Extraordinary Experiences Explained

 In sf, characters have experiences like being transported to another time or acquiring superpowers so their authors must devise explanations, whether ingenious or standardized. Philip Wylie's Hugo Danner and Siegel's and Schuster's Superman were born superior. Poul Anderson's Jack Havig was born able to time travel.

In James Blish's Midsummer Century, John Martels is transported to AD 25,000 when he falls into a new radio telescope. In Anderson's "The Little Monster," Jerry Parker enters the time projector, closes the door and is projected to about 1,500,000 BC. In Alan Moore's Watchmen, Dr. Jonathan Osterman is accidentally locked in the intrinsic field test chamber and becomes the almost omnipotent Doctor Manhattan who wins the Vietnam War for the US and, later, teleports to Mars. In these examples, Anderson's and Moore's explanations are identical.