The Aggressors and Woldnewtonry
Wednesday, 15. February 2006, 11:14:50
So how do the Aggressors link into the Wold Newton Universe? When Philip Jose Farmer posited the Wold Newton Family in 1972 he was able to explain how many pulp heroes were genetically connected to each other. Tarzan, Doc Savage, The Shadow, The Spider, the Avenger, and G-8 were all shown to be related to each other and descended from those riding past Wold Newton in 1795.
Win Eckert expanded that notion to include those who had interacted with Wold newton Family members and devised the Wold Newton Universe, in that many more pulp and pulp type heroes were connected to the Wold Newton scheme of things.
It is therfore appropriate that the Aggressors, who are the next generation of hero pulp characters be brought into both the Wold Newton Universe and Family. It was that line of thinking that suggested that Richard Camellion, the Death Merchant was in fact the son of Doc Savage and the idea that Mack Bolan, The Executioner is the son of Richard Wentworth.
From there it's a small step to The Destroyer, The Executioner and Tomb Raider all battling disguised versions of Cthulhu, The Destroyer and The Spirit having empty graves next to each other, the Executioner being compared to The Shadow and the Phantom. James Bond, Mr Moto and Hercule Poirot all appear in a Destroyer novel.
It's not surprizing that Mack Bolan knew Niles Barrabas in Vietnam, Remo making reference to Mack Bolan, Mack Bolan founding Able Team and Phoenix Force, Dan Track and Josh Culhane teaming up for an adventure.
In my next few posts I'll be reviewing these meetings and other references and parodies.
Win Eckert expanded that notion to include those who had interacted with Wold newton Family members and devised the Wold Newton Universe, in that many more pulp and pulp type heroes were connected to the Wold Newton scheme of things.
It is therfore appropriate that the Aggressors, who are the next generation of hero pulp characters be brought into both the Wold Newton Universe and Family. It was that line of thinking that suggested that Richard Camellion, the Death Merchant was in fact the son of Doc Savage and the idea that Mack Bolan, The Executioner is the son of Richard Wentworth.
From there it's a small step to The Destroyer, The Executioner and Tomb Raider all battling disguised versions of Cthulhu, The Destroyer and The Spirit having empty graves next to each other, the Executioner being compared to The Shadow and the Phantom. James Bond, Mr Moto and Hercule Poirot all appear in a Destroyer novel.
It's not surprizing that Mack Bolan knew Niles Barrabas in Vietnam, Remo making reference to Mack Bolan, Mack Bolan founding Able Team and Phoenix Force, Dan Track and Josh Culhane teaming up for an adventure.
In my next few posts I'll be reviewing these meetings and other references and parodies.
WIDGETIZE
Anonymous # 17. February 2006, 21:46
Love the new blog, ol Buddy!
Keep up the great work!!
Chuck
Brad Mengel # 20. February 2006, 08:13
Anonymous # 21. February 2006, 12:03
you're covering this territory really well, Brad. i liked how you explained the links & connections between the Aggressor characters and the Wold Newton Universe. and i agree about BLACK SAMURAI being a fun (and well-cast with Jim Kelly) but ultimately missed opportunity.
i'm eager to read more from yr blog.
Henry
Brad Mengel # 15. April 2006, 18:38
Keep coming back and I'll be sharing more links. Let's say that my posts on Jerry Ahern's Track and Takers series aren't random choices.
Anonymous # 13. December 2006, 23:19
Okay, the Destroyer is in the WNU because of the various cross-overs in the series. Mack Bolan, The Butcher, and the Death Merchant are in because parodic versions of them appeared in Bay City Blast (plus didn't Bolan fight Cthulhu?) Able Team and Phoenix Force are spinoffs of the Executioner. Soldiers of Barrabas had a cross-over with Executioner. Lara Croft is in the WNU too.
Are they any other aggressor characters that because of cross-overs are in the WNU? I ask because I know for example 5 fictional P.I.'s that had cross-overs that would put them in the WNU even though they aren't mentioned on the sight.
Brad Mengel # 14. December 2006, 07:28
There are quite a few Aggressor characters in the WNU
The Executioner, Relic Hunter, The Destroyer, Tomb Raider, The Death Merchant, The Butcher, The A team, Darkman, Soldiers of Barrabas, Able Team, Phoenix Force, Street Hawk, Knight Rider, MacGyver.
So I'd be interested to hear about the PI crossovers you mention.
Brad
Anonymous # 14. December 2006, 21:48
Thanks for the information. It was me Matthew who made the anonymous post.
About the cross-overs the mystery writers Bill Pronzini and Marcia Muller have their P.I. characters (the Nameless Detective and Sharon McCone, respectively) meet in a few stories (the writers are married). In one of their collaborations, the novel Doubles, the meet while attending a PI convention. Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone makes a brief cameo so that brings them into the WNU. Also making appearances in the novel William Campbell Gault's Brock Callahan and Robert Randisi's Miles Jacoby. Millhone, Jacoby, and Callahan appearances are one sentence but are treated as real people in the context of the novel.
In the Miles Jacoby novel The Steinway Collection there is an appearance of Michael Collin's PI Dan Fortune (Nameless also appears.)
Anonymous # 16. December 2006, 23:09
I meant to post this link to the thrilling detective site:
http://www.thrillingdetective.com/trivia/triv40.html
By the way, I personally theorized that Nameless is the son of the Continental Op.
Brad Mengel # 17. December 2006, 11:41
I had seen that webpage before. I haven't read any Nameless (so much stuff so little time) but it sounds like an interesting theory especially since Win Eckert speculates that the Op is Sir Denis Nayland Smith's brother and hence a nephew of Sherlock Holmes. Perhaps you could expand on that into an article and have it posted on one of the WN websites.
Brad
Anonymous # 17. December 2006, 19:31
Actually, I did write an article and sent to sent it Wold Newton Chronicles, but Mark Brown seems to be busy so it might never see the light of day. I can E-mail it to you if you want.
The weird thing about Wold Newton Universe is how the connections just seem to evolve on their own. I was a fan of the mystery manga Kindaichi Case Files. Itself was based on a Wold Newton like concept of it's main character teenager Hajime Kindaichi being the descendent of another famous fictional detective (Kosuke Kidaichi, who I know next to nothing about). Well, sure enough in one storyline Hajime encounters another teen detective Edward Columbo who has a famous uncle on the LA police force. Then their was an issue of Warren Ellis's Fell, which had in the first panel a picture of the Necronomicon.
Brad Mengel # 17. December 2006, 20:14
Mark is currently getting his teaching degree and hasn't updated for a while.
The connections for the WNU come hard and fast from obvious ones like the recent animated "Batman vs Dracula" to reading through one of the Streethawk novelisations to discover that Pete Crenshaw of The Three Investigators grew up and become an LA police officer.
Brad