Thursday, January 28, 2010

Of Wikis and Wold Newton: The Grand Finale

"
  • Edward <Edward Kelley> (1555 - 1597), ancestor of the Talbots.
  • Elvira , niece to Vincent Talbot and Morgana Dracula.
  • George, grandson of Glenn Talbot.
  • Richard, husband of Rachel Merton, and ancestor to Sir John Talbot.
  • Vincent, uncle to Elvira Talbot and husband to Morgana Dracula."
None of these individuals are mentioned in any of the articles dealing with the Talbots. Also, Glenn Talbot of the Hulk stories was an army colonel in the late '60s-early '70s, seemingly in the prime of his life, making it unlikely that he would have a grandson in 1987.

"Tommy "Tailspin" Tompkins, father of Suzie Tompkins by Linda Lane."
According to Win Eckert, Tailspin Tommy is actually Suzie's uncle.

"Dick Tracy, cousin to James Bond, father to Joseph Flintheart Tracy and Bonnie Braids Tracy by Tess Trueheart, father to another son by Breathless Mahoney and adoptive father to Dick Tracy Jr."
No one has ever connected Dick Tracy to James Bond. I'm not sure what the basis for this connection is.

"Hang Tuah, descendant of Fu Manchu, William Clayton, Ra's Al Ghul and Captain Nemo by an unknown Islamic royal."
Fu Manchu (born 1840, according to Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life), Sir William Clayton (born 1799, according to Tarzan Alive) and Captain Nemo (according to Jules Verne, the nephew of Tipu Sultan, who lived from 1750-1799) are ancestors of a legendary 15th century warrior. Perhaps someone will one day write a story of the time travel either of these three men or Hang Tuah.

"Alex Munday's father appears in the 2nd Charlie's Angels movie, and he's played by John Cleese.

"Honey West <Miss Moneypenny>"
Another seemingly random conflation.

"Wade Wilson <Deadpool, Agent X, Nijo, Alex Hayden, T-Ray>, brother to Slade Wilson."
Deadpool and T-Ray are two separate people, the former assuming the latter's name. Agent X is also a separate person.

"Tequila Yuen, great-grandson of Fu Manchu"
Apparently the author(s) believe every character in fiction of Chinese descent is descended from Fu Manchu. Also, Henry Covert has devised a different ancestry for Tequila.

"Countess Marya Zaleska, daughter of Vlad III Dracula and wife of Samuel Dracula."
Chuck Loridans has a different Marya Zaleska-Grandpa connection.

"The Justice League"
Win Eckert has intensively dealt with the subject of including superheroes and teams in the Wold Newton Universe.

"The Creature from the Black Lagoon, an alien Gorn who crash-landed in the Amazon rainforest during a scientific retrieval mission."
No article has ever identified the Gill-Man as a Gorn.

At last, we have reached the end. I hope that my efforts have done or will do something to redress many of the misconceptions caused by this list. For actual research on the Wold Newton Universe, see any of the article's I've hyperlinked in this series, all of which can be found on the following sites:
The Wold Newton Universe
The Secret History of the Wold Newton Universe
French Wold Newton Universe
The Wold Newton Chronicles
Jess Nevins' Wold Newton page
M*O*N*S*T*A*A*H

For anyone who wants to explore the Wold Newton Universe, these sites are essential, as are the original writings of Philip Jose Farmer, listed at the topmost site above, and Myths for the Modern Age: Philip Jose Farmer's Wold Newton Universe, a collection of essays by Farmer and others, edited by Win Scott Eckert.

Wikipedia can be edited by anyone. Wold Newton scholarship requires extensive research and analysis, something sorely lacking in the list saved by Mr. Sandifer from a merciful oblivion.

Thus ends my longest rant ever. :)

4 comments:

Win Scott Eckert said...

And a brilliant rant it was, my friend. :-)

I imagine there's more out thee for you to take on, when you're ready. :-)

Sean Levin said...

Thanks, Win. I will definitely try to fight the good fight to the best of my abilities. ;)

Toby O'B said...

A fun read, Sean. I was sorry to see it end, but I'm sure you've already got some other interesting topics to cover.....

Sean Levin said...

Go spam someone else's posts, "Blogger."