Crossover Movie Poster: Beyond the Black Rainbow

 

Are you a Buckaroo Banzai fan?

Then you'll love this film, which has a nod to not only Buckaroo, but also to a character from William S. Burroughs' novel Naked Lunch!

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!

Crossover of the Week

Autumn 1940

RED SHAMBHALA 

Jim Anthony battles a Russian villain called Koschei. Appearing or mentioned are: Xonira; the Heart of Fortune; the Bugle; the Globe; the New York Inquirer; Sovereign City; Maple White Land; Richard Upton Pickman’s infamous painting “Subway Accident”; Campalans; the Brainerd punch-card automata; Thunder Jim Wade; Doc Ardan; Hanoi Xan and his World Crime League; the Si-Fan; the Brotherhood of the Golden Chrysanthemum; the Vampires of Paris; the Order of the Cosmic Ram; Commissioner Warner; the Black Bat; the Kingscote School for Girls; St. Trinian’s; and a Freiburg dance academy of dubious reputation. 

Novel by Joshua Reynolds, Pro Se Productions, 2015. Jim Anthony appeared in the pulp magazine Super Detective. Xonira is from Derrick Ferguson’s Dillon series. The Heart of Fortune is the riverboat home and gambling casino of Ferguson’s character Fortune McCall. The Daily Bugle and the Daily Globe are from Marvel’s Spider-Man comics. The New York Inquirer is from the classic film Citizen Kane. Sovereign City is the setting of a book imprint from Pro Se; Fortune McCall is one of the city’s heroes. Maple White Land is from Arthur Conan Doyle and Edward Malone’s The Lost World. Richard Upton Pickman and his painting “Subway Accident” are from H. P. Lovecraft’s “Pickman’s Model.” The fictional cubist painter Jusep Torres Campalans was the subject of a biography by Max Aub. The Brainerd punch-card automata are based on technology invented by Johnny Brainerd in Edward S. Ellis’ The Steam Man of the Prairies. Thunder Jim Wade appeared in stories by “Charles Stoddard” (Henry Kuttner) in the pulp magazine Thrilling Adventures. Doc Ardan is from Guy d’Armen’s Doc Ardan: City of Gold and Lepers. Jean-Marc and Randy Lofficier’s adaptation and translation of that novel implied Ardan was really a famous American pulp hero. Hanoi Xan and the World Crime League are from the movie The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension. The Si-Fan is from Sax Rohmer’s Fu Manchu novels. The Brotherhood of the Golden Chrysanthemum is mentioned in several works by Reynolds. The Vampires of Paris are from the serial Les Vampires. The Order of the Cosmic Ram is from Reynolds’ Royal Occultist series. Commissioner Jerome Warner is from the Black Bat stories. The Kingscote School for Girls is from Antonia Forest’s Marlow novels. St. Trinian’s is the setting of a comic strip by Ronald Searle. The Freiburg dance academy is from the movie Suspiria.

This crossover writeup is one of hundreds included in 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!

Crossover Cover: Phases of the Moon: Full Moon

 

Are you a fan of the books and comics put out by Moonstone Books?

Then you'll love this decades-spanning graphic novel which features various characters published by Moonstone, from the Spider to Sheena!

For more information, check out my book Crossovers Expanded: A Secret Chronology of the World Volume 3! Much like the first two volumes, this new tome 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

This post is dedicated to the late great Derrick Ferguson. Derrick was a great guy, a great author, and a great film critic. He always had praise for my work, particularly my ability to spot references in his own stories. His passing in 2021 was a great loss, and I miss him so much.

Autumn 2002

DILLON AND THE LEGEND OF THE GOLDEN BELL 

Dillon embarks on a mission to acquire the legendary Golden Bell of Malacar to end the country of Xonira’s civil war. Appearing or mentioned are: Hazzard Laboratories; the Banzai Institute; the Henderson Institute of Alternative Technologies; the Lupin Casino; the Khusran army; a black double-breasted Marley Brooks suit; Comanapracil; Professor Simon Kane, aka the Scarf; Intelligence One; Sovereign City; Lowell O’Neal, the author who writes up Regency’s adventures in a series of popular novels; Sylvester Henderson and his brother Mongrel Henderson; the Gantlet Brothers; Max Damage, Seth Armstrong, and Damage, Inc.; Damon St. Cloud and his reporter girlfriend Sasha Benbow in Denbrook; Tenku Beer; Sutter Cane; Liz Sheridan; Johnny Kelly; Omega Elite; Triplets of Belleville; a huge Bowie knife with a well-worn bone handle that had once been owned by the notorious Cole Younger; the Hand of Midas; Steve Austin; and the Behinder. 

Novel by Derrick Ferguson, 2010; revised Deluxe Edition published by PulpWork Press in 2015. Hazzard Laboratories is run by Paul Chadwick’s pulp hero Captain Hazzard, whose adventures have been continued by Ron Fortier. The Banzai Institute is from the movie The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension. The Henderson Institute of Alternative Technologies is run by Dr. Sylvester Henderson, whose brother, Charalambides “Mongrel” Henderson, is featured in Ferguson’s serialized novel “A Man Called Mongrel,” appearing in the Mystery Men (& Women) anthology series. The Lupin Casino is presumably named for Maurice Leblanc’s gentleman burglar Arsène Lupin or one of his relatives, such as his grandson Lupin III. Ferguson’s 1930s adventurer Fortune McCall is a member of the royal family of the African nation of Khusra. The Marley Brooks fashion company must have been founded by one of the bronze man’s aides, who was known for his sartorial splendor. A man wearing a Marley Brooks suit also appears in Howard Hopkins’ Green Ghost story “Ghost of a Chance.” Comanapracil is from “Believe in the Stars,” an episode of the sitcom 30 Rock. The Scarf is mentioned in the first Fortune McCall story, “The Scarlet Courtesan of Sovereign City.” Intelligence One is from Ferguson’s stories “The Knobloch Collection Assignment” and “The Magic of Madness,” the latter of which also features Fortune McCall. Sovereign City is the site of a novel imprint published by Pro Se Press; McCall is one of Sovereign’s heroes. Regency (who is in fact Lowell O’Neal) is a former member of Omega Elite, which is mentioned in several of Ferguson’s works. He appears in Ferguson’s story “In Need of a Friend.” The Gantlet Brothers, a family of rock stars who moonlight as mercenaries, appear in a series of books by Joel Jenkins. Max Damage, Seth Armstrong, and Damage, Inc. are from Jenkins’ Damage Inc. series. Damon St. Cloud and Sasha Benbow are from Jenkins’ Denbrook Supernatural series. The city of Denbrook was the setting of several serialized novels by different authors (including Ferguson and Jenkins) on the Frontier Publishing website and was created by Mike McGee. Tenku Beer is from the movie Kill Bill: Vol. 1. Sutter Cane is from the movie In the Mouth of Madness. Liz (or Lil) Sheridan and Johnny Kelly are from the movie Johnny Dangerously. The Triplets of Belleville are from the French animated film of the same name. Cole Younger was a real outlaw of the Old West, but his Bowie knife is from the movie The Long Riders. The Hand of Midas is from the animated film Aladdin and the King of Thieves. The TV series Once Upon a Time in Wonderland features a counterpart of the villainous Jafar from Disney’s Aladdin movies. Since that show takes place in the CU, the Hand of Midas referenced here probably hails from Fairy Tale Land, as does Once Upon a Time in Wonderland’s version of Jafar. Steve Austin is the Six Million Dollar Man. The Behinder is from Manly Wade Wellman’s Silver John story “The Desrick on Yandro.”

This write-up, and many more, can be found in my book Crossovers Expanded: A Secret Chronology of the World Volume 3, to be published by Meteor House. As with the first two volumes, this book is an AUTHORIZED companion to Win Scott Eckert's works Crossovers: A Secret Chronology of the World Volumes 1 and 2.

Crossover TV Series: The Middleman

Javier Grillo-Marxuach and Les McClaine's comic The Middleman features the title character and his sidekick Wendy Watson battling threats to the world for the Organization Too Secret to Know (O2TSK). There have been several Middlemen throughout history. In the story "The League of Professional Jealousy," Dr. Van Helsing and Jonathan Harker set out to destroy Dracula, only to find they have been beaten to the punch. Soon after, Phileas Fogg returns to the Reform Club after finishing his eighty-day trek around the world, only to find out his time has been beaten by the same person who stole Van Helsing’s thunder: the Middleman. Van Helsing enlists Nikolai Tesla to help him and Fogg get their revenge, which involves Van Helsing spreading rumors of a demonic hound in the moors of Devonshire. However, Tesla actually helps the Middleman outwit Van Helsing and Fogg. Learning there are now reports of a seemingly real "Hound of the Baskervilles" in Devonshire, the Middleman later sends a letter to Holmes and Watson telling them he has already solved the mystery, and he is off to the high seas, where a maniac has been ramming cargo ships with a submarine. This story is a parody, and Van Helsing and Fogg are both out of character. Additionally, the year is given as 1897, whereas in the CU Dracula took place in 1887, Around the World in Eighty Days in 1872, The Hound of the Baskervilles in 1888, and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea in 1866–1868. Therefore, I place the comics in an AU. However, the comic does have a TV adaptation with crossover references of its own, which fits much better into the CU. The O2TSK is also mentioned in The Librarians episode "The Librarians and the Apple of Discord."

In "The Sino-Mexican Revelation," the Middleman and Wendy visit Schlermie Beckerman Memorial Square and Alfred Necessiter Memorial Hospital. Beckerman and Necessiter are from the movie The Man with Two Brains. In "The Manicoid Teleportation Conundrum," the Middleman has a rendezvous with Wendy at Lyon Estates. Wendy discovers a bomb is hidden at Twin Pines Mall. Ida, the Middleman’s android assistant, says a headless murder victim lived at Eastwood Ravine Drive. Lyon Estates and Twin Pines Mall are from the film Back to the Future. Eastwood Ravine Drive is named after the Eastwood Ravine from Back to the Future Part III. In "The Ectoplasmic Panhellenic Investigation," Eleanor Draper’s honors include the Egon Spengler Memorial Award and the Ivo Shandor Medal. Both individuals are from the movie Ghostbusters. In "The Clotharian Contamination Protocol," a NASA employee is named Lethbridge-Stewart. A "Zygon-Rated" containment box appears. The Nakatomi Protocol expands the vents in Middleman HQ to human size, allowing the Middleman to crawl through them in case of an emergency. A Clotharian bomb has writing on it in Aurebesh. Lethbridge-Stewart is probably related to the CU counterpart of Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart from Doctor Who. The Zygons are an alien race also seen in Doctor Who. The Nakatomi Protocol appears to have been inspired by John McClane crawling through the vents of the Nakatomi Plaza building, as seen in the movie Die Hard. The Aurebesh language is from the Star Wars film series. In "The Palindrome Reversal Palindrome," the Middleman and Wendy investigate the theft of a Beryllium Sphere and an Oscillation Overthruster. A collection of stolen doll eyes is made of polydichloric euthimal. The Middleman has a phased polaron cannon in his weapons archive. Beryllium spheres are from the movie Galaxy Quest, while the Oscillation Overthruster is from the movie The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension. Polydichloric euthimal appears in the movies Outland, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, and The Relic, based on Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child’s novel Relic. Outland must take place in an alternate future. The future seen in the Terminator movies is also an alternate timeline to the established future of the CU. The novel Relic has already been established as taking place in the CU, so the events of the movie must occur in an alternate reality as well. Phased polarons are from Star Trek.

Crossover of the Week

2012

THE RESURRECTION OF ABNER KADAVER

A woman claiming to work for the Emilio Lizardo Crematorium appears at the State Prison to collect Abner Kadaver’s body. Dick Tracy and his wife Tess take some time off to go fishing. A boat with the name “Swee’pea” on it is seen. Tess is offered a cup of coffee by a woman named Olive, who says Dick is out fishing with Olive’s own husband at the dock. We see Dick with a man with a large forearm that has a tattoo of an anchor on it, who is holding a can of spinach. Olive and Tess discuss what first attracted them to their respective husbands, namely their chins. As they return home, the Tracys’ son Joe refers to both Olive’s husband and Dick being ex-Navy. Dick smokes a corn cob pipe and says, “I yam what I yam!” Dick’s granddaughter Honeymoon tells him she is going to a Hong Kong Cavaliers concert on Sunday night, and she hopes to get an autograph from Perfect Tommy.

Dick Tracy strip by Mike Curtis and Joe Staton, October 22, 2013–January 4, 2014. The crematorium, mentioned in the October 22 strip, is named after Dr. Emilio Lizardo from the film The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension. The couple who are also vacationing is Popeye and Oliver Oyl from E. C. Segar’s classic comic strip Thimble Theatre. Swee’pea is the name of Popeye’s adopted son. The boat appears in the October 27, 2013 strip, and Popeye and Olive first show up on October 28. The leader of the Hong Kong Cavaliers, who were mentioned in the strip on November 7, 2013, is Buckaroo Banzai himself. Perfect Tommy is the Cavaliers’ rhythm guitarist, and also designed the suspension system on Buckaroo’s Jet Car.

Crossover Covers: Atomic Robo and the Knights of the Golden Circle

Atomic Robo has spent the last fourteen years in the Old West after accidentally being transported there from June 2013. Robo, Doc Holliday, and Bass Reeves encounter the younger version of Robo’s foe Heinrich von Helsingard. Robo says, “Old colleague of mine, he used to say, ‘wherever you go, there you are.’ I think it works with whenever too.” In the epilogue, Secret Service Agents James West and Artemus Gordon discover the wreckage of Helsingard’s airship. Robo was transported to 1870 at the end of the miniseries Atomic Robo and the Savage Sword of Dr. Dinosaur. Robo’s old colleague is Dr. Buckaroo Banzai. James West and Artemus Gordon are from the television series The Wild Wild West, of course.

The Librarian(s) in the CU

In the 2004 TV movie The Librarian: Quest for the Spear, genius Flynn Carsen is kicked out of college, and receives a job offer from the Metropolitan Public Library. He soon discovers that he has been appointed to act as "the librarian," the guardian of historical and often magical items found in a hidden section of the library. When the evil Serpent Brotherhood steals one of three pieces of the Spear of Destiny, which when combined can be used to control the world, Flynn must go on a quest to prevent them from acquiring the other two pieces. He finds the last spear piece in Shangri-La. After defeating the Brotherhood, Flynn learns that the Death Scorpion Cult has stolen H.G. Wells’ Time Machine. The connections to Shangri-La (from James Hilton’s Lost Horizon) and the Time Machine (from H.G. Wells’ novel of the same name) bring Flynn Carsen into the CU. Various accounts set in the CU have portrayed different parties as possessing the Spear of Destiny. It has yet to be determined which, if any, of these stories features the true Spear.

In the 2006 TV movie The Librarian: Return to King Solomon's Mines, Flynn and archaeologist Emily Davenport strive to prevent a thief from plundering the treasures of King Solomon’s Mines. While traveling to the mines, they pass the Breasts of Sheba and Three Witches Mountain. Both landmarks are from H. Rider Haggard's first Allan Quatermain novel, King Solomon's Mines. Solomon’s treasure must have been returned to the African mines from the Pacific island where it was kept for a time, as seen in the Tales of the Gold Monkey episode "Legends Are Forever."

In the 2008 movie The Librarian: Curse of the Judas Chalice, Flynn battles the vampire Vlad Dracula, who has rejuvenated himself by drinking from the Judas Chalice. Supposedly, Dracula was left crippled and stripped of most of his power after drinking from the corpse of a cholera victim hundreds of years ago. This “Dracula” is most likely a “soul-clone” of the true Count.

In 2014, the TV series The Librarians debuted, featuring a new team of Librarians hand-picked by Flynn. The group's greatest foe is the Serpent Brotherhood, led by an immortal named Dulaque. Last night's episode, "The Librarians and the Apple of Discord," continued the pattern of crossovers in the franchise. The World Crime League is named as one of the factions that sent a representative to a conclave of supernatural beings. The League is from the film The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension. Jenkins, the group's caretaker, refers to the amendment to the Wold Newton bylaws at a prior conclave. The conclave involving the Wold Newton bylaws may have been part of a larger conclave that happened in Wold Newton, Yorkshire on December 13, 1795, as originally revealed by Philip José Farmer in Tarzan Alive, and elaborated on by Win in “The Wild Huntsman.” The O2STK is also mentioned. The O2STK (Organization Too Secret to Know) is from Javier Grillo-Marxuach and Les McClaine’s comic book The Middleman.