Crossover of the Week

Summer 1903

A PIRATE’S LIFE 

Dr. Eric Palmer is brought before Captain Nemo and Robur, who need his help to investigate a murder at the Pirate’s Conference they are hosting, which is held every fifty years, and whose attendees include sea and air pirates. James Gunn and Archibald Haddock escort Palmer to the scene of the crime. The dead man is the Dread Pirate Roberts, who is supposedly over three-hundred-years-old, but part of a succession of men who have used that identity. Others attending the conference include the German Captain Mors and members of the Singh Brotherhood. Palmer asks Gunn about pirate dynasties, and the latter names the Turners and Sala’s band of women. Gunn introduces Palmer to the Nautilus’ first mate, Mister Ishmael. Captain James Hook asks Palmer about his progress on the case. The alleged Dread Pirate Roberts was really Manfred von Warteck, whose family aspires to rival the great criminal brotherhoods of Europe, such as the Black Coats. 

Short story by Travis Hiltz in Tales of the Shadowmen Volume 16: Voir Dire, Jean-Marc and Randy Lofficier, eds., Black Coat Press, 2020; reprinted in French in Les Compagnons de l’Ombre (Tome 27), Jean-Marc Lofficier, ed., Rivière Blanche, 2020. Dr. Eric Palmer is from Paul Féval, fils’ novel Felifax, the Tiger-Man. Captain Nemo and his submarine, the Nautilus, are from Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues under the Sea and The Mysterious Island. Robur is from Verne’s Robur the Conqueror and Master of the World. James Gunn is a descendant of Ben Gunn from Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island. Archibald Haddock is from Hergé’s comic The Adventures of Tintin. The Dread Pirate Roberts is from William Goldman’s The Princess Bride. Captain Mors is a German pulp hero. The Singh Brotherhood and Sala’s group, the Sky Band, are from Lee Falk’s comic strip The Phantom. The Turners are from the Pirates of the Caribbean film series. Ishmael is from Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick. Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill’s comic book The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen portrayed Ishmael as the Nautilus’ first mate. Captain James Hook is from J. M. Barrie’s Peter Pan. Manfred von Warteck is related to Baron Glô von Warteck, the villain of Jean de La Hire’s The Nyctalope vs. Lucifer. The Black Coats are from a series of novels by Paul Féval. 

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: Cold Days

Queen Mab of the Fae tests Harry Dresden by making a number of creative attempts to murder him, which he must survive. A ticking crocodile is mentioned as one of them. This must be the same one seen in J. M. Barrie’s Peter Pan.

Crossover of the Week

May 26, 1903

A CASE FOR LANGDALE PIKE

            Sherlock Holmes comes to his friend Langdale Pike seeking help on a case. Mentioned are: Sir Harry Flashman; Miss Irene Adler; Enoch Soames; James Moriarty; Dr. John H. Watson; A.J. Raffles; the Diogenes; Isadora Klein (aka Lady Lomond); His Royal Highness Prince Florizel of Bohemia; Clarence, Lord Emsworth; Professor G.E. Challenger; the Doctors Nikola and Thorndyke; Mr. Oswald Bastable; Frederick, Lord Ickenham; Mr. A.V. Laider; Mr. Joseph Jorkens; the Darling children; Karswell; “that so-called ghost ship at Whitby”; Graustark; Ruritania; Van Dusen; an officious young waiter who is trying to better himself by reading Spinoza and memorizing Shakespeare and aspires to be a gentleman’s gentleman, and whose name starts with a J; Strether; Little Bilham; Isadora Klein; Spencer John; Grimpen Mire; Hewitt; young Wimsey; the Great Old Ones; and Miskatonic University.

            Short story by Michael Dirda in On Conan Doyle; or, The Whole Art of Storytelling, Princeton University Press, 2012. Langdale Pike, Isadora Klein, and Spencer John are from Doyle and Watson’s Sherlock Holmes story “The Adventure of the Three Gables.” This story depicts Holmes’ consultation with Pike on that case, which was only alluded to in the original tale. Irene Adler is from the Holmes story “A Scandal in Bohemia.” Professor James Moriarty is Holmes’ greatest foe. One member of the Diogenes Club is Sherlock’s older brother Mycroft. Grimpen Mire is from the Holmes novel The Hound of the Baskervilles. Professor George Edward Challenger appears in The Lost World and other works by Doyle. Sir Harry Flashman is the antihero of a series of novels by George MacDonald Fraser. Enoch Soames and A.V. Laider are the respective title characters of two stories by Max Beerbohm, both of which are included in the collection Seven Men. A.J. Raffles is E.W. Hornung’s gentleman thief. Prince Florizel of Bohemia is from Robert Louis Stevenson’s books New Arabian Nights and The Dynamiter. Clarence, Lord Emsworth is from P.G. Wodehouse’s Blandings Castle novels. Frederick, Lord Ickenham is better known as Uncle Fred, and is the subject of another series by Wodehouse. The officious young waiter is Wodehouse’s Reginald Jeeves, future valet to Bertie Wooster. Dr. Antonio Nikola is a master criminal created by Guy Boothby, while Dr. John Evelyn Thorndyke is a detective created by R. Austin Freeman. Oswald Bastable is from Edith Nesbit’s books The Story of the Treasure Seekers, The Wouldbegoods, and The New Treasure Seekers. Joseph Jorkens is an explorer and raconteur created by Lord Dunsany. The Darling children are from J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan. Karswell is from M.R. James’ story “Casting the Runes.” The “so-called ghost ship at Whitby” is from Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Graustark is a European monarchy appearing in novels by George Barr McCutcheon. The kingdom of Ruritania is from Anthony Hope’s The Prisoner of Zenda and Rupert of Hentzau. Van Dusen is Professor Augustus S.F.X. Van Dusen, aka “the Thinking Machine,” a sleuth created by Jacques Futrelle. Lambert Strether and Little Bilham are from Henry James’ novel The Ambassadors. Private detective Martin Hewitt appeared in stories by Arthur Morrison. Young Wimsey is Dorothy L. Sayers’ future sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey. The Great Old Ones and Miskatonic University are from H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos.

Crossover Cover: Peter and Wendy

In this classic children's novel, we are told that pirate Bill Jukes served aboard the Walrus under Captain Flint. Further, Captain Hook is described as the only person Barbecue ever feared, and even Flint feared Barbecue. Captain Flint and his ship, the Walrus, are from Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island, as is Barbecue, which is Long John Silver's nickname. In his speech "Captain Hook at Eton," Barrie revealed that the pirate attended Eton in the late 19th century. Hook must have been transported back in time somehow to the 18th century, where he began a piratical career, encountered Silver, and subsequently immigrated with his crew to the dimension or pocket universe known as Neverland, where he ceased aging.