THE WOLD
NEWTON UNIVERSE
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AN OVERVIEW OF KEY EVENTS IN THE WOLD NEWTON UNIVERSE APPEARS IN BLACK TEXT - not intended as an all-inclusive history - for complete information refer to:
Philip José Farmer's Tarzan Alive, Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life, and The Other Log of Phileas Fogg
William S. Baring-Gould's Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street and Nero Wolfe of West 35th Street
Professor H.W. Starr's articles A Submersible Subterfuge, or, Proof Impositive and A Case of Identity, or, The Adventure of the Seven Claytons (both articles included as addenda to Farmer's The Other Log of Phileas Fogg and Tarzan Alive, respectively)
Rick Lai's article The Secret History of Captain Nemo, Pulp Vault number 11, Tattered Pages Press
Peter Cannon's The Chronology Out of Time: Dates in the Fiction of H.P. Lovecraft, Necronomicon Press, 1997
Daniel Harms' The Encyclopedia Cthulhiana, 2nd ed., Chaosium Books, 1998 (including the Timeline of the Cthulhu Mythos by Shannon Appel)
Chris Jarocha-Ernst's A Cthulhu Mythos Bibliography & Concordance, Armitage House, 1999
Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill's The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, volumes I and II and the annotations of volume I and volume II by Jess Nevins
other works cited on these pages
Solar Pons and Fu Manchu meet again.
In The Reminiscences of Solar Pons (book 5), by August Derleth. Confirms Solar Pons and Dr. Parker in the Newtonverse.
1926 - The events of Thorne Smith's novel Topper.
THE ADVENTURE OF THE CLUBS aka THE TERROR OVER
LONDONSolar Pons' raconteur, Dr. Parker, refers to Pons as the greatest detective ever, other than the "late Sherlock Holmes." Also, the murder of Lord Cantlemere is mentioned.
A Solar Pons novella by Dr. Lyndon Parker, and edited by August Derleth, published in The Final Adventures of Solar Pons, Mycroft and Moran Books, 1998. Parker, of course, is covering for the fact that Pons' relative, Sherlock Holmes, is still alive. Rick Lai points out that, "Lord Cantlemere was the rude overbearing government official in Doyle's The Adventure of the Mazarain Stone (Baring-Gould puts the story in 1903). It could be that the two Cantlemeres are the same person, or that the Lord Cantlemere of the 1920s was the son of the nobleman encountered by Holmes."
1927 - The first case of The Hardy Boys, The Tower Treasure.
1927 - The first case of Richard William Chandos, Blind Corner, as documented by Dornford Yates.
1927
THE CASE OF THE CURIOUSLY COMPETENT CONJURORDr. Anton Zarnak receives a telepathic message from Dr. Phibes, who is resting in his tomb. It is also stated that that Zarnak trained with Spratt at St. Swithen's. There is also a reference to the Orlac case, in which an organ transplant leads to horrible results.
A Dr. Zarnak short story by James Ambuehl and Simon Bucher-Jones, in Lin Carter's Anton Zarnak Supernatural Sleuth. Since Zarnak is in the Wold Newton Universe, so is Dr. Phibes. According to Rick Lai, "The first Dr. Phibes film, The Abominable Dr. Phibes, was set in 1925. Mrs. Phibes died during an operation in 1921 (see the year on her coffin in the mausoleum), and Dr. Vesalius reminded Nurse Allen that the operation was four years ago. The second Dr. Phibes movie, Dr. Phibes Rises Again, happens three years later (1928)." Also according to Rick Lai, "Sir Lancelot Spratt taught surgery at St. Swithin's (called "St. Swithens" in the Zarnak story) in Richard Gordon's Doctor in the House series. Spratt would have been too young to have been a teacher at St. Swithin's when Zarnak attended there, and would more likely have been a fellow student." Chuck Loridans points out that the Orlac reference is to The Hands of Orlac (directed by Robert Wiene, 1924, based on the book The Hands of Orlac by Maurice Renard), the story of a classical pianist whose hands are crushed in a train accident. When a scientist replaces Orlac's hands with those of a killer, the results are murderous.
1927 - Publication of Trader Horn, an autobiographical account by African explorer Alfred Aloysius "Trader" Horn. Horn, seventy-three years of age at publication, was in his lifetime an animal collector, gold prospector, Scotland Yard detective, artist, archeologist, and blood-brother of cannibals. A fictionalized film version was released in 1931.
1927 - Silver John is born in Moore County, NC.
Spring 1927
Bat Lash, Hans von Hammer, and Biff Bradley go on a mission to save China and get more than they bargained for when they encounter the dinosaurs of Dragon Island. Lash also mentions his acquaintance, the legendary gunfighter Jonah Hex. "Chop-Chop" and Miss Fear, in their pre-Blackhawk days, also make appearances, as do the ninja shapeshifter Major Kung and an immortal villain who is called Vandal Savage in this story.
1998 DC Comics mini-series by Tim Truman, who manages to defuse the ethnic stereotyping inherent in the "Chop-Chop" character. There is already a Wold Newton version of Blackhawk (see the Batman and Captain America crossover, 1945). This adventure integrates the Newtonverse versions of Lash, Von Hammer, Hex, and Kung, as well as Miss Fear, who would go on to many appearances as an ally of the Blackhawks. Von Hammer's descendant, Heinrich Franz, would later meet The Batman. And Biff Bradley's younger brother, Slam, will go on to open his own detective agency and work on an important case with The Batman and Sherlock Holmes. See also Prehistoric Survivors in the Pacific by Mark Brown for more information.
Summer 1927
Although Harry Houdini is believed to have died the previous year, on October 31, 1926, Sherlock Holmes is once again involved in his affairs. In the course of their investigation, Holmes and Watson interview Houdini's friend, Walter B. Gibson. It is unclear why the editor attributed a fictional statement to Gibson, to the effect that Gibson was thinking about creating a character for radio and the pulps called "The Shadow." This statement is clearly fictional since The Shadow is a real person.
Novel by Dr. Watson, edited by Val Andrews, Breese Books, 1995. Gibson, of course, was Kent "The Shadow" Allard's primary biographer and wrote of his exploits under the pen name of Maxwell Grant in The Shadow Magazine from 1931 to 1949.
Sherlock Holmes, visiting Arkham, Massachusetts, again encounters writer H.P. Lovecraft, along with further Cthulhuoid horrors, after being asked to investigate the disappearance of Randolph Carter.
Holmes again encounters the Cthulhu Mythos in this short story by Ralph Vaughan, Gryphon Publications, 1990. Randolph Carter figures in several of Lovecraft's works, including The Statement of Randolph Carter, The Silver Key, and The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath.
TARZAN AT THE EARTH'S CORE 
Tarzan meets Jason Gridley and travels to the inner world of Pellucidar.
In this novel, Burroughs crosses-over two of his own creations, Tarzan and Pellucidar. Date derived from Farmer's Tarzan Alive. The character Jason Gridley is also mentioned in Burroughs' John Carter of Mars series (see next entry).
It should be noted here that, although Philip José Farmer considered Pellucidar and this novel to be completely fictional in relation to Tarzan, he nevertheless provided a date for this adventure in his chronology. Mr. Farmer dismissed Edgar Rice Burroughs' Pellucidar as fictional in relation to the "real" Tarzan stories. I think he was mistaken. (It's happened before - see Tarzan Alive where he states that G-8, The Spider and The Shadow are the same person. He retracts this in Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life.) I think that Pellucidar is real, although its true nature has not been fully revealed (perhaps it more accurately is a grand series of underground caverns, as depicted in Black as the Pit, From Pole to Pole) and that Tarzan (among others) really did travel there in Tarzan at the Earth's Core.
Jason Gridley is in Pellucidar during the time period that this John Carter of Mars novel takes place.
Written by Burroughs. Date derived from Farmer's Tarzan Alive and John Flint Roy's A Guide to Barsoom.
March-May 1928 - The Dreams in the
Witch-House, as chronicled by H.P. Lovecraft.
March 19, 1928 - Birth of secret agent John Drake (Dangerman, Secret Agent, The Prisoner).
Tarzan's expedition of a year ago is mentioned in this Pellucidar novel.
Written by Burroughs. Date derived from Farmer's Tarzan Alive.
May 1928 - First adventure of mail pilot and daredevil barnstormer Tailspin Tommy Tompkins.
Tarzan encounters a Mahar from Pellucidar.
This comics story can be found in issue 235 of the DC Comics Tarzan series.
Tarzan and his son Korak are in Pellucidar.
This comics story starts in issue 238 of the DC Comics Tarzan series and concludes in issue 60 of DC's Tarzan Family.
Carson Napier, "Carson of Venus," departs for Barsoom (Mars), but arrives instead on Amtor (Venus), just after the events of Back to the Stone Age, a Pellucidar novel.
At this point, we can conclude that all of Burroughs' major creations, Tarzan, Pellucidar, John Carter of Mars, and Carson of Venus, all start out in The Wold Newton Universe, although some of the characters who start out in this universe end up in a parallel universe, which I will call the "Burroughs Universe." See Alternate Universes and the ERB Chronology. The remaining novels of the Venus series are: Lost on Venus, Carson of Venus, Escape on Venus, and The Wizard of Venus.
1928 - Simon Templar, aka The Saint, has his first exploit, as recorded by Leslie Charteris in Meet-The Tiger!
Alvin Fog works with J.G. Reeder and they encounter John Wade, Leopold Moran, and Oliver Rater. Fog and Reeder also meet Albert Henry "Bert the Jump Up" Fredricks. References are made to Albert Campion and Nicholas Ramage.
John Wade, Leopold Moran, and Oliver Rater are from The India Rubber Men, The Clue of the Silver Key and The Orator, respectively, all by Edgar Wallace. Albert Henry "Bert the Jump Up" Fredricks is from Underworld Nights by Charles Raven. Albert Campion is Margery Allingham's detective and Nicholas Ramage is from the Ramage naval series by Dudley Pope.
Tarzan returns to Opar.
Another Burroughs novel, wherein Tarzan revisits Opar. Date derived from Farmer's Tarzan Alive.
Malay Collins, the Master Thief of the East, is to "the nimble fingered thieves of Shanghai, of Singapore, of Lahore, and of Kandy as Arsène Lupin to the youth of Europe. He was an ideal, a pattern, a veritable hero of the illicit."
A short story by Murray Leinster (nom de plume for William F. Jenkins) in Short Stories magazine, January 1930. According to another story, The Emerald Buddha, Malay Collins is a Caucasian, apparently orphaned in the East at age eight: "Owning to the stupidity of certain white folk who did not recognize his race as a child, Collins was raised by a benevolent Oriental master thief to be his assistant in the business." The comparison to Lupin, a Wold Newton Family member, brings Collins into the Wold Newton Universe.
Among occultist/adventurer John Kirowan's friends is one named Taverel. This may be Sir Rupert Taverel. There is also a possible connection to the noble Tafaral family who are aided by Solomon Kane. The books Unspeakable Cults by Von Juntz and the dread Necronomicon are mentioned, as are the beings Cthulhu, Yog Sothoth, Tsathoggua and Gol Goroth, as well as a modern cult devoted to Bran Mak Morn.
The Lovecraftian references in this Robert E. Howard story (found in Beyond the Borders, Baen Books, 1996; and Pigeons From Hell, Ace Books, 1979) and the reference to Howard's fantasy hero Bran Mak Morn, place John Kirowan in the Newtonverse. The creatures featured in this tale are the same beings seen in Howard's Worms of the Earth and People of the Dark. The story Taverel Manor, featuring the death of Sir Rupert Taverel, is also by Robert E. Howard. The Solomon Kane story featuring the Tafarals is Moon of Shadows. The spelling of the names Taverel and Tafaral are slightly different, but that is not unusual over several hundred years, and the fact that both the Taverels of "Taverel Manor" and the Tafarals are menaced by survivors of ancient Atlantis makes this possibility too intriguing to ignore. For more on Kirowan, please read Matthew Baugh's Occult Detectives in the Wold Newton Universe.
BLOOD
MONEY AND HUMAN BONDAGE Tarzan returns to Pellucidar. The villainous Abdul Alhazred, who also calls himself "the Mad Arab," is clearly not the same Mad Arab who authored the Necronomicon in centuries past; he is a lowly, thieving lieutenant in a band of Arab slavers, until a chance encounter with energy from a device created by the Mahars of Pellucidar alters him. Likewise, the African princess Ayesha is obviously not the same person as the immortal Ayesha, She-who-must-be-obeyed.
This comics story was published by Marvel Comics in their Tarzan series, issues 15 through 24. The original Abdul Alhazred is from H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos tales, while the original Ayesha is featured in a series of novels by H. Rider Haggard.
1929 - Kent Allard creates the identity of The Shadow and begins gathering agents worldwide in his quest against evil.
1929 - Sam Spade's most famous case, The Maltese Falcon, as related by Dashiell Hammett. Spade is the grandson of Ned Land (20,000 Leagues Under the Sea) and grand nephew of Johnny Shawnessy (Raintree County).
ANIMAL CRACKERSAfter the theft of a valuable painting at the Rittenhouse mansion, Arabella Rittenhouse says to her boyfriend, John Parker, "Just think, whoever took it was right in the room with us! Just like Raffles!" Later on, an Italian man currently using the alias Emanuel Ravelli tells another mustachioed man using the name Capt. Geoffrey T. Spaulding, "In-a case like-a this that's-a so mysterious, you gotta get-a the clues. You gotta use-a the Sherlock-a Holmes-a method."
The second film featuring The Marx Brothers, 1930. These comments could be interpreted as referring to the fictional characters Raffles and Holmes. However, it has been shown that the man with the mustache, the Italian, and their companion, the innocent mute, exist in the Newtonverse, as demonstrated by Matthew Baugh in The Shang Chi Chronology. Therefore, the references must be to the real Wold Newton Family members Holmes and Raffles. For more on Spaulding and his cohorts, please read Dennis Power's Freedonia.
1929 - In Gotham City, The Shadow captures a group of gunmen and saves the lives of Thomas Wayne and his son Bruce (The Night of the Shadow).
The leader of the Miskatonic University expedition to Antarctica, Professor Dyer, and Professor William Harper "Johnny" Littlejohn, one of Doc Savage's five assistants, are probably one and the same person.
This is a novel by H.P. Lovecraft, originally published in the 1930s; my edition is published by Del Rey Books, 1985. Also recently reprinted in the anthology The Antarktos Cycle, Chaosium, 1999. It is Farmer's hypothesis that the expedition's leader was Johnny, which would bring Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos into the Wold Newton Universe. Date derived from Farmer's Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life.
1929 - Birth of Spencer Holmes (probable son of Nero Wolfe). Date is conjecture.
1929 - Murder of Thomas and Martha Wayne. Their son, Bruce, is spared, and swears on the spirits of his parents to avenge their deaths by spending the rest of his life warring on all criminals.
November 1929 - The Shadow's first recorded case (The Living Shadow.)
THE DRUMS OF DAMBALLAHJules de Grandin remarks about a voodoo worshipper with incredible agility: "Only the apes of Tarzan could have gained a vantage-point to hurl the fatal knife, then effect escape from immediately beneath our noses."
Story by Seabury Quinn in Weird Tales, March 1930. The reference is in a context that suggests that the French occultist was co-existent with Edgar Rice Burroughs’ jungle adventurer. Rick Lai adds that, "According to Seabury Quinn, de Grandin visited both the French and Belgian Congo. De Grandin probably heard rumors of the mangani, the apes that raised Tarzan, during his 1905-1907 experiences in Africa."
1930 - Nero Wolfe buys an old brownstone on West 35th Street in New York City, hires his nephew Archie Goodwin as his right-hand-man, and begins his career as a private detective.
THE SILVER HAIR CRIME "Gaston Dupont," France's greatest thief, returns to America for another bout with Nick Carter.
By "Nick Carter," in New Magnet Library number 1282. Nick Carter expert Jess Nevins notes that "Dupont" is obviously a pseudonym for Arsène Lupin.
1930 - Miss Marple's first case, Murder at the Vicarage, by Agatha Christie.
The dying John Grimlan mentions several Lovecraftian deities, including Yog Sathoth and Kathulos.
This John Kirowan story by Robert E. Howard can be found in Beyond the Borders, Baen Books, 1996; in Pigeons From Hell, Ace Books, 1979; and in Cthulhu: The Mythos and Kindred Horrors, Baen Books, 1987. The deities mentioned are probably only variant spellings of Yog Sothoth and Cthulhu, but it is interesting to note that the villain of Howard's story Skull-Face is a priest of ancient Atlantis named Kathulos. Possibly this is the Atlantean version of the Great Old One's name and the priest adopted the name of his deity, much as Zhar-nak did. Grimlan is also mentioned in Lin Carter's story Dope War of the Black Tong, connecting John Kirowan with Anton Zarnak and Steve Harrison. Please read Matthew Baugh's Occult Detectives in the Wold Newton Universe.
1930 - The events of Talbot Mundy's Jimgrim and the King of the World, featuring James Schuyler Grim, Jeff Ramsden, and Chullunder Ghose, and wherein Grim perishes defeating the evil mastermind Dorje.
The Black Stone appears again in this tale, which also features the Children of the Night. Intriguingly, the narrator, John O'Brien, after a knock on the head, believes himself to be an individual called Conan of the reavers. When O'Brien comes to, he believes he is the reincarnation of this Conan. Substantiating his belief, his companion Eleanor Bland seems to share his experience.
Robert E. Howard story, reprinted in Cthulhu: The Mythos and Kindred Horrors, Baen Books, 1987; and in Pigeons From Hell, Ace Books, 1979. The Black Stone is the same seen which sits on the altar of stones is the same as that in Worms of the Earth. The creatures featured in this tale are the same beings seen in Howard's The Children of the Night and Worms of the Earth. Regarding Conan of the reavers, O'Brien says this occurred 3000 years ago, which is not Conan the Barbarian's time. However, this could be hyperbole; how would O'Brien know how far back in time this experience was?
Matthew Baugh writes:
I believe that People of the Dark was actually written before any of the Conan stories. I believe that the hero of that story (who mentions having lived in the American southwest) was a friend of Howard's. He told him about his experience, which actually revolved around the Cimmerian's participation in the raid on the outpost of Venarium when he was only 17 or 18 years old.
Howard loved the story, but doubted people would accept the "age undreamt of by man" angle. He fictionalized it as having taken place in the bronze-age British Isles. He only had to make minor changes because these were the same countries in the Hyborian age, they just hadn't broken loose from the mainland yet. Also, the Cimmerians and the people of Venarium were, according to Howard, the ancestors of the Irish Celt and the Britons. Howard's friend continued to remember more and more about his past life, and to resemble Conan more and more strongly. He contacted Howard often to tell him new stories of his old life he remembered. This is how Howard came up with such detailed information about the life of a man dead for 12,000 years.
1930 - Nancy Drew's first adventure, The Secret of the Old Clock.
Sir Henry Merrivale's first recorded case, in which it is revealed that Sir Henry ("HM") is a member of the Diogenes Club. HM was also the former head of British Counter Espionage, where his nickname was Mycroft.
This case was recorded by John Dickson Carr writing as Carter Dickson. These links to the Sherlock Holmes canon place HM in the Newtonverse. HM also appeared in Farmer's The Peerless Peer, as an assistant to Mycroft Holmes.
Solar Pons investigates a case with several Cthulhu references, including Abdul Al Hazred's Necronomicon and Miskatonic University in Arkham, Massachusetts.
Surely Solar Pons was dissembling when he dismissed these references as fictional. After all, he did count among the many monographs he authored, "An Inquiry Into the Nan-Matal Ruins of Ponape" and "An Examination of the Cthulhu Cult and Others." This short story by August Derleth is in the third Pons volume, The Memoirs of Solar Pons. Derleth, of course, was a major contributor to Lovecraft's universe and coined the phrase "Cthulhu Mythos."
Bertie Wooster and his manservant Jeeves have several close encounters with a variety of Cthulhuoid horrors.
This slim volume contains three short stories: Cats, Rats and Bertie Wooster, Something Foetid, and The Rummy Affair of Young Charlie, and is found in Peter Cannon's volume The Lovecraft Papers. Jeeves and Wooster are the characters in a humorous series of books by P.G. Wodehouse, and are included in The Wold Newton Universe by virtue of this Cthulhu connection.
Solar Pons receives a visitor from an alternate universe. Pons refers to the events at Reichenbach Falls (i.e., the Holmes-Moriarty confrontation of 1891) and makes it clear that he would like to take on Moriarty. There is a discussion of an astute attorney named Randolph Mason. But in the end, Pons refers his client to other legal counsel, an attorney practicing in Los Angeles, California, also named Mason.
It is unclear whether the Moriarty referred to in this story is the first Professor (who survived Reichenbach), the second Professor who took his place (see The Second War of the Worlds, 1897), or a completely different Moriarty from an alternate universe. In any event, this story by August Derleth and Mack Reynolds brings Erle Stanley Gardner's Perry Mason, and Melville Davison Post's Randolph Mason, into the Wold Newton Universe. The short story can be found in The Misadventures of Sherlock Holmes, Sebastian Wolfe, ed., Citadel Press, 1991.
Johnny Littlejohn, one of Doc Savage's five assistants, is an archaeology professor at Miskatonic University in Arkham, Massachusetts.
This Doc Savage comics mini-series by Mark Ellis further cements the notion that the expedition's leader in At the Mountains of Madness was Johnny Littlejohn, while confirming the presence of the Cthulhu Mythos in the Wold Newton Universe. Published by Millennium Comics.
At the end of this classic film (and novelization), Kong climbs to the top of the Empire State Building. The 86th floor of the Empire State Building houses Doc Savage's headquarters, although Doc and his men are probably not there at the time.
Novelization of the 1933 film by Delos W. Lovelace, Ace Books, 1976. See next entry for derivation of date.
The following is excerpted from an article entitled "The Life Story of King Kong" by Jim Harmon, Monsters of the Movies magazine, published by Magazine Management Co., volume one, number one, June, 1974:
Yes, there were airplanes coming after Kong - primitive bi-planes looking much like they did in the First World War. Who were flying those planes? They are only unnamed "Army pilots from Roosevelt Field" - but who were they really? One story has it that Merian C. Cooper, producer of the picture, is in the cockpit of the lead plane. But that is only in the motion picture re-enactment. Who was flying those planes when the actual events occurred?
Does it stand to reason that so great a figure as King Kong could be slain by just an anonymous pilot? Not to me. I can't prove it but I know who must have been the leader of that squadron. Only one man could have done the job.
During the First World War, he had been known only as G-8. Together with
his Battle Birds, G-8 had fought other menaces, some nearly as great as King Kong. A man who can fight a horde of giant bats can move to fighting a giant ape more easily than those with less experience. Of course the war was over now. G-8 had added '4' to his name in honor of four fallen comrades. He was now Twelve, or more specifically, Midnight - Captain Midnight. (There were vicious rumors that this man had taken to wearing a cloak and shooting people in the dark of night, but they were only rumors. He had always flown high and clear. He did not hide in the shadows like some creeping spider. [This is true. The Spider, Richard Wentworth, was the half-brother of G-8/Captain Midnight. WSE.] ) So it was Captain Midnight, and the men who flew with him, who attacked King Kong. They were good men - Jack Martin, Jimmie Allen, Tommy Tompkins - some of them were young, but they had the skill and the courage of born fliers. Their tiny biplanes dropped to do combat with the mightiest monster the world had ever known!"
| March-April 1931 - Doc Savage and his five associates begin their fight against the forces of evil (The Man of Bronze by Kenneth Robeson (Lester Dent)). |  |
1931 - Birth of Richard Grayson (Robin, and later, the second Batman).
1931 - The Invisible Man Returns, in which Dr. Frank Griffin (the brother of the Invisible Man Jack Griffin, and the second son of Invisible Man John Hawley Griffin) gives the invisibility formula to Geoffrey Radcliffe, in order to help Radcliffe escape from prison, after Radcliffe has been framed for murder. For more information, please read Dennis Power's article, The Invisibles.
1931 - Events of Ernest Hemingway's The Snows of Kilimanjaro.
October 1931 - Dick Tracy begins his never-ending battle against hoodlums and mobsters, as chronicled by Chester Gould.
Doc Savage, his five assistants, and The Shadow and Margo Lane witness the aftermath of Kong's plunge from the Empire State Building.
Story by Farmer, found in The Grand Adventure, Berkley Books, 1984. Although Margo Lane was not yet operating as one of The Shadow's agents at this time, she did know Lamont Cranston. For more on Margo, click here.
November 1931 - Following the events of King Kong, "Red Albright" (aka G-8, aka Bruce Hagin Rassendyll) goes into regular action as Captain Midnight in order to foil the plans of the evil Ivan Shark and his daughter Fury. He is assisted by Chuck Ramsey, Patsy Donovan, and Joyce Ryan, members of his Secret Squadron. Midnight is also joined by mechanic Ichabod Mudd, possibly an ancestor of one Harcourt Fenton Mudd.
November 1931-November 1932 - Events of The Son Of Kong.
Sir Joseph Whemple is killed, but his son Frank ultimately triumphs over the mummy Imhotep. The Scroll of Thoth figures largely in this adventure.
Feature film from Universal Pictures. The Scroll of Thoth also appears in Richard Tierney's tales of Simon of Gitta.
1932 - Events of the film The White Zombie, about voodoo priest Murdere Legendre.
THE PLAGUE OF THE ONION MEN "Aristide Dupin," France's greatest thief and the "Laughing Cavalier" of crime, jousts with London detective Sexton Blake as part of the conspiracy of the Onion Men.
By Gwyn Evans, in Union Jack number 1493, 28 May, 1932. Jess Nevins notes that Dupin is clearly meant to be Wold Newton Family member Arsène Lupin. Rick Lai adds that, "The League of Onion Men is a Royalist conspiracy whose leader claimed to be a descendant of Louis XVII (the Dauphin who in conflicting accounts was rescued by Orczy's Scarlet Pimpernel, Sabatini's Baron de Batz and Wheatley's Roger Brook). The League's leader was known as Louis de Rais and may also be a descendant of Gilles de Rais, the historical follower of Joan of Arc who became a Satanic mass murderer. The League of Onion Men was seeking the Five Keys of Gilles de Rais, supposedly magical talismans. Also seeking the Five Keys for unstated reasons was Aristide Dupin, the "Laughing Cavalier" of crime and the greatest thief of France. Dupin/Lupin was a master of disguise. Unfortunately, The Plague of Onion Men was not the final episode in the Onion Man series. This episode ended with Aristide Dupin outwitting Blake and stealing three keys successfully from the British sleuth. The Plague of Onion Men was not the final episode in the Onion Man series. I have no idea how this epic struggle ended. I (and possibly Jess as well) am only aware of The Plague of the Onion Men because it was reprinted in one of the Sexton Blake hardcover collections. Unfortunately, no further information was given about this ongoing duel when the story was reprinted." Jess Nevins provides the titles for the whole saga: "The League of Onion Men, The Mystery of Bluebeard's Keys,Fear-Haunted, The Plague of the Onion Men, and The Fifth Key."
1932 - Alexander Waverly accepts a post in Department Z, a supersecret counterespionage arm of British Intelligence commanded by Gordon Craigie (John Creasey's The Death Miser; David McDaniel's The Rainbow Affair). Employing a varied group of agents, Department Z guards England's security before and during World War II.
1932 - Drury Lane's first case, The Tragedy of X, as told by Ellery Queen, writing as Barnaby Ross (click here for more information).
1932 - Richard Curtis Van Loan's first case as The
Phantom Detective, as told by G. Wayman Jones in The Emperor
Of Death.
1932 - James Hilton's Lost Horizon.
November 22, 1932 - Future U.N.C.L.E. agent Napoleon Solo is born in Montréal (click here for more information).
Hard-boiled private eye Nate Heller meets Eliot Ness.
Brings Max Allan Collins' detective into the Wold Newton Universe because Ness knew Indiana Jones in 1920.
1933 - Philip Marlowe opens his private investigation practice in Los Angeles. He is the grandson of Ned Land.
1933 - The Moon Man's first case, The Sinister
Sphere, by Frederick C. Davis.
DOOM ON
THUNDER ISLAND As Doc Savage and the boys get into underwater gear, Monk asks, "Are you sure Captain Nemo got started this way?"
Marvel Comics’ Doc Savage Magazine number 1, August 1975, by Doug Moench, John Buscema, and Tony DeZuniga.
London detective Solar Pons and Fu Manchu match wits.
In The Return of Solar Pons (book 6), Pinnacle Books, by August Derleth.
May-June 1933 - The events of Tarzan's Quest, in which Tarzan, Jane, and a few others acquire Kavuru immortality pills. After this adventure, Tarzan sends a sample to his cousin, Doc Savage, for analysis. Savage is able to synthesize the compound, after which both Tarzan and Savage have access to an unlimited supply for themselves, their families, and comrades.
Holmes is in America, attempting to prevent sabotage at the League of Nations. Nathan Detroit is mentioned, as is the Lemon Drop Kid.
Short story by Craig Shaw Gardner, in the anthology The Game is Afoot. Nathan Detroit is a character in Guys and Dolls; the Lemon Drop Kid was a character in a Damon Runyan story that was made into a film with Bob Hope. Most of Runyan's stories are interconnected, with one character referring to another, and so on.
1933 - Richard Wentworth first recorded adventure, The Spider Strikes!, as told by R.T.M. Scott.
1933 - Events of the film The Wolf Man, chronicling the transformation of Lawrence Stewart Talbot (click here for more information). Lawrence Stewart Talbot's adventures continue in Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, The House of Frankenstein, House of Dracula, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, and Return of the Wolf Man.
1933 - Albert Campion's first case, Sweet Danger (U.S. title Kingdom of Death), as recounted by Margery Allingham.
Solar Pons and Lyndon Parker dine at Mycroft Holmes' club, the Diogenes Club.
Short story by August Derleth in the third volume, The Memoirs of Solar Pons.
1933 - Richard Wentworth, half-brother of The Shadow and G-8, begins his one-man-war against crime as The Spider.
1933 - The first case of Dr. Gideon Fell, Hag's Nook, by John Dickson Carr.
Sept. 19, 1933 - Illya Nickovetch Kuryakin is born in the Ukraine, U.S.S.R.
1933 - Dr. Vitas Verdegast engages in a chess game for human lives against Satan worshipper Hjalmar Poelzig in The Black Cat.
1933 - Secret Agent X's first adventure, The
Torture Trust, by Paul Chadwick writing as Brant House.
1933 - Rick and Evelyn O'Connell, and their son
Alex, once again battle the evil mummy Imhotep (The Mummy
Returns).
1934 - Nick and Nora Charles are mystery-solvers in The Thin Man, as told by Dashiell Hammett.
April 1934 - The Masked Invasion, the first recorded adventure of Jimmy Christopher, Secret Service Operator #5, as told by Frederick C. Davis (writing as Curtis Steele).
There is a reference to Shangri La in this Indy adventure.
The Shangri-La of James Hilton's Lost Horizon was also visited by Tarzan at some point, as he mentioned in Russ Manning's Tarzan in the Land That Time Forgot and The Pool of Time. Novel by Max McCoy.
THE YESTERDAY CONNECTIONIn 1934, Doc Savage and his men encounter a strange woman from a parallel dimension, who seeks his help in vanquishing another strange, violent being, also from her dimension. Doc succeeds in sealing the creature into the cornerstone of a building under construction, but has a weird feeling that the case is somehow unfinished. In 1974, the building is about to be demolished. The other-dimensional woman seeks Spider-Man's assistance in preventing the creature's escape. Instead, Spidey senses something wrong and demolishes the cornerstone with a jackhammer, freeing the creature. It turns out that the woman had tricked Doc into unjustly imprisoning the creature, and Spidey was able to right an ancient wrong.
Giant-Size Spider-Man number 3, by Gerry Conway, Ross Andru, and Mike Esposito, Marvel Comics, January 1975. This crossover features the Wold Newton Universe version of Spider-Man, rather than the "mainstream" Spidey of the Marvel Comics Universe. See the crossover rules for superheroes. See also The Wold Newton Superhero Universe and Marvelous, Fantastic Tales in the Wold Newton Universe.
In chapter four, "Eton 1934-6," we discover that during Steed's first year at Eton (1934), he encounters a young James Bond: "One factor which seems to have contributed to John's unhappiness at this time was the bullying which was an unfortunate feature of life in the school - or at least in those circles in which Steed moved. The main bully was a boy called Bond, later to achieve a certain notoriety in a career not totally unlike Steed's. Indeed their paths were to cross several times in adult life, seldom with profitable results. Although Bond was only two or so years older than Steed (a fact which will doubtless be disputed by Bond and his cronies) he was a great deal bigger. One of his fetishes was to make smaller boys stir his evening mug of cocoa for him, just as in later life he was to make a laughable affectation out of his insistence on dry martini cocktails being stirred rather that shaken. One day he demanded that Steed perform this service. Steed refused. Bond again insisted. 'Who the hell do you think you are?' enquired Steed, suggesting at the same time that he should pick on someone his own size. 'Bond, James Bond,' replied the bully, clearly expecting young Steed to fall groveling at his feet. 'Well, Bond,' said Steed evenly, 'If you'd like to present yourself behind the Fives Courts by Jordan in half an hour's time I'll show you in the only language you apparently understand, precisely why I have no intention of stirring your rotten cocoa." Alas, poor Bond! He had never heard of the Bodger business at Lydeard Lodge. Thirty minutes later he was waiting behind the fives court, aglow with cocky truculence. Thirty-five minutes later he was being half dragged home by two of his familiars, his jaw and his ego both equally badly bruised."
By Tim Heald, published in hardcover by Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1977.
1934 - Birth of Cordwainer Bird. Bird is the nephew of both The Shadow and G-8. He is also the great grandson of Leopold Bloom (see James Joyce's Ulysses).
1934 - Terry Lee and Pat Ryan go adventuring in the Far East, in Terry and the Pirates, as told by Milton Caniff, and later, George Wunder (click here for more information).
The sorcerous ring used by Vrolok is none other than the Serpent Ring of Set worn by Conan's arch-foe, Thoth-Amon.
This John Kirowan story by Robert E. Howard can be found in Beyond the Borders, Baen Books, 1996. The Ring was seen in the Conan tale The Phoenix on the Sword. The Ring also appears in The Ring of Set, one of the Simon of Gitta stories by Richard Tierney. Though the description differs somewhat, this may be the same ring used by the magician Roger Simeon in the Solomon Kane story The Right Hand of Doom. For more on Kirowan, please read Matthew Baugh's Occult Detectives in the Wold Newton Universe.
1934 - The first known escapade of Mandrake the Magician, as related by biographer Lee Falk.
1934 - Dan Turner solves his first case, Murder
By Proxy, as told by Robert Leslie Bellem.
1934 - While in Tibet, British botanist Wilfred Glendon is attacked by a werewolf. Back in England, he becomes the Werewolf of London.
Indy meets aviatrix Amelia Earhart.
Comics mini-series published in Dark Horse Comics anthology series, issues 3 through 6. Publisher is Dark Horse Comics.
The Shadow battles Moriarty's son, Rasputin.
Comics story found in issues 1 through 4 of DC Comics' third Shadow series, The Shadow Strikes! Reinforces Rasputin's place in the Wold Newton Universe.
THE
CONFLAGRATION MAN Doc Savage's first meeting with The Shadow. Doc and The Shadow are fighting and The Shadow uses a grip on Doc, which Doc breaks. The Shadow states that, "I thought only the man who created the martial art of Baritsu and I knew the secret to breaking that hold - and he would not teach it to one he deemed unworthy!" Doc replies, "That's exactly what I was thinking."
Comics story in four parts published by DC Comics. Two parts were published in DC's Doc Savage ongoing series, issues 17 and 18; the remaining two parts were published in The Shadow Strikes!, issues 5 and 6. There is only one other known practitioner of Baritsu, Sherlock Holmes. From Philip José Farmer, we know that Doc was trained by Holmes. Therefore, Holmes must have taught the art of Baritsu to both The Shadow and Doc Savage.
THE VOLCANOPrivate detective Curtius Parry receives a tip on a case from his friend, Globe reporter Edward Malone.
The Volcano is a short story by Paul Chapin, edited by Philip José Farmer. It is found in Riverworld and Other Stories, Berkley Books, 1979. Writer Paul Chapin once met Wold Newton Family member Nero Wolfe, in Archie Goodwin and Rex Stout's The League of Frightened Men. Reporter Edward Malone is likely the same Malone from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Professor Challenger stories.
1935 - "Crash" Corrigan, a naval
officer, accompanies Professor Norton on a submarine expedition,
where they discover what appears to be the lost city of Atlantis.
The underwater ruler, Unga Khan, wants to conquer the upper world
with robots and death rays, but Corrigan defeats him (Undersea
Kingdom).
1935 - Japanese secret agent Mr. Moto's first recorded adventure, Your Turn, Mr. Moto, as told by John P. Marquand.
1935 - After discovering Radium-X in a fallen meteor, Dr. Janos Rukh starts glowing and kills with the merest touch. He eventually goes completely insane in The Invisible Ray.
1935 - Gotham Police Commissioner James "Wildcat" Gordon starts his battle against crime as The Whisperer. Gordon is the grandson of former Secret Service agent Artemus Gordon (click here for more information).
Richard Wentworth (The Spider) makes a fool of a "youngish, broad-faced man named Christopher, who represented the Secret Service."
A novel of The Spider, August 1935 issue, written by Norvell Page (writing as Grant Stockbridge). The Christopher mentioned must be Jimmy Christopher, Secret Service Operator #5. As to why Wentworth would be unkind to a fellow crime-fighter, we can only speculate that perhaps Christopher had unwittingly interfered in one of Wentworth's investigations.
This crossover brings Operator #5 into the Newtonverse, but only the stories from April 1934 to approximately early 1935 (which marks the start of World War II in the Christopher novels). At this point, the Operator #5 novels diverge into an alternate universe. The remainder of the Jimmy Christopher novels take place in this alternate universe, including the Purple Invasion saga. We may postulate that Operator #5's remaining adventures in the Newtonverse were of a somewhat less apocalyptic nature than those chronicled in the pulp novels of 1935-1939.
Solar Pons and Fu Manchu again go head-to-head.
Short story found in the ninth volume, The Further Adventures of Solar Pons, by Basil Copper. The 1935 date is conjectural.
1935 - Val Kildare goes up against the mysterious
Wu Fang in The Case of the Six Coffins, by Robert J.
Hogan.
1935 - G-Man Dan Fowler's first case, Snatch,
by George F. Elliot writing as C.K.M. Scanlon.
1935 - Flash Gordon and Dale Arden disappear during the Rogue Planet Crisis of 1935. They go on to have many bizarre adventures on the planet Mongo. For more on Flash, click here. For more on Dale, click here.
1935 - The Invisible Man's Revenge, in which Robert Griffin (the third son of John "Jack" Hawley Griffin, and brother to Jack Griffin and Frank Griffin), is provided with an invisibility formula by Dr. Peter Drury. For more information, please read Dennis Power's excellent article, The Invisibles.
1935 - Spenser is born in Laramie, Wyoming. He is the nephew of Philip Marlowe.
THE ORB OF ATANThe Book of Thoth is featured in this episode of the continuing battle of Rick and Evelyn O'Connell, and their son Alex, against the evil mummy Imhotep.
Episode number six of the animated television series, The Mummy. The Book of Thoth also features in Richard Tierney's tales of Simon of Gitta, which in turn relate back to Conan's old adversary, Thoth-Amon. Since Conan and Simon of Gitta are in the Wold Newton Universe, so are the events of The Mummy animated series, which in turn is a spin-off of The Mummy (1999) and The Mummy Returns (2001). The prequel The Scorpion King (2002) would also be included. The Imhotep in this series is different from the mummy Imhotep that the Whemples encountered in the 1932 film The Mummy.
After receiving a telegram from Doc Savage, Sherlock Holmes, in retirement in Sussex, refers to Doc as the greatest student of detection he ever had. Holmes and Watson continue their reminiscences, remembering that they first encountered Doc's father, Savage, Sr., during the case which Watson recorded as The Adventure of the Priory School, which case unfortunately resulted in Savage, Sr.'s expedient flight from England.
Screenplay by Philip José Farmer for the second, unmade, Doc Savage feature film. Although Farmer's screenplay dates these events during Christmastime, 1936, this does not fit into Farmer's own Chronology from Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life. Finding an available slot in Rick Lai's Chronology of Bronze, I have placed these events during Christmastime, 1935.
Jan. 29, 1936 - Mark Slate is born in London.
1936 - Britt Reid and Ikano Kato go to work busting crime as The Green Hornet and Kato.
1936 - Dr. Yen Sin vs. Michael Traile, "the
Man Who Never Sleeps," in The Mystery of the Dragon's
Shadow by Donald E. Keyhoe.
THE
HAND IN THE GLOVE Dol Bonner, sometime Nero Wolfe assistant, solves her own case.
Novel by Rex Stout. The connection between Wolfe, a Wold Newton Family member, and Dol Bonner places Bonner in the Newtonverse.
1936 - The 20th Phantom begins his crime-fighting activities after the death of his father, the 19th Phantom. This is the Phantom who will eventually marry Diana Palmer. They will have two children, Kit and Heloise. Many chronicles of this Phantom indicate that he is the 21st. His activities are documented starting in the mid-1930s all the way through the 1990s. However, there is no indication that any of the Phantom line ever had access to age-delaying elixir. It is unlikely that this Phantom's career lasted sixty years. It is more likely that, over the years, Phantom biographer Lee Falk had access to the histories of both the 20th and 21st Phantoms. He documented the careers of both men and merged them into one Phantom, calling him the 21st. The 20th Phantom was most likely killed in the 1960s and his son took over, operating until his death in 1989. The Phantom who began operating in 1989 is also mistakenly called the 21st Phantom (see The Ghost Who Walks, 1995). It would be unlikely that a man in his mid-20s in the mid-1990s would have an adult grandson operating as the 23rd Phantom in the mid-2010s through the early 2020s (see Phantom 2040). Additionally, the mother of this man is called Jane, not Diana. He cannot be the son of the 20th Phantom. He must be the grandson, and thus, the 22nd Phantom. The son of the 22nd Phantom took over as the 23rd in the mid-2010s and had a very short-lived career, dying in 2024. His son assumed the mantle of the Phantom in the year 2040.
Recounts The Shadow's involvement with Wash Tubbs and Captain Easy, as well as Terry and the Pirates. Shiwan Khan is currently in possession of the Maltese Falcon.
Story ark in DC Comics' The Shadow Strikes!, issues 21-27; the key issues here are 25 and 27, bringing these comic strip perennials into the Wold Newton Universe. For an in-depth article on this entry by fellow Wold Newton fan Lou Mougin, please click here. The Falcon appears in issue 26, page 12, panel 4; for more on the Falcon, please read Brad Mengel's The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of: The History of the Maltese Falcon.
The Shadow meets Amelia Earhart.
Story in issue 28 of DC Comics' The Shadow Strikes! Indiana Jones met Earhart one year ago in Indiana Jones and the Shrine of the Sea Devil, and a woman purporting to be Earhart was seen in Doc Dare in 1939.
1936 - First case of Gregory George Gordon (aka "Gees") as chronicled by Jack Mann in Gees' First Case.
BLACK SUN LIVES!In 1936, Doc Savage, Monk Mayfair, and Renny Renwick receive a visit from Mrs. Raymond Lightner, a prominent astronomer. Dr. Lightner is going insane, and has a scheme to harness the power of the stars and focus it on himself. As the city blacks out, Doc, Monk, and Renny rush to Lightner's laboratory. "Meanwhile," in 1976, The Thing (Ben Grimm), and the Human Torch (Johnny Storm), receive a visit from Janice Lightner, the daughter of the 1930s Lightners. She tells them of her brother's mad scheme to recreate their father's doomed, insane experiments, and they rush to Lightner's laboratory. In both time periods, both groups are caught in the experiment's star-beam, and Doc and the boys are thrown into the future. Both Dr. Raymond Lightner and his son, Tom, are fused together to create the being called "Black Sun." With Black Sun's defeat, the temporal field returns Doc and the boys to 1936.
Marvel Two-In-One number 21, November, 1976, by Bill Mantlo, Ron Wilson, and Pablo Marcos. This story brings parallel universe versions of the "Fantastic Four" characters into Wold Newton Universe continuity; it does not incorporate Marvel Comics Universe continuity. Tony Stark is mentioned in a flashback, and Dr. Don Blake is also mentioned. However, following the crossover rules for superheroes, appearances or cameos of a superhero's alter ego are enough to place that alter ego in the Newtonverse, but are not enough to substantiate the presence of the actual superhero. See also Marvelous, Fantastic Tales in the Wold Newton Universe and The Wold Newton Superhero Universe.
THE BEST SOLUTIONDr. Anton Zarnak consults Dr. Seward's book on vampires. He also makes reference to a vampire named Tepes (Dracula's historical title). The story also mentions "Ruthven."
By John L. French. Found in Crypt of Cthulhu #100. These links both set Zarnak squarely in the same universe as Dracula. Lord Ruthven is from John Polidori's The Vampyre.
August 8, 1936 - Death of Robert Blake in an old abandoned church on Federal Hill in Providence, Rhode Island, as told in H.P. Lovecraft's The Haunter of the Dark.
THE
SKY STEALERSJohnny mentions that Dr. Petrie, the father of modern archaeology, was a large inspiration in his studies. The Scroll of Thoth also figures in the story. Finally, Ham compares Monk to a "dwarf edition of King Kong."
Marvel Comics’ Doc Savage Magazine number 6, October 1976, by Doug Moench and Tony DeZuniga. Dr. Petrie, the archaeologist, does have a close connection to the Wold Newton Universe (see The Dynasty of Fu Manchu). The Scroll of Thoth also features in Richard Tierney's tales of Simon of Gitta, which in turn relate back to Conan's old adversary, Thoth-Amon. The Kong comparison is especially apt, given that Doc and his men actually witnessed the aftermath of Kong's rapid descent from the top of the Empire State Building (After King Kong Fell, October 1931).
In Tulsa, Oklahoma, after his fiancée is run down by criminals, Randolph College football star and honor student Reece Chambers becomes The Twilight Avenger, emerging under cover of darkness to fight evil. Joining him in his battle is Professor Milton Herth, father of Reece's fiancée Delores. Professor Herth provides the latest scientific weaponry that modern technology can devise. Meanwhile, as Delores lies comatose in the hospital, reporter Joan Casey, who mentions celebrated New York detective Philo Vance, discovers The Twilight Avenger's true identity and begins sharing his adventures.
Philo Vance is already included in the Newtonverse. The Twilight Avenger was created and written by John Wooley and Terry Tidwell. Parts one and two of The Twilight Avenger were published in 1986 by Elite Comics; the final, double-length chapter of this particular story was not published until 1996 by Miracle Comics. The Twilight Avenger also ran for eight issues, published by Eternity Comics from 1988-1990, with stories that take place after this one. Lots of straightforward pulp hero adventure, leavened with a good dose of horror and "good girl" (and bad girl) art, akin to The Rocketeer.
Early 1937
A. J. Raffles and Sexton Blake clash for the first time.
This crossover is in Barry Perowne's Sexton Blake Library, Second Series, Number 577, June 1937 (with thanks to researcher Jess Nevins for the exact reference). Both Baker Street detective Sexton Blake and the notorious thief A.J. Raffles are mentioned in Philip José Farmer's Wold Newton works. Please read Brad Mengel's The Incredible Raffles Clan and Sexton Blake's Family.
March 1937 - Private eye Slam Bradley, the younger brother of Biff Bradley, receives his license and goes into business with partner Samuel "Shorty" Morgan (DC Comics' Detective Comics No. 1).
May 3-6, 1937 - Author Leslie Charteris, the raconteur of The Saint's exploits, solves a mystery of his own in The Hindenberg Murders, as related by Max Allan Collins.
May 1937 - Captain Rex Hazzard's only recorded adventure, Python Men of the Lost City, as told by Chester Hawks.
Lawrence Talbot (The Wolf Man) is revived and seeks the secrets of the Frankensteins in order to end his existence. In the course of the adventure, one of the Frankenstein Monsters is also revived.
Feature film, Universal, 1943. The full cycle of adventures of this Frankenstein Monster is as follows: Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, The Son of Frankenstein, The Ghost of Frankenstein, Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, The House of Frankenstein, House of Dracula, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, Return of the Wolf Man, The Devil's Brood, and The Devil's Night. For a full account of the various Talbots and Frankensteins, please read Mark Brown's The House of Frankenstein and Chuck Loridans' Children of the Night.
The Shadow and Doc Savage team again. Dr. Reinstein is working on pioneering research into chemically enhancing human physique and intelligence.
Comics mini-series published by Dark Horse Comics. Dr. Reinstein is from the first issue of Timely Comics' (later Marvel Comics) Captain America, published in 1941.
Tarzan returns to Opar.
This novel was the first in a new series of unauthorized Tarzan books by Barton Werper, published by Gold Star Books in 1964. Very rare now.
June 1937
Joan Casey, while poking fun at her crimefighting partner, The Twilight Avenger, refers to Tailspin Tommy Tompkins.
The eighth and final (unfortunately) issue of The Twilight Avenger, by John Wooley and Terry Tidwell, published by Eternity Comics. Wold Newton researcher Greg Gick suggests that Joan Casey is probably the sister of Flashgun Casey, a pulp character created by George Harmon Coxe.
A.J. Raffles, while working the wealthy émigré population of Gibraltar, has a brief joust with Sexton Blake, who is passing through while working on another case.
This crossover is from Barry Perowne's Sexton Blake Library, Second Series, Number 601, December 1937(with thanks to researcher Jess Nevins for the exact reference). It provides further confirmation that Raffles and Blake exist in the same universe. For more information, please see Brad Mengel's The Incredible Raffles Clan and Sexton Blake's Family.
NO GREATER LOVEThis tale, in which Nowell Ffoulkes appears, is set in England and Russia. Ffoulkes is the great-great-grandson of Sir Andrew Ffoulkes: "I have heard it said that he was an intimate friend of Sir Percy Blakeney, who was believed in his day to have been the Scarlet Pimpernel."
Novel by Baroness Orczy, 1938.
July 1937 - Bruce Wayne goes into action as The Bat-Man for the first time (five years before The Cop Who Hated The Batman, Detective Comics No. 65, July 1942).
August 1937 - Doc Savage and his crew face their most difficult villain yet, when they go up against Doc's own son, John Sunlight, as told by Lester Dent in Fortress of Solitude.
October 1937 - The events of The Devil Genghis, featuring the second appearance of John Sunlight, as related by Lester Dent.
GROUCHO MARX, MASTER DETECTIVEActor and comedian Julius "Groucho" Marx solves the murder of a young actress in Hollywood. The narrator, Frank Denby, says that, "But from the late 1930s, trust me, Groucho was giving such West Coast sleuths such as Philip Marlowe, Sam Spade, and Dan Turner some stiff competition." Groucho also quips that, "My sleuthing turned Sherlock Holmes green with envy. Or maybe that was only because we left him out in the rain too long."
A mystery novel by Ron Goulart, St. Martin's Press, 1998. Groucho Marx, of course, along with his brothers, immortalized in film the antics of a group of rather notorious con men and tricksters. One of these con men, while using the name Rufus T. Hackstabber, once met Shang Chi while posing as a New York cabbie. Philip Marlowe and Sam Spade are Wold Newton Family members. This crossover brings Dan Turner, "Hollywood Detective," into the Wold Newton Universe. There are also various Sherlockian references throughout the novel, such as, "The game is afoot."
November 1937 - Crime Busters, the first recorded adventure of inventor Clickell Rush, "The Gadget Man," as told by Kenneth Robeson (Lester Dent).
The members of The Miracle Squad raise Cliff Secord's ire while drooling over his girlfriend, Betty Page. Additionally, while the Squad's star cowboy-actor is traveling through Oklahoma, he picks up hitchhiker Tom Joad, who has just gotten out of jail for murder. There is also a brief reference to Philo Vance.
Comics mini-series written by John Wooley and Terry Tidwell, Apple Press, 1989. Brings the pulp-style adventures of the Miracle Squad, a small group of actors, detectives, stuntmen, etc., who work for a tiny B-movie studio, into the Wold Newton Universe. Tom Joad is from Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath. The Philo Vance mysteries were written by by S.S. Van Dine.
Late 1937 - The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck.
Late 1937 - Cary Adair goes into battle against
crime as Captain Satan, in The Mark of the Damned, by
William O'Sullivan.
Click Rush, the Gadget Man, pays a visit to the Los Angeles office of the Continental Detective Agency.
This story by Lester Dent, in Crimebusters, July 1938, is an obvious homage to Dashiell Hammett's Continental Op stories, and thus brings the Continental Op into the Wold Newton Universe. Click Rush is already in the Newtonverse since he is mentioned in one of Ron Goulart's Avenger novels, Dr. Time.
Sherlock Holmes' grandson continues the family tradition of mystery-solving. The histories provided both in this book and in R. Holmes & Co. are not inconsistent and it is therefore probable that Creighton Holmes is the son of Raffles Holmes.
A collection of short stories by Ned Hubbell, Popular Library, 1979.
Scatterbrained Gracie Allen meets detective Philo Vance and together they solve a mystery.
A Philo Vance novel by S.S. Van Dine (also made into a movie). Gracie Allen's husband was George Burns. Burns' best friend was the miserly Jack Benny, whose butler was named Rochester. Rochester, for a short time also worked for Cosmo Topper (see 1941 entry for Topper Returns). Since Philo Vance is part of Wold Newton continuity, so is Topper.
Mr. Moto, assisted by Charlie Chan's son Lee Chan, must discover who poisoned a fighter in the boxing ring.
This movie began as Charlie Chan at the Ringside, but Warner Oland died during the filming so it was switched to a Mr. Moto film, thus connecting Charlie Chan to the Newtonverse. Please click here to read Dennis Power's article on Mr. Moto, Charlie Chan, and their places in the Wold Newton Universe.
1938 - Miami private investigator Mike Shayne's
first recorded case, Dividend on Death, as told by Brett
Halliday.
1938 - Joshua Jones discovers the alien Element 155 in the Mayan ruins at Chichen Itza, Mexico, and uses it to fight a Nazi plot as Captain Gravity. Told in Captain Gravity, by Stephen Vrattos and Keith Martin, Penny-Farthing Press, 1999.
GROUCHO MARX, PRIVATE EYEGroucho's sidekick, Frank Denby, describes himself as, "A sort of Archie Goodwin to his Nero Wolfe." Contemporary investigators Perry Mason and the Lone Wolf are also mentioned.
The second Groucho mystery novel is by Ron Goulart, St. Martin's Press, 1999. Wolfe and Goodwin are both Wold Newton Family members. Perry Mason is already in the Newtonverse through a mention in a Solar Pons story, and this reference reinforces his presence. The Lone Wolf was Michael Lanyard, a suave ex-jewel thief turned gentleman benefactor created by Louis Vance. He appeared in a series of books from 1914-1934. His exploits were then documented in a series of movies in the late 1930s and early 1940s. The third Groucho novel, Elementary, My Dear Groucho, involves a murder on the set of a Sherlock Holmes film.
The Rocketeer (Cliff Secord) meets Doc Savage after the former finds the latter's experimental rocket pack.
Five comics by Dave Stevens released over several years by various publishers. Compiled in graphic novel format by Eclipse Books. It should be noted that the film version deviated significantly from this original story, both in it's omission of Doc Savage and in it's depiction of the lead female protagonist, Betty Page. Check out the graphic novel for a great comics experience and click here to see a LOT of
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The Rocketeer meets The Shadow.
Three comics by Dave Stevens released over several years by various publishers. Compiled in graphic novel format by Dark Horse Comics.
Doc Savage's aides refer to the kid who recently stole Doc's rocket pack, meaning The Rocketeer. John Sunlight (Doc's son) and Princess Monja (Doc's future wife) also appear in this adventure.
A Doc Savage comics mini-series written by Mark Ellis, published by Millennium Comics.
May 1938 - The Avenger, Richard Benson, begins gathering agents and starts Justice, Inc.
1938 - Kitty Carroll is provided with an invisibility formula by Professor Gibbs in the film The Invisible Woman.
| June 1938 - Clark Kent moves to Metropolis, starts working for the Daily Star newspaper, and makes his first appearance as Superman (Action Comics No. 1; George Lowther's 1940s novel, The Adventures of Superman). Throughout his career, Superman ensures that he reveals his extra-terrestrial origins only to those he trusts implicitly, such as his wife, Lois Lane (click here for more information), and his close friend, Bruce Wayne. |  |
Solar Pons and Dr. Lyndon Parker meet Simon Templar (The Saint) and Hercule Poirot aboard the Orient Express. The British spy Ashenden is also featured, as is a German spy master with a clubfoot.
Short story by August Derleth in The Chronicles of Solar Pons (book 2). Confirms co-existence of Solar Pons and The Saint in the Wold Newton Universe, while bringing in Agatha Christie's legendary detective Hercule Poirot. Ashenden is from Ashenden: or the British Agent by W. Somerset Maugham, first published in 1928. The German spy with the clubfoot is Valentine Williams' Clubfoot, the villain of a series of books that take place before the Great War.
1938
OUT OF THE SILENT PLANETDr. Elwin Ransom is abducted and taken on a secretly developed spaceship to the planet Malacandra, which appears to be Mars. While on Malacandra, Ransom recalls how Professor Cavor met his end on the Moon.
Novel by C.S. Lewis, the first part of the Space Trilogy. (Subsequent volumes are Perelandra and That Hideous Strength). Based on references in the Star Trek novel The Wounded Sky, Dr. Ransom appears to be a real person in the Wold Newton Universe, and the existence of the planet Malacandra seems to be common knowledge, at least by 2272. Although Malacandra appears to be an analogue of Mars, it does not seem to be the real Mars of our universe. Likewise, it also does not appear to be the parallel Mars known as Barsoom; it may exist in a yet different parallel plane. (However, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen II clearly equates Malacandra with Barsoom, as well as other versions of Mars.)
Just as Lewis and Ransom elected to publish Ransom's adventures in the guise of fiction, Ransom may not have known that the exploits of Professor Selwyn Cavor, as depicted in H.G. Wells' The First Men in the Moon, also had a basis in reality. Out of the Silent Planet was published in 1939. The sequel, Perelandra, with references to black-outs and raids, clearly takes place during World War II.
1938
Bon Chance Louie tells Jake Cutter that he has been to a Viking funeral, when he served in the Legion at Fort Zinderman.
This is a reference to Beau Geste, by Percival Christopher Wren. Fort Zinderman was where Beau Geste served in Le Legion Etranger. When Beau died, his brother Digby rigged an impromptu Viking funeral for him by laying him on a bed with his weapons, setting fire to the room, and leaving the body of the villain at his feet. (A true Viking funeral calls for a dog at the warrior's feet, but Digby concluded that the villain lived like a dog and so fit the bill.) Since Beau Geste is the the Newtonverse, so is Tales of the Gold Monkey.
1938
Steve Harrison has a major role in this Anton Zarnak adventure, as does the cat-headed fetish once wielded by Solomon Kane. The late John Grimlan is also mentioned.
By Lin Carter, collected in Disciples of Cthulhu, 1997. Grimlan is also mentioned in Robert E. Howard's Dig Me No Grave, thus connecting John Kirowan with Anton Zarnak. For more on Kirowan and Zarnak, please read Matthew Baugh's Occult Detectives in the Wold Newton Universe.
In Casablanca, the 20th Phantom encounters the Prefect of Police, Captain Louis Renault.
Issue number 70 of Charlton Comics' The Phantom, published in 1976 and beautifully illustrated by Don Newton. The story is a visual tribute to several Humphrey Bogart movies, including Casablanca, The Big Sleep, The African Queen, and The Treasure of Sierra Madre. The characters are drawn to resemble characters from those films. The Bogie character is called Rick Clifford. Betty Ingred is played by Lauren Bacall. Max Grotzman is portrayed by Sydney Greenstreet. Peter Lorre appears as a hired gun, Slink. Interestingly, the Claude Rains character, in a French policeman's uniform, is only referred to as "Captain." Thus, we may infer that this really is Captain Louis Renault, and that the events of Casablanca and its sequel, As Time Goes By, take place in the Wold Newton Universe.
The story also contains an epilogue, which takes place in 1976. The supposition that two different Phantoms, the 20th and the 21st, operated over this time-span is confirmed, as it is made clear that the Phantom in 1976 is the son of the Phantom who had the Ibex adventure.
The Shadow and The Avenger fight against one of The Shadow's greatest villains, Shiwan Khan.
Story found in DC Comics' first ongoing Shadow series, The Shadow, issue 11, published in the 1970s (not to be confused with DC Comics' third series, called The Shadow Strikes!, published in the 1990s).
THE POLTERGEIST OF SWAN UPPINGJules De Grandin consults Judge Keith Hilary Puirsuivant’s The Unknown That Terrifies concerning the use of silver against the supernatural.
Story by Seabury Quinn in Weird Tales, February 1939. Puirsuivant was the creation of fellow Weird Tales writer Manly Wade Wellman, and the Judge’s book is mentioned in Wellman’s The Black Drama. Wellman also had references to de Grandin and Trowbridge in the Puirsuivant stories, and in the tales about fellow occult detective John Thunstone. There are also references to Thunstone in later de Grandin stories. In fact, Manly Wade Wellman himself would also be treated as a friend of de Grandin and Trowbridge. For more information see The Jules de Grandin Chronology by Rick Lai and Matthew Baugh.
Spring-September 1, 1939 - The events of the film Pimpernel
Smith.
| May 1939 - The first recorded case in which Bruce Wayne dons the mask of The Bat-Man, The Case of the Chemical Syndicate (Detective Comics No. 27). |  |
1939 - Philip Marlowe's case, The Big Sleep, as related by Marlowe and edited by Raymond Chandler. Marlowe continues on to a long career as a private detective in novels by edited Chandler and Robert B. Parker.
1939 - The events of the film The Phantom Creeps, featuring the evil Dr. Alexei Zorka.
GROUCHO
MARX AND THE BROADWAY MURDERSGroucho at first refuses to take a case, saying, "You might try Philip Marlowe, Dan Turner, or some other Hollywood shamus." Groucho's secretary also pins her breakups with two stage magicians, Yarko the Great and the Amazing El Carim, on Groucho. Groucho calls Frank Denby's wife Nancy Drew. Groucho refers to Crash Corrigan as "an old chum."
This fourth Groucho mystery novel is by Ron Goulart, St. Martin's Press, 2001. Philip Marlowe is a Wold Newton Family member, and Dan Turner is already in the Newtonverse though an earlier Groucho novel. El Carim and Yarko were both very obscure comic-book magicians who appeared in Master Comics and Wonder Comics, respectively. For more on these magicians, see Jess Nevins' Golden Age Heroes Directory. Groucho may or may not know about the Nancy Drew books, but this reference probably reinforces Nancy's presence in the Newtonverse. Crash Corrigan is from the serial Undersea Kingdom; although Crash was played by Ray Corrigan in the serial, we can assume that this reference is to the naval officer, not the actor.
Superman (Clark Kent) and The Bat-Man (Bruce Wayne) meet for the first time at the Metropolis World's Fair.
An "Elseworlds" tale in the Superman & Batman: Generations mini-series by John Byrne, DC Comics, 1998. Bruce Wayne appeared with many other graying pulp characters in the Prince Zarkon books (see Invisible Death, 1970), substantiating the fact that an Elseworlds version of The Batman exists in the Wold Newton Universe. Superman is already included in the Newtonverse through Sting of the Green Hornet. However, the whole of the DC Comics Universe is not incorporated into the Wold Newton Universe. (See 1942 entry for Sting of the Green Hornet, below. See also Alternate Universes.)
This chapter of the Generations saga, and this chapter alone, is included for the sole purpose of demonstrating that Superman and Batman, who are both included in the Newtonverse independently of this tale, must have met and worked together at some time in their careers. The remaining chapters of the Generations saga are not included in the Newtonverse continuity. The operative concept is that the Wold Newton Universe and the Generations saga had similar histories only to a certain point, and then follow widely divergent continuities. For another example of this concept, see Kim Newman's Anno Dracula series, where the timeline diverges midway through Bram Stoker's Dracula and doesn't look back. And for more on the general concept of melding the Wold Newton Universe with superheroes, see the crossover rules for superheroes, The Wold Newton Superhero Universe and Marvelous, Fantastic Tales in the Wold Newton Universe.
Doc Savage fights against the evil villain Dr. Nikola. Monk mentions that Johnny is at that weird University in Massachusetts.
Doc Savage comics mini-series published by Millennium Comics. The weird University is Miskatonic U. Dr. Nikola was a bad guy created by writer Guy Boothby, appearing in five books from 1895 to 1901, including, A Bid for Fortune (or, Dr. Nikola's Vendetta, 1895), Dr. Nikola (1896), The Lust of Hate (1898), Dr. Nikola's Experiment (1899), and Farewell, Nikola (1901). For complete information on Dr. Nikola, please read Rick Lai's The Life of Dr. Antonio Nikola (1856-1898?).
The Phantom works with a Serbian hero named Zigomar.
Zigomar is a pre-WW2 Serbian masked hero. Zigomar appeared in the Serbian magazine Mikijevo carstvo, and was created by Nikola Navojev and Branko Vidic. The original Zigomar was a masked villain in French pulp fiction circa 1909-1910. Zigomar II was actually a hero, "heavily influenced" by the Phantom. For complete information, please see the entry for Zigomar II on Jess Nevins' Pulp and Adventure Heroes site.
1939 - George Chance's
first case, Calling the Ghost, by G.T. Fleming-Roberts.
Plucky lady scientist Joanna Dare works on duplicating a formula invented by a Colorado scientist, Abednego Danner. The project is called "Project: Gladiator." Danner's original formula was meant to be injected to a pre-natal embryo, and Doctor Dare is trying to determine how to make it work in a grown man. However, before she can complete her research, Nazis break in looking to steal the formula. Joanna manages to drink a test batch of the serum in a desperate measure to save herself. The serum unlocks the human body's vast potential, but thanks to the Nazi attack, she is its only recipient. An interesting side-effect of this version of the formula is that its strength and invulnerability-enhancing effects only take place after she has sex. Now, whenever she has sex, she is transformed into Doctor Dare, a two-fisted adventuress with the strength of fifty men! A filing cabinet seen in a secret government warehouse reveals files not only on Dr. Dare, but on Dr. C. Savage, and Dr. I. Jones. Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt also appear, as does Winston Churchill. Doc Dare also apparently solves the mystery of the disappearance of Amelia Earhart. In Africa, she discovers the hidden Roman city of Prestor John, where the Spear of Destiny is kept. Charlie Allnut briefly appears. In Casablanca, a man poses as a doctor named LaBeau, but in the future he will be known as Ugarti. Similarly, a fat man in Casablanca calls himself Kurt Wasserman, but is better known as Signor Ferrari. Rick Blaine, Sam, and Captain Louis Renault also appear. In Rick's Cafe Americain, a man known by various identities such as Mr. Hammer, Capt. Geoffrey T. Spaulding, Professor Quincy Adams Wagstaff, Rufus T. Firefly, Otis P. Driftwood, Hugo Z. Hackenbush, Gordon Miller, J. Cheever Loophole, Wolf J. Flywheel, Ronald Kornblow, Sam Grunion, and Rufus T. Hackstabber, is briefly seen with his two associates, the mute and the Italian.
In addition to the saga The Spear of Destiny, this graphic novel includes the little-seen origin prologue. By George Caragonne and Gray Morrow; cover art by Ray Lago. First published in Penthouse Comics numbers 1-6; republished by Eros, 1999. This crossover not only provides the best evidence that Doc Savage and Indiana Jones coexisted in the same universe, but it also brings in the characters from Philip Wylie's novel Gladiator, Abednego Danner and, by implication, Hugo Danner. Doctor Dare also makes a worthy addition to the Wold Newton Universe. The Roosevelts met Sherlock Holmes in 1905. Churchill also met Holmes, and Indiana Jones. Given the multiple "solutions" of the Earhart mystery in the Newtonverse, it is possible that the Earhart seen here is an impostor or some kind of double. Indiana Jones would also have an adventure involving the Spear of Destiny, in 1945. The appearance of Charlie Allnut confirms the events of The African Queen in the Newtonverse; likewise the appearance of Blaine, Sam, Renault, Ferrari, and Ugarti and the events of Casblanca. Hackstabber was also seen in the Shang Chi series, as documented by Matthew Baugh in The Shang Chi Chronology.
The Shadow begins a case which will be concluded by The Avenger.
The Avenger finishes a case begun by The Shadow.
The above two entries can be found in DC Comics' first The Shadow series, issue 5, and DC Comics' Justice, Inc., issue 3, respectively.
Early October 1939
There is a quote from a New York newspaper called The Classic.
A Doc Savage pulp novel written by Alan Hathway, September 1941. One of The Shadow's agents, Clyde Burke, was a reporter for The Classic. The information and date were derived from Rick Lai's comprehensive Chronology of Bronze.
October 1939 - The first appearance of Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner (Timely Comics' Marvel Comics No. 1). Although Namor is initially bent on revenge against land-dwellers for the destruction of his undersea home and deaths of his people, he eventually works with the Allies during World War II to defeat the Axis powers.
October 30-November 10, 1939
GROUCHO
MARX, SECRET AGENT Groucho retorts to Zeppo that he doesn't think he's Sherlock Holmes. Frank Denby's wife, Jane, asks him, "Who's the fat detective who never goes out and just sits around and solves things?" Frank, of course, knows that this is Nero Wolfe. Jane later refers to Frank's burgeoning Nero Wolfe abilities.
This is the fifth Groucho mystery novel by Ron Goulart, St. Martin's Press, 2002. Holmes and Wolfe are Wold Newton Universe mainstays.
The Batman (Bruce Wayne) and Tarzan, Lord Greystoke, meet in Gotham City and begin working together on a case involving treasures stolen from the hidden city of Memnon in Africa. Also, an object is seen in the Gotham Museum which just might be the legendary Maltese Falcon.
Comics mini-series jointly published by DC Comics and Dark Horse Comics, providing the best substantiation of the existence of the Wold Newton Universe Batman. The "Cat-Woman" of the title is not Selina Kyle; Wayne has yet to encounter her. This exploit takes place before Dick Grayson joins Wayne as a crime-fighting partner. Furthermore, althoughthere is no textual evidence, notes to the artist's sketches in issues 1 and 3 indicate the date is 1939. For more on the Falcon, please read Brad Mengel's The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of: The History of the Maltese Falcon. Finally, the DC Comics Universe is not incorporated into the Newtonverse. (See Alternate Universes and the crossover rules for superheroes.)
1940 - The Green Lama (Jethro Dumont) goes
into action, in a tale by Richard Foster (Kendall F. Crossen).
1940 - Doc Harker's first case, Crime Nest,
as related by Edwin Truett.
Judge Pursuivant receives a letter from Jules de Grandin's associate, Dr. Trowbridge, giving him background information on the menace he is facing.
Pursuivant's exploits were recorded by writer Manly Wade Wellman. This story appeared in Weird Tales, July 1940. Since de Grandin is part of The Wold Newton Universe, so is Judge Pursuivant. For more on Pursuivant, please read Matthew Baugh's Occult Detectives in the Wold Newton Universe.
1940 - The first tale of Don Diavolo (The Scarlet
Wizard), Ghost of the Undead, by Stuart Towne.
1940
Lawrence Talbot (The Wolf Man) and the Frankenstein Monster are revived in this adventure, which also features Count Dracula.
Feature film, Universal. For a full account of Count Dracula and the Dracula "soul clone" theory, and of the various Talbots and Frankensteins, please read Mark Brown's The House of Frankenstein and Chuck Loridans' Children of the Night.
April 1940 - Orphaned Dick Grayson is adopted by Bruce Wayne and young Grayson begins his training to become Robin (Detective Comics No. 38).
1940 - The Crimson Mask's first case, Enter the
Crimson Mask, as told by Frank Johnson (Norman A. Daniels).
June 1940 - Denny Colt's first case, in The Origin of The Spirit, as told by Will Eisner, in which criminologist Colt, presumed dead, sets up his headquarters in Wildwood Cemetery, just north of Central City.
THE
SOUND OF MURDERA New York detective, Alphabet Hicks, solves a mystery which includes a reference to Rusterman's, the restaurant which at this point is owned and run by Nero Wolfe's associate, Marko Vukcic.
A mystery written by Rex Stout. The Wolfe connection brings detective Hicks in the Wold Newton Universe.
1940 - The events of the film Man Made Monster.
Captain Gravity's rival, Captain Marvelous, makes the headlines in the Daily Star newspaper. Marvelous is eventually revealed as a Nazi dupe, but redeems himself in the end.
One-shot issue of Captain Gravity by Stephen Vrattos and Keith Martin, Penny-Farthing Press, 1999. The reference to Clark Kent's newspaper brings the African-American pulp-like hero, Captain Gravity, into the Newtonverse. (See the crossover rules for superheroes.)
ARSEN
LUPEN ISTANBUL'DAArsène Lupin visits Istanbul where he has a friendly joust with Recai, a Turkish detective who has modeled himself on Lupin.
This story by Peyami Safa brings Recai into the Wold Newton Universe. Jess Nevins has more information on Recai, who appeared in several dozen novels from 1926 through the mid-1980s, and was big in Turkey for a while.
