Superman TV Personalities, Imaginary and Otherwise

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Superman TV Personalities, Imaginary and Otherwise
By Philip Schweier
December 26, 2007 - 21:31

Some things just stand out for no particular reason. They linger on the fringes of our consciousness like a cold that won't go away. Or, as someone once said, "Some of us are cursed to have memories like fly paper, and stuck there is staggering amount of miscellaneous data, most of it useless."

This Christmas brought back a memory, much like a mob hit breaking loose from its cement anchor and floating to the surface of my mind. Return with us now to Christmas Day, 1974. I am 10 years old, sitting in a chair with my back to the front window. The Christmas tree stands in the corner on the opposite wall and to my left, as my family unwraps gifts. What I am looking at at the moment is a handful of comic books I'd just pulled from my stocking. Among them is Superman #285.

What I remember most about this issue is that DC had raised its price from 20¢ to 25¢. It had actually gone up with Superman #283, but a friend of mine had bought that issue, and #284 was a 60¢ 100-page super-spectacular. I hadn't bought that issue either because I was trying to put my money toward Christmas gifts for the family.

This issue featured Elliot S! Maggin's "Search for the 'Impossible' Man," in which Superman investigates the disappearance of Roy Raymond, TV Detective. According to Who's Who (Sept. 1986), Raymond made his first appearance in Detective Comics #153, and was the host of a television program "Impossible? But True!" As such, he attracted numerous hoaxes and frauds, only to debunk them. As the DCU's preeminient mythbuster, Raymond had been MIA for several years, although a handful of reprints in 100-page super-spectaculars may have led to his eventual return in Superman #285

But what really stood out at the time was the back-up story, one the many "Private Life of Clark Kent" tales that ran during the mid-1970s. In "The Kid With the Million Dollar Smile," written by Martin Pasko, Clark encounters young Jason Fleece, a problematic child star with an oblivious stage mother who is more interested in the Hollywood lifestyle than raising a young son. In the end, Clark is able to get to the root of Fleece's unhappiness, and impart to his mother that all that glitters is not gold.

Fleece was modeled after Mason Reece, a TV pitchman (pitchboy?) who enjoyed fleeting fame due to his Cabbage Patch Kid-like appearance. He starred in a few commercials, made the talk show circuit and was later featured in an unsold TV pilot. The show did eventually make it onto the airwaves, but not before he suffered the common fate to all child stars: pre-pubescense.

Child stars have always held an odd fascination for me. In my more uneducated days, I envied the idea that when they came home from school, instead going out to play with friends, they got to star on television shows in The Andy Griffith Show and The Brady Bunch. As I got older, I began to notice young stars like Robby Rist and Pamelyn Ferdin being replaced by the likes of Gary Coleman and Adam Rich. But, hey, diff'rent strokes, you know?

As an adult, I've come to recognize child stardom for its inherent pitfalls. Since the days of silent pictures, very few child actors have made any kind of successful transition to adult fame. The lucky ones survived their 15 minutes and were fortunate to enjoy a reasonably normal adult life. The so-called Boulevard of Broken Dreams is littered with the remnants of careers that came to a screeching halt when young actors hit their awkward years.

Some turned to drugs or other destructive behavior. Many couldn't find work because they were too accustomed to being stars and having adults feed their publicity machine on behalf of their fans.

In a TV interview, Ron Howard explained that what helped him was his parents' intent to give him as normal a childhood as possible. With that in mind, his father, actor Rance Howard, was recognized as the breadwinner, and the family lived off the earnings of the parents. Any money earned by Ron and his younger brother Clint was held in trust for their adult life.

It's been years since I'd gotten rid of Superman #285, and like many people in the midst of a mid-life crisis, I find myself wallowing in nostalgia. So it was only a matter of time before that particular issue found its way onto my want list. And ironically, I received it this year as a gift, along with others. I'd forgotten the Jason Fleece story was in it, and while any interest in the lifestyles of rich and famous kids has steadily worn off since that Christmas in 1974, I still envy Mason Reece a little bit. It's the rare child that gets featured in a Superman comic.

Praise and adulation? Scorn and ridicule? Corrections to this article are gladly accepted. E-mail me at philip@comicbookbin.com