Crossover Cover: Doc Ardan: The Abominable Snowman

 

Are you a French pulp fan?

Then you'll love this anthology of reprinted and new stories featuring Guy d'Armen's hero Francis "Doc" Ardan!

For more information, be sure to preorder 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: Doc Ardan: The Troglodytes of Mount Everest/The Treasure of Black Lake

 

Are you a French pulp fiction fan?

Then you'll love this collection of two linked novels by Guy d'Armen featuring his character Francis "Doc" Ardan, which has shout-outs to a number of characters and places from French, British, and American popular fiction!

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 Cover: Brighter Than the Sun

 

Are you a Sherlock Holmes fan?

Then you'll love Jean-Marc and Randy Lofficier's epilogue to their adaptation of this novel, which has a passing Holmes reference!

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 Cover: 642

 

In this epilogue by Jean-Marc and Randy Lofficier to their adaptation and translation of Arsène Lupin: 813 by Maurice Leblanc, Dr. Watson explains why Sherlock Holmes falsely claimed not to have solved the riddle of 813 and notes another mystery about the case. Maurice Leblanc, Arsène Lupin’s biographer, notes still another enigma about the affair. Finally, the whole matter is explained by M. Valenglay, the Président du Conseil and a member of the Black Coats, led by Colonel Bozzo-Corona. The Black Coats are featured in novels by Paul Féval. 

This crossover is one of hundreds covered in my book Crossovers Expanded: A Secret Chronology of the World Volume 3, which will be published by Meteor House! 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!

Crossover Cover: Doc Ardan: The Fall of Inramonda

 

Are you a fan of Guy d'Armen's Doc Ardan stories?

Then you'll love this novel, which has ties to both Henri Vernes' Bob Morane series and the Cthulhu Mythos!

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! Like its predecessors, this latest volume is an official and AUTHORIZED companion to Win Scott Eckert's Crossovers: A Secret Chronology of the World Volumes 1 and 2!

Tales of the Shadowmen Volume 20: Fin de Siecle

The twentieth and final volume of Tales of the Shadowmen is coming out in December. Eighteen years is an impressive run, and they've assembled a massive array of great authors for the swan song. Although it's not listed on the site yet, I can verify that there will be at least one additional author. That author is Sean Lee Levin, also the author of Crossovers Expanded: A Secret Chronology of the World Volumes 1-3, and his story pits Irma Vep of Louis Feuillade's classic 1915 silent serial Les Vampires against the eponymous femme fatale from Mario Roncoroni's 1915 silent film Filibus. :D Of course, since this is me we're talking about, there are other crossovers in the story as well. I've been wanting to contribute to Shadowmen for years, and I'm delighted to be in at the last hurrah. This is my first published fiction, as opposed to Crossovers Expanded, which is more reference and metafiction, and I am extremely excited!

Crossover of the Week

2012

THE IDES OF MARS

Martin Mystère finds himself in a holographic representation of Mars, where he is greeted by Colonel Bozzo and the Marchef. Bozzo is the head of the criminal organization once called the Brotherhood of Mercy or the Black Coats, now known as BlackSpear Holdings. Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, the Nyctalope prepares to do battle with the last survivor of the evil Martians he destroyed decades ago. Bozzo tells Martin some of the Martians’ technology was acquired by Kiang-Ho of the Golden Belt, who was defeated by Rama Rundjee, alias Doctor Mystère, after whom Martin was named. He also says Jean de La Hire was the Nyctalope’s biographer, just as Watson was Holmes,’ Ponson du Terrail was Rocambole’s, Burroughs was Greystoke’s, and Féval was Bozzo’s own. Bozzo knew Martin’s ancestor Remy d’Arx very well.

Short story by Jean-Marc Lofficier in Night of the Nyctalope, Jean-Marc and Randy Lofficier, eds., Black Coat Press, 2012; reprinted in French in La Nuit du Nyctalope, Jean-Marc and Randy Lofficier, eds., Rivière Blanche, 2012. Martin Mystère’s exploits have been portrayed in comics by Alfredo Castelli. Colonel Bozzo (aka Colonel Bozzo-Corona), the Marchef, the Black Coats, and Remy d’Arx appear in a series of novels by Paul Féval. BlackSpear Holdings, the present-day incarnation of the Black Coats, also appears in Castelli and Lofficier’s graphic novel The Treasure of the Veste Nere and Lofficier’s novel The Katrina Protocol. The Nyctalope was the hero of French pulp stories by Jean de La Hire. Kiang-Ho of the Golden Belt is the archenemy of Philip Reade’s dime novel boy inventor (or “Edisonade”) Tom Edison Jr. Doctor Mystère’s adventures were recounted by Paul d’Ivoi; Castelli has established the Doctor’s adopted son Cigale is Martin Mystère’s great-great-grandfather.

Crossover of the Week

1857

THE NEXT OMEGA

 An old man seeking a younger fellow who claims to be Doctor Omega remarks, “A Morlock would feel right at home in this neighborhood.” The older man, who is also known as Doctor Omega, carries a robot head in a hatbox that he acquired in the future, in the city of Metropolis. His companion Fred is mentioned. The two Doctors’ carriage is driven by Eugene Papillon. The duo discovers a card bearing the name Maupertuis. The older Omega refers to Lecoq and “that Marple woman.” The Omegas find themselves pursued by robed men that appear to be followers of the Ubasti. The elder Omega tells the younger how a wave of radioactive turbulence separated him and his traveling companions, and asks if he has been to Quinnis in the fourth universe. The apparent Ubasti cultists work for Baron Oscar Maupertuis. Omega refers to a suppressed account by Watson. They are attacked by the robed men, who turn out to actually be Red Lectroids. The younger Omega shows his elder namesake a crystal, which the latter identifies as from Metebelis-Three. The young Omega regains his memory of traveling to the Moon, where he met one of the Lunian Immortals, and realizes that he is really balloonist Antoine Gerpré. Omega recognizes Maupertuis as Ozer, one of many immortals claiming to be the Wandering Jew. Omega departs with Helvetius, his fellow traveler in space and time.

Short story by Travis Hiltz in Tales of the Shadowmen Volume 10: Esprit de Corps, Jean-Marc and Randy Lofficier, eds., Black Coat Press, 2013; reprinted in French in Les Compagnons de l’Ombre (Tome 16), Jean-Marc and Randy Lofficier, eds., Rivière Blanche, 2015. Doctor Omega is from Arnould Galopin’s novel of the same name, as are Fred and Helvetius. The Lofficiers’ translation and adaptation of Galopin’s book implied that the Doctor was the Crossover Universe counterpart of the time and-space-traveling Doctor from the television series Doctor Who. Quinnis in the fourth universe is mentioned in the Doctor Who serial “The Edge of Destruction,” while Metebelis-Three is from the serials “The Green Death” and “Planet of the Spiders.” The Morlocks are from H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine. The robot and the city of Metropolis are from Fritz Lang’s film Metropolis. Doctor Omega visited Metropolis in Hiltz’s story “The Robots of Metropolis” (Tales of the Shadowmen Volume 7: Femmes Fatales, 2011.) Lecoq is Emile Gaboriau’s sleuth. Eugene Papillon is from Gaboriau’s novel Monsieur Lecoq. Baron Maupertuis is mentioned in the Sherlock Holmes story “The Adventure of the Reigate Squire”; here, he is conflated with Ozer from Paul Féval’s novel The Wandering Jew’s Daughter. “That Marple woman” is Agatha Christie’s detective Miss Jane Marple. The Cult of Ubasti is from the serial The Return of Chandu, and has also appeared in Hiltz’s stories “The Treasure of the Ubasti” (Tales of the Shadowmen Volume 6: Grand Guignol, 2009) and “In the Caves of the Serpent” (Tales of the Shadowmen Volume 8: Agents Provocateurs, 2011.) The serial was based on the radio series Chandu the Magician, which spawned a spin-off, Omar the Mystic. After being separated from Omega, Fred found himself in the year 1776, where he also encountered Red Lectroids, as seen in Hiltz’s tale “What Lurks in Romney Marsh?” (Tales of the Shadowmen Volume 9: La Vie En Noir, 2012.) The Lunian Immortals and Antoine Gerpré are from Alfred Driou’s book The Adventures of a Parisian Aeronaut in the Unknown Worlds, which has been translated by Brian Stableford for Black Coat Press.

Crossover Cover: Return of the Nyctalope

This novella by Jean-Marc and Randy Lofficier is a sequel to Jean de La Hire’s original Nyctalope novel The King of the Night; a translation and adaptation of that novel by Brian Stableford is also included in the book. In 2014, the Nyctalope returns to the planet Rhea, which he first visited in 1935. Leo currently works for Auguste Pichenet, the head of the French Intelligence Service. Leo’s lover is Gisèle d’Holbach, his liaison to French Intelligence. Rhea is revealed to have been created by a race called the Sarvants. “Auguste Pichenet” is an alias frequently used by Langelot, a young spy for SNIF (Service National d’Information Fonctionnelle) featured in novels by “Lieutenant X” (Vladimir Volkoff.) Apparently Langelot runs SNIF himself in the 21^st century. Gisèle d’Holbach is related to Langelot’s fellow SNIF agent Gersende “Aspirant Mistigri” d’Holbach. The Sarvants are from Maurice Renard’s novel The Blue Peril, which has also been translated and adapted by Brian Stableford.