Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Crossover Cover: Monster Hunter Vendetta

Monster Hunter International (M.H.I.) continues to battle against the Old Ones. Trip Jones buys a fantasy novel by L.H. Franzibald in a hotel gift shop. A shoggoth appears, and one of the books in M.H.I.’s library is a tome written by a Mad Arab, which contains information on Shoggoths. M.H.I. has worked with Britain’s Van Helsing Institute. Agent Franks is revealed to be a Frankenstein creation, though constructed by the historical alchemist Johann Conrad Dippel. The Yith are mentioned. The Old Ones, shoggoths, and the Yith are all from the works of H.P. Lovecraft, as is the Mad Arab, Abdul Alhazred. His book is the Al Azif, better known as the Necronomicon. L.H. Franzibald is from Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik’s web comic Penny Arcade. The Van Helsing Institute must be named in honor of the monster hunting Van Helsing family, originally from Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Johann Dippel is established as an ancestor of the more infamous Frankenstein clan in several sources.

6 comments:

  1. Penny Arcade is a real surreal South Park type of comic so it probably goes without saying that this is the CU version of Franzibald.

    There was a Hellsing Organization in the manga/anime Hellsing set up by Abraham Van Helsing's descendents. (Who apparently lost the Van and gained an extra L on moving to England.) It differs from the Bram Stoker novel in that Dracula is bound into service of the family instead of being destroyed. Because of this it's an AU. Well, that and in the manga London is destroyed by Nazi Vampires in zeppelins.

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  2. While I enjoy the Hellsong series, I agree that it should be an AU. I love the MH series and always enjoy the references to other works. Do you think the Orcs are related to
    those in Tolkien?

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  3. I imagine the Orcs pretty much have to be descended from Tolkien's. Tolkien's work is referenced in MHI and other CU works. These Orcs aren't as evil Tolkien's, but even he did not like how the Orcs were portrayed in his own work. He chalked it up to being under a totalitarian regime. Once Sauron was gone they probably got better.

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  4. Correia's Elves, on the other hand, I figure must have been trying to sail to Valinor but, for whatever reason, missed.

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  5. They remind in some respects of the Elves in the Borderlands series but that is probably an AU

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