Crossover Cover: Year of Shadows

 

This collection of stories by Teel James Glenn features his character Anton "Dr. Shadows" Chadeaux, who is already in the CU through various connections. One of the stories included here is "The Eye of Darkness," which I covered in Crossovers Expanded Volume 1. Here's a rundown of the new stories with crossovers.

In "A Personal Demon," Dr. Shadows has Ham Brooks working on getting papers for him and his aides to go to Manchuria. He also has a throwing knife named Ike. Thomas “Trigger” O’Leary tells Chadeaux he owes the hero after he got him out of “that Skullmask murder thing last year.” Akemi Oyama calls Dr. Shadows’ friend and mentor Ki Nam Hoon “your Kato,” but he tells her Hoon is not a servant. The hero didn’t even know what prejudice was until he saw how the neighborhood teens treated his childhood friend Marguerite Sancre when she visited from her native Martinidad. When Chadeaux fakes his death, Moxie Donovan writes a color piece on the adventurer. Brooks is one of the bronze man’s five aides. Dr. Shadows’ knife Ike must be named after the avenging hero with malleable skin’s knife. The Skullmask and Martinidad are from Glenn’s book Weird Tales of the Skullmask. Kato is the Green Hornet’s chauffeur and partner. Moxie Donovan appears in a series of books by Glenn.  

In "Forbidden City Blues," Dr. Shadows says that when he started his career, he thought Clark Savage’s whole attitude toward publicity for himself was missing a chance to reach so many more people. Shadows’ lover Han Ku Lee (“Hank”) tells him, “You think Clark or Dr. Pali don’t fail?” Clark needs no introduction. Kendell Foster Crossen’s pulp hero the Green Lama often assumes the guise of Buddhist priest Dr. Charles Pali.

In "Grave Mistake," Dr. Shadows battles escaped convicts. Pat Chambers is the spokesman for the New York Police. The island of Martinidad is mentioned. Pat Chambers is from Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer novels. 

In "Isle Macabre," Dr. Shadows is recruited for a mission in Martinidad by Secret Service agent Rex Bennett. Chadeaux says he can get either Clark Savage or Richard Wentworth to provide him with a cover story. Bennett replies that Wentworth-Cranston Limited made land purchases in Martinidad two months ago. Rex Bennett is from the movie serials G-Men vs. the Black Dragon and Secret Service in Darkest Africa. Savage is the bronze-skinned pulp hero. Richard Wentworth is better known as the Spider. Wentworth-Cranston Limited was first mentioned in Weird Tales of the Skullmask. The co-owner of the company must be Wentworth’s half-brother, another well-known shadowy crimefighter, in one of his favorite disguises. 

These crossovers are four of over a thousand covered in my book Crossovers Expanded: A Secret Chronology of the World Volume 3, coming this summer from Meteor House! All three volumes are AUTHORIZED companions to Win Scott Eckert's Crossovers: A Secret Chronology of the World Volumes 1 and 2!