HOMEFRONT
Lance Star investigates the murder of a Department of
Justice agent during the annual charity air show hosted at his home base, Star
Field in Long Island. Lance’s operations manager Walt Anderson tells him that
Mr. Barnes has cancelled, as he had to take an unexpected trip to South
America. The pilots who are able to attend the show include Dalton, Santini,
and Howard M. Murdock. Ferris Air, whose owner is named Carol, has a pilot
demonstrating a new plane they’re planning to introduce next year. Detective
Barney Bishop works with Lance to find the murderer. Bishop’s old acquaintance
Ellen Patrick attends the show, and indicates that it has been a few years
since she was last able to attend Lance’s benefit.
Short story by Bobby Nash in Lance Star: Sky
Ranger Volume 2, Ron Fortier, ed., Cornerstone Book Publishers, 2009. Air
ace Lance Star is a character from the Canadian pulps. Mr. Barnes is Bill
Barnes, who appeared in pulp stories by George L. Eaton. Dalton is the father
of Jack Dalton from the television series MacGyver. Santini is the title character of Pat Conroy’s novel The
Great Santini. Howard M. Murdock is the father of H.M. “Howling Mad” Murdock
from the TV show The A-Team. Ferris Air (also known as Ferris Aircraft)
and its owner Carol Ferris are from the comic book exploits of the Green
Lantern, though it is unconfirmed whether a CU version of the company’s test
pilot Hal Jordan ever donned an emerald ring that generated energy constructs
and was powered by his own willpower. However, Jordan’s predecessor as the
Green Lantern, Alan Scott, has been established to have existed in the CU.
Ellen Patrick is the alter ego of Lars Anderson’s pulp heroine the Domino Lady.
Detective Barney Bishop previously appeared in Nash’s “Target: Domino Lady” and
Ron Fortier’s “The Claws of the Cat,” both included in the anthology The
Domino Lady: Sex as a Weapon. “Target: Domino Lady,” set a few years before
“Homefront,” mentions Ellen attending one of Lance’s air shows.
The Great Santini's last Name is not Santini seems more likely it's actually Dominic "Dom" Santini from Airwolf
ReplyDeleteI side with Matt on that one, especially with the aeronautics connection....
ReplyDeleteGiven the other '80s TV pilots references, you're probably right. Now that I think about it, there's also a mention of a guy named Calvin, who is probably the father of Theodore "T.C." Calvin from MAGNUM, P.I.
ReplyDeleteYes. Santini was a reference to the character in Airwolf. Same with Calvin. When I wrote this I was thinking of pilot characters and once I thought of Jack Dalton, I decided to use names of characters I grew up watching as a kid.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the write up, Sean. Much appreciated.
I love working in these type of crossovers and easter eggs. All of my pulp stories happen in the same universe. If you ever read any of my stories where the pulp hero is fighting mobsters, you'll notice it's one of two families each time. If you read all of them, you'll notice a mob war playing itself in the background, out of order, of course depending on which book from which publisher is released first.
Thanks again.
Bobby
Thanks for the confirmation, Bobby!
ReplyDeleteYou bet. Thanks for the spotlight on Lance Star and the Sky Rangers.
DeleteIf any of your readers would like to learn more about the characters, check out www.lance-star.com
Bobby
Revised my write-up to correct the Santini reference and add the Calvin one.
ReplyDelete