Michael, please forgive the contradiction, but I can recall another issue, 1977's "How To Prevent a Flash," wherein Barry more-or-less "daydreams" the entire story in the blink of an eye before acting to prevent what he thinks might happen if he doesn't.

It took place in Five-Star Super-Hero Spectacular, the first issue of DC's Special Series, and features the short-lived debut and career (blink of an eye) of Ms. Flash.

Flash #128 may be Flash's only Silver-Age imaginary story, however.

Yeah, I know that story never happened, and I'm all sad and Mopee about it... :-)

Sorry if I misunderstood your earlier post, Michael. I think it was the phrase "To date,..." that threw me.

Wally remembered Barry's death because Crisis did happen, but the heroes remembered it differently; there were no Infinite Earth and the Anti-Monitor's objective was to destroy the single positive matter universe. But no one remembered Kara's death because there was no Supergirl. It was a big horrible mess.

Crisis started DC's absolutely bizarre approach to continuity where some things remain part of the continuity while others are discarded. Take JB's Man of Steel miniseries, Superman's origin has been redone twice since then, but some parts of Man of Steel are still in continuity.

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Any number of things scuttled CRISIS. First, it was poorly conceived and poorly executed. The original plan, to do a "history" of the DCU, blow everything up in the last issue, and then start over with all new first issues the next month, would have at least had a hope of working better. That would have been an editorial fiat, rather than a "story event".

But, even there, there would have been the problem of people who wanted to have their Kate, and Edith too. CRISIS defined itself as a self-erasing event. The fact that it happened, meant that it didn't happen. But the Psycho-Pirate "remembered" it happening, and right away that meant it hadn't worked.

Plus, any time a "rule" is introduced, no matter how benign or benevolent, there will be people who will ignore it, deliberately in some cases.

I don't recall any "imaginary stories" appearing in titles other than the Superman and Batman ones, so it's nice to know other heroes had their own "imaginary stories", too.

With regards to CRISIS, I do like the art, but there's not much in the story that appeals to me. Haven't there been other stories since about the CRISIS? I don't ready many current DC titles, but I'd have been more willing to if I hadn't seen the word "CRISIS" listed in so many modern titles.

Rick, you're right, it has gotten bad. Why are they even concerned with what earth it takes place on?

I don't mind alternate earth stories or parallel universes in comics - such as in "Flash of Two Worlds" - but I can't understand the need for cataloguing and letting fans know what earth a particular series or adventure is taking place on.

Something like "Flash of Two Worlds" was just fun. Like "imaginary stories" it can be enjoyed on it's own terms; the Superman/Spider-Man crossovers can be enjoyed on their own terms; and Spider-Man's encounter with The Transformers can be enjoyed on their own terms. I see no need for cataloguing or anyone concerning themselves with where it all fits in, what earth each adventure is taking place on, etc. Aren't comics mean to be just fun rathe than an intellectual exercise?

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What's even more troubling and frustrating is that there are a lot of fans out there (mostly on the internet) who are steadfast against each issue of a comic containing info that will help new readers become familiar with the characters and ease into the story. These selfish fans say that they are tired of reading the same info each issue, since they already know this stuff, and that any new fan can find out everything about the characters in the comics by going online and looking the info up themselves.

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Precisely the kinds of readers many writers are deliberately pandering to these days, "writing for the trade". And, thus, closing yet another door in the face of potential new readers.

To me, knowing that so much of my work these days is going to be collected in "evergreens" like trades and hardcover volumes, it becomes part of the challenge (and therefore part of the FUN) to find ways to include elements that will bring new readers up to speed without it seeming like redundant exposition.

"Challenge", alas, is a word many modern writers don't know, or resent if they do.

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And many modern editors are more than happy to make sure that these modern writers (especially the popular and critically celebrated writers) don't have any "challenges" at all.