrassing as I write this — in an effort to make him even more powerful. But he was boring. He could take his thirty pound sword (most real broadswords weigh less than three pounds), walk into the trouble spot, hack and slash and destroy everything, and walk out. No more problem (like in The Dirty Pair). And there was no challenge.
My heroic fantasy was no fun any more. What could I do to make it interesting again?
I think Superman had a similar problem after a while–so they invented kryptonite. My hometown spinner rack was in the same newsstand/soda shop where I’d previously bought my comic books. It was the only one in town, but still I developed a pretty good paperback library from it–25-centers mostly, but some required a whopping 35 cents. The ACE doubles were 35 cents but they were worth it!
Thanks for the comment. I just found a different solution, since I had different objectives in telling my story. I still have some of those 25-cent books. I hope you are doing okay.