Pulps Review

Review: ‘Tales of the Shadowmen, Vol. 5’

Tales of the Shadowmen, Vol. 5“Tales of the Shadowmen: The Vampires of Paris” (2009) is the fifth volume of this eclectic anthology series from Black Coat Press.

Based on Philip José Farmer‘s Wold Newton theories, this collection includes:

• Matthew Baugh: “The Way of the Crane” has Madame Atomos (the vengeful Japanese scientist from a series of French sf novels) try to recruit the Green Hornet‘s associate Kato into her campaign against the U.S.

• Michelle Bigot: “The Tarot of the Shadowmen” an interesting art portfolio depicting various heroes and villains as the Major Arcana of the Tarot.

• Christopher Paul Carey and Win Scott Eckert: “Iron and Bronze” has Hareton Ironcastle (an adventurer from a French sf novel later revamped by Farmer) visiting a lost colony of Atlantis located in the Hoggarth Mountains in north Africa. Doc Ardan (an early French sf character turned into a alias for Doc Savage) shows up.

• G.L. Gick: “Tros Must Be Crazy!” has Tros of Samothrace visit a certain village of indomitable Gauls located in Brittany.

• Micah Harris: “May the Ground Not Consume Thee…” has early literary vampire Lord Ruthven (from the novel of the same name) going up against the Count of Monte-Cristo.

• Tom Kane: “The Knave of Diamonds” is an interesting little story that brings together James Bond villain Scaramanga and O (from “Story of O”).

• Lovern Kindzierski: “Perils Over Paris” has Fascinax (an English doctor given mental powers in India who started in a French pulp series) going up against Irma Vep (leader of a group of criminals called Les Vampires from the French silent serial). This story ties into the cover of this volume.

• Rick Lai: “All Predators Great and Small” is a story with Josephine Balsamo (the Countess Cagliostro who opposed Arsene Lupin) and her ancestors dealing with vampires, like Dracula.

• Roman Leary: “The Heart of a Man” is a story with the Nyctalope (the early French proto-superhero), now living in exile in South America. Bond villain Blofeld tries to recruit him for SPECTRE.

• Alain le Bussy: “A Matter Without Gravity” has Sherlock Holmes encounter a couple of characters from the stories of H.G. Wells.

• Jean-Marc Lofficier: “Madame Atomos’ Holidays,” another story with Madame Atomos that also features Bob Morane‘s foe, the Yellow Shadow. (Bob Morane is an interesting post-war French adventurer who has a lot of sf adventures and goes after Bond-like villains like the Yellow Shadow.)

• Randy Lofficier: “The English Gentleman’s Ball” deals more with the Nyctalope’s future wife Sylvie MacDhul. Here, the Phantom Angel (really, Sleeping Beauty, who was awaken by Doc Ardan in “Tales” #4), works to rescue her from her evil stepmother, revealed to be Belphegor, the Phantom of the Louvre (villain of the French serial “Belphegor,” see my posting on the translation of it). Also appearing are Jeeves and Bertie Wooster.

• Xavier Mauméjean: “The Most Exciting Game” has Count Zaroff (the renegade Russian Count from the movie where he hunts down shipwreck victims on his island) dealing with some Serpent Men in New York, with a little assistance from Margo Lane.

• Jess Nevins: “A Root That Beareth Gall and Worms” has Monsieur Lecoq (the early French detective) traveling to Mexico where he encounters Dr. Loveless and Alejandro de la Vega.

• John Peel: “The Dynamics of an Asteroid” finds Doctor Omega (an early French sf character who is very similar to the First Doctor) dealing with Professor Moriarty.

• Frank Schildiner: “The Smoking Mirror” has Jean Kariven (an archaeologist who investigates “ancient astronaut” stories, which in his series are real), a sort of forerunner to Martin Mystery (an interesting Italian comic book character), in New York.

• Stuart Shiffman: “The Milkman Cometh” has Tevye the Milkman (basis for the “Fiddler on the Roof”) meeting such characters as Rouletabille (French journalist and detective), Sherlock Holmes and Ivan Dragomiloff (head of the Assassination Bureau, Ltd.)

• David L. Vineyard: “The Jade Buddha” is a story of Arsene Lupin while he is in Saigon. There, he encounters characters like Hanoi Shan and others.

• Brian Stableford: “The Vampire in Paris” (Part IV of “The Empire of the Necromancers”) starring Gregory Temple and others from stories like “John Devil,” etc.

At the end of the volume is information on the characters used and who created them, though this may not help point you to where they are from. (Wikipedia is most useful here, along with Black Coat Press’s French Wold Newton site and Cool French Comics site). The “Starring” lists the characters who appear in the story, “Co-starring” lists characters mentioned in the story, and “Also Starring” lists places and things that appear or are mentioned in the story.

I have all the past volumes in this series and look forward to the next in this annual series.

2 Comments

  • Is there any chance that the “Smoking Mirror” story could in some way be connected to the computer game “Broken Sword 2: The Smoking Mirror”?

    It more likely that the similar title is because both draw from Aztec mythology (specifically the god Tezcatlipoca). However, the Broken Sword series has a very pulpy feel, dealing with globe-trotting adventure, ancient civilizations, long lost superweapons, diabolical villains etc. The Tintin comics have been cited by the creator as a particular source of inspiration. Moreover, one of the heroes is French, and much of the series is set in Paris, so it fits in with the mostly French “Tales of the Shadowmen” stable of characters.

    It would be interesting to see more computer game characters included in the Wold Newton Universe if nothing else.

    • No idea. Would suggest you contact the author, or post this question on the publishers FB page. The Tales of the Shadowmen series pulls in characters from a wide range of sources. One recent story used ‘characters’ from a song, which I found surprising.

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