The Crossover UniverseTM is a companion blog to the books Crossovers: A Secret Chronology of the World Volumes 1-2 by Win Scott Eckert, and the forthcoming Crossovers Expanded Volumes 1-2 by Sean Levin. Material excerpted from Crossovers Volumes 1 & 2 is © copyright 2010-2014 by Win Scott Eckert. All rights reserved. Material excerpted from Crossovers Expanded Volumes 1 & 2 is © copyright 2014-present by Sean Levin. All rights reserved.
This crossover is one 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!
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!
In I. A. Watson's "The Nottingham Crakster," Holmes is visited by a police inspector who seeks a gem belonging to Lord Roger Roxton, which has been stolen by criminal and “crakster” (a Northern slang expression for a trickster) Jemmy Wilson, and which he believes Holmes himself has stolen. Holmes deduces that the so-called policeman is in fact Wilson himself. A footnote to this story suggests that Lord Roger Roxton may be the father of Lord John Roxton from Doyle and Malone’s The Lost World and other Professor Challenger tales. To square this with Philip José Farmer’s genealogy for Lord John in Tarzan Alive, we must conclude that “Lord Roger Roxton” is a Watsonian pseudonym for George Wimsey, the 14th Duke of Denver, Lord John’s adoptive father. Obviously, Edward D. Malone used the same coded surname as Watson in his written accounts of his, Roxton, and Challenger’s exploits. Jemmy Wilson is from Doyle’s “Selecting a Ghost: The Ghosts of Goresthorpe Grange.”
In Barbara Doran's "The Adventure of the Counterfeit Secretary," Holmes and Watson team with Professor Augustus S. F. X. Van Dusen, aka the Thinking Machine, and his companion journalist Hutchinson Hatch to thwart sabotage of the Berlin International Trade Exposition. Professor Van Dusen and Hutchinson Hatch are from Jacques Futrelle’s detective stories and novels.
In Brad Mengel's "The Adventure of the Stolen Tattoo," Watson has dinner with Dr. Stamford and his new wife, who honeymooned in Australia, where they were robbed by the bushranger known as the Stingaree. During the Second Opium War, a chap by the name of Flashman came by the Barrington house and told Richard Francis Barrington’s mother of her husband’s death. The Stingaree is from E. W. Hornung’s Irralie’s Bushranger and Stingaree. Flashman is Harry Flashman, whose service in the Second Opium War is described in George MacDonald Fraser’s Flashman and the Dragon.
These crossovers are among 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!
Early June 2015
TOMMY HANCOCK’S BRANSON NON-ADVENTURE
While New Pulp publisher and author Tommy Hancock is being treated at the Nettles Clinic for congestive heart failure, assassin and master of disguise Mirror Image is targeting another patient, Morton Vickers, an analyst for a multiagency task force operating against various loosely allied organized crime organizations. Vickers is the grandson of legendary 1930s G-Man Lynn Vickers. After hearing about the assassination plot, the Voice, long semi-retired, called Curt Van Loan’s covert network for help. A woman equally adept at disguise pits herself against Mirror Image. Lemuel Barnes of the Treasury Department is monitoring Vickers’ operation. The woman, Emily, later introduces herself to Hancock.
Short story by Erwin K. Roberts in Legends of New Pulp Fiction, Ron Fortier, ed., Airship 27 Productions, 2015. Tommy Hancock is a real person, and this story is inspired by a medical crisis he suffered in real life on June 8, 2015. Lynn Vickers, Agent G-77, appeared in nine stories by Bryan James Kelly in the pulps Public Enemy and Federal Agent from 1935-1938. The Voice is the protagonist of a series of novels and stories by Roberts. The hero is implicitly the son of Secret Agent X. Curt Van Loan, another of Roberts’ creations, is the son of Richard Curtis Van Loan, aka the Phantom Detective, and Muriel Havens. Emily is the Pulptress, a second-generation heroine who has appeared in novels and anthologies from Hancock’s company, Pro Se Productions. Lemuel Barnes is likely a descendant of Bromley Barnes, a Treasury Department agent who appeared in stories, novels, and collections by George Barton from 1909-1920.
This crossover writeup is one of over a thousand included 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!
Then you'll love Frank Schildiner's story in this anthology, which has a reference to Dr. Phibes, among other crossovers!
For more information, be sure to check out 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!
Winter 1936-Late Summer 1937
THE DOMINO LADY’S SCANDAL
The Domino Lady (Ellen Patrick) tries to clear the name of actor Emilio Romani, who has been falsely accused of statutory rape. Ellen met Romani at a party held by Neville Sinclair a week ago. Romani knows Alan Swann. During a trip to New York, Ellen met Theodore Marley Brooks, a lawyer who regularly tops the best dressed lists. While Ellen is no Monk Mayfair or Fergus MacMurdie, she is a skilled chemist. Romani’s alleged crime happened after he got back from a party thrown by Satan Devlin. Romani mentions the parties Valentino threw every Friday night at the Hyperion Hotel. Ellen learned how to palm a syringe from Mandrake, and how to crack a safe from Jimmie Gray, the heir to the Graylock Safe Company. During another one of her trips to New York, a fellow crimefighter taught Ellen a baritsu move that effectively turned her cape into a whip. The mastermind behind the plot against Romani, councilman and chess player John Sanford, taunts Ellen about her code against killing, saying, “I would already be dead if the Spider was standing before me.” A year later, Ellen catches up with Sanford in Palm City, where he is now calling himself James Fleming.
Short story by Brad Mengel in Domino Lady Volume 3, Ron Fortier, ed., Airship 27 Productions, 2019. Neville Sinclair is from the film version of Dave Stevens’ The Rocketeer. Although the film is incompatible with the comic and its continuations published by IDW, which are in the Crossover Universe, Adam Lance Garcia’s The Green Lama: Unbound and Frank Schildiner’s “Blood of the Hummingbird” also establish Sinclair has a counterpart in the CU. Alan Swann is from the movie My Favorite Year. Brooks and Mayfair are two of the bronze man’s aides. MacMurdie is one of the members of the avenging hero’s crime-fighting organization. Jack “Satan” Devlin appeared in five stories by Ernest Manning in Saucy Movie Tales from July 1936-January 1937. The Hyperion Hotel is from the TV series Angel. Mandrake is the title character of Lee Falk’s comic strip Mandrake the Magician. Jimmie Gray, aka the Shadow (no relation to the American pulp hero), is an Australian comic book character created by Jeff Wilkinson. The fellow crimefighter is the vigilante of the shadows. Baritsu is from Doyle and Watson’s “The Adventure of the Empty House.” The crossover comic “The Conflagration Man” implied Sherlock Holmes had taught both the shadowy vigilante and Doc baritsu. The Spider needs no further introduction. John Sanford (aka James Fleming) is meant to be the grandfather of Peter Fleming, aka Chess, from the TV series The Cape, which is set in Palm City.
This crossover writeup is one of over a thousand included 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!
Then you'll love Greg Gick's story in this anthology, which has ties to Howard's works, as well as other crossovers!
For more information, be sure to pick up a copy of my book Crossovers Expanded: A Secret Chronology of the World Volume 3, which will be published by Meteor House! All three volumes are AUTHORIZED companions to Win Scott Eckert's Crossovers: A Secret Chronology of the World Volumes 1 and 2!
Then you'll love Bradley H. Sinor's story in this anthology, "The Adventure of the Black Katana," which has references to the Cthulhu Mythos and Raffles, as well as Sinor's story "Places for Act Two!" from the anthology Dracula in London!
For more information, be sure to pick up a copy of my book Crossovers Expanded: A Secret Chronology of the World Volume 3 when Meteor House publishes it! All three volumes are AUTHORIZED companions to Win Scott Eckert's Crossovers: A Secret Chronology of the World Volumes 1 and 2!
Then you'll love my friend Frank Schildiner's story in this anthology, "Dead Do Dance," in which Secret Agent X battles Murder Legendre from the classic horror film White Zombie, with other crossovers along the way!
For more information, be sure to pick up a copy of my book Crossovers Expanded: A Secret Chronology of the World Volume 3 when Meteor House publishes it! All three volumes are AUTHORIZED companions to Win Scott Eckert's Crossovers: A Secret Chronology of the World Volumes 1 and 2!
Then you'll love this novel featuring the classic pulp hero Jim Anthony by Joshua M. Reynolds, which has nods to that film and several other works!
For more information, be sure to purchase a copy of my book Crossovers Expanded: A Secret Chronology of the World Volume 3 when Meteor House publishes it! Like the first two volumes, this one is an AUTHORIZED companion to Win Scott Eckert's Crossovers: A Secret Chronology of the World Volumes 1 and 2!
Summer 1935
THE DOMINO LADY’S TRIPLE THREAT
The Domino Lady battles a German American Bund targeting an old friend of her father. As Ellen Patrick, she meets two police detectives, one of whom is Chas Faraday. Last time Ellen stayed at the Waldorf-Anthony in New York, she met a strange and shadowy man named Kent, who saw a magician named Kosmo performing amazing feats with his cape while he (Kent) was serving in the court of the Czar. Later, Kent used a Baritsu move to save Ellen's life. Ellen meets two more cops, Sergeant Garcia and Patrolman Hawke, and reads an article in The Daily Sentinel. Detective Faraday tells Ellen he is thinking of leaving the Berkeley Police Department and has applied for police jobs in Neptune and Palm City. Patrolman Hawke tells Ellen stories about his aviator brother.
Short story by Brad Mengel in Domino Lady Volume Two, Ron Fortier, ed., Airship 27 Productions, 2016. Chas Faraday is an ancestor of Michael Faraday, the protagonist of the TV series The Cape, which is set in Palm City. Kosmo is also from that series. The Waldorf-Anthony is the hotel owned by pulp hero Jim Anthony. Kent is the pulp hero of the shadows. Baritsu is a Japanese wrestling style from the Sherlock Holmes story “The Adventure of the Empty House.” The comic book story “The Conflagration Man,” a crossover between the shadowy vigilante and the bronze man, implied both heroes had learned Baritsu from Holmes. Philip José Farmer originally identified Holmes as one of Doc’s teachers in Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life. Baritsu was also mentioned in The Cape. Sergeant Garcia is a descendant of Sergeant Demetrio Lopez Garcia from Disney’s Zorro television series. Patrolman Hawke is the father of Matt Hawke, aka the Avenger, the hero of a series of Men’s Adventure paperbacks by Chet Cunningham. The Daily Sentinel is the Los Angeles edition of the Detroit newspaper published by Britt Reid, the Green Hornet. Neptune, California is the setting of the television series Veronica Mars. Patrolman Hawke’s aviator brother is the father of Stringfellow and St. John Hawke from the TV series Airwolf. This story takes place in summer, three years after the death of Ellen’s father, meaning 1935.
This crossover writeup is one of hundreds included in my book Crossovers Expanded: A Secret Chronology of the World Volume 3, to be published by Meteor House! All three volumes are AUTHORIZED companions to Win Scott Eckert's Crossovers: A Secret Chronology of the World Volumes 1 and 2!
February 1935
WEB OF THE BROWN RECLUSE
Professor Anton Macek considers consulting a doctor at the Empire State Building, but he is out of town. He decides against contacting a hotel owner with a legendary temper instead. A paperboy hawks the day’s copy of the Clarion. With his jet-black hair and square jaw, some say Kent Hardy resembles a certain famous cop from Chicago. Hardy is one of the best freelance criminologists in New York City, though some, such as Hammond or Noel, have greater reputations. Macek is a member of a group of scientists that also includes Dr. Lemuel Grimes. In its day, New York has seen masked marauders, murderous purple lights, skyscraper phantoms, and even a giant monkey. President Roosevelt tells Hardy, “It seems super-criminals like [the Brown Recluse] are coming out of the woodwork these days. The Black Star, Dr. Satan, the Whispering Shadow, the Tiger Shark...the list seems to go on and on.”
Short story by Greg Gick in Mystery Men (& Women) Volume 3, Ron Fortier, ed., Airship 27 Productions, 2012. The doctor at the Empire State Building is the bronze-skinned pulp hero. The hotel owner is Jim Anthony. The New York Clarion newspaper is from the Phantom Detective pulp novels. The Chicago cop is Dick Tracy. Wade Hammond appeared in stories by Paul Chadwick in the magazine Ten Detective Aces. The murderous purple lights are from the Hammond story “Doctor Zero,” while the skyscraper phantom is a reference to the Hammond story “Skyscraper Horror.” Dorus Noel’s exploits were chronicled by Arthur J. Burks in All Detective Magazine. Dr. Lemuel Grimes is related to Dr. A. J. Grimes from the Danny Dunn juvenile adventure novels by Raymond Abrashkin and Jay Williams. The giant monkey is King Kong. The Black Star’s stories were told by Johnston McCulley in Detective Story Magazine. Dr. Satan is a villain created by Paul Ernst for Weird Tales. The Whispering Shadow is from the serial of the same name. The Tiger Shark is from the serial The Fighting Marines.
This crossover writeup is one of hundreds included in my book Crossovers Expanded: A Secret Chronology of the World Volume 3, which is to be published by Meteor House! All three volumes are AUTHORIZED companions to Win Scott Eckert's Crossovers: A Secret Chronology of the World Volumes 1 and 2!
In Crossovers Expanded Volume 1, I covered all four stories in the anthology Tales from the Hanging Monkey Volume 1, published by Airship 27 Productions. Two of the stories in the second volume have crossovers.
In Don Gates' "The Star of the Sea," a mysterious woman named Moira LeCain tells Corky O’Brian, the owner of the Hanging Monkey bar on the island of Motugra, about the sea creatures known as the Abyss Dwellers: “It is theorized that they have ties with the Deep Ones that are spoken about in the Ponape Scriptures, or with a particular kind of amphibian creature that are known to reside in certain black lagoons of the Amazon.” The Deep Ones are from H. P. Lovecraft’s “The Shadow over Innsmouth.” The Ponape Scripture is from Lin Carter’s stories set in the milieu of Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos. The kind of amphibian creature known to reside in certain black lagoons of the Amazon is a reference to the Gill-Man from the movie Creature from the Black Lagoon and its sequels.
In Lee Houston, Jr. and Nancy A. Hansen's "The Merciless Mermaid," Corky and friends battle a beautiful redheaded villain named Sirene and her crew of treasure seekers. Ultimately, Sirene and her men escape with a chest containing their quarry. One of the sailors, Sirene’s father, asks, “Ya have any idea how your client knew about it, let alone why he’s willing to pay so much for a small statue of a black enameled bird?” The statue is the Maltese Falcon, from Dashiell Hammett’s novel of the same name. There is a reference to the mess brewing in Europe, placing this story during World War II.
These two crossovers are among hundreds I've written up for my latest book, Crossovers Expanded: A Secret Chronology of the World Volume 3, which will be published by Meteor House! All three volumes are AUTHORIZED companions to Crossovers: A Secret Chronology of the World Volumes 1 and 2 by Win Scott Eckert!
