Crossover Cover: Darkest Heart

Nancy A. Collins' series featuring monster-hunting vampire Sonja Blue has a few crossovers bringing it into the CU. In this particular novel, Sonja visits a New Orleans voodoo priestess, whose library includes a copy of Legendre's Le Livre d'Absinthe. This is obviously a reference to voodoo houngan Murder Legendre from the horror film White Zombie. It's worth noting that the Sonja Blue novel A Dozen Black Roses, published by White Wolf, has Sonja encountering the Camarilla vampire sect from White Wolf's role-playing game Vampire: The Masquerade. The game gives a version of the nature of vampirism that is very different from most accounts set in the CU, as well as a unique take on Dracula that can't really be interpreted as a soul-clone. Therefore, A Dozen Black Roses must feature the CU version of the Camarilla, and does not import the continuity of Vampire: The Masquerade wholesale.

Upcoming Crossovers: Grendel vs. the Shadow

Next month, Dynamite Entertainment is publishing the first issue of a miniseries by Matt Wagner where Wagner's character Grendel meets the Shadow. Note that the preview also has a Sweeney Todd reference. Assuming that this story fits into Crossover Universe continuity, I'm also going to need to read the two crossovers between Grendel and Batman from the 1990s. For CU purposes, the Batman in those stories would have to be Bruce Wayne Jr., the son of the original Dark Knight.

Crossover Cover: Bad Luck and Trouble

As those who've read my August 7 post about Stephen King's novel Under the Dome already know, Lee Child's character Jack Reacher is in the Crossover Universe. At the beginning of this particular novel by Child, Reacher is stranded in Portland, Oregon, broke after spending two nights with an assistant district attorney named Samantha. This is a reference to Samantha Kincaid, a deputy D.A. in Portland who is the protagonist of a series of novels by Alafair Burke, bringing her into the CU as well.

Crossover of the Week

Hey, all. I know I haven't posted anything since Thursday. I was at FarmerCon/Pulpfest, and having a blast with my buddies. Today marks my triumphant return. First of all, before I give you my belated Crossover of the Week post, I wanted to share this picture of me and my dear friend, co-publisher, and predecessor as custodian of the Crossover Universe, Win Scott Eckert (I'm on the left):

July 1917

THE HUNTERS OF MARS

            Leo Saint-Clair (aka the Nyctalope) takes a transport to the Martian city of Helium, where his assistance has been requested by John Carter, Warlord of Mars (aka Barsoom.) Carter managed to convince two other Martian races, the Sorns and the Hither People, to join forces with his to drive the invading Cephales from Mars. The Cephales fled to Earth, where they crushed England’s armies before falling prey to the planet’s bacteria. The surviving members of the colony returned to Mars, where Leo and Oxus prevented them from attacking the newly-created French colony. After the Cephales’ defeat, the duo learned of other races on the Red Planet such as the Tharks and the Red Men of Helium. Oxus believes that the radium used by the people of Helium might be able to revive an ancient capsule he has discovered in one of the nearby Martian ruins, which apparently contains secrets that could advance the cause of space travel by light years, and end the Great War within a few months. Leo meets with a group consisting of the Thark Tars Tarkas, Carter, and the latter’s wife, Dejah Thoris, Princess of Helium. Reports are mentioned of a warrior resembling Carter in ancient Phoenicia, as well as a 13^th century “Outlaw of Torn.” Carter wishes Leo to investigate the mutilations of several Tharks. Kantos Kan and other Martians gather around the bodies of two murdered palace guards. Leo tells Carter that the killer does not operate under the ethical codes of the Tharks, the Sorns, the Hross, the Hither People, or any other known race on Barsoom. He theorizes that the killer is a hunter from another world collecting trophies. Leo is well versed in the hunting techniques of Quatermain and Roxton. The hunter, or Predator, is blown up by a device in its gauntlet after being killed, destroying a Thark incubation chamber in the process. Carter says that he will take the sole surviving infant to Sola, who will care for him.

            Short story by Matthew Dennion in The Nyctalope Steps In, Jean-Marc and Randy Lofficier, eds., Black Coat Press, 2011; reprinted in French in Les Compagnons de l’Ombre (Tome 8), Jean-Marc and Randy Lofficier, eds., Rivière Blanche, 2011. The Nyctalope, and Oxus appear in French pulp novels by Jean de La Hire. Helium, John Carter, Barsoom, the Tharks, the Red Men, Tars Tarkas, Deja Thoris, Kantos Kan, and Sola are from Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Mars novels. The Sorns and the Hross are from C.S. Lewis’ Out of the Silent Planet. The Hither People are from Edwin Arnold’s Lieutenant Gullivar Jones: His Vacation. The Cephales (or Kephales) are from de La Hire’s The Great Adventures of a Scout; here, they are conflated with the Martians from H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds. George Alec Effinger’s story “Mars: The Home Front” proposed that Wells’ Martians (aka the Sarmaks) came from Barsoom, while The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume II depicted John Carter’s alliance with the Sorns and the Hither People to drive off Wells’ Martians. The Nyctalope and Oxus encountered Wells’ Martians in de La Hire’s The Nyctalope on Mars. The capsule is from the British television serial Quatermass and the Pit. The Phoenician warrior is the title character of another Edwin Arnold novel, Phra the Phoenician, whom Dennis E. Power and Dr. Peter Coogan conflated with John Carter in their essay “John Carter: Torn from Phoenician Dreams (An Examination Into the Theories that John Carter was Phra the Phoenician and Norman of Torn)” (Myths for the Modern Age: Philip José Farmer’s Wold Newton Universe, Win Scott Eckert, ed., MonkeyBrain Books, 2005.) The Outlaw of Torn is from the novel of the same name by Burroughs; Philip José Farmer conflated him with John Carter in his speech “The Arms of Tarzan,” also reprinted in Myths for the Modern Age. Quatermain is H. Rider Haggard’s Allan Quatermain, while Roxton is Lord John Roxton from Arthur Conan Doyle’s Professor Challenger tales. The Predator race is featured in a series of science fiction films. The Predators have appeared in several crossover tales in comic books; however, only those crossovers involving Crossover Universe mainstays such as Tarzan or Mycroft Holmes are incorporated into CU continuity.

Crossover Cover: Under the Dome

This novel by Stephen King has connections to King's other works, the Cthulhu Mythos, and a popular contemporary thriller series. In it, the town of Chester's Mill, Maine finds itself under a dome created by aliens for a little over a week. Journalist Julia Shumway also appears. Chester's Mill and Julia were first mentioned in King's story "N." Chester's Mill shares a border with the towns of Castle Rock, Motton, and TR-90, which are each mentioned in several of King's works, and Tarker's Mill, the setting of Cycle of the Werewolf. Two of the other main characters are Jim Rennie and Dale "Barbie" Barbara. A note written by someone called Barbie to a man named Jim appears in King's novel Desperation. Chester's Mill resident Myra Evans first appeared in Needful Things. There are several references to two more recurring elements of King's fiction, Shawshank State Prison and the town of Derry. One conspiracy theory about the dome suggests that Great Cthulhu is responsible for it. Finally, a military policeman named Jack Reacher is referred to. Reacher is the protagonist of a series of novels by Lee Child. Although this novel was first published in 2009, it takes place during Barack Obama’s second term as president of the United States, and therefore between 2013 and 2016. According to King, there is a great deal of national news coverage regarding the dome, as well as a military blockade, although apart from the government no one finds out about the aliens that caused it. The nationwide knowledge of the dome’s existence is probably exaggeration on King’s part, although obviously enough people outside of Chester’s Mill learned about or heard rumors of the dome to have theories as to its origins.

Crossover Cover: The Society of United Magicians

In this story, which takes place in 1936, the Shadow battles a group of corrupt magicians who are attempting to force Bess Houdini to contact the spirit of her late husband Harry, seeking secrets he has learned on the other side. A poster for Mandrake the Magician is seen in the Society’s headquarters. It is also revealed that Houdini is the one who taught the Shadow the art of escapology.

Crossover Cover: Of Spiders and Serpents/A King Comes Riding

Crossover Cover: The Night Lakota Died

In this issue, Dr. Adam Spektor encounters Dr. Solar, who had his own series from Gold Key in the 1960s. It is revealed that Solar now works for government intelligence, reporting to a man named Nick. A text piece in The Occult Files of Dr. Spektor #23 identifies the agency Dr. Solar works for as "the law-enforcement division for international espionage, supreme headquarters." The implication is that Solar works for S.H.I.E.L.D., answering to Nick Fury.

Crossover of the Week

May 1937

THE DEVIL’S TIGER

            An article by Moxie Donovan in The Daily Star says that Commissioner Weston will not discuss the so-called “Green Claw Deaths” that have occurred in recent months, and that several private criminologists have been called in, including Anton Chadeaux, aka Dr. Shadows. When Dr. Shadows began fighting crime, he thought Clark Savage’s whole attitude toward publicity for himself was missing a chance to reach many more people. Traveling to the Philippines, Dr. Shadows and his comrade Slugger Harris have lunch with a detective acquaintance, Jo Gar, who gets them tickets to a baseball game. Dr. Shadows, using a device to short out the lights in his foe the White Tiger’s headquarters, hopes that Mr. Roberts is the electrical whiz he says he is. He later states that George Chance, Ardini, or Dr. Pali could outdo a trick performed by the White Tiger, but it did have a flawless setup and execution. Dr. Shadows speculates that maybe in time Andy Mayfair or his boss will find a way to synthesize clay used by the White Tiger as an explosive, so that it can be used instead against the Japanese.

            Short story by Teel James Glenn in Shadows of New York: The Mysterious Adventures of Dr. Shadows, BooksForABuck.com, 2011. Daily Star reporter Moxie Donovan has been featured in two short story collections by Glenn, Deadline Zombies: The Adventures of Maxi and Moxie and Headline Ghouls: The Further Adventures of Maxi and Moxie. Commissioner Ralph Weston is from the Shadow novels. Electrical expert Major Thomas J. “Long Tom” Roberts is one of Clark “Doc” Savage’s five aides, as is Lt. Col. Andrew Blodgett “Monk” Mayfair. Spanish-Filipino detective Jo Gar appeared in stories by “Ramon Decolta” (Raoul Whitfield) in Black Mask. George Chance is the alter ego of G.T. Fleming-Roberts’ pulp hero the Ghost (aka the Green Ghost.) Ardini is a magician-cum-detective who appears in Walter Gibson’s novel A Blonde for Murder. Dr. Pali is a false identity assumed by “Richard Foster’s” (Kendell Crossen) pulp hero the Green Lama.

Crossover Cover: Master of the World

Crossover Covers: The Black Trail

This novel is part of one of the many series of westerns written by a circle of British authors dubbed "the Piccadilly Cowboys." As with many of those books, there are references to other series. In this novel, there is a reference to tales of outlaws such as Jed Herne (from John J. McLaglen's Herne the Hunter series), Edge (from novels by George G. Gilman), Jack Ryker (from Charles C. Garrett's Gunslinger books), Cuchillo Oro (from William M. James' Apache series), and Crow. Since Edge is in the CU through a couple crossovers Win included in Volume 1, Crow and the other characters are in as well. There is also a reference to an American Western film in this book. It is stated that Crow has a creed that requires killing enemies before they have a chance to kill him, “which meant he didn’t have any enemies. Like a nervy shootist named Lee once said. Lee had gotten himself killed swatting some flies away from a little village south of the border against Calveras. With Chris and a half dozen others. He’d said he had no enemies. Alive.” Lee, Calveras (originally Calvera), and Chris are from The Magnificent Seven.

Crossover Cover: The Black Coat & Athena Voltaire

Crossover Cover: The Haunting of Thallus

In the first part of this storyline from Marvel Comics' first Star Trek series, written by Marv Wolfman, a number of monsters attack the starship Enterprise, including what appears to be Dracula. Spock cites legends that in the 20^th Century, vampire slayer Quincey Harker destroyed Dracula. The monsters are eventually revealed in the second part, written by Mike W. Barr, to have been created with a Klingon “thought-enhancer” device. Spock's reference to Dracula's death at Quincey Harker's hands bolsters the inclusion of Wolfman's series Tomb of Dracula in the CU.

Crossover Covers: Inspector Wilkins

This series of novels is an affectionate pastiche of 1930s locked room mystery novels, with Inspector Wilkins repeatedly having to investigate murders at the home of the unlucky Earl of Burford. All three novels have references to detective fiction of that era, which treat the characters mentioned as real people. In The Affair of the Bloodstained Egg Cosy (published in 1975), Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot is referred to by Wilkins. The Affair of the Mutilated Mink (1983) has several references: Dorothy L. Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey; Michael Innes' Sir John Appleby (along with Richard Eliot's book The Spider Bites Back from the Appleby novel Stop Press); Ngaio Marsh's Inspector Roderick Alleyn; Agatha Christie's Ariadne Oliver (from the Hercule Poirot books, as well as the non-series novel The Pale Horse) and her book Death of a Debutante (mentioned in Mrs. McGinty's Dead); and The Screaming Bone by Annette de la Tour, the pen name of Mr. Judd in Edmund Crispin's Gervase Fen novel Buried for Pleasure. The third and final Wilkins novel, The Case of the 39 Cufflinks, refers to Lord Peter Wimsey once again, along with his manservant Bunter.