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Roger's idea was born of a little in-joke the editors did when Terry Thirteen was introduced into the Stranger's mythos. Previously the characters had appeared in independent series, in the same anthology title, so the Stranger made a little "wink at the audience" comment about them having "met" before. This to the great consternation of Thirteen, who was not "aware" of any such meeting. Plant a seed like that in the fertile ground of Roger's imagination, and you get. . .

(A few years back I was approached by an editor about the possibility of working on a Dr. Thirteen graphic novel. A well known skeptic who was also a comic fan was interested in writing it, to play up the skeptical angle. I pointed out that Terry Thirteen's skepticism doesn't really play well in a "reality" in which ghosts, demons, aliens, and all sorts of other things are REAL. I suggested that it might work better if Thirteen was debunking the FAKERS, of whom there would likely be even MORE in a world where those ghosts and demons, etc, were real. The project did not progress beyond this point, which was too bad, as it might have been fun.)

Recognizes "John's" and other possessives.