[META] Various Apologies

[Martin Phipps]

saxon.brenton at uts.edu.au (Saxon Brenton) wrote in message
news:<15f3bff1.0406221533.2e655410 at posting.google.com>...
> "Martin Phipps" <phippsmartin at hotmail.com> asked:
> 
> [...]
> 
> > Anyway, I was wondering if anyone might be a bit offended by the
> > notion that most of the LNHers from the nineties will have been
> > retired by the year 2019.  A lot of characters seem to have retired
> > already, either because they were listed as "reserved" on the roster
> > so nobody uses them or because they never appeared outside of their
> > own series.  I was surprised, for example, to go to the archive today
> > and find 36 issues of Brain Boy!
> 
>     I don't have any particular problems with the idea of most LNHers 
> having retired by that time *as a story notion*. In addition to allowing 
> for 'generational change' stories like the LNH2 imprint, the notion of 
> retirement (for whatever reason) is a perfectly valid issue for keeping 
> the 'working' form of the LNH roster under control. (As opposed to the 
> 'platonic' version of the roster, which, as the old joke goes, "is too 
> large to be kept track of".) Mind you, other reasons have been given over 
> the years: both the net.hero virus that killed Squid Boy the second time, 
> as well as the attack by OMAR in the Flame Wars 4 were as far as I can 
> tell meant to be rationalisations for explaining away why some of the 
> lesser used characters might be permanently gone rather than merely out-
> of-sight.

I am thinking of in analogy with Continuity Champ, Rebel Yell and
Sig.lad, characters that retired from the LNH *in story*.  (Sig.Lad,
for example, left to form Dvandom Force and them later died but is
back, I see, in Exarchs, but not with the LNH.)  Some LNH writers just
stopped writing and didn't write a story in which their character
left.

Anyway, as OTL said, retirement from the LNH doesn't mean pernament
retirement, just not being as active with the LNH.  I kind of picture
Irony Man becoming a full time corporate executive (How does the real
Iron Man balance his schedule anyway?) and Doctor Stomper getting a
full time teaching position, etc.  I also don't think LNH HQ is an
appropriate place to raise children. :)

>     [there was a time when] much like
> > Saxon today, I was reading ALL the LNH stuff that was getting posted.

Is it clearer what I meant if I just leave that part sitting there by
itself?

Martin