Cyrano

Another chronology following the crossover connections to a play.  This is the first one unrelated to Shakespeare.



From the source material:
FIRST MARQUIS: Who is this Cyrano?
CUIGY: A fellow well skilled in all tricks of fence.
SECOND MARQUIS: Is he of noble birth?
CUIGY: Ay, noble enough. He is a cadet in the Guards. But 'tis his friend Le Bret, yonder, who can best tell you. Le Bret! Seek you for De Bergerac?
LE BRET: Ay, I am uneasy. . .
CUIGY: Is it not true that he is the strangest of men?
LE BRET: True, that he is the choicest of earthly beings!
RAGUENEAU: Poet!
CUIGY: Soldier!
BRISSAILLE: Philosopher!
LE BRET: Musician!
LIGNIERE: And of how fantastic a presence!
RAGENEAU: Marry, 'twould puzzle even our grim painter Philippe de Champaigne to portray him! Methinks, whimsical, wild, comical as he is, only Jacques Callot, now dead and gone, had succeeded better, and had made of him the maddest fighter of all his visored crew--with his triple-plumed beaver and six-pointed doublet--the sword-point sticking up 'neath his mantle like an insolent cocktail! He's prouder than all the fierce Artabans of whom Gascony has ever been and will ever be the prolific Alma Mater! Above his Toby ruff he carries a nose!--ah, good my lords, what a nose is his! When one sees it one is fain to cry aloud, 'Nay! 'tis too much! He plays a joke on us!' Then one laughs, says 'He will anon take it off.' But no! Monsieur de Bergerac always keeps it on.
LE BRET: He keeps it on--and cleaves in two any man who dares remark on it!

1619--Birth of Cyrano de Bergerac.

1640--CYRANO DE BERGERAC--The classic story of the funny looking man who is both intelligent and a great fighter, who loves a woman named Roxanne that he fears sharing his feelings with.  The play was adapted many times, most notably in the Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse, a 1950 film also called Cyrano de Bergerac, Producer's Showcase and ABC Afterschool Special with Jose Ferrer. The latter is an animated version by Hanna-Barbera.  Jose also played himself playing Cyrano in the George Burns and Gracie Allen Show.



17th Century--SCHLITZ PLAYHOUSE (OF STARS)--"The Sword"--This story features Cyrano, but I know little else about it.



1642--THE OTHER WORLD: COMICAL HISTORY OF THE STATES AND EMPIRES OF THE MOON--Cyrano narrates the book in the first person through a narrator also named Cyrano, as if relating his own travels. This proto-SF novel by Cyrano de Bergerac crosses-over with "The Man in the Moon" by Francis Godwin (who was apparently Jonathan Swift's great-uncle). Thanks to Andrew Brook for providing me with this information. The honor of being Mankind's first envoy to the Outer Worlds therefore fell to French nobleman Hercule Savinien Cyrano de Bergerac. (The fact that Cyrano de Bergerac indeed deserved that honor was attested by Robert Heinlein in several of his works.) More information was found from Cool Freneh Comics website! (An English translation of Cyrano's account by Don Webb can be found on the Bewildering Stories site.)

17th Century--THE FOUR MUSKETEERS--Four con men take the place of the real musketeers and manage to steal the Queen's necklace but then give it back to her, moved by her tears.  Cyrano de Bergerac is in this story.  If anyone thinks I have the chronology of these Musketeer/Cyrano crossovers out of order or if they think any of these stories conflict with the others too much to be in the same timeline, please let me know.

1649--THE RETURN OF THE MUSKETEERS--Mazarin hires the impoverished D'Artagnan to find the other musketeers: Cromwell has overthrown the English king, so Mazarin fears revolt, particularly from the popular Beaufort. Porthos, bored with riches and wanting a title, signs on, but Aramis, an abbé, and Athos, a brawler raising an intellectual son, assist Beaufort in secret. When they fail to halt Beaufort's escape from prison, the musketeers are expendable, and Mazarin sends them to London to rescue Charles I. They are also pursued by Justine, the avenging daughter of Milady de Winter, their enemy 20 years ago. They must escape England, avoid Justine, serve the Queen, and secure Beauford's political reforms.  Cyrano de Bergerac appears in the story.

17th Century--CYRANO ET D'ARTAGNAN--Duelist and poet Cyrano de Bergerac and musketeer d'Artagnan meet and team up to stop the conspiracy against King Louis XIII of France.  Jose Ferrer plays Cyrano de Bergerac.

17TH CENTURY--D'ARTAGNAN CONTRE CYRANO DE BERGERAC--This story is alluded to in Felifax, L'Homme Tigre.  This may be the same events that inspired the story "Cyrano and the Two Plumes".  My research findings were unclear on this.  If anyone can help clear this up, please let me know.

Fall 1655--TALES OF THE SHADOWMEN VOLUME 4:  LORDS OF TERROR--"Cyrano and the Two Plumes"--Cyrano is in conflict with d'Artagnan from THREE MUSKETEERS.  The man who makes this meeting happen is Alcandre from LA BAGUE DE L'OUBLI.



18th Century--THE FABULOUS BARON MUNCHAUSEN--the "real" Cyrano appearing as an interstellar traveller.  The film begins with footsteps leading to a pond. The camera continually moves upwards to show the flight of butterflies, birds, and a progression of historical aircraft ending with a rocket ship travelling through space and landing on the moon.  The astronaut/cosmonaut leaves his spacecraft and sights other footsteps on the moon leading him to an old phonograph, then a crashed rocket with a plaque reading Jules Verne's From the Earth to the Moon. Taken to a dinner table, the surprised space traveller meets the characters from Verne's book and Baron Munchausen. Inviting him to their table, the characters believe that the cosmonaut is a man actually from the moon, and kindly treat him as a small child.  Note that clearly the TVCU counterpart of Cyrano lived much longer than his real world counterpart.  I may consider that perhaps Cyrano became such a legend that he transformed from a real physical being into a Tulpa version of himself, eventually becoming the fictional being residing in the Land of Fiction.

Fall 1927 to 1928--FELIFAX, L'HOMME TIGRE--Sir Eric Palmer takes on a mad scientist's tiger-man hybrid.  Crossovers include:  FELIFAX, SIR ERIC PALMER, SHERLOCK HOLMES, THREE MUSKETEERS, CYRANO DE BERGERAC, LA TOUR DE NESLE.

TALES OF THE SHADOWMEN VOLUME 2: GENTLEMEN OF THE NIGHT “EX CALCE LIBERATUS” (SHORT STORY BY MATTHEW BAUGH)

Release Date: 2006 (Setting is Spring 1931)

Series: Tales of the Shadowmen

Horror Crosses: The Vampires

Non-Horror Crosses: Arsene Lupin; Akechi Kogoro; Fantomas; Fu Manchu; La Reine Margot; Three Musketeers; Le Bossu; The Sword Woman; Jirel of Joiry; The Grey Maiden; Scaramouche; Prince Valiant; Amber; Lupin III; Zatoichi; Yu’an He See Laughs; Doc Ardan

The Story: When famous swords go missing, famed thief Arsene Lupin is a suspect, so famed Japanese detective Kogoro Akechi must team with French police.

Notes: Les Vampires is the Paris set film serial whose characters appear frequently in Shadowmen tales. The rest of the crossovers are mostly series featuring sword wielding heroes. Sir Lancelot of Arthurian legend and historical figure Cyrano de Bergerac are also mentioned, but legends and historical figures do not count as crossovers.

1968--DOCTOR WHO--"The Mind Robbers"-- The Doctor travels to the Land of Fiction where he encounters fictionalized versions of Cyrano de Bergerac, and other fictional characters from GULLIVER'S TRAVELS, GREEK MYTHOLOGY, ARTHURIAN LEGEND, FAIRY TALES, THE THREE MUSKETEERS, and BLACKBEARD. (Note that those are all real in the TVCU, but double note that Cyrano, d'Artagnan, and Blackbeard were really real people in our real world as well.) I believe the place the Doctor visits is the same place referenced in Hellblazer later in this chronology.



Late 1970s--RCA PROMOS--Cyrano de Bergerac (played by Jose Ferrer) and Annie (with Sandy) promote color televisions. Clearly this is the Tulpa who resides in the Land of Fiction. Note that Jose Ferrer had played Cyrano a few times and is one of the more memorable actors to play him.

October 1981--FANTASY ISLAND--"Cyrano"--Philadelphian Marjorie Denton seeks the most chivalrous romantic man of all time and meets Cyrano de Bergerac.  I'm unsure is Cyrano is a ghost, pulled from the past, or is his fictional counterpart from the Land of Fiction.  Perhaps Fantasy Island expert Gordon Long can let me know.

HELLBLAZER # 23 - 24 “LARGER THAN LIFE” (VERTIGO/DC COMICS)

Release Date: October 1989 (Contemporary Setting)

Series: Hellblazer

Horror Crosses: Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos; Dracula (Bram Stoker); The Portrait of Dorian Gray; Invisible Man (novel) (See Notes)

Non-Horror Crosses: Maltese Falcon; Moby Dick; Alice in Wonderland; Peter Pan; Sherlock Holmes; Treasure Island; Oliver Twist; Tarzan; Hamlet; Cyrano de Bergerac; Winnie the Pooh; Lord Dunsany’s Joseph Jorkens; Fu Manchu (See Notes)

The Story: Jerry is a collector of unusual artifacts. Many of these are famed items of history and legend. He’s even gone so far as to start collecting items from other realms. But when he starts collecting items from the realm of fiction, the entities of that realm come after him, and he needs the aid of John Constantine.

Notes: Hellblazer is already in vias a cross with Doctor Who that also had a Lovecraft connection. Hellblazer and the other Vertigo series were only loosely connected to the DC Universe. For the most part, they maintained a separate reality, and instead of operating on “comic book time”, things moved in a normal time frame. Jerry has a copy of Jorkins' notes, the Unaussprechlichen Kulten, and the Necronomicon in his collection (all from Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos). He also has a coffin implied to be that of Dracula and Dorian Gray’s portrait. Additionally, he has the Maltese Falcon and remnants of the ship that chased Moby Dick. From other realms, he has the Mad Hatter’s Hat (from Alice’s Wonderland) and the corpse of the Tic-Toc Croc (of Neverland, as in Peter Pan). Jerry’s shop is in the same town as the Admiral Benbow Inn, meaning they are in Black Hill Cove from Treasure Island. The collector also has other non-cross items from fairy tales and folklore. All the other crosses listed above come from the land of fiction. This is a pocket realty within the Horror Multiverse where imaginary characters exist. This may be the same realm as Imaginationland that is attached to the divergent timeline of South Park.



September 2014--Era of the 12th Doctor and Clara--DOCTOR WHO--"Robot of Sherwood"--This story actually takes place in the 12th century and references an encounter from the 17th century. In this story, the Doctor explains that he learned to be excellent with a sword from having met Richard the Lionheart and Cyrano de Bergerac. Since this story is about the Doctor's claims that Robin Hood isn't real, he's probably referring to untold stories of encounters with the real persons (and they were historical figures) rather than their Land of Fiction counterparts.

ALTERNATE REALITIES:

EARTH-X, THE NAZIVERSE--I place here the events of Kim Newman's "Une Etrange Aventure de Richard Blaine" from Unforgivable Stories. Note the Newman tends to place all his stories in the same multiverse, which my Horror Crossover Encyclopedia found to be the Horror Multiverse, which for our purposes here is also the Television Crossover Multiverse. In this story, Rick Blaine is stopped from leaving Paris altering the events of CASABLANCA. He is betrayed by a Nazi version of TINTIN. The Nazis want to capture Paris in order to gain the essences of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, THE THREE MUSKETEERS, ARSENE LUPIN, CYRANO DE BERGERAC, and THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO.

Note that I left out all the numerous times that the Cyrano scenario is reenacted. This is a popular trope when one person hides and tells the other what to say to the girl he loves. This scenario is played out over and over in the TVCU, so clearly Cyrano is both a real person and a play in the TVCU, just like in the real world.

I also chose not to include all the countless retellings of the story, but I will point out my favorite is the updated version of the story, Roxanne, with my favorite comedian, Steve Martin.