Funny thing, after decades of comics where "evil Earths" all started out with President Arnold, turns out that could easily have happened. In a story worthy of the comics, the man was apparently a military genius and all around nice guy who got passed over for promotion one time too many and decided his chances were better with the enemy.
He's played up for great effect in the first of the Tom Strong books--the boy hero novels, not the comic. I had just finished reading it when, walking through my local bookstore, there was an unadvertised author hawking his new historical fiction, centering on the character named "Benny." Some bright kid asked if Benny was based on a real soldier, and the guy suggested that there might be a connection to a historical figure.
It was hard to keep my mouth shut as I walked by. Now I know why teachers roll their eyes at the kid whose hand shoots up every time there's a question posed to the class.
That's a heck of a digression, but I'm taking the holiday to do some much-needed housecleaning, so I'm short on parade and picnic stories...
(Hey, after sitting down for a few minutes around lunchtime, my day's story almost became "I almost did some housecleaning, but I started watching the Firefly marathon, and I guess I should go to bed," which, while it might have been more fun, would be a terrible story...)
