Crossover of the Week

I read this one just yesterday. Win included "Sex Slaves of the Dragon Tong" in Vol. 1.

Winter 1938

DRAGON’S TONGUE

            A private detective employed by the Continental agency in San Francisco seeks to settle an old score with a Chinese villain called the Lord of Strange Deaths. The detective once believed that a shady Asian in New York named Shiwan Khan was the Lord, but he “ran up against some kook in a cape and a slouch hat and hadn’t come out so well.” The detective visits Police Detective Brad Brannigan, who was given a car by a grateful man whose daughter he helped to save. Back at the Continental office, the detective says hello to Effie as she steps out of the Spade & Archer office down the hall, but she ignores him. The detective is lured into a trap by Fah Lo Suee, the Lord of Strange Deaths’ daughter, who tells him that her father is a member of a group called the Si-Fan. The Lord lists the many aliases his daughter has used, including Madame Ingomar, Queen Mamaloi, Ling Moy, and Lin Tang.

            Story by F. Paul Wilson in the eBook Sex Slaves of the Dragon Tong. The Continental detective is Dashiell Hammett’s Continental Op. The Lord of Strange Deaths is Sax Rohmer’s master villain Dr. Fu Manchu. Fah Lo Suee and the Si-Fan are also from the Fu Manchu novels. Fah used the name Madame Ingomar in The Daughter of Fu Manchu and The Trail of Fu Manchu, and the alias Queen Mamaloi in The Island of Fu Manchu. Ling Moy is the name of Fu Manchu’s daughter in the 1931 film Daughter of the Dragon, while Lin Tang is Fu’s daughter in the Fu Manchu films produced by Harry Alan Towers in the 1960s. Shiwan Khan is a recurring foe of the Shadow, who is the “kook in a cape and a slouch hat.” The man who gave Brannigan the car is Oliver “Daddy” Warbucks from the classic comic strip Little Orphan Annie; Brannigan helped Oliver rescue the latter’s adopted daughter Annie from Fu Manchu’s clutches in Wilson’s “Sex Slaves of the Dragon Tong,” which takes place a week before this story. The Spade & Archer agency is from Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon; apparently Sam Spade did not bother to change the name of the agency after his partner Miles Archer’s death during the 1928 events of Hammett’s novel. Effie Perrine is Spade’s secretary. The Op, who narrates this story, claims that at the age of two, he was found watering the waterfront immediately after the San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906, unable to remember his family or name, and was placed in a series of foster homes, where he was regularly abused. He also claims to have revealed some of these details to Fu Manchu while being subjected to a truth serum. This conflicts with Win Scott Eckert’s speculations about the Op’s background in his essay “Who’s Going to Take Over the World When I'm Gone?: A Look at the Genealogies of Wold Newton Family Super-Villains and Their Nemeses” (Myths for the Modern Age: Philip José Farmer’s Wold Newton Universe, Win Scott Eckert, ed., MonkeyBrain Books, 2005.) Eckert argued that the Op was in fact the brother of Fu Manchu’s archenemy Sir Denis Nayland Smith, and that he was born in 1884 or 1885. Perhaps the Op lied to his readers about his background in order to protect himself and his brother from some of his other enemies, and actually told Fu a more accurate version of his life story. Alternatively, Wilson himself could have made the changes for reasons of his own while editing the story.

Crossover Cover: Honey West & T.H.E. Cat: A Girl and Her Cat

Received this in the mail yesterday. Definitely gonna include it in the book, particularly since it's co-written by my illustrious predecessor Win.

Upcoming Crossovers: FaceOff

Of the characters named in the book description here, Harry Bosch, Aloysius Pendergast, Repairman Jack, and Jack Reacher are the ones that I definitely know have other crossovers bringing them in. So at the very least, we can say that Dennis Lehane's Patrick Kenzie, R.L. Stine's Slappy the Ventriloquist Dummy (who I remember from reading the Goosebumps books as a kid), Heather Graham's Michael Quinn, and Joseph Finder's Nick Heller are also in the CU.

Crossover Covers: The Morris and Chastain Investigations

Justin Gustainis is the author of an excellent series of books featuring occult detective Quincey Morris and his frequent partner, white witch Libby Chastain. Quincey is the great-grandson of the Quincey Morris that appears in Bram Stoker's Dracula; Chastain explains the original Quincey's bachelorhood and marriage proposal to Lucy Westenra by stating that his wife died in childbirth a few years before the events of Stoker's novel. Many other people, places, or things from horror and occult fiction appear or are mentioned in the books, as well as ones from other genres, and therefore I am including the books in the new volumes. For instance, Quincey and Libby's ally Hannah Widmark, aka the Widowmaker, was taught how to use a pair of .45s by "a shadowy, enigmatic man named Cranston," who had a weird laugh and told her that "the weed of Satan bears bitter fruit," an obvious reference to the Shadow. It is worth noting that three of the books published so far have had references to Laurell K. Hamilton's vampire hunter Anita Blake. Since Hamilton's books take place in a world where the public is aware of the existence of supernatural beings, the Anita Blake mentioned in Gustainis' books must be Anita's Crossover Universe counterpart, who has doubtless had very different adventures than her counterpart in what we may call the "Blakeverse."

Crossover Covers: Enter the Lion

According to William S. Baring-Gould's Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street, Sherlock's older, much heavier, and even more brilliant brother Mycroft was born on February 12, 1847. Therefore, in honor of Mycroft's 167th birthday, here is the cover to an account of one of his exploits alongside Sherlock (who had yet to meet Dr. Watson), edited by Michael P. Hodel and Sean M. Wright. At one point, fighting ships such as the more recent four-deckers of Nelson and Hornblower are mentioned, providing further evidence that C.S. Forester's naval hero Horatio Hornblower is in the Crossover Universe. (It is worth noting that Philip José Farmer stated in Tarzan Alive that Tarzan's son married Hornblower's great-great-granddaughter.) There is an apparent continuity conflict between this novel and Farmer's work: Farmer identified Professor James Moriarty as the illegitimate son of housemaid Morcar Moriarty in Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life, whereas this account identifies his father as Jerrold Moriarty, who plays a prominent role in the tale. Win Eckert reconciled the two versions by stating that Jerrold was actually Urania's brother, and a beloved uncle and father-figure to James.

Crossover Covers: Witchblade/Red Sonja

Witchblade and Red Sonja already had many independent connections bringing them into the Crossover Universe before the publication of this miniseries, set in both the Hyborian Age (in which Sonja battles a dangerous foe alongside the Witchblade holder of that era) and the present day (in which Sara Pezzini, the current holder of the Witchblade, battles the same immortal menace.) This crossover confirms that they exist in the same universe.

Crossover Cover: Night of the Nyctalope

This collection of stories featuring Jean de La Hire's French pulp hero the Nyctalope, who possesses an artificial heart and can see in perfect darkness, contains a translation of the titular story by de La Hire, as well as sixteen new stories about the character, 15 of which have crossovers.  Therefore, I've written them up for the new volumes. Among the characters appearing alongside the Nyctalope here are Tarzan, Don Vito Corleone, Dean Moriarty and Sal Paradise, Father Merrin, and Gullivar Jones.

Crossover of the Week

May 1934
THE NYCTALOPE’S NEW YORK ADVENTURE
            Leo Saint-Clair (aka the Nyctalope) meets a man named Henry Arnaud while traveling to New York City aboard a commercial airship. They are joined by Ivor Llewellyn, head of Superba-Llewellyn Pictures in California, who wants to make a movie based on Saint-Clair’s exploits, in which he would co-star with the studio’s own Lotus Blossom. Llewellyn also says that the Americans used to see the silent serials based on both Saint-Clair and Judex’s adventures, and that he wouldn’t put it past Schnellenhammer of Perfecto-Zizzbaum, F.X. Weinberg of Metropolis Pictures, or Jacques Butcher of Magna to attempt to sign the hero to a contract as well. Leo is traveling to New York at the invitation of Dr. Orestes Preson, Curator of Fossil Mammals at the Bradley Institute of Paleontology and Natural History. The other reason for his journey is that some time ago, his friend Judge Coméliau was the victim of a murder attempt by a crime lord who calls himself Zigomar after the self-styled “King of Thieves” from twenty years ago, who escaped death at the hands of the policeman Broquet many times. Saint-Clair has received a tip that the new Zigomar has relocated to New York. After they land, Leo accompanies Arnaud in a cab driven by Moe Shrevnitz to the Churchill Hotel. Arnaud offers Leo the services of his friend Lamont Cranston. The manager of the Hotel argues with a man who identifies himself as Sebastian Tombs. Nero Wolfe asks Archie Goodwin if he’s ever told him about Monsieur Anatole, a French chef who works for a wealthy Englishman named Thomas Travers and his wife. Archie adds that Mrs. Travers publishes a magazine called Milady’s Boudoir. Wolfe remarks that Anatole is said to surpass Fritz Brenner in the culinary arts. Inspector Cramer calls Wolfe and says that Detective Sgt. Purley Stebbins is escorting a Frenchman (meaning Leo) to Wolfe’s brownstone. Wolfe tells Archie to call Colonel Dubois of the Deuxième Bureau in Paris, as well as Saul Panzer. Prosper Lepicq is mentioned in Wolfe and Dubois’ conversation. Stebbins arrives with Saint-Clair in tow, and then returns to his taxi, a new yellow Checker from the Sunshine Cab Company. Among the items in Wolfe’s office is a framed portrait of Sherlock Holmes above Archie’s desk. After breakfast at the Churchill, Leo was escorted to the Panther-Pilsner brewery by criminals named Harry the Horse, Little Isadore, and Spanish John, who work for a man called “the Big Fellow.” Commissioner Wainwright Barth took Leo to see Cramer. Cramer himself arrives at the brownstone, with District Attorney William Skinner and his assistant, Anthony Quinn, in tow. Skinner says that Leo’s friend Alexandre Prillant is worried about him. He also divulges the fact that the previous Big Fellow was William Valcross, who was remanded into the custody of Inspector Fernack several years ago, and then died in the electric chair.
            Short story by Stuart Shiffman in The Nyctalope Steps In, Jean-Marc and Randy Lofficier, eds., Black Coat Press, 2011; reprinted in French in La Nuit du Nyctalope, Jean-Marc and Randy Lofficier, eds., Rivière Blanche, 2012. The Nyctalope and his friend Alexandre Prillant are from French pulp novels by Jean de La Hire. Henry Arnaud is one of the Shadow’s many aliases. Lamont Cranston is a millionaire whom Allard frequently impersonates. Moe “Shrevvy” Shrevnitz and Deputy Commissioner Wainwright Barth are also from the Shadow novels. Ivor “Ikey” Llewellyn and his studio Superba-Llewellyn Pictures are from P.G. Wodehouse’s novels The Luck of the Bodkins; Frozen Assets; Pearls, Girls, and Monty Bodkin; and Bachelors Anonymous. Lotus “Lottie” Blossom is also from The Luck of the Bodkins. Jacob Z. Schnellenhammer and the Perfecto-Zizzbaum Motion Picture Corporation are from Wodehouse’s Mr. Mulliner stories. Tom Travers and his wife Dahlia are the uncle and aunt respectively of Wodehouse’s most famous character, Bertie Wooster. Monsieur Anatole is their personal chef, while Milady’s Boudoir is a magazine published by Dahlia. Judex is the title character of Louis Feuillade’s film serial. F.X. Weinberg’s Metropolis Pictures appears in Denis Green and Anthony Boucher's radio series The Casebook of Gregory Hood, as well as Boucher's novels The Case of the Baker Street Irregulars and Rocket to the Morgue, the Fergus O’Breen novels and stories, and his short story “Mystery for Christmas.” The Case of the Baker Street Irregulars features O’Breen’s sister in a prominent role, while Rocket to the Morgue features nun Sister Ursula and police detective Terry Marshall, who first appeared in Boucher’s Nine Times Nine. Lt. Herman Finch from The Case of the Baker Street Irregulars also appears in Boucher’s first Nick Noble story, “Screwball Division,” while the last Noble story, “The Girl Who Married a Monster,” refers to Fergus O’Breen’s detective agency. Jacques Butcher and Magna Studios are from the Ellery Queen novel The Four of Hearts. Dr. Orestes Preson is from Frances and Richard Lockridge’s Mr. and Mrs. North mystery Dead as a Dinosaur. Judge Ernest Coméliau appeared in several non-series novels written by Georges Simenon under pseudonyms before becoming a recurring character in the Maigret books. The original Zigomar was a gypsy crime lord and foe of policeman Paulin Broquet in stories by Léon Sazie. Nero Wolfe, Archie Goodwin, Fritz Brenner, Inspector Cramer, Sgt. Stebbins, Saul Panzer, and D.A. Skinner are from the novels by Rex Stout. The Churchill Hotel appears in both the Nero Wolfe novels and Stout’s Tecumseh Fox series. Sebastian Tombs is an alias used by Simon Templar, aka the Saint. William Valcross (the original Big Fellow) and Inspector Fernack are from Leslie Charteris’ The Saint in New York. Prosper Lepicq is featured in books by Pierre Véry. Colonel Dubois appears in novels by Pierre Nord. The Sunshine Cab Company is from the TV series Taxi. William S. Baring-Gould identified Sherlock Holmes as Nero Wolfe’s father. The Panther-Pilsner brewery is from the Three Stooges short Three Little Beers. Harry the Horse, Little Isadore, and Spanish John are from the stories of Damon Runyon. Anthony Quinn will later become the vigilante known as the Black Bat, whose adventures appeared in the pulp Black Book Detective.

Crossover Covers: Return of the Monsters

In 2011, Moonstone Books did four one-shot comics pitting pulp heroes against classic monsters. Three of them had crossovers:

The Black Bat and Death Angel (an original vigilante created by writer Mike Bullock) vs. the Lord of the Vampires.

In this one, the Domino Lady refers to Ravenwood, an occult detective who had his own backup feature in the pulp Secret Agent X.

Besides the obvious featured characters, there are also references to other pulp characters: Donald Wandrei's scientific detective I.V. Frost, providing his first known link to the Crossover Universe; the aforementioned Domino Lady and Black Bat; and the Spider.

There was also a fourth one-shot, The Spider vs. Werewolf, which didn't have any crossovers. Nevertheless, here's the cover for anyone who's interested:

Crossover Cover: Night of the Avenger

Crossover Covers: The Conflagration Man

I've already posted the covers for the second comic book crossover between the Shadow and Doc Savage, so here's the first one. While both were very good, this one had better interior artwork, in my opinion. There's also a subtle reference to Sherlock Holmes, and one to Guys and Dolls, as noted by Win in Vol. 1.

Upcoming crossovers: The Vril Agenda

I will definitely be picking this up. Besides the obvious need to include it in the new volumes, Josh Reynolds and Derrick Ferguson are two of the best writers in the New Pulp community. Incidentally, Otis "Alcatraz" Brown, aka the Magician, also appeared in "The Knobloch Collection Assignment," Ferguson's story in the anthology Tales from the Hanging Monkey, Volume 1. All four of the stories in that collection have crossovers, and therefore I've already written them up.

Crossover Covers: Return of the Originals: Battle for L.A.

This graphic novel published by Moonstone Books featured four classic pulp heroes - G-8 (a Wold Newton Family member according to Farmer), the Phantom Detective, the Black Bat, and the Domino Lady - teaming up to foil an occult plot by Imperial Japanese forces who had already injured another hero from the pulps, Secret Agent X. The hardcover edition had a bonus text story depicting the Spider's (another Family member) encounter with one of the villains.

Crossover Covers: Loren Estleman's Sherlock Holmes

These two highly entertaining novels by Loren D. Estleman revealed the Great Detective's involvement in the events of two other classic books of the Victorian era. My predecessor, Win Scott Eckert, listed both books in Vol. 1.

Crossover of the Week

Spring 1792; Summer 1996

A SHARPNESS ON THE NECK

            In Revolutionary France, Vlad Dracula repays a debt of honor to Philip Radcliffe, illegitimate son of Benjamin Franklin, who has been sentenced to the guillotine through the machinations of Vlad’s brother Radu as retribution for saving Vlad’s unlife. Radu was revived by a group of grave-robbers that included Jerry Cruncher. Imprisoned alongside Radcliffe in La Conciergerie are Percy Blakeney and Charles Darnay. Vlad’s companion and fellow nosferatu Constantia tells him that an Englishman “named Barton or Garton, or some name like that” switched places with Darnay, and went to the guillotine in his stead. As the prisoners are being loaded into the tumbrils, it is discovered that Blakeney has escaped. Madame Defarge is one of the tricoteuses present at Radcliffe’s seeming execution. Radcliffe’s lover, Melanie Romain, has a 10 year old illegitimate son named Auguste by a deceased former lover named Charles Dupin. Vlad reveals that after Radcliffe and the Romains fled to London, “little Auguste fell in with his paternal grandfather, himself a successful refugee. Old Monsieur Dupin conceived a liking for this youngster, wanted him to bear the family name, and more or less adopted him. I have heard that Melanie’s child, like many another exile, returned in a few years to France, at a time when Bonaparte promised glory, and that in later life he formed some vague connection with the Parisian police.” Two centuries later, Vlad attempts to save Philip Radcliffe’s descendant and namesake and his wife June from Radu’s vengeance.

            Novel by Vlad Dracula, edited by Fred Saberhagen, 1996. Vlad is not the Dracula of Bram Stoker’s novel, but rather one of his “soul-clones”; see Dennis Power’s article “Best Fangs Forward” (found at the Wold Newton Universe: A Secret History website) for more information. Jerry Cruncher, Charles Darnay, the Englishman (Sydney Carton), and Madame Defarge are from Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities. Sir Percy Blakeney is the alter ego of the Scarlet Pimpernel; Sir Percy must have devised a way to preserve his dual identity after escaping from prison. At first glance, Auguste would appear to be C. Auguste Dupin, from the stories by Edgar Allan Poe; however, his age and genealogy do not fit with the information given by Philip José Farmer in Tarzan Alive. We must assume that Auguste (note the absence of the first initial) Dupin was a relative of Poe’s Dupin, and the person who inspired him to become a detective.

Crossover Covers: Hack/Slash Part 2

Besides the characters shown yesterday, slasher hunters Cassie Hack and Vlad have also met:

Mercy Sparx, a demon created by Josh Blaylock, who has been recruited by Heaven to track down rogue angels....

The depraved supervillain Bomb Queen, whose alternate reality Cassie traveled to from the CU (and who traveled to the CU herself in the storyline "Interdimensional Women's Prison Breakout")...

Eva, Daughter of Dracula...

The ghostly slasher Victor Crowley, from the Hatchet film series...

And in the coda to Cassie and Vlad's saga, Ash Williams from the Evil Dead films and the comic book Army of Darkness.

This series wracked up an impressive number of crossovers in its years of publications. As a bonus, here's a one page unofficial comic by creator Tim Seeley in which Cassie and Vlad meet two other master killers: Dexter Morgan (from the television series Dexter) and Jason Voorhees (from the Friday the 13th movies.) I'm probably not going to include this in the book, but it's still pretty cool, particularly as I'm a Dexter fan.