Crossover of the Week

Autumn 1882

THE MISSION OF SHANGHAI JOE 

The bounty hunter Major Sabbath teams up with the Chinese martial artist Shanghai Joe to rescue Indios enslaved by rancher Stanley Spencer, a member of the Black Coats. An outlaw whose bounty the Major collects realizes he is not Bart Maverick, though the Major says they share the same tailor. The Countess, another member of the Black Coats, reprimands Spencer, saying the All-Father is displeased with his actions. Spencer is a widower with a son making his own wealth in Mexico. Shanghai Joe is trained in the Five Deadly Venoms of the Poison Claw Clan. 

Story by Frank Schildiner in Rick Lai’s Major Sabbath, Ron Fortier, ed., Airship 27 Productions, 2016. Major Sabbath is a combination of the title character of the films Sabata and Return of Sabata with Colonel Mortimer from For a Few Dollars More. Shanghai Joe and Stanley Spencer are from the movie My Name is Shanghai Joe. There was a sequel to the original film, The Return of Shanghai Joe, but it shares no continuity with the original, nor does it resolve any of its dangling plot threads, so it must be an AU. My Name Is Shanghai Joe takes place in 1882, so this story probably takes place in that year or not long after. Bart Maverick is from the TV series Maverick. Marguerite Sadoulas, the Countess of Clare, is from Paul Féval’s Black Coats novels. The All-Father is the group’s leader. Stanley Spencer’s son is Samuel Spencer, the corrupt mine owner from I Am Sartana, Trade Your Pistols for a Coffin. Besides having the same surname, both characters were played by Piero Lulli and dressed alike. The Five Deadly Venoms are from the Chinese martial arts film of the same name. 

Thisn crossover writeup is one of over a thousand appearing 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!