Sherlock Holmes: A TVCU Quickie
What's a quickie? See this blog.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sherlock Holmes (/ˈʃɜrlɒk ˈhoʊmz/) is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. A London-based "consulting detective" whose abilities border on the fantastic, Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to adopt almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve difficult cases.
Holmes, who first appeared in publication in 1887, was featured in four novels and 56 short stories. The first novel, A Study in Scarlet, appeared inBeeton's Christmas Annual in 1887 and the second, The Sign of the Four, in Lippincott's Monthly Magazine in 1890. The character grew tremendously in popularity with the first series of short stories in The Strand Magazine, beginning with "A Scandal in Bohemia" in 1891; further series of short stories and two novels published in serial form appeared between then and 1927. The stories cover a period from around 1880 up to 1914.
All but four stories are narrated by Holmes's friend and biographer, Dr. John H. Watson; two are narrated by Holmes himself ("The Blanched Soldier" and "The Lion's Mane") and two others are written in the third person ("The Mazarin Stone" and "His Last Bow"). In two stories ("The Musgrave Ritual" and "The Gloria Scott"), Holmes tells Watson the main story from his memories, while Watson becomes the narrator of the frame story. The first and fourth novels, A Study in Scarlet and The Valley of Fear, each include a long interval of omniscient narration recounting events unknown to either Holmes or Watson.
From me:
I've known who Sherlock Holmes was since I was a wee boy, though I I only read my first story by Doyle a few years ago. And of course, that's because Holmes has become an icon of popular culture, even over a century later.
I have to admit, my first exposure was probably the Sesame Street character Sherlock Hemlock, but later I was exposed to older Holmes films, as well as various homages, parodies, and cameos on TV, in film, cartoons and comics.
In the TVCU, the literary Holmes is THE definitive version of Holmes. Particularly, the Doyle Holmes as viewed by Philip Jose Farmer.
There are plenty of crossovers that bring Holmes into the TVCU, and this blog, being a quickie, is not definitive. It's merely a sampling. Will I ever do a full Holmes blog? Probably not, since he's a literary figure. But who knows? In the meantime, James has written a very nice blog about a tulpa ghost who thinks he's Holmes, which you can read here.
Here's some articles about the Toobworld Sherlock Holmes.
TVCU Mini-Chron: (Note that this is not a full chron. It's a only a partial, because, you know, quickie. This is a sampling of the Sherlock Holmes TVCU crossovers. If you know of any Sherlock Holmes crossovers involving television and film not mentioned in this blog, please feel free to comment below or in the discussion forum mentioned above.)
1848-1849—Flash for Freedom!; George MacDonald Fraser
Harry Flashman, the famous Victorian “hero” who was actually a markedly lucky villain meets a young Abe Lincoln. He has an immense dislike for the tricky (and honest, horror of horrors) future president. During this time Lincoln is a member of the Illinois House of Representatives.
The Flashman novels are in the TVCU via the short story “Flashman and the Tiger” in which he encountered Sherlock Holmes, and references in Philip José Farmer’s landmark biography Tarzan Alive.
October 1872—Sherlock Holmes befriends Lewis Carroll while attending Christ Church at Oxford (William S. Baring-Gould’s Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street). Perhaps during this time Holmes first heard of Wonderland from Carroll, though doubtless at this time the future Great Detective would have passed off the stories of a world beyond our own as another of his friend’s jokes.
1888—“The Greek Interpreter”; Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
In The Annotated Hunting of the Snark, Martin Gardner argues that two surviving members of the Snark expedition are spotted walking about London by Sherlock Holmes, his brother Mycroft, and Dr. Watson.
“I like to think that the crew’s [of the Snark Expedition’s] Billiard-maker is none other than the billiard-maker whom Sherlock Holmes and his brother Mycroft observed, many years later, strolling down Pall Mall with his friend the Boots. After leaving the Bell’s crew, the Boots had enlisted in the Royal Artillery. He was discharged after honourable service in India, but was so fond of his boots that he continued to wear them (as Mycroft noticed) after his retirement from service.” (The Annotated Hunting of the Snark)
I find Gardner’s bit of creative mythography to not only be excellent, but logically sound—thus the theory’s inclusion on this timeline.
1893—“The Case of the Detective’s Smile”; Mark Bourne, from the collection Sherlock Holmes in Orbit
Sherlock Holmes visits Wonderland during the Great Hiatus. While there he solves the theft of the Queen’s tarts, and inspires the White Rabbit to briefly pursue a career as a consulting detective.
Holmes likely learned of Wonderland, and how to enter the universe, from Lewis Carroll.
August 1896--PREDATOR: NEMESIS--TVCU--An alien "Predator" is killing in London, but his murders are blamed on Spring-Heeled Jack. SHERLOCK HOLMES associates Mycroft Holmes, the Diogenes Club, Captain Edward Soames, and Inspector Lestrade work together to stop the monster while covering up it's true origins.
1898—“The Case of the Detective’s Smile”; Mark Bourne, from the collection Sherlock Holmes in Orbit.
Sherlock Holmes and Alice Liddell discuss their relative adventures in Wonderland. Alice gifts Holmes with one of the Cheshire Cat’s spare smiles, which acts as a positive replacement for Holmes cocaine.
“The Case of the Detective’s Smile” can be read free online here: http://www.markbourne.com/Holmes.htm
19th to 20th centuries--THE ELDRITCH NEW ADVENTURES OF BECKY SHARP--Becky Sharp is from VANITY FAIR. Becky's adventures have her interacting with the CTHULHU mythos, SHERLOCK HOLMES, TARZAN, Ishmael (of MOBY DICK), Professor Lidenbrock (who took a JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH), SHE, THE SCARECROW, the dwarves from RIP VAN WINKLE, and of course, KING KONG.
November 1908--YOUNG INDIANA JONES CHRONICLES--"Vienna, November 1908"--Young Indy meets Sigmund Freud. Sigmund Freud has met Sherlock Holmes and also has appeared on BEWITCHED, I DREAM OF JEANNIE, STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION, FRASIER, and SABRINA THE TEENAGE WITCH.
September 1909--YOUNG INDIANA JONES CHRONICLES--"British East Africa, September 1909"--Young Indy meets Teddy Roosevelt. Teddy Roosevelt has met Sherlock Holmes and also has appeared on BRONCO, THE VIRGINIAN, THE MUPPET SHOW: SEX AND VIOLENCE, BRET MAVERICK, VOYAGERS, THE GAMBLER RETURNS: LUCK OF THE DRAW, SABRINA THE TEENAGE WITCH, and FUTURAMA.
April 10 to 14, 1912--YOUNG INDIANA JONES AND THE TITANIC ADVENTURE--Young Indy and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle are aboard the Titanic. Both survive. Doyle has also appeared on TARZAN (DARK HORSE COMICS), VOYAGERS, SHANGHAI KNIGHTS, and THE STRANGE CASE OF SHERLOCK HOLMES AND SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE. The Titanic has also appeared on VOYAGERS, FUTURAMA, GHOST HUNTERS, TIME BANDITS, GHOSTBUSTERS II, AMAZON WOMEN ON THE MOON, and THE TERROR OF FU MANCHU.
1912--TALES OF THE SHADOWMEN--"Be Seeing You!"--The Village is created. The original Number 1 is Winston Churchill, the first Number 2 is DENIS NAYLAND SMITH, and the first Number Six is Sherlock Holmes! Though Sherlock later left, and Churchill and Smith went on to other ventures, but the Village itself must have been proven a success.
Spring 1920--YOUNG INDIANA JONES AND THE MYSTERY OF THE BLUES--Indy meets Elliot Ness. Ness has also met Nate Heller and also has appeared on SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE LEADING MAN.
1948--SHIVERING SHERLOCKS--NOT A SHERLOCK HOLMES CROSSOVER...The trio witness a robbery. At first, they are suspects, but they pass a lie detector test. (Incidentally, the lie detector was created by William Moulton Marston, a psychologist who also wrote fictionalized accounts of the adventures of WONDER WOMAN.) The trio are released, but are in danger, since they are the only three who can identify the crooks. To get away for a while, their friend Gladys invites them to come with her to check out a house in the country she is planning on buying. But when they get there, they find it is the hideout of the crooks. The crooks take off with Gladys, but the trio, who despite their bumbling can be quite heroic, save her.
May 1967--THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.--"The Rainbow Affair"--U.N.C.L.E. agents Solo and Kuryakin meet Steed and Peel of THE AVENGERS, as well as Inspector Roger West, Sir Denis Nayland Smith, Fu Manchu, Simon Templar (aka The Saint), Miss Marple, Father Brown, and Sherlock Holmes (aka William Escott). James Bond is also referenced, along with an enemy of the Saint. Also this book reveals that Department Z founded U.N.C.L.E. For more information on The Avengers and an episode guide, see The Complete Avengers, by Dave Rogers, St. Martin's Press, 1989.
1991—"Elementary, My Dear Turtle"
“After experiencing a time-slip with an atomic clock, the Turtles find themselves in 1890, where they meet the famous detective Sherlock Holmes & his assistant, Dr. Watson, hot on the trail of Professor Moriarty, who has stolen the atomic clock with intentions to rule the future.The Turtles must retrieve the atomic clock before Moriarty uses it to change history & proclaim himself Emperor of the World.”
1999--SPIDER-MAN: THE GATHERING OF THE SINISTER SIX--This novel trilogy is not part of the Marvel Universe, and so is easily incorporated into the TVCU. The crosses are SPIDER-MAN, THE INVADERS (CAPTAIN AMERICA, HUMAN TORCH, SUB-MARINER, UNION JACK), CASABLANCA, WOLVERINE, JACKIE CHAN, TERRY AND THE PIRATES, SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, FARGO, TRADING PLACES, COMING TO AMERICA, PUNISHER, THE GREAT RACE, NORTH BY NORTHWEST, RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, MARATHON MAN, SMILIN' JACK, BLACK WIDOWER, SHERLOCK HOLMES, IRON MAN, DIE HARD, FU MANCHU, JAMES BOND, SUPERMAN, THE 87TH PRECINCT, ELLERY QUEEN, BATMAN (including the 1989 film specifically), THE USUAL SUSPECTS, CARMEN SAN DIEGO, UNBREAKABLE, MALTESE FALCON, LAW AND ORDER, NYPD BLUE, SCOOBY-DOO, and probably more that my TVCU crew and I have yet to find.
Winter 2230--Birth of Spock of Vulcan, whose father is a Vulcan ambassador and mother is an Earth human. Spock has claimed that his is a descendant of SHERLOCK HOLMES. He is also a descendant of the Stemples of Seattle, and may also be a descendant of Dick Grayson, who was known in the 20th century as the original Robin and second BATMAN.
Summer 2265--STAR TREK--"Wolf in the Fold"--The Enterprise crew encounter Redjac, who is an energy being who has inhabited many people over the centuries using them to kill people as a serial killer. He was Jack the Ripper. Of course, SHERLOCK HOLMES and ELLERY QUEEN both thought they solved the Jack the Ripper mysteries. Gary Seven also encountered Redjac in 1974 in Moscow. Vandal Savage aka Kane has also claimed to have been Jack the Ripper. One could have been a copycat of the other. The Shanghai Kid's sister encountered one of the Ripper's and kicked his ass. The Shanghai Kid and Wyatt Earp were in London working with Arthur Conan Doyle and Charlie Chaplin. The Shanghai Kid is an ancestor of Jackie Chan.
Fall 2265--THE FEDERATION HOLMES--This has many references, some of which are crossovers, and others are not (by my definition anyways.) STAR TREK: The stories in this anthology take place with the Star Trek reality as the backdrop. SHERLOCK HOLMES: The Holmes and company here are robotic recreations. LORD OF THE RINGS: This is a valid crossover. Holmes sees a copy of The Origin of Tree Worship by Entish. THE LOST WORLD: Holmes sees a copy of The Ladder of Life by Challenger. A.J. RAFFLES: Referenced as a real historical figure. THE SAINT: Referenced as a real person. INDIANA JONES: Not a crossover. Just a joke. A looter archaeologist named Jones was known on Indiana IV. LOVECRAFT: Maybe a crossover. There are ships named the O.C. March, the Cthulhu, the Arkham, the Sothoth, and the Alhazred. Perhaps there is a faction within Starfleet who worship the Elder Gods and chose these names, while most of the Federation was oblivious to the meaning. Also, Cyrano Jones references the three Hells of Rlyeh, which means he believes it to either be real or mythical. Either way, that confirms it as a crossover. PINK PANTHER: There is a safe whose model is P113N7K Panther. I can't make this as a crossover, just an in-joke, even though the Pink Panther is in.
2268--ISHMAEL--At the Wonder Bar at Starbase 12, Han Solo (STAR WARS) is present, fighting with Starbuck and Apollo (BATTLESTAR GALACTICA). They were fighting over Sarah Jane Smith, who then leaves with the Doctor (DOCTOR WHO). Solo is from another galaxy in the distant past. Starbuck and Apollo are from the 1970s on a journey from their homeworld to Earth. It's likely the Doctor is responsible for bringing them all here, and it's presumed he got them all home. Note that this is the Doctor of the TVCU, and not the main version of the character who exists in the Universe I named after him. Kirk makes a comment about Sherlock Holmes, his relationship to Spock. Two Hokas are also seen (EARTHMAN'S BURDEN). They are cute living teddy bears. The main portion involves Spock traveling back in time (not with the Doctor) and meeting the Stemples (HERE COME THE BRIDES). Other western characters encountered are from PALADIN/HAVE GUN, WILL TRAVEL, BONANZA and MAVERICK. There is also an apperance of Straus and Sons which comes from James Clavell's Asian Saga: SHOGUN, TAI-PAN, GAI-JIN, KING RAT, NOBLE HOUSE, WHIRLWIND, and ESCAPE.
2293--STAR TREK VI: THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY--Spock refers to Sherlock Holmes indirectly as his ancestor. A plaque on the Excelsior is actually a quote from BUCKAROO BANZAI which reads "No matter where you go, there you are."
April 2375--PRESERVER--The Reticulans are mentioned again. T'Serl also claims to be a descendant of Sherlock Holmes. Apparently, Vulcans only have sex with humans that have Holmes blood. It's only logical.
Thanks to James Bojaciuk for unknowingly and involuntarily co-writing this mini-chron.
More crossovers from Wikipedia:
- It is also common for authors to 'crossover' characters who have passed into the public domain, and thus do not require copyright or royalty payments for their use in other works; a prominent example of this occurs in Loren D. Estleman's novel Sherlock Holmes vs. Dracula, in which Sherlock Holmes and Dracula are brought together and pitted against each other. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen by Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill is another example of this, as all of the main characters and most of the secondary / background characters are fictional characters whose copyright has expired, and all are characters of different authors and creators brought together within one massive extended universe. Many of the works of Philip José Farmer's Wold Newton family sequences (which has also been explored and developed by other authors) also utilize and interweave numerous otherwise unrelated fictional characters into a rich family history by speculating familial connections between them (such as a blood-relationship between Sherlock Holmes and Tarzan). Roger Zelazny's novel A Night in the Lonesome October combines Sherlock Holmes, Doctor Frankenstein, Jack the Ripper and the Cthulhu Mythos, although he never specifically identifies them as such ("The Count", "The Good Doctor", "Jack", etc.).
- Sherlock Holmes's War of the Worlds introduces the famous detective to the scene of London occupied by Martian invaders, as depicted by H. G. Wells, the crossover facilitated by the fact that both works, set in late Victorian London, are now in the public domain and can be freely used and modified.
TVCU CREW REVIEW
Here's what the Crew has posted lately about Sherlock Holmes.
Five Ghosts is on sale at Amazon for $5.73.
For everyone playing along at home, this is the comic where a treasure hunter is possessed by the ghosts of Sherlock Holmes, Dracula, Robin Hood, Merlin, and Miyamoto Musashi. It's also incredibly good and well, well, well worth the purchase.
My copy came today. It's a lovely book.
In the flipping, I noticed a crossover that failed to sink in. Among the papers of the secret order out to kill Fabian Grey is a note bearing the words "Dunwich" and "Necronomicon." Sketched along side is Cthulhu's face.
Lovecraft seems to be present as well, which is a bit of a problem. He died one year previously, on March 15, 1937.
For everyone playing along at home, this is the comic where a treasure hunter is possessed by the ghosts of Sherlock Holmes, Dracula, Robin Hood, Merlin, and Miyamoto Musashi. It's also incredibly good and well, well, well worth the purchase.
My copy came today. It's a lovely book.
In the flipping, I noticed a crossover that failed to sink in. Among the papers of the secret order out to kill Fabian Grey is a note bearing the words "Dunwich" and "Necronomicon." Sketched along side is Cthulhu's face.
Lovecraft seems to be present as well, which is a bit of a problem. He died one year previously, on March 15, 1937.
Not sure if it is also on TV, but in "Sherlock: the Casebook", in the section related to "The Hounds of Baskerville", there is a direct reference to the events of "Quatermass and the Pit"
In the latest episode of "The Originals", one of the head vampires refers to Sherlock Holmes in a way that could be interpreted either as fictional or real. Just putting that out there.
Big Finish knows what we all *really* want for Christmas. . .Dorian Gray out to murder Sherlock Holmes on the eve of the first world war.
The plot's a bit wonky, but I've yet to hear a Big Finish audio I didn't enjoy.
The plot's a bit wonky, but I've yet to hear a Big Finish audio I didn't enjoy.
GHOSTS OF CHRISTMAS PAST
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Bonus. Horror Crossover Universe!
Bonus. Horror Crossover Universe!
For someone who doesn't believe in the supernatural, he sure has had his fair share of encounters with it..
THE MAN IN GREY (NOVEL BY ARNOULD GALOPIN)
Release Date: 1912 (Contemporary Setting)
Series: Harry Dickson
Horror Crosses: Island of Doctor Moreau
Non-Horror Crosses: Sherlock Holmes; Fantomas; Rocambole
The Story: Harry Dickson attempts to solve the mystery of Jack the Ripper.
HCU Comments: Based on all the contrary appearances of the Ripper in the HCU, it must be assumed that the original Ripper had many copycats, many of whom were not exactly mortal humans.
THE NIGHT STALKER (NOVEL BY JEFF RICE)
Release Date: 1973 (Contemporary Setting)
Series: Kolchak the Night Stalker
Non-Horror Crosses: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.; Ellery Queen; Sherlock Holmes
The Story: Kolchak is a Vegas reporter who gets assigned the police beat and soon finds himself investigating a series of murders that seems is if they were the work of a vampire.
HCU Comments: This novel is the first appearance of Carl Kolchak that was later made into a TV movie that served as the pilot for the television series. Some books that are listed in this book as being real are David McDaniel’s the Vampire Affair (as in The Man from U.N.C.L.E.), W.S. Baring-Gould’s biography Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street, The Whole Art of Detection (by Sherlock Holmes), and Ellery Queen’s A Study in Terror.
SHERLOCK HOLMES’S WAR OF THE WORLDS (NOVEL BY MANLY W. WELLMAN AND WADE WELLMAN)
Release Date: 1975 (Setting is 1898; during the events of War of the Worlds)
Series: Sherlock Holmes; War of the Worlds (novel)
Non-Horror Crosses: The Lost World
The Story: When the “Martians” invade, Holmes and Watson work with Roxton and Challenger.
HCU Comments: War of the Worlds is firmly established to have happened in the HCU. Holmes is well established in the HCU, as are the events of the Lost World.
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