Crossover Cover: Growing Up

 

Are you an Alexandre Dumas fan?

Then you'll love this novel by Angela Thirkell set in Anthony Trollope's English county of Barsetshire, which has a reference to the Count of Monte Cristo, among other crossovers!

For more information, be sure to purchase 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!

Crossover of the Week

May 26, 1846

THE LAMENT OF THE DUKE AND THE KING 

The so-called Duke of Bridgewater and King of France hop a train, and in the process meet Doctor Omega and his companion Miki. The Doctor gives the conductor a Hynerian sixteen harzmo gold piece. They are joined by the Doctor's other companion, the Steel General. The King says he is the long-lost Dauphin of France, and that he used to be visited by a woman named Madame LaFarge. The Chevalier de Maison-Rouge allegedly tried to rescue the King’s mother. An artist named La Salle was sent by the Baron de Batz to rescue the Dauphin and replace him with a lookalike. When he nearly drowned, a man named Moreau rescued him. The General claims he incited Moreau’s animal people to revolt, but the Doctor clarifies that the King means Andre-Louis Moreau, who he and Miki saw costar with Marguerite St. Just in a play called Don Juan Triumphant in 1791. De Batz was working with the Scarlet Pimpernel, who the Duke claims was the Prince-Regent’s butler, Mr. Edmund Blackadder. The Pimpernel turned the Dauphin over to a smuggler dressed as a scarecrow, who handed him off in turn to an American named Bumppo. The Doctor refers to Miki’s colossal, radioactive, reptilian friend, and says General Santa Anna has the services of an evil scientist named Dr. Campos, who has uncovered a mind control device left on Earth centuries ago by an alien named Kukulcan. 

Short story by Matthew Baugh in Tales of the Shadowmen Volume 12: Carte Blanche, Jean-Marc and Randy Lofficier, eds., Black Coat Press, 2015; reprinted in French in Les Compagnons de l’Ombre (Tome 20), Jean-Marc Lofficier, ed., Rivière Blanche, 2017. The Duke of Bridgewater and the King of France are from Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Doctor Omega is the title character of Arnould Galopin’s novel. Miki Saegusa is from the Godzilla movies. Although the massive level of destruction seen in the films does not fit into the CU, other crossovers indicate a version of Godzilla exists in the CU whose exploits are much less Earth-shattering. The Hynerian Empire is from the television series Farscape. The Steel General is from Roger Zelazny’s Creatures of Light and Darkness. Madame LaFarge (or rather DeFarge) is from Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities. The Chevalier de Maison-Rouge is from Alexandre Dumas’ eponymous novel. Florence de La Salle is from Rafael Sabatini’s The Lost King. The Baron de Batz is a historical figure who appears in both that book and Sabatini’s Scaramouche, whose title character is really Andre-Louis Moreau. The other Moreau and his animal people are from H. G. Wells’ The Island of Doctor Moreau. Marguerite St. Just is the wife of Sir Percy Blakeney, aka Baroness Orczy’s hero the Scarlet Pimpernel. The play Don Juan Triumphant is the basis for the opera of the same name penned by the title character of Gaston Leroux’s The Phantom of the Opera. Edmund Blackadder is from the television series Blackadder the Third. The smuggler dressed as a scarecrow is Russell Thorndike’s Dr. Syn, aka Captain Clegg and the Scarecrow of Romney Marsh. Natty Bumppo is from James Fenimore Cooper’s The Leatherstocking Tales. Dr. Campos is from the movie Santo Contra Hombres Infernales. Kukulcan is from the Star Trek: The Animated Series episode “How Sharper Than a Serpent’s Tooth” and the Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle episode “Tarzan and the Space God.” 

This 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!

Crossover Cover: The Island of the Day Before

 

Are you a fan of author Umberto Eco?

Then you'll love this novel, which contains not only a reference to his book The Name of the Rose, but also an appearance by a character from Alexandre Dumas' The Three Musketeers!

For more information, consult my book Crossovers Expanded: A Secret Chronology of the World Volume 3! Much like the first two books, this one is an AUTHORIZED companion to Win Scott Eckert's Crossovers: A Secret Chronology of the World Volumes 1 and 2 and will be published by Meteor House!

Crossover of the Week

1910

WOLF AT THE DOOR OF TIME

Doctor Omega, traveling aboard the Cosmos, discovers a derelict time machine and its owner, Doctor Moses Nebogipfel. Omega believes Nebogipfel’s machine is from the Arcadian Hegemony of the 42nd century. Nebogipfel was transporting a masonychid, a proto-wolf, in his conveyance, but the wolf escaped and is now bouncing through time. Annoyed with Nebogipel, Omega thinks he has been lucky in his choice of companions, including Fred, Borel, and Tizairou. In 1643, the masonychid attacks a man named Sir Hugo near the village of Grimpen on Dartmoor. In 1767, Omega convinces Joseph Balsamo to make a special cylinder Jean Chastel can use to destroy the masonychid, now known as the Beast of Gévaudan. In rural France in the 18th century, the wolf convinces a sabot-maker named Thibault it is Satan. Omega tells Nebogipfel masonychids are the ancestors of all land-based whales and dolphins, and his actions have altered the time stream so a race of sky-whales in the far future will never exist, and rather than the deity Zoomashmarta, the remaining humans will worship a wolf that devours human flesh. Thibault asks the masonychid to bring him all the women he has ever desired, including Agnelette, Madame Magloire, and the Comtesse de Mont-Gobert. The Cosmos is almost hit by an ionized meteorite, which will exit the void of time in 1795, and which Omega believes might cause beneficial mutations. Omega travels to the battlefield of Mons in 1916, where he encounters Captain Yeskes of the Fifth Northumberland Fusiliers, who is wounded by the masonychid. A Nurse Miller treats his wounds, and contemplates writing a book about the story Yeskes tells her of the attack. Omega reveals Nebogipfel is a brainwashed member of the same race to which Omega himself belongs. Omega does not believe Nebogipfel should continue his exile in the 19th or 20th centuries; otherwise, he would drop him off in “that rather lovely Italianate village in North Wales near Penrhyndeudrath.” The Arcadian Hegemony was founded by a starship commander known as Captain Strange, who is at war with the Federation. Omega finally decides to place Nebogipfel in Randgrith Abbey near the Village of Wulnoth in the mid 11th century. In the 20th century, the Nyctalope battles the masonychid, now known as the King Wolf, and his legions at the request of Comrade Frunzoff. After he kills it and Omega takes a sample of its blood, the Nyctalope encounters Captain Gogol of Army Intelligence, who is accompanied by Oktobriana and Avakoum Zahov.

Short story by Martin Gately in Tales of the Shadowmen Volume 9: La Vie en Noir, Jean-Marc and Randy Lofficier, eds., Black Coat Press, 2012; reprinted in French in Les Compagnons de l’Ombre (Tome 14), Jean-Marc and Randy Lofficier, eds., Rivière Blanche, 2014. Doctor Omega is from the novel of the same name by Arnould Galopin, as are the Cosmos, Fred, Borel, and Tizairou. The Lofficiers’ translation and adaptation of Galopin’s novel implied Doctor Omega was the CU universe counterpart of the Doctor of Doctor Who fame, a member of the extraterrestrial Time Lords of Gallifrey. Moses Nebogipfel is from H. G. Wells’ story “The Chronic Argonauts,” a precursor to his novel The Time Machine, and is here meant to be a counterpart of the Doctor’s foe the Meddling Monk. Wulnoth, a village headman in the year 1066, appeared in the Doctor Who serial that introduced the Monk, “The Time Meddler.” Arcadia, Captain Strange, and the Federation are from Sarah Brightman and Hot Gossip’s song “I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper.” It is worth noting the song mentions both Flash Gordon and Darth Vader as real people. Sir Hugo Baskerville and the village of Grimpen are from The Hound of the Baskervilles, arguably Sherlock Holmes’ most famous exploit. Joseph Balsamo, Count Cagliostro, is a historical figure who also appears in novels by Alexandre Dumas; Philip José Farmer also identified him as the ancestor of a branch of the Wold Newton Family in Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life. Thibault, Agnelette, Madame Magloire, and the Comtesse de Mont-Gobert are from Dumas’ story “The Wolf-Leader.” The Beast of Gévaudan was a real creature whose exact nature is much debated; Jean Chastel is usually credited as having killed the monster. The sky-dolphins and Zoomashmarta are from Philip José Farmer’s science fiction sequel to Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick, The Wind Whales of Ishmael. According to Farmer’s novel A Feast Unknown, the family of the jungle lord Lord Grandrith originally called themselves Randgrith. The Grandrith/Caliban novels take place in an alternate universe to the CU, but perhaps a version of the Randgrith family existed in the CU, one of whose members founded the abbey. However, John Cloamby, Lord Grandrith, himself never existed in the CU. The meteorite will arrive in the village of Wold Newton in 1795, where it will indeed, as Omega theorized, cause beneficial mutations in the offspring and descendants of those exposed to its ionization, as revealed by Farmer in Tarzan Alive and Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life. The Fifth Northumberland Fusiliers were a real regiment whose CU equivalent counted Dr. John H. Watson among its numbers. Nurse Miller will later write novels under her married name of Agatha Christie; one of her stories, “The Hound of Death,” was likely inspired by the tale Yeskes told her. The village in North Wales is the Village from the cult-classic television series The Prisoner; the village of Portmeirion, located in Penrhyndeudraeth, was used as the filming location for the Village. The Nyctalope (aka Leo Saint-Clair) is the night-sighted hero of a series of novels by Jean de La Hire. Comrade Frunzoff is Frunzoff Nosh from the Doc Savage novel The Red Spider. Captain Gogol is the future General Anatol Alexis Gogol from the James Bond films The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker, For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy, and A View to a Kill. Many of the Bond films are incompatible with the Fleming novels, and thus with the CU; however, despite using the titles of Fleming novels or stories, the five films in which Gogol appears are radically different from the works they are based on, and can be considered separate or sequel incidents for CU purposes. Oktobriana (or Octobriana) was created by Czech artist Petr Sadecký, and, not being under copyright, has appeared in a number of works by different artists and writers. Avakoum Zahov is a Bulgarian secret agent featured in Andrei Gulyashki’s novels The Zahov Mission and Avakoum Zahov versus 07. The year is conjecture based on Doctor Omega’s perspective, which is after the events of Galopin’s novel.

Crossover Cover: Castle Eppstein

The narrator of the introduction, telling ghost stories, says, “Certainly Hoffmann believed in the reality of his characters: he had seen Master Floh and had known Coppelius.” This reference implies Master Floh (from E. T. A. Hoffman’s novel Master Flea: A Fairy-Tale in Seven Adventures of Two Friends) and Coppelius (from Hoffmann’s story “The Sandman”) exist in the same universe as the characters in this novel. “The Sandman” has already been established as taking place in the Crossover Universe, and therefore both this novel and Master Flea take place in the CU as well. While the introduction takes place contemporaneously with this book’s publication, the rest of the novel happens during the time of Napoleon.

Crossover of the Week

1808-1810

GODS OF THE UNDERWORLD

            Aubert Lecoq and his sons are imprisoned under the Convent de la Merci alongside Colonel Bozzo-Corona. Their jailer is Marcel Draco, who is planning to kill the Colonel for refusing to share the Treasure of the Black Coats with the rest of the High Council. Draco and his fellow rebels play cards to determine who gets to kill the Colonel; Doctor Lerne wins the game. However, the Colonel manages to escape, and the Lecoqs wind up being rescued. A year later, at the Callyx Bar in Paris, Bibi-Lupin, who has stolen the Empress Joséphine’s necklace, asks Trompe-la-Mort to dispose of it, but he refuses. Joseph Fouché, Napoleon’s Minister of Police, discusses Bibi-Lupin with Jean Henry, the chief of the Paris police. Bibi-Lupin was arrested for treason in 1793 by Citizen Chauvelin, but escaped execution and fled to England, becoming a coachman for Sir Percy Blakeney, who married an actress who was Saint-Just’s cousin. Monsieur Jackal, a former criminal recently recruited as an informer, has assured Henry that Bibi-Lupin acted only out of greed. Anne de Breuil argues with the Colonel, who remarks that Anne inherited her namesake’s beauty. Claude Verdier states that Napoleon betrayed the Colonel. Lawyer Portal-Giraud came up with the Black Coats’ doctrine of “paying the law.” The Colonel declares a toast using a bottle of La Frenaie wine. Trompe-la-Mort murders Verdier, leaving behind the Botte de Nevers, the mark of Lagardère. He forces the Colonel to give him the Scapular of the Black Coats. However, he scratches himself on a replica of a dragon’s fang on the box containing the Scapular, which the Colonel reveals was coated with a poison derived from the black scorpion of India. Trompe-la-Mort is really Jacques Collin, who took the fall for his comrade Franchessini’s forgery. Rather than killing him, the black scorpion poison tossed Collin into a cataleptic state. The Colonel is considering replacing the poison with a Brazilian drug called the “Mato Grosso Pestilence.” At the Colonel’s orders, a man named Toussac whips Collin. Henri de Lagardère learned the Botte de Nevers, invented by the great fencing master Delapalme, from his friend the Duc de Nevers. Anne de Breuil is also known as Jacqueline Collin, Jacques’ aunt. The Collins’ forebear, Milady de Winter, was Cardinal Richelieu’s most accomplished agent. The box containing the Scapular is kept in a concealed wall alcove alongside a book called Les Chroniques de Nemedea. The book features an illustration of a box similar to the one bearing the Scapular alongside an account of a legendary killer who encountered said box. Monsieur Jackal has heard that Trompe-la-Mort is currently infatuated with a youth named Alexis Ladeau. Trompe-la-Mort attempts to convince six fellow convicts who were also betrayed by the Black Coats, including Fil-de-Soie, Le Biffon, and Auguste, that they must band together to defeat the Colonel. After his fellow convicts escape, Trompe-la-Mort plans to recruit more men, including La Pouraille. Trompe-la-Mort dubs this new alliance the Society of the Ten Thousand. Later that night, he decides upon his new alias: Vautrin.

            Short story by Rick Lai in Tales of the Shadowmen Volume 9: La Vie en Noir, Jean-Marc and Randy Lofficier, eds., Black Coat Press, 2012; reprinted in French in Les Compagnons de l’Ombre (Tome 13), Jean-Marc and Randy Lofficier, eds., Rivière Blanche, 2014. Aubert Lecoq is meant to be coachman Albert Lecoq, father of future Black Coats member Lecoq de la Perière and grandfather of Emile Gaboriau’s policeman and sleuth Monsieur Lecoq, from Philip José Farmer’s biography Tarzan Alive. The Convent de la Merci, Colonel Bozzo-Corona, the Black Coats, their Treasure and Scapulary, and Portal-Giraud are featured in the Black Coats novels by Paul Féval. Marcel Draco is an ancestor of Union Corse leader Marc-Ange Draco and his daughter Tracy from Ian Fleming’s James Bond novel On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. Doctor Lerne is an ancestor of the title character of Maurice Renard’s novel Doctor Lerne. Jacques Collin (aka Trompe-la-Mort and Vautrin), Franchessini, Le Biffon, Fil-de-Soie, Auguste, La Pouraille, and the Society of the Ten Thousand are from Honoré de Balzac’s interconnected cycle of novels La Comédie Humaine. The Callyx Bar is from Louis Feuillade’s serial Judex. Bibi-Lupin is also from La Comédie Humaine; here, he is conflated with coachman Louis Lupin from Tarzan Alive, the ancestor of Maurice Leblanc’s gentleman thief Arsène Lupin. Jacqueline Collin, Vautrin’s aunt, also appears in the La Comédie Humaine novels. Here, she is romantically involved with Aubert Lecoq, and conflated with an unidentified beautiful woman who appeared as a member of the Black Coats’ Council in the novel The Cadet Gang, both story elements being based on theories proposed by Jean-Marc Lofficier. Sir Percy Blakeney; his wife, the former Marguerite St. Just; and Citizen Chauvelin are from Baroness Orczy’s Scarlet Pimpernel novels. Monsieur Jackal is from Alexandre Dumas’ The Mohicans of Paris; here, he is conflated with the historical Eugène François Vidocq, reformed criminal turned founder of the French Sûreté. Claude Verdier is an ancestor of Satanas from Louis Feuillade’s silent film serial Les Vampires; in the English language version of the serial, Satanas’ real name is given as Claude Dupont-Verdier. La Frenaie wine is from Clark Ashton Smith’s Averoigne stories. Henri de Lagardère, the Duc de Nevers, the Botte de Nevers, and Delapalme are from Féval’s swashbuckling novel Le Bossu. According to Sax Rohmer’s The Golden Scorpion, the drug F. Katalepsis, used by the Si-Fan, the organization led by Dr. Fu Manchu, has as its chief ingredient the venom of the black scorpion of India. The Mato Grosso Pestilence is from Harold A. Davis’ Doc Savage pulp novel The Green Death. Toussac is the brother of the Toussac that appears in Arthur Conan Doyle’s Uncle Bernac. Robert E. Howard claimed that he learned of the Hyborian Age and the barbarian Conan’s exploits through a tome called The Nemedian Chronicles. Conan encountered a box similar to that containing the Scapular of the Black Coats in The Hour of the Dragon (aka Conan the Conqueror.) Alexis Ladeau is from Howard’s Cthulhu Mythos story “The Black Stone.”