THE WOLD NEWTON UNIVERSE1795 - Wold Newton meteor strike: Eighteen individuals "were riding in two coaches past Wold Newton, Yorkshire.... A meteorite struck only twenty yards from the two coaches.... The bright light and heat and thunderous roar of the meteorite blinded and terrorized the passengers, coachmen, and horses.... They never guessed, being ignorant of ionization, that the fallen star had affected them and their unborn." Tarzan Alive, Addendum 2, pp. 247-248. The meteor strike was "the single cause of this nova of genetic splendor, this outburst of great detectives, scientists, and explorers of exotic worlds, this last efflorescence of true heroes in an otherwise degenerate age." Id., pp.230-231.         Artwork by Lisa Eckert

CROSSOVER CHRONOLOGY

PART VIII

(1941 - 1955)

by Win Scott Eckert


Search The Wold Newton Universe



CROSSOVER STORIES APPEAR IN BLUE TEXT

CROSSOVER REFERENCES TO SUPERHEROES AND/OR INFORMATION RELATED TO SUPERHERO UNIVERSES APPEAR IN GREEN TEXT (CLICK HERE FOR A DETAILED EXPLANATION OF HOW SUPERHERO CROSSOVERS ARE DOCUMENTED ON THIS CHRONOLOGY)

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:


Early 1941

A FATHER WITHOUT CREDIT

After Charlie Chan instructs his son, Lee Chan, on some finer points on the psychology of detection, Lee responds, "Gosh Pop! That explains why great detectives like Sherlock Holmes, Arsène Lupin, and Philo Vance could tell so much about a man just by looking at him!" Chan thinks to himself, "Hmm! It is truly said, a prophet is without honor in his own country, and a father is without credit in his own home!"

Charlie Chan Sunday comic strip from March 16, 1941, by Alfred Andriola. The strip was untitled, and so I supplied this title. It confirms that Chan coexists in the same universe with Holmes, Lupin, and Vance. For information on Charlie Chan's genealogy, please click here.

 

1941

THE HALF-HAUNTED

Judge Keith Hilary Pursuivant is consulted by Jules de Grandin and Dr. Trowbridge.

Short story by Manly Wade Wellman, writing as Gans T. Field, Weird Tales, September 1941. For more on Pursuivant and de Grandin, please read Matthew Baugh's Occult Detectives in the Wold Newton Universe.

 

1941

TOPPER RETURNS

Cosmo Topper hires Jack Benny's butler Rochester, but Rochester complains that he's going back to Mister Benny.

Jack Benny was the best friend of George Burns, whose wife Gracie Allen once solved a murder case with Philo Vance in 1938.

 

March 1941 - The events of Meet Captain America: Dr. Reinstein successfully tests his research on volunteer Private Steve Rogers. (Click here for more information.) (The first issue of Timely Comics' (later Marvel Comics) Captain America, published in 1941, included here because of references in The Case of the Shrieking Skeletons and Sting of the Green Hornet. Beyond that, I do not believe that the Marvel Comics Universe is a part of, or should be included in, the Wold Newton Universe. (See also Alternate Universes.) A reprint of this story can be found in The Great Comic Book Heroes, edited by Jules Feiffer, Bonanza Books, 1970, or in Marvel's Captain America: The Classic Years, 1998.)

 

March 1941

THE BROKEN VASE

While in New York, private detective Tecumseh Fox has dinner at Rusterman's.  

A novel by Rex  Stout. Rusterman's is also frequented by Stout's detective, Nero Wolfe, thus bringing Fox into the Wold Newton Universe.

 

 

1941 - After briefly escaping from prison the previous year, Brigid O'Shaunessy gives birth of Sam Spade, Jr., in the California State Women's Prison (click here for more information).

1941 - The events of the film The Mad Monster.

April 1941 - Marla Drake, an American cousin of British agent John Drake, dons the skintight black leopard costume of an African witch-doctor and springs into action as the spicy heroine, The Black Fury, later known as Miss Fury, in weekly tales told by Tarpe Mills. (Of course, it is quite flattering that the ideas and speculation expressed in this entry were lifted and used here, despite the lack of any acknowledgment.)

1941 - A child is born to La of Opar. The child is orphaned and eventually grows up to become known as Modesty Blaise (click here for more information).

1941 - Events of the film The Mummy's Tomb.

 

June 1941Doc Savage: The Mayan Mutations

THE MAYAN MUTATIONS 

When a man comes to Doc Savage's headquarters seeking help with his adulterous wife, Ham recommends, "Go look up Sam Spade or some other seedy gumshoe, Herkimer. The world isn't threatened by your wife's infidelities -- and Doc only accepts world-threatening cases." Ham the refers to Monk as a "bolgani." Later on, Monk comments that he bets that a tree city "puts Tarzan's joint to shame."

Marvel Comics’ Doc Savage Magazine number 7, January 1977, by Doug Moench, Val Mayerik, and Tony DeZuniga. "Bolgani" is the Mangani word for "gorilla"; click here for the Mangani-English Dictionary. Monk's reference could either be to the real Lord Greystoke or the film Tarzans.

 

 

 

July 1941 - The events of But Our Hero Was Not Dead (aka The Man Who Was Not Dead), in which elderly Mr. Sherlock Holmes (ably assisted by Dr. Watson and Mrs. Hudson) captures a German Intelligence agent and thwarts a planned land invasion of England. But are our heroes really so elderly, or do they only seem so? But for Holmes' discovery of the royal jelly bee pollen life-extension elixir in 1921, the odds would be against Holmes, Watson, and Mrs. Hudson all surviving to extreme old age. Clearly, the royal jelly has had the desired effect and, as with other long-lived inhabitants of the Newtonverse, the three are only feigning their extreme age. Conspicuous by her absence is Holmes' wife, Mary Russell; perhaps the British Government is putting her talents to good use and she is away on a wartime mission. The story is told by Manly Wade Wellman and is found in the anthology The Game is Afoot.

August 1941 - "The greedy grasp of tyranny is upon Europe, and ramparts of evil challenge the free-born peoples of the world to dispute Nazi cruelty if they dare! And there are those who dare, who never refused a dare yet! Messengers of destruction to all evil and injustice -- The Blackhawks!" (Quality Comics' Military Comics No. 1).

August 1941 - Gangster Eel O'Brian is injured by a falling vat of "acid" during a chemical-plant robbery. The outlaw is rescued by a kindly monk and nursed back to health at Rest Haven Monastery. The Eel changes his ways, and, discovering that the acid, which has gotten into his bloodstream, has left him with strange stretching powers, he decides to use these powers to fight crime as Plastic Man (Quality Comics' Police Comics No. 1). Click here for a fuller explanation of Plastic Man's powers.

1941-1942 - Frank Griffin, Jr., grandson of Dr. John "Jack" Hawley Griffin (the first Invisible Man), and the son of Jack Griffin, becomes the Invisible Agent, under the alias of "Frank Raymond." For more information, please read Dennis Power's excellent article, The Invisibles.

December 1941 - First appearance of Wonder Woman (All Star Comics No. 8, Sensation Comics No.1). Wonder Woman

December 1941 - The events of the classic film Casablanca (click here for more information).

December 5-7, 1941 - Edgar Rice Burroughs, the chronicler of the adventures of many prominent Wold Newtonites (as well as being the nephew of John Carter), and his son, Hulbert "Hully" Burroughs, become embroiled in a murder mystery, as told by Max Allan Collins in The Pearl Harbor Murders.

December 1941-December 1942 - Michael Walsh's novel As Time Goes By, a sequel to Casablanca, continuing the story of Rick Blaine and Ilsa Lund (click here for more information).

 

1942

PLASTIC MAN VS. HAIRY ARMS

The villain, Hairy Arms, lures Plastic Man to Wildwood Cemetery, home of the Spirit.

The Spirit isn't mentioned in the tale, which can be found in Volume One of the Plastic Man Archives, but the mention of The Spirit's stomping grounds, Wildwood Cemetery, confirms that Plastic Man and The Spirit exist in the same universe. As usual, the whole of the DC Comics continuity is not incorporated into the Wold Newton Universe; this Plastic Man is an alternate reality version of his counterpart in the DC comics universe (see The Philosophy of the Wold Newton Universe and the Crossover Chronology for more information).

 

February 1942

THE BIG FISH

In the rain-swept coastal town of Bay City, L.A. private eye Philip Marlowe has a brush with the Deep Ones and becomes one of the few people to lay eyes on The Necronomicon. Also appearing are Edwin Winthrop, agent of a special section of British Intelligence especially assigned to deal with Cthulhuoid horrors, and his vampire partner, Geneviève Dieudonné. Special Agent Finlay of the "Unnameables" Section of the FBI is also part of the anti-Cthulhu task-force.

This short story by Kim Newman (in the anthologies Famous Monsters, Pocket Books, 1995, and Cthulhu 2000, Del Rey Books, 1999) is a direct sequel to H.P. Lovecraft's The Shadows Over Innsmouth, and is one of the best pastiches I've ever read of any character(s), anywhere. The section of the FBI that employs Finlay is undoubtedly a precursor of the modern X-Files section. Edwin Winthrop and Genevieve Dieudonné are Newtonverse versions of their counterparts in the Anno Dracula Universe, just as Charles Beauregard is a Newtonverse version of his AD Universe counterpart in All-Consuming Fire (1887). Furthermore, The Big Fish cannot take place in the AD Universe because Marlowe and Genevieve meet for the first time in 1977 in that Universe; see Newman's Castle in the Desert.

 

1942-1943 - Dr. Elwin Ransom is transported to an alternate planet Venus, as told in C.S. Lewis' Perelandra, the second part of the Space Trilogy.

 

Early May 1942

THE FIERY MENACE

Pat Savage owns several vehicles which she calls "Clarence," "Tarzan," "Adolph Hitler," and "Winston Churchill."

Doc Savage novel by Lester Dent, September 1942. The information and date were derived from Rick Lai's comprehensive Chronology of Bronze. Since Pat's vehicles are obviously named after real people, one wonders who "Clarence" might be?

 

May 1942

STING OF THE GREEN HORNET

The Green Hornet (Britt Reid, the grand-nephew of the Lone Ranger) and Kato cross paths with The Shadow and Captain America (Steve Rogers). Also briefly appearing are reporters Clark Kent and Lois Lane, Colonel Nick Fury, and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Walter Gibson, biographer of The Shadow, is also revealed to be an agent of The Shadow. Not seen, but mentioned by a couple of Army privates, is Namor, the Sub-Mariner. He is not mentioned by name, but they refer to rumors of a man with tiny wings on his feet who is single-handedly sinking Nazi subs.

Green Hornet 1 Green Hornet 2


Green Hornet 3 Green Hornet 4

A comics mini-series by Jeff Butler and Ron Fortier, published by NOW Comics, taking place just after Meet Captain America. The costumed mystery-man on the cover of issue number four is not Captain America, but his half-strength counterpart, Private Lee Powell, aka the Yankee Commando, who did not receive the final super-soldier injection before the murder of Dr. Reinstein by Nazi spies. Franklin Roosevelt met Sherlock Holmes in 1905.

Again, I do not believe that the whole of the DC Comics or Marvel Comics continuities should be incorporated into the Wold Newton Universe. At best, the cameo appearances of a few superheroes such as Superman, Captain America, The Batman, and the Sub-Mariner in the Newtonverse indicate that they are alternate reality versions of their counterparts in the comics universes. The same goes for the appearance of Nick Fury. (See also Alternate Universes and the crossover rules for superheroes.)

It is my theory that the few superheroes in the Newtonverse only operated through the Golden Age of the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s; otherwise, the Newtonverse would look much more like a comic superhero universe than it does today. A second, even smaller wave operated in the 1960s and 1970s.

I have little doubt that Philip José Farmer did not intend to consolidate the DC Comics Universe with the Wold Newton Universe when, in Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life, he suggested that Lois Lane was the sister of The Shadow's Margo Lane.

 

May 1942

SEVEN STARS Episode Three: THE TROUBLE WITH BARRYMORE

In a follow-up to The Big Fish, Philip Marlowe again crosses paths with Edwin Winthrop, Geneviève Dieudonné, and Special Agent Finlay. The special section of British Intelligence for which Winthrop works is the Diogenes Club, which is now but one section of the larger British Secret Service; the Club's investigations are almost exclusively devoted to the occult and supernatural forces which threaten the shores of Great Britain and her Allies. Also appearing in this case are a bevy of occult detectives: John Thunstone, Gregory George Gordon (aka "Gees"), Lucius Leffing, Dr. John Silence, Judge Keith Hilary Pursuivant, and a Frenchman (Jules de Grandin). Winthrop states that the Allies possess the Ark of the Covenant; however, his statement that the Knights Templar are still in possession of the Maltese Falcon is in error.

Chapter Three of Seven Stars by Kim Newman. Winthrop, Dieudonné, Finlay, Thunstone, Pursuivant, and de Grandin are already part of the Wold Newton Universe. This crossover brings occult detectives Gees, Leffing, and Dr. Silence into the Newtonverse. It also strongly cements the place of Indiana Jones in the Wold Newton Universe, with a reference to the events of Raiders of the Lost Ark. For more on the Maltese Falcon, please click here.

The story picks up again in May 1972 with Seven Stars Episode Four: The Biafrian Bank Manager, available on the Crossover Chronology, Part X.

 

 

May 1942-August 1945

ENEMY ACE: WAR IN HEAVEN

At the conclusion of his wartime service, Hans von Hammer surrenders to Sgt. Rock and Easy Company.

Mini-series from DC Comics, 2001, written by Garth Ennis with art by Chris Weston, Christian Alamy, and Russ Heath.

 

Late May 1942

THE SECRET THAT SAVED A WORLD

The Batman and The Unknown Soldier team up against Nazi spies operating in the U.S. who are seeking America's atomic secrets.

This story of a Golden Age Batman and Unknown Soldier is part of the same continuity in which a 1940s Batman worked with Sgt. Rock and Blackhawk, and is included on that basis. The Unknown Solder would be an Elseworlds version for the Wold Newton Universe and is not part of regular DC Universe continuity. Issue 146 of DC Comics' The Brave and the Bold, by Bob Haney, Romeo Tanghal and Frank McLaughlin.

 

June 1942Wonder Woman vs. Superman

SUPERMAN VS. WONDER WOMAN

Wonder Woman and Superman, in their battles against the Axis, find themselves on opposing sides of a moral and ethical conflict over the development of atomic weapons. President Roosevelt and Albert Einstein also appear in this wartime adventure.

DC Collector's Edition C-54, 1978, by Gerry Conway, Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, and Dan Adkins. Although not a crossover in the sense that Superman and Wonder Woman can be found together in any number of DC Comics, this story has a "pulpy" feel that makes it worth including. The addition of Wonder Woman gives the Newtonverse some much-needed female representation. We may presume, as with other superhero additions, that this is a version of the Golden Age Wonder Woman, whose career ended with the war, or, at the latest, in the early 1950s. See also Marvelous, Fantastic Tales in the Wold Newton Universe.

 

 

 

1942 - The events of the film The Mummy's Ghost. MONSTAAH scholar Chuck Loridans writes, "The Mummy's Tomb and The Mummy's Ghost take place in Mapleton, Massachusetts. I think this is a code name for Arkham. The High Priest of Karnak (The Mummy's Tomb) suddenly changes to the High Priest at the Temple of Arkam (The Mummy's Ghost). Additionally, there are many scenes which take place at a nearby university, which has a great Archaeological department. (Some have speculated that the town of Arkham was based on Oakham Mass.: OAKham, MAPLEton.)"

1942 - The Unknown Soldier is "born after a grenade blast hideously disfigures the face of a nameless young grunt." A weapons expert and master of disguise, the Unknown Soldier -- so-named because his face remained hidden behind layers of bandages -- was the army's ultimate weapon. A covert operative who would routinely sneak behind enemy lines and infiltrate the enemies camp, the Unknown Soldier was even capable of gaining access to Hitler's inner circle. (DC Comics' Star Spangled War Stories.)

 

Tarzan & Carson Napier

 

September 1942

TARZAN AND CARSON OF VENUS: THE LOVEKING

Tarzan is drawn through a space portal to Amtor (Venus) where he meets Carson Napier.

Comics mini-series published by Dark Horse Comics. See also Alternate Universes.

 

 

 

 

 

November 2, 1942 - April Dancer is born in Maine (The Birds of a Feather Affair).

November 1942 - John Paul Clayton, biological son of Tarzan, marries Alice Horatia, the daughter of Sir Holmes Rochester (see Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre) and Alice Gridley, a descendant of Admiral Viscount Horatio Hornblower.

 

 

February 1943

THE PURPLE ZOMBIE

Cole Wilson, a member of The Avenger's Justice Inc. crime-fighting organization, mentions that Lamont Cranston (the identity often used by The Shadow) is a casual acquaintance; in fact, Cranston (most likely really The Shadow posing as Cranston) is briefly glimpsed at a Hollywood party. Norgil the Magician is also mentioned.

February 1943

DR. TIME

Algernon Heathcote "Smitty" Smith, another Justice Inc. member, mentions his inventor friend, Click Rush.

These are two novels continuing the adventures of The Avenger, written by Ron Goulart under the traditional pen name Kenneth Robeson, published by Warner Books in the 1970s. Again confirms that The Avenger and The Shadow are in the same universe, while bringing Shadow writer Walter Gibson's Norgil the Magician and Doc Savage writer Lester Dent's Click Rush, The Gadget Man, into the Wold Newton Universe.

 

 

June 1943

BLACK CHARIOTS

Norgil the Magician is again mentioned.

Another Avenger novel, written by Ron Goulart, confirming Norgil in the Newtonverse.

 

1943 - Birth of Ralph O'Brian, son of Eel (Plastic Man) O'Brian (more info here).

1943 - John Thunstone's first recorded case, The Third Cry of Legba, as told by Manly Wade Wellman (although Thunstone did appear one year earlier in The Trouble with Barrymore).

 

1943

THE MAGIC DRUMS OF THE SHONOKINS

The Shonokins are described as a native American people who pre-date the American Indians. However, The Spirit reveals that the "magic drums" turn out to be a phony cover for a murder plot.

The October 17, 1943 installment of The Spirit. It is doubtful that the con-man in the story is a true descendant of the Shonokins, but that does not prevent the Shonokins from being an historical ancient people. This story had to be written by Manly Wade Wellman, who was a Spirit writer while Will Eisner was away serving in World War II. Pulp expert Rick Lai notes that, "They [Shonokins] are humanoids with cat-like eyes, and their longest finger is the index finger. They are worshippers of demonic horned gods. The Shonokins can't stand to be near the corpse of any of their race. They fought mainly John Thunstone, but Silver John (aka John the Balladeer) tangled with them once in Wellman's After Dark. There is a non-series story by Wellman in which the Shonokins are identified as relatives of a shorter race called the Pineys. Both the Shonokins and the Pineys lived in North America before the American Indians."

 

1943 - Events of The Mummy's Curse. MONSTAAH scholar Chuck Loridans again contributes, "The descent into a Massachusetts swamp in The Mummy's Ghost, and the ascent from the swamp in Louisiana in The Mummy's Curse can either be explained as fictional, and it really takes place in Mapleton (Arkham); and there just happens to be a Cajun quarter, in that town.... Or my favorite idea: There is a portal in the swamps from Massachusetts to Louisiana. I like to think of the Louisiana swamp as being in Bonaport. As far as a date for The Mummy's Curse, the twenty years later reference must be ignored."

 

December 1943

THE GLASS MAN

Norgil the Magician is again mentioned.

An Avenger novel, written by Ron Goulart, confirming Norgil in the Newtonverse.

 

January 1944

DEMON ISLAND

There is a reference to the occult text, the Necronomicon. Cole Wilson also states that he learned a lot about the fine art of detection from his friend, Nick Carter.

The final Avenger novel by Kenneth Robeson (Ron Goulart), Warner Books, 1975. The Necronomicon is from H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos. This reference ties the Mythos to Richard Henry Benson, The Avenger. For various takes on Nick Carter in the Wold Newton Universe, please visit here, here, here, and here.

 

 

Early June 1944

THE ANGEL, THE ROCK, AND THE COWL

Batman covertly assists Sgt. Rock and Easy Company on a mission in France, one day before D-Day. Batman actually meets Rock in his Bruce Wayne identity, but Wayne is posing as secret agent "Jack Pimpernel." Winston Churchill also appears.

Issue 84 of DC Comics' The Brave and the Bold, by Bob Haney and Neal Adams. Elseworlds versions of Rock and Easy Company are already a part of the Wold Newton Universe through their appearance in Batman and Captain America. This story is part of a continuity in which Bruce Wayne / Batman was active in WW II, working with Sgt. Rock, The Unknown Soldier, Blackhawk, and Captain America.

 

Summer 1944

THE GREEN GOD'S RING

Jules de Grandin consults John Thunstone’s The Darkness Out of the East for information about the Hindu god Siva.

Story by Seabury Quinn in Weird Tales, January 1945, connecting Jules de Grandin and Manly Wade Wellman's John Thunstone. For more information see The Jules de Grandin Chronology by Rick Lai and Matthew Baugh.

 

September 19-24, 1944

ICE STATION ALPHA

The Batman and Blackhawk go up against a desperate Nazi plot. A Hidalgo Trading Company warehouse is also seen in Gotham City.

Since an Elseworlds version of Blackhawk is in the Newtonverse by virtue of the Batman and Captain America crossover, this story can also be included. Although the main Hidalgo Trading Company warehouse was in New York City, it is clear that Doc Savage also kept a smaller auxiliary warehouse in nearby Gotham City. Issue 167 of DC Comics' The Brave and the Bold, by Marv Wolfman, Dave Cockrum and Dan Adkins.

 

Autumn 1944

OPERATION: TIME BOMB

The Batman again works with Sgt. Rock and Easy Company behind the lines in Western France.

Issue 162 of DC Comics' The Brave and the Bold, by Bill Kelley and Jim Aparo. The Newtonverse versions of Rock and Easy Company would go on to meet Captain America in Batman and Captain America. In this story Rock actually knows The Batman, even though in their last recorded adventure, The Angel, the Rock, and the Cowl, Rock only met Batman in his "Jack Pimpernel" identity. It is possible that an unrecorded Batman / Rock adventure occurred between these two stories, in which Rock learned that "Jack Pimpernel" was Batman.

 

Late 1944

LORDS OF THE GHOSTLANDS

Jules de Grandin calls John Thunstone in New York for help, but discovers that his fellow occult detective has been called away from New York.

Story by Seabury Quinn in Weird Tales, March 1945.

 

January 1945

Captain America & BatmanBATMAN AND CAPTAIN AMERICA

The Batman and Captain America join forces in this World War II adventure, ably assisted by their trusty sidekicks Robin and Bucky, against their arch-rivals, the Joker and the Red Skull. Also appearing are Sgt. Rock and the men of Easy Company, as well as a version of the War Wheel seen in Blackhawk.

This is an "Elseworlds" graphic novel by John Byrne, jointly published by DC Comics and Marvel Comics. An Elseworlds version of Captain America does exist in the Wold Newton Universe, (see Sting of the Green Hornet, 1942), as well as an Elseworlds version of The Batman (see Batman and Tarzan: Claws of the Cat-Woman, 1939). Note also the appearance of a middle-aged and retired Bruce Wayne along with many other graying pulp characters in the Prince Zarkon books (see Invisible Death, 1970). This crossover introduces Elseworlds versions of Sgt. Rock and Blackhawk to the Newtonverse. See also Alternate Universes and the crossover rules for superheroes.

 

 

 

February 15, 1945 - Jon Moses Sable is born.

1945 - Captain America (Steve Rogers) is thrown into suspended animation in the North Atlantic. Death of Bucky Barnes.

1945 - Birth of Mack Bolan, son of Richard Wentworth (The Spider) and Nita van Sloan.

1945 - Lancaster Sneed (Shockwave), nephew of Sir Denis Nayland Smith and great-nephew of Sherlock Holmes, is born.

 

1945

THE WEDDING OF THE PHANTOM

Marriage of the 20th Phantom and Diana Palmer. Many luminaries are present at the ceremony, including Mandrake the Magician.

Although this event was not documented by Phantom biographer Lee Falk until the 1970s (the strip ran from October 30, 1977 to February 5, 1978), it actually took place much earlier. The exact date is conjectural.

 

1945

THE DAI SWORD

John Thunstone first uses the silver sword cane which Judge Pursuivant has given him, and which is an exact duplicate of the judge's own blade.

Since Judge Pursuivant is in The Newtonverse, so is John Thunstone, another Manly Wade Wellman character. The story appeared in Weird Tales, July 1945.

 

1945

TWICE CURSED

John Thunstone battles the Shonokins with the aid of two brothers named Jackson Warren. One of them will later aid Silver John in his own struggle with the Shonokins.

This story connects to a third Manly Wade Wellman character, Silver John. It appeared in Weird Tales, March 1946. For more on Thunstone and Silver John, please read Matthew Baugh's Occult Detectives in the Wold Newton Universe.

 

1945

HOUSE OF DRACULA

The Wolf Man, the Frankenstein Monster and Count Dracula are all together again.

Feature film, Universal. For a full account of Dracula, and of the various Talbots and Frankensteins, please read Mark Brown's The House of Frankenstein and Chuck Loridans' Children of the Night.

 

October 1945

THE MAN IN CRESCENT TERRACE

Jules de Grandin mentions that his adversary, Grafton Loftus, was once an associate of Rowley Thorne, the archenemy of John Thunstone. De Grandin also calls Manly Wade Wellman on the telephone to discuss Egyptian magic.

Story by Seabury Quinn in Weird Tales, March 1946.

 

Late 1945

TARZAN VS. PREDATOR AT THE EARTH'S CORE

Tarzan and Jane travel to Pellucidar and meet Jason Gridley, David Innes, and Abner Perry, at the same time battling against the alien hunters called Predators. Edgar Rice Burroughs is also briefly seen.

Comics mini-series published by Dark Horse Comics. As with Superman, Batman, and Captain America, the Predators that Tarzan encountered must be "Elseworlds" Predators, due to the fact that Predator has been crossed-over with characters from many other diverse comics universes. Burroughs, of course, is the Newtonverse version of Burroughs, who was John Carter's nephew.

 

Late 1945 - Following the events of Tarzan vs. Predator at the Earth's Core, Jason Gridley and his bride Jana depart Pellucidar with Tarzan and Jane. Gridley returns to Tarzana, California, and establishes the Gridley Research Foundation, a scientific research and development group (conjecture based on Tarzan on Mars).

 

November 1945

BATMAN AND ROBIN IN SCOTLAND YARD!

Batman, Robin, and Alfred travel to London to combat the crimes of Professor Moriarty!

Detective Comics number 110, April 1946. Story by Don Cameron and art by Win Mortimer. The Moriarty featured here is not the Professor who originally fought Sherlock Holmes, but rather a namesake who is copying the original's misdeeds. While some characters in the story refer to Holmes and Watson as fictional, Alfred may actually have the best information: "To Alfred, Sherlock Holmes was more than a fictional character -- he was a real person...."

Furthermore, Moriarty's statement here that "There was never any Sherlock Holmes except in Conan Doyle's brain!" is belied by the statement that this Moriarty "...changes the crimes of the fictional Moriarty just enough so it's no good studying the Holmes stories." The problem with this latter statement is that Moriarty's crimes were never outlined in any detail in Doyle's stories; there's nothing to study in the original Holmes stories, nothing upon which to base a new set of crimes. The logical conclusion is that the original Moriarty was real, and the new Moriarty seen here is basing his crimes upon real crimes committed by the original. Any statements otherwise have been added to promote the idea that Holmes was fictional.

The Moriarty seen here is probably the son of Dominick (Medina) Moriarty and the father of Edgar Moriarty (see The Malevolent Moriartys), whom Batman's son, Bruce Wayne, Jr., would confront in 1986.

 

Late 1945 - Birth of Jean Rogers, daughter of Steve Rogers.

1946 - Lew Archer becomes a detective after returning from WW II, in a series of books by Ross Macdonald. Archer is the grandson of Professor Challenger.

1946 - Births of Kit and Heloise Walker, the twin children of the 20th Phantom and Diana Palmer.

 

February 1946

TARZAN AND JOHN CARTER: WARLORDS OF MARS

Tarzan is transported to Barsoom and meets John Carter.

Comics mini-series published by Dark Horse Comics. See also Alternate Universes.

Tarzan & John Carter 1 John Carter & Tarzan 2


Tarzan & John Carter 3 John Carter & Tarzan 4


 

 

1946 - The United Network for Law and Enforcement (U.N.C.L.E.) is founded at the same time as the United Nations, funded by member countries to operate as a global security force to counter the forces of THRUSH. Alexander Waverly is recruited from Department Z (Zed) to serve as Number One, Section One (Policy and Operations) (The Dagger Affair, The Rainbow Affair).

1946 - Birth of John Lawrence Talbot, son of Lawrence Stewart Talbot and Miliza Morelle (click here for more information).

 

October-November 1946

THAT HIDEOUS STRENGTH

That Hideous StrengthIn the final volume of Dr. Elwin Ransom's adventures, it is revealed that Merlin's art is something older and different than the Renaissance magic of Prospero and others: "Something brought to Western Europe after the fall of Numinor and going back to an era in which the general relations of mind and matter on this planet had been other than those we know."  Furthermore, it is told that there is an uninterrupted line of Pendragons from the time of King Arthur, and that Dr. Ransom is the 79th Pendragon.

Novel by C.S. Lewis, the final part of the Space Trilogy (initial volumes are Out of the Silent Planet and Perelandra), which is already in the Wold Newton Universe through other connections. That Hideous Strength takes place vaguely "after the war." The reference to Numenor (spelled "Numinor" by Lewis) from J.R.R. Tolkien's The Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings is an allusion to a real, historical place, thus placing Middle-earth and environs somewhere in the distant prehistory of the Wold Newton Universe. C. Richard Davies addresses this very topic in his A Prehistoric Timeline of the Wold Newton Universe. Jean-Marc Lofficier's From Cyrano to Jean-Luc Picard also takes a look at Lewis' Space Trilogy.

 

1946 - Paul Janus Finnegan, great nephew of Phileas Fogg, is drawn into a series of strange adventures in the "Pocket Universes," where he is known as Kickaha, as told in the The World of Tiers series by Philip José Farmer. Wold Newton scholar Mark Brown adds: "In The Lavalite World, Farmer is discussing Kickaha's family background in chapter 8. I quote: 'Philea Jane Fogg-Fog was born in 1880. In 1900 she married an English physician, Doctor Reginald Syn. He died in 1910 under mysterious circumstances, leaving no children.'" This passage confirms the place of Reginald Syn's ancestor, Dr. Christopher Syn, in the Newtonverse. Additionally, Wold Newton researcher Christopher Carey was able to contact Mr. Farmer regarding a discrepancy concerning the Kickaha genealogy.  In Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life, Mr. Farmer shows that Phileas Fogg is Kickaha's great-uncle. In The Lavalite World, he states that Phileas Fogg is Kickaha's great-grandfather. Mr. Farmer has resolved the discrepancy by saying that the genealogy given in Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life is the correct one.

December 1946 - Clive Reston, the son of James Bond and "Shrinking" Violet (Holmes) Beauregard, is born. Reston is the grandson of Mycroft Holmes and thus the great-nephew of Sherlock Holmes.

 

February 1947

TARZAN IN CASPAK

Tarzan travels to Caspak, the "Land That Time Forgot." Tarzan also mentions Shangri-La.

A graphic novel by Russ Manning published by Dark Horse comics, incorporating two stories, Tarzan in the Land That Time Forgot and The Pool of Time. The date is conjecture, but is based on Farmer's chronology and the fact that the daughter of characters from the original trilogy, which took place in 1916, is featured in these stories. The original Caspak trilogy, by Edgar Rice Burroughs, consisted of The Land That Time Forgot, The People That Time Forgot and Out of Time's Abyss. Shangri-La is from James Hilton's Lost Horizon; based on Tarzan's familiarity with that place, it must be in the Newtonverse.

 

1947 - The events of Greg Bear's Dinosaur Summer, a sequel to Doyle's Professor Challenger adventure, The Lost World.

July 1947 - An alien craft from the future, bearing three Ferengi and one shape-shifting Changeling, crashes in Roswell, New Mexico (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode Little Green Men). The U.S. military establishes contact, but the aliens soon escape, and the government denies all reports of extra-terrestrial life. However, the chronitogravimetric disturbances in subspace caused by the arrival and departure of the Ferengi shuttle draw the unwelcome attention of unnamed "grey" alien observers. Although these "grey" aliens have already been secretly visiting Earth for some time, when they come to Earth to investigate the chronitogravimetric disturbance, they are drawn into it and also crash near Roswell. This represents the first contact between the "grey" alien colonists and the government, setting in motion the 50+ year-long events of international plots, denials, and cover-ups depicted in the "Conspiracy" episodes of The X-Files.

 

Early 1948

TARZAN: THE SAVAGE HEART / TALES OF PELLUCIDAR

Tarzan encounters Tyrell Whatley, the son of the late Earl of Whimsey. Thinking Jane dead, Tarzan leaves civilization forever and goes to live in Pellucidar. At the conclusion, Tarzan realizes Jane is alive, but has further adventures in Pellucidar.

This comics mini-series written by Allan Gross, and published by Dark Horse Comics, takes place after Tarzan vs. Predator at the Earth's Core. Tales of Pellucidar is found in Dark Horse Presents number 143. Whatley is most likely a cousin of Lord Peter Wimsey (click here for more information).

 

1948-1955

TARZAN ON MARSTarzan On Mars

Tarzan, Jane, La of Opar, the Oparian High Priest Cadj, Nkima the monkey, Jason Gridley, John Carter, Carthoris, Tars Tarkas, Kar Komak, and Vad Varo (Ulysses Paxton) all appear in this sweeping epic novel of religious reform on Mars, otherwise known as Barsoom.

Unpublished novel by John Bloodstone (pseudonym for Stuart J. Byrne), 1956.  The Oparian High Priest Cadj, must be the son of the first Cadj, who was killed in Tarzan and the Golden Lion.  Further, the Zithad (Dator of the Temple of Issus) that was killed by John Carter in Llana of Gathol was either the son of the Zithad who appeared in The Gods of Mars, or else the Zithad in Tarzan On Mars is the son of the original.  That John Carter does not recognize Tarzan from their previous encounter (Tarzan and John Carter: Warlords of Mars) is the result of Bloodstone’s fictionalization of these events; as is demonstrated below, the author also changed some dates in order to encourage the belief that this story was pure fiction.

Tarzan On Mars cannot take place from 1939-1946 as implied in the book.  There are only brief wartime references, which can be discounted by Bloodstone's fictionalization in order to conceal real events, just as Burroughs did so often.  So Jane and La did not disappear in 1939 and Tarzan did not wait until the end of World War II to go after them.  (Jane appears in too many stories between 1939 and 1946 for this to be true: Tarzan and Carson of Venus: The Love King (1942); Legion of Hate ('43); The Lost Adventure ('45); Tarzan vs. Predator at Earth's Core (late '45); Tarzan and John Carter: Warlords of Mars (early ’46; incidentally, this exploit will stand as Tarzan's first trip to Barsoom); Tarzan's Jungle Fury (‘47).)  Therefore, this beginning of this adventure has been more accurately placed in 1948, after the events of The Savage Heart.

Just after Tarzan rescues Jane in The Savage Heart (early '48), they return to Africa from Pellucidar.  Jane and La get transported to Mars, as described in Tarzan On Mars.  Tarzan actually spends several years searching for Jane, to no avail, although he knows her disappearance is connected with the object, the Great Star of Issus.   He finally encounters Jason Gridley once more, who introduces him to John Carter’s nephew, Jules Carter.  At last it becomes clear to Tarzan that Jane has been somehow transported to Barsoom.

It is now 1952.  Tarzan, who cannot teleport back and forth between Barsoom at will like John Carter (see The Chessmen of Mars), cannot recreate his earlier teleport to Mars (see Tarzan and John Carter: Warlords of Mars).  He enlists Jason Gridley's help to build a rocket.  This takes over a year and he launches in late 1953.  After over a year of travel in suspended animation (not to mention passing through a dimensional warp that carries Tarzan’s rocket to Barsoom’s dimension), Tarzan lands on Barsoom in 1955 and the remainder of the events described in the book ensue.

Toward the end of this epic, La is revealed as the true Martian goddess Issus.  She is a really a white Martian woman.  This is confirmed by the fact that the ancient form of the language spoken by the First Born of Barsoom is exactly the same as the secret ancient language of Opar.  It is further confirmed by the fact that, soon after La finds her destined mate, Kar Komak, she, in the Martian fashion, lays an egg. (For more on La and her origins, please read La, Immortal Priestess of Issus!)

In true Burroughsian tradition, the story ends with Jane being carried away by the evil-doers. One possible ending that the author discusses in the end note is that Tarzan rescues Jane and they enlist Carthoris’ assistance in constructing a spaceship to return to Earth.  I propose that while Carthoris busies himself with the spacecraft project, Tarzan is studying the secret of teleportation-at-will from John Carter and Carter’s instructor, Kar Komak.  Tarzan eventually succeeds and is able to transport himself and Jane back to Earth.  (It is possible that the events of Tarzan at Mars’ Core, as related by Edward Hirshman, follow Tarzan On Mars; however, as only 2,000 copies Tarzan at Mars’ Core exist, the answer must await further research.  In any event, Tarzan and Jane eventually end up back on Earth.) 

Apparently La, also, at some point, is transported back to Earth, as Tarzan and Jane encounter her again in 1991 (see my Addendum to Chuck Loridans' The Daughters of Tarzan); perhaps she is sent back to her Oparian refuge on Earth in the wake of some further religious crisis on Barsoom.

 

October 1948

ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN

The Wolf Man (Lawrence Stewart Talbot) pursues Count Dracula and the Frankenstein Monster to La Mirada, Florida. An Invisible Man also briefly appears, as do, of course, the two bumblers.

Universal Pictures, 1948. The Wolf Man is in the Newtonverse through a connection to the Cthulhu Mythos (Only the End of the World Again). For a full explanation of the history of the various Frankenstein Monsters, see Mark Brown's The House of Frankenstein. For the history of Dracula and his various "soul clones," as well as the history of the Talbot family (the Wolf Men), see Chuck Loridans' Children of the Night. The Invisible Man appearing at the end of the film is most likely Geoffrey Radcliffe (The Invisible Man Returns); for an explanation of his presence in La Mirada, Florida at this time, please read Dennis Power's article The Invisibles. This time the two bumblers are using the names Chick Young and Wilbur Grey.

 

October 31, 1948

RETURN OF THE WOLFMAN: Prologue

In the aftermath of the events of Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, both the Wolf Man (Lawrence Stewart Talbot) and one of the Frankenstein Monsters enter a half-century slumber in La Mirada, Florida.

Novel by Jeff Rovin, Berkely Boulevard Books, 1998. The Frankenstein Monster here is the creation of Dr. Henry Frankenstein, and is not to be confused with the original created by Dr. Victor Frankenstein. Please read Mark Brown's The House of Frankenstein and Chuck Loridans' follow-up, Children of the Night, for a complete history of the Frankenstein Monsters, Dracula, and the Wolf Man in the Wold Newton Universe.

 

1948

SIR HAROLD AND THE GNOME KING

Harold Shea, a professor of psychology at the Garaden Institute in Garaden, Ohio, uses his syllogismobile to travel about the multiverse. In this adventure, he visits an alternate Land of Oz.

By L. Sprague de Camp, Wildside Press, 1991. Sherlock Holmes also visited Oz once, but this isn't the Oz to which Holmes went. Perhaps it is the Oz described in Philip José Farmer's A Barnstormer in Oz, which Dennis Power has written extensively about in Ozdyssey. The crossover story is mentioned here because Harold Shea is conclusively in the Wold Newton Universe (see entry for Sir Harold of Zodanga).

 

1948 - The events of Young Frankenstein (please read Mark Brown's The House of Frankenstein for more information).

1948 - Marriage of Pat Savage and Rex Hazzard.

1948 - Clark Kent marries Lois Lane.

1949 - Doc Savage secretly marries Mayan Princess Monja F'Teema.

 

February 1949

THE WHISPERING EYES

Clyde Burke, reporter and agent of The Shadow, passes an old New York house, dating from the 1890s or earlier. The house is identified as "the home of a celebrated detective named Nick Carter, the horse-and-buggy crime doctor of his day."

The final issue of the pulp novel series, The Shadow, written by Walter Gibson (aka "Maxwell Grant"). If there was any doubt, this reference confirms the presence of Nick Carter in the Newtonverse. For more on Nick Carter, please read Dennis Power's Little Big Men: Crabbs and Carters and The Mysterious Case of the Carters by Todd Rutt and Arn McConnell. An alternate genealogy is presented in Jess Nevins' The Carters of Virginia: A Tragedy.

 

1949

BELOW SUSPICION

Dr. Gideon Fell works with barrister Patrick Butler to solve this case.

Novel by John Dickson Carr.

 

1949 - Birth of Joel Kent, son of Clark Kent and Lois Lane.

June 1949 - Lee Allyn's first adventure as Captain Zero, in City of Deadly Sleep, by G.T. Fleming Roberts.

1949 - Birth of Rex Hazzard, Jr., son of Captain Rex Hazzard and Pat Savage.

1949 - The Batman returns to solo crime-fighting, as Dick Grayson departs Gotham City for college and, eventually, law school.

 

1949

ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET THE INVISIBLE MAN

The Invisible Man in this case is Tommy Nelson, a boxer on the run from the law after being framed for murder. He uses the invisibility formula concocted by Dr. Philip Gray, who got the formula from Dr. Jack Griffin. The two bumblers, this time using the identities of private detectives, Lou Francis and Bud Alexander, try to assist Tommy, but of course get in the way.

Universal Pictures, 1951. The two bumblers, using a series of different names and aliases, have also been involved in various other events in the Wold Newton Universe. The Dr. Griffin referred to is Dr. John "Jack" Hawley Griffin, the original Invisible Man. Please read Dennis Power's article, The Invisibles, for more information.

 

1949 - Fearing underworld reprisals against his family, Eel O'Brian retires as Plastic Man. He changes his last name to Dibny and quietly disappears along with his wife and young son Ralph.

1950 - James Bond is assigned to the Double-O section of the British Secret Service and granted a "license to kill."

 

1950

LE GENTLEMAN EN NOIR

A very elderly Sherlock Holmes (here called "Aldock Hermès") investigates the possible return of Arsène Lupin (the "Gentleman in Black").

A case chronicled by Claude Ferry. For more information see the excellent The Arsène Lupin Timeline by André-François Ruaud.

 

May 5, 1950 - Kinsey Millhone, daughter of Lew Archer and Rita Millhone, is born in Santa Teresa, California.

May 1950 - Birth of Clark Savage III, son of Doc Savage and Princess Monja.

 

1950

CURSE OF THE BLACK PHARAOH

Dr. Anton Zarnak has a copy of Abraham Van Helsing's book, The Vampire in Transylvania, on his shelf. The villain of the story is called Khotep.

By Lin Carter, The Nyarlothotep Cycle, 1997. The Van Helsing book solidifies Zarnak's link to Dracula. Khotep seems to be the same as Nephren-Ka from Lovecraft's Haunter of the Dark. The same character is called Kephren in Lovecraft's Imprisoned with the Pharaohs (a.k.a. Beneath the Pyramids) and Khephren in Richard Tierney's Treasure of Horemkhu. Therefore, Zarnak is linked with the heroes of these stories, Harry Houdini and Simon of Gitta. For more on Zarnak, please read Matthew Baugh's Occult Detectives in the Wold Newton Universe.

 

1950 - Bruce Wayne marries Selina Kyle, the former, and reformed, Catwoman.

1950 - Birth of Kent Lane, son of Kent Allard (The Shadow) and Margo Lane.

1950 - Buckaroo Banzai is born in London, the son of two scientists, Masado Banzai and Sandra Willoughby.

 

Early 1951

COMBINED FORCES: Being the Latter Day Adventures of Major-General Sir Richard Hannay, Captain Hugh "Bulldog" Drummond, and Berry and Co.

A group of aging British clubland heroes combine forces for one last great adventure, including Richard Hannay, Bulldog Drummond, Berry Pleydell and his wife/cousin Daphne; Daphne's brother Boy Pleydell; and Jonathan (Jonah) Mansel.  Irma Peterson, the niece/wife of Bulldog Drummond's arch-nemesis Carl Peterson, also plays the villainess here. It is also revealed that Hannay's son, Peter John Hannay, is an ornithologist with NATO. Many supporting characters from the three series also appear. Also mentioned or appearing: Edward Leithen; Horatio Hornblower; the Clubfoot (aka Dr. Grundt); and Dickson McCunn.

Novel by Jack Smithers, published by Buchan & Enright, London, 1983. John Buchan's Richard Hannay and H.C. "Sapper" McNeile's Bulldog Drummond appear, as well as all the major characters of Dornford Yates' Berry & Co. books.  One of these characters, Jonah Mansel, also appeared a lot in Yates' other major series, the Chandos series, which means these books, featuring Richard (William) Chandos would also come in. (See Brad Mengel's The Daring Drummonds for some genealogical information on Chandos and Pleydell.) The whole premise is that these heroes are getting a bit long in the tooth and they want one last adventure. Hugh is portrayed as being in his early '60s, but still vigorous, but Hugh's wife, Phyllis, is suffering from arthritis and doesn't get around much, and consequently has "gone to fat." This would seem to put a wrench in my theory, first expressed in The Malevolent Moriartys, that Hugh and Phyllis have access to anti-aging pills through Hugh's biological brother, John "Korak" Drummond.

The options are that: (1) Hugh and Phyllis have the pills, but are disguising their age, thus making this account a fictionalization with regards to Drummond's age; or (2) we accept this portrayal of the aging heroes as fact, thus making Hugh Drummond, Jr., the character seen in Deadlier Than the Male and Some Girls Do, as well as Horror Wears Blue. While I am still following number (1) as my working theory (despite the portrayal of Hugh and Phyllis in this adventure, I believe Hugh would jump at the chance to regain his youth), I do believe that the swinging sixties Drummond portrayed in Deadlier Than the Male is Hugh Jr.

For the proposition that Irma was the niece, rather than the daughter, of Carl Peterson, please read Rick Lai's A Brief Biography of Dr. Caber.

Regarding the dating of this novel, Beria is still head of the Soviet NKVD (died Christmas 1953), Farouk is still King of Egypt (ousted 1952), and Attlee is still Prime Minister of Great Britain (left office April 1951). Based on this, I selected an early 1951 date (the dust jacket says it takes place in the 1950s).   This works well since Carl Peterson is still thought dead in this novel; he returned in Gerard Fairlie's The Return of the Black Gang (1954).

Other characters: Sir Edward Leithen first appeared in Buchan's The Power-House; Dickson McCunn also appeared in a series of books by Buchan; Hornblower and descendants are already incorporated into the Wold Newton Universe; the Clubfoot (aka Dr. Grundt) seems to be the same person as Stumm from Buchan's Hannay novel Greenmantle, although this is not confirmed. Also mentioned are real historical figures Dennis Wheatley, an adventure, science-fiction, and fantasy author; and Compton MacKenzie, a journalist and novelist.

 

1951

SIR HAROLD OF ZODANGA

Harold Shea and his wife, Blephebe, voyage to Barsoom in search of their kidnapped daughter, Voglinda. John Carter, Ulysses Paxton (aka Vad Varo), and Jason Gridley are all mentioned as coming from the same world as Shea.

Short novella by L. Sprague de Camp in The Exotic Enchanter, Baen Books, 1995. Barsoom, the adopted home planet of the Newtonverse's John Carter, exists in the E.R. Burroughs Alternate Universe. Since Carter came from Earth in the Wold Newton Universe, and Gridley exists there, so does Shea. Shea's adventures began around 1938, when he was a doctoral student. By the time of this story, he is a doctor of psychology, is married, and has a three-year-old daughter. However, there are modern references which might cause one to place this story near the time of its writing, the mid 1990s. I have chosen to ignore the more modern references as literary license and place this adventure, and the previously listed one, in a time-frame near the last original adventures written by de Camp and Fletcher Pratt, as complied in The Complete Compleat Enchanter.

 

1951

THE LAST GRAVE OF LILL WARREN

John Thunstone writes a letter to his old friend, Jules de Grandin, detailing this adventure.

This story by Manly Wade Wellman further cements the connection between de Grandin and John Thunstone. Weird Tales, May 1951.

 

1951 - Birth of Bruce Wayne, Jr., who will become the second Robin, and later serve as the third Batman.

June-July 1951 - James Bond's first recorded adventure by his friend Ian Fleming, Casino Royale. Bond goes on to a long career in the Secret Service, as documented by Fleming, Kingsley Amis, John Pearson, John Gardner and Raymond Benson. James Bond: Casino Royale

1952 - Shang Chi is born. He is the son of Dr. Fu Manchu and an unnamed American woman scientifically chosen to bear him. His name roughly translates as "the rising and advancing of the spirit."

 

1952

GHOST OF THE KILLER SKIES

On the Spain location of a film he is funding, Bruce Wayne, as The Batman, foils the insane and murderous plot of Heinrich Franz, a descendant of the "Enemy Ace," Hans von Hammer.

Detective Comics number 404, by Denny O'Neil, Neal Adams, and Dick Giordano. Hans von Hammer was featured in the adventure Guns of the Dragon.

 

 

1953 The Shadow and The Batman

WHO KNOWS WHAT EVIL--?

The Shadow and Batman are involved in an investigation into a band of counterfeiters that leads Batman to the small town of Tumbleweed Crossing, Arizona. At the end of the tale, Batman acknowledges that The Shadow has been one of his inspirations, and The Shadow replies that he had been watching Batman's career and has been impressed.

Issue 253 of Batman (by Denny O'Neil, Irv Novick, and Dick Giordano) brings The Shadow back to the West, albeit briefly, from his exile in Shambala. The 1953 date is derived by subtracting six months from The Shadow and Batman's next meeting in 1954.

 

 

 

 

1954

THE NIGHT OF THE SHADOW

The Shadow and young Bruce WayneBatman (Bruce Wayne) and The Shadow deal with an escaped convict that The Shadow captured years before, when Bruce was a young boy.

Batman issue 259 by Denny O'Neil, Irv Novick, and Dick Giordano. From Commissioner James Gordon's statement that he started on the Gotham police force thirty years ago (which, according to Mark Brown's researches in The Magnificent Gordons, was in 1924), we can place this tale in 1954. There is a reference to a quarter-century ago for the murder of Bruce's parents, with the young Bruce/Shadow meeting taking place "some time" before that. Since The Shadow first went active in 1929, I have placed the young Bruce/Shadow incident in that year, with the murder of Thomas and Martha Wayne shortly thereafter.

 

 

 

1954

ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET THE MUMMY

In Egypt, the two bumblers are involved in a series of adventures concerning the mummy Klaris, the cousin of Kharis.

Universal Pictures, 1955. This time, according to the film credits, the two bumblers are using the names Peter Patterson and Freddie Franklin, although they continue to refer to each other as Bud and Lou.

 

1954 - Birth of Dawn Drummond-Clayton, daughter of John Armand Drummond-Clayton and Hazel Tennington, and granddaughter of John "Korak" Drummond-Clayton.

1954 - The monster Gojira attacks Tokyo, leaving 180,000 dead and necessitating a decade of rebuilding. American journalist Stephen Martin mistranslates the monster's name as "Godzilla" and the name is adopted worldwide. Godzilla will not appear again until the late 1990s.

1954 - The events of Creature from the Black Lagoon (click here for more information).

1954 - In a post-script to The Angel, the Rock, and the Cowl, Bruce Wayne nabs the Nazi villain, Von Stauffen, who escaped at the end of the adventure back in 1944. Sgt. Rock also lends a helping hand to Wayne, whom Rock recognizes as "Jack Pimpernel." However, in their next meeting, the 1955 tale The Striped Pants War, Rock recognizes Wayne as Wayne.

1955 - Events of Revenge of the Creature (click here for more information).

 

1955

THE STRIPED PANTS WAR

The Batman and Sgt. Rock versus terrorists in South America.

DC Comics' The Brave & The Bold, issue 96, by Bob Haney and Nick Cardy. Since, in this tale, Sgt. Rock greets Wayne as Wayne and not as "Jack Pimpernel," the only explanation is that Wayne and Rock met again after capturing Von Stauffen in Gotham City, and Wayne explained the Wayne/"Pimpernel" identity to Rock. However, since Rock must know that "Jack Pimpernel" is The Batman (see Operation: Time Bomb), he must also know that The Batman is Bruce Wayne. But.... he doesn't. On the other hand, when the mission is over, Rock tells Wayne that it was a success, "Thanks to you and the Bat-Guy." Since Wayne didn't really do anything, perhaps Rock is slyly indicating that he really does know that Wayne and The Batman are one.

 

END OF PART VIII


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