You got a lot for your Liberty dime back in January of 1942. Take this issue of "Mechanix Illustrated." Science articles, plans to build a desk, a drill press, a pipe rack, tips for the home workshopper, news about the latest inventions for the battlefield.

I was looking for material for Planet Peschel when I pulled this issue out of the moldy stacks of pulp in the basement of Manor Books in Delaware. I saw the picture of the Bat-man and thought, yes, this is good. I can make fun of this.

It was only when I dived in that I discovered that some of the things I found were more resistant to being humorized than I expected.