Robert E. Wronski Jr.'s Blog, page 6

Metropolis

The problems of Metropolis.

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Metropolis is a silent dystopian sci-fi film from 1927.

In DC Comics' All-Star Squadron, Roy Thomas revealed the Metropolis took place in the future 23rd century of Earth-2.  Rotwang was Luthor's descendant and the robot that replaced Maria became known as Mekanique.

Following the events of the film, Mekanique was given the abilities to time travel, and apparently even greater powers of time and space.

In the final issues of All-Star Squadron, which tied into Crisis on Infinite Earths, Mekanique arrived in 1942 to save a little girl from being hit by a car, because that will ensure Rotwang's future Metropolis timeline.

But then, it's revealed that the Crisis had ended, which means that Earth-2 should have ceased to exist, replaced by the new post-Crisis universe.  Mekanique had been holding back the effects of the Crisis from affecting April 1942 on Earth-2 until her mission was complete, but once she ensures her future, she then allows the Crisis effects to happen, thus causing Earth-2's timeline to be erased and replaced by the post-Crisis reality.



Though the timeline she saved then disappeared because of the Crisis, she remained in the post-Crisis reality.

Now in a reality not her own, she joins forces with time traveler Per Degaton and has frequently menaced the post-Crisis and even post-Infinite Crisis versions of the Justice Society of America and their children in Infinty, Inc.

In 2018, Jean-Marc Lofficier presented a story in Tales of the Shadowmen titled "J.C. in Alphaville", which involved Metropilis and the Crisis on Infinite Earths.

In this story,, Rotwang was a scientist who helps Hitler, but seeing the war coming to an end, goes into hidign as Domius Blicero and lives in California.  Ten yeas later, he and the other super-villains gather together and create pocket universes that they then travel to and rule.  This is the origin of Rotwang's Metropolis.

Both All-Star Squadron and Tales of the Shadowmen have strong connections in the TVCU, and both these stories involve the Crisis.



So I've got a theory.

Why would Mekanique work so hard to save a timeline then allow that timeline to be destroyed moments later?

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Mekanique is apparently powerful enough to hold back the effects of a cosmic event like the Crisis.  Keep this in mind.

I propose that in 1954, Rotwang of the TVCU created a pocket reality, which I'll name in a second.  This reality was very similar to the TVCU.  When travelling to this pocket reality, using his super-science, he traveled to the 23rd century of this alternate timeline.  There, he killed the man who was that universe's Luthor's descendant and took his identity.  He then became ruler of that world.

He used that same super-science that created a pocket reality and embedded that technology in Mekanique.  As stated in the Shadowmen Tale, he had been aware of the Crisis in 1954, an event that touched many realities and time periods.  He used the effects of the Crisis to create the alternate Earth timeline.  He saw that his pocket reality was threatened by the very Crisis that had powered it.  He sent his robot back to his pocket reality's 1942 where she triggered a shockwave that in fact stabilized and protected Rotwang's pocket universe.  She however, found herself pushed out of the pocket realm and trapped in the main TVCU timeline.

So, this helps me.  Batman'66 is the TV version of Batman.  I tried to include the golden and silver age Batman using the popular generational gimmick applied by folks such as Dennis Power and John Byrne.  But the recent Batman'66/Wonder Woman'77 crossover showed that Bruce Wayne aka Batman was a child during World War II with parents Thomas and Martha Wayne, and met Wonder Woman.  I just can't reconcile this without making leaps that are even more out there than the generational thing.  I've thought of adding even more Batmen, but I fear going into the realm of making up too much stuff and overcomplicating things.

But imagine if Earth-2, for TVCU purposes, was the pocket reality created by Rotwang, and the post-Crisis "golden age" was in the main TVCU timeline.  That could could in placing Batman'66 in the TVCU with Bruce and Dick as Batman and Robin, and this pocket reality being a "Classic TVCU", where Batman was a golden age, pulp-like hero instead.  Perhaps this Classic TVCU timeline is where other older TVCU concepts I adopted and later abandoned still exist, like Power's Ollu and Buzsla, the MONSTAAH version of the Munsters, and Offspring of Zed, which I'm going to be replacing with a new concept once the Cartoon Crossover Encyclopedia is complete.

And now that I've explained all that, let's look at a crossover chronology for Metropolis:

To keep things straight:

I'm putting all the stories in one chronology.  So main TVCU stories will be in black.

Rotwang's world will be in Blue.

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen will be in Green.

Other timelines in Red.



1857--TALES OF THE SHADOWMEN VOLUME 10:  ESPIRIT DE CORPS--"The Next Omega"--A young Doctor Omega meets an older Doctor Omega.  The older Doctor Omega is carrying the head of Maria, the robot from the future city of Metropolis.  This robot is also known to us as Mekanique.  Given all we have gathered about Mekanique, clearly she eventually returns to the future world of Rotwang's pocket reality, only to lose her head, literally.  [Doctor Omega gained the head when he visitied Metropolis in Tales of the Shadowmen Volume 7.]  Normally, I have presumed based on TVCU Crew consensus, that Doctor Omega is the First Doctor before we see him in the first episode of Doctor Who.  However, in this story, the older Doctor Omega has had adventures from classic Doctor Who episodes already, thus must be a future incarnation of the Doctor in this story.  He also inquires if his younger counterpart has had those experiences yet, implying that the younger version may also be a future incarnation.  Considering the 50th Anniversary Doctor Who Special shows that at some point in the future, the Doctor will take the form of the Fourth Doctor again, it's not improbable that he may take the form of the First Doctor and go back to calling himself Doctor Omega at some point in the future in another incarnation.  Other crossovers include:  THE TIME MACHINE, LECOQ, SHERLOCK HOLMES, THE WANDERING JEW'S DAUGHTER, MISS MARPLE, CHANDU, THE ADVENTURES OF A PARISIAN AERONAUT IN THE UNKNOWN WORLDS

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THE BLOODY RED BARON: ANNO DRACULA 1918 (NOVEL BY KIM NEWMAN)Release Date:  November 1995 (Setting is 1918)Series:  Anno DraculaAnimated Series Crosses:  PeanutsOther Crosses:  The Shadow; Biggles; Sherlock Holmes; The Vampyre; Ashenden; The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari; Fantomas; Dr. Thorndyke; Bulldog Drummond; The Saint; The Island of Doctor Moreau; Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos; Batman (Silver Age); Harry Flashman; Doc Savage; Captain Midnight; Sidney Reilly; Lord Peter Wimsey; Lady Chatterley’s Lover; Arrowsmith; The Sun Also Rises; Averoigne; Enemy Ace; Grave of the Vampire; Hellraiser; Dawn Patrol; Robur the Conqueror; La Bete Humaine; Alraune; The Great Gatsby; A Rebours; The Black Cat; All Quiet on the Western Front; Sadie Thompson; Lemora; The Blue Angel; The Roaring Twenties; Gigi; Tarnished Angels; The Good Soldier Svejk; Jules et Jim; Le Roi de Coeur; The Last Flight; Billy Bunter; Judex; Dad’s Army; The Vampire Thrills; The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp; Faustine; Citizen Kane; The Bridge on the River Kwai; Oh! What a Lovely War; Paths of Glory; Metropolis; The Spy in Black; Near Dark; Forever Knight; Parade’s End; The Heap; Where Eagles Dare; Fright Night; Journey’s End; Dracula; The Big Parade; Anak Pontianak; The Blue Max; Necroscope; Revelations in Black; The Dragon Waiting; Paths of Glory; Under Two Flags; Doctor WhoThe Story:  During World War I, 30 years after the events of Anno Dracula, the Diogenes Club tries to stop the Nazis from creating undead fighter pilots.  Notes:  The Anno Dracula Universe is a divergent timeline, where Dracula married Queen Victoria during the events of Bram Stoker’s novel.  This led to a very different reality.  Snoopy appears in this story, having been shot down by the Red Baron.  In the main Cartoon Universe, Snoopy’s battles with the Red Baron didn’t really happen, and were merely part of Snoopy’s imagination.  It seems that in this divergent timeline, Snoopy indeed existed as a pilot in World War I, placing those imaginary scenarios and two popular songs in this divergent timeline.  Perhaps the Snoopy of the main reality gets visions of his alternate timeline counterpart, which inspire his playtime.  Other crosses listed above are also divergent versions that exist in the Anno Dracula timeline.
1920s--DOCTOR MABUSE--The robotic Maria is seen in a drawing among Mabuse's plans. Perhaps Rotwang and Mabuse had co-conspired on the creation of the android.

1920s--DOCTOR MABUSE: ETIOPOMAR--Dr. Mabuse, criminal mastermind - returns in this epic steam punk thriller, in which six interwoven tales document the downfall of Dr. Mabuse and his city "Etiopomar". The Machine Man aka Maria and Rotwang from Metropolis appear in the film. The Machine Man was the robot who was transformed into Maria in that film.

1939--BEFORE TOMORROWLAND--Werner Rotwang is the villain, but he's meant to be THE REAL Rotwang who inspired the character from the fictional Metropolis. He too is a German scientist with expertise in robotics who works for the Nazis. I could say that this is Carl Rotwang, but it's easier for me to presume this is Carl's brothers to support a theory that the future Rotwang that Carl replaces is part of his own family tree.

Prior to 1941--LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN--To further complicate things... According to Alan Moore, Doctor Carl A. Rotwang was a scientist in the Berlin Metropolis who created the humanoid robot Maria and both Rotwang and "Maria" were members of the German League. Rotwang's android technology was later adopted by Heinz Goldfoot and Martin Bormann. Rotwang allegedly passed away prior to 1941. So, I do place most of the 20th century events of the League series to be a divergent timeline. So in this divergent timeline, Rotwang did not travel to the 23rd century of a pocket reality where he became ruler, but he did still create his Maria android. In this timeline, he died prior to 1941. The Maria android later became an enemy of Britain's League and was destroyed by Janni Dakar in 1941.

1941--NEMO: THE ROSES OF BERLIN--This takes place in Alan Moore's LOEG divergent timeline. Germany resembles Metropolis from Fritz Lang's silent film, and is ruled by the Great Dictator (as originally portrayed by Charlie Chaplain.) The daughter of Captain Nemo and her husband, Broad Arrow Jack, must rescue their daughter and son-in-law, the son of Robur the Conqueror, from Nazi Germany. Ayesha and the German League appear.
THE CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHSApril 1 to 12, 1942--ALL-STAR SQUADRON # 54 to 60--"The Crisis Comes to 1942"--The skies turn blood red, strange weather patterns occur, and movement between time and realities becomes easy and accidental. Because of this, Mister Mind of the Captain Marvel Universe discovers the TVCU and gathers together villains as his first Monster Society of Evil. Later, they must deal with a time travelling robot (from the future of METROPOLIS.) Eventually, the world is restored to normal without anyone really knowing what happened.



The Spectre, Johnny Thunder and Johnny's Thunderbolt free the JSA from Hyperspace, but all the items they brought with them from Hyperspace vanish. At Mekanique's urging, Green Lantern and Firebrand save a young girl from being hit by a car, altering history; unbeknownst to the heroes, their actions will permit the evil Rotwang, Mekanique's creator, to dominate Mekanique's native era, the 23rd century. Hawkman is elected cochairman of the Squadron. A photo of virtually the entire Squadron is taken for FDR. NOTES: This story illustrated the changes wrought by the Crisis. The photo depicts Superman, Batman, Robin, Aquaman and Wonder Woman, but then later in the story, the photo changes, and these heroes are replaced by Uncle Sam and Doll Man, the Ray, Plastic Man, Black Condor and Phantom Lady, and adding the Human Bomb and Jester. After this, All-Star Squadron changes to a "secret origins" style title, treading water until the launch of the post-Crisis Young All-Stars.


THE YOUNG ALL-STARS # 12 “‘M’ IS FOR ‘MONSTERS’” (DC COMICS)
Release Date: May 1988 (Setting is May 1942)
Series: Young All-Stars
Horror Crosses: Creature Commandos; King Kong
Non-Horror Crosses: All-Star Squadron; TNT and Dan the Dyna-Mite; Aarn Munro; Hawkman (Golden Age); Robotman (Golden Age); Miss America; Justice Society of America; Superman (Golden Age); The War that Time Forgot; Wildcat; Metropolis; G.I. Robot; R.U.R.
The Story: Deathbolt attacks Project M to steal a T-Rex and place the Ultra-Humanite’s brain in it.
Notes: King Kong’s remains are seen at Project M. Project M is from the Creature Commandos series, which has been brought in via a New Adventures of Frankenstein tale by Donald F. Glut. This story does not bring in the entire Young All-Stars series or DC Comics line. The Utlra-Humanite was introduced in the golden age Superman series. Most people only know Luthor and Zod as Superman's foes.

TALES OF THE SHADOWMEN VOLUME 6: GRAND GUIGNOL “J.C. IN ALPHAVILLE” (STORY BY JEAN-MARC LOFFICIER)Release Date: 2010 (Setting is 1944-1964)Series: Tales of the ShadowmenHorror Crosses: Nosferatu; Stephen King Universe (works of Stephen King)Non-Horror Crosses: Metropolis; Dr. Mabuse; Crisis on Infinite Earths; Alphaville; Gravity’s Rainbow; Mullartown; Last Year in Marienbad; La Invencion de Morel; The Castle; Michael Moorcock’s Multiverse; Chronicles of Amber; Wampus; Bunker Palace Hotel; Brazil; King Ubu; Bloom CountyThe Story: Four great super-villains who had worked to support Hitler see that the Third Reich is soon to fall and go off for ten years under new identities. Rotwang takes up the identity of Dominus Blicero in California. Leonard Orlok becomes Leonard Von Braun in France. M becomes Morel in Argentina. And Ohisver Muller goes to Turkey but keeps his own name. In 1954, they gather again with a plan to create four pocket realities of which to rule their own ways. Rotwang creates his Metropolis. M creates Marienbad. Muller created Mullartown. And Von Braun creates Alphaville.Notes: Ready? Orlock is stated to have had a vampire ancestor, referring to Nosferatu. When the mad scientists discuss the multiverse, there is mention of the reality of Stephen King’s Dark Tower series. Rotwang’s Metropolis dimension is from the silent film Metropolis. Thus, as far as the Horror Universe is concerned, that film takes place between 1954 - 1964 in an artificial pocket dimension. Dr. Mabuse is from a series of silent films. The Crisis on Infinite Earths was a 1985 - 1986 mini-series by DC Comics. In it, all of the infinite alternate realities were threatened. Every major DC Comics character appeared. In the end, the multiverse was destroyed and replaced with a single DC Universe. However, shortly after, it was shown that other realities did still exist, and actually only a finite number of realities (the DC ones) were mushed together, and even then, shadows of those previous versions still existed in Hypertime. But non-DC owned realities still had inter-company crossovers showing that the DCU was not alone. And some of those other realities had even shown that they were somehow affected. Companies like Marvel Comics would display that the Crisis did reach all the way to them, but had little effect. Thus, we can assume based on this story, since these scientists in 1954 were aware of the Crisis (which affected time as well as space), then the Horror Universe must have been one of those realities that was not destroyed but still felt the effects, at least briefly. So, having said all that, we should note that the external time/space anomalies may have reached the Horror Universe, but the DC characters in that series were all from their DC Comics realities, and not the Horror Universe, even if the Horror Universe does have some counterparts to DC Comics characters. Alphaville is a 1965 French black and white film about an alternate reality that combines film noir with science fiction. Rotwang’s alter ego as Blicero was the main foe of the novel Gravity’s Rainbow. Though published in 1973, it is set during that 1944 - 1954 period. Mullartown (aka the House of a Thousand Floors) is a 1929 novel by Jan Weiss about a man who wakes with amnesia in a place that isn’t quite right. Last Year at Marienbad is a 1961 French film that is also very bizarre, about a man who seems trapped in a dream-like reality. In The Invention of Morel, a fugitive in Polynesia finds his reality coming apart and doesn’t know if it’s food sickness or something else. The Castle is the setting of said castle in the novel of the same name and also the location where the agent who comes to stop the villains meets his contacts. Michael Moorcock has several comics.that occur in separate but interconnected realities. His multiverse is also mentioned, which implies that the Horror Universe is part of the same Omniverse as Moorcock’s multiverse and the DC Multiverse. The Chronicles of Amber is a series of fantasy novels, which are mentioned by the scientists as existing as an alternate reality in this multiverse. Wampus is a French comic book character, later brought into modern literature by Jean-Marc Lofficier. He also seems to exist in one of the alternate realities connected to the Horror Multiverse. Within the story, it’s shown that the Bunker Palace Hotel, from the 1989 French film of the same name, exists within the pocket dimension of Alphaville. The 1985 film Brazil is also shown to take place in the Alphaville pocket dimension. Meanwhile, King Ubu (Ubu Roi) is from a French improv play that originated in the 1890s. In this story, we find that he exists in the Outlands. This may be a reference to the short lived spin-off of the comic strip Bloom County. Oh, and yes, I just did a Crisis crossover!!!


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LATE JULY 1985--CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS/JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA/INFINITY, INC.--Per Degaton and Mechanique attack a team of heroes based in Detroit that are calling themselves the Justice League of America and a group of the offspring of the JSA. NOTES: THE CRISIS IS A HUGE TIME/SPACE EVENT THAT JAMES BOJACIUK WILL BE COVERING IN A FUTURE BLOG POST. THE "SUPER FRIENDS" ARE STILL OPERATING AT THIS TIME, BUT THIS DETROIT TEAM WAS CREATED OUT OF ANGER BY AQUAMAN WHEN HE FELT THE JLA WAS LACKING IN RESPONSE TIME. THE TEAM CALLED INFINITY INC ARE THE KIDS OF THE JSA, WHO DISBANDED IN THE 1950S. DURING THE CRISIS, A VILLAIN FROM THE FUTURE CALLED THE TIME TRAPPER TAKES ADVANTAGE OF THE WEAKENING OF REALITIES TO ONCE AGAIN MAKE THE WORLD FORGET ABOUT SUPERMAN AND OTHER SUPER-HEROES, SO THAT AFTER THE CRISIS, THOUGH THESE HEROES STILL EXISTED, THE WORLD IS LIKE ONE IN WHICH THERE ARE NO SUCH THINGS AS SUPER-HEROES. THE TIME TRAPPER THEN ALTERS THE MEMORIES OF CLARK KENT JUNIOR AND HIS PARENTS. IN THIS DISTORTED REALITY, BABY CLARK IS FOUND BY JONATHAN KENT (COUSIN OF THE KENT BROTHERS) AND MARTHA CLARK KENT (COUSIN OF THE CLARK SISTERS) IN SMALLVILLE BY NO COINCIDENCE. THIS BABY IS ALSO NAMED CLARK JOSEPH KENT II AFTER THEIR FAMOUS JOURNALIST COUSIN. HE EVENTUALLY MOVES TO THE GREAT METROPOLIS OF NEW YORK TO BECOME A JOURNALIST AND MAKES HIS DEBUT IN 1986 AS WHAT SEEMS TO BE THE FIRST AND ONLY SUPERMAN. THIS CLARK DOES HIDE HIS EXISTENCE FOR THE FIRST FIVE YEARS OF ADVENTURES BUT IS FORCED TO GO PUBLIC, AND THEN DOES NOT TRY TO HIDE FROM THE PUBLIC AFTERWARD, YET MOST PEOPLE STILL DON'T RECOGNIZE HIS EXISTENCE, DUE TO THE SPELLS OF BOTH THE WIZARD AND THE TRAPPER COMBINED.


December 1985--MICHAELANGELO # 1--"One Unconventional Robot"--*Among the robots at the Robot Expo are R2-D2, Robbie the Robot, the robot from Lost in Space, a Dalek, Maria from “Metropolis” and the Fugitoid. Michigan J. Frog and Cyberman are also there.
1992--MORTAL KOMBAT PREQUEL NOVEL--From Matt Hickman:  It's mentioned at one point Kano teamed up with a swordsman form Scotland named Conner. This is clearly Connor MacLeod. it might seem odd that Conner would team up with someone as evil as Kano but perhaps there was an evil Immortal who was a member of the Red Dragon clan, a criminal empire at war with the Black Dragon clan so they had to team up to take the Immortal down. Also mentioned is that Kano's Bionic Eye and Hsu Hao's artificial heart were installed by Dr. Rotwang form Munich, Germany. Pretty sure he's supposed to be the same as the one in Fritz Lang's Metropolis.



2056--TIGER & BUNNY--It's 45 years after super-beings known as NEXT (Noted Entities with Extraordinary Talents) have emerged.  A scientist named Rotwang works on robots that can become replacements for super-heroes.  Note that this of course is not Rotwang from METROPOLIS despite the implication.  But if the theory is that Carl Rotwang traveled to the 23rd Century of a pocket reality, where he replaced the Rotwang who was a descendant of Luthor, then this Rotwang must be part of that pocket reality's family tree.  Perhaps Lena Luthor, the daughter of Alexander Luthor Junior, married a man named Rotwang.  Hey, maybe that man named Rotwang is the grandson of "Werner Rotwang", the cyborg from BEFORE TOMORROWLAND.  This is presuming that many elements of Rotwang's pocket reality timeline were similar to the "real world", and if we presume that the pocket reality is "Classic TVCU", then that would be true.



23rd Century--TOWERS OF METROPOLIS--Ron Fortier of Airship 27 Productions brings us an anthology prequel to the 1927 silent film.



23RD Century--METROPOLIS--Rotwang creates a robot inspired by his lost love but is forced to model her after a common laborer named Maria.  The original film placed the events in 2026.  DC Comics moved it to the 23rd century.  If we recognize it as taking place in Rotwang's pocket reality and not in the main TVCU timeline, then the 23rd century works fine.  2026 is just a little to close.



23rd Century--EXPRESS YOURSELF--This Madonna music video is set in the future world of Fritz Lang's Metropolis.  



23rd Century--RADIO GA GA--This Queen music video is also set in the future of Metropolis.  

23rd Century--METROPOLIS:  SUITE I (THE CHASE)/THE ARCHANDROID--Janelle Monáe based both her concept albums on the original film including her EP,  Metropolis: Suite I (The Chase)  released mid-2007 and  The ArchAndroid  released in 2009. The latter also included an homage to Metropolis on the album cover, with the film version of the Tower of Babel among the remainder of the city. The albums follow the adventures of Monáe's alter-ego and robot, Cindi Mayweather, as a messianic figure to the android community of Metropolis.

23rd Century--LADY GAGA--Pop singer-songwriter Lady Gaga has made a series of references to Lang's film within her music videos. Visual allusions to the film are noted most predominantly in her music videos for "Alejandro," "Born This Way," and "Applause."

23rd Century--VERTIKAL/VERTIKAL II--Swedish Post-metal band Cult of Luna drew inspiration on Metropolis and its bleak dystopian ambient for their 2013 albums Vertikal and Vertikal II. The 2014 music video "Digital Witness" by St. Vincent in collaboration with Chino Moya presents "a surreal, pastel-hued future" in which lead singer Annie Clark is a stand-in for Maria.

23rd Century--QUEEN OF THE NIGHT--This Whitney Houston video also set in Metropolis.  

23rd Century--SPAM ATTACK:  THE MOVIE--A lonely alien, the last of his species, comes to Earth when it is under the rule of an evil dictator, and helps participate in a rebellion.  The film ends showing the alien living in the Tower of Babel from Metropolis, confirming the setting.  

23rd century: All-Star Squadron #60--Much of the world comes under the tyrannical rule of the scientist Rotwang. After failing to undermine a worker's revolt by replacing the workers' leader, Maria, with a robot, Rotwang sends the robot back in time to change history in his favor. The robot appears in the year 1942, where Robotman dubs it Mekanique. Mekanique persuades members of the All-Star Squadron to complete her task, thus ensuring Rotwang's dominance. NOTES: This story is adapted from Fritz Lang's 1926 silent film Metropolis, added to DC lore by Roy Thomas. It is unclear whether these events are still in continuity: although Mekanique apparently destroyed herself in Infinity, Inc. Annual #2 (1988), she DID successfully complete her original task in All-Star Squadron #60.



November 3007--FUTURAMA--"Bender's Big Score"--The travel tubes from Metropolis are in use in New New York of the main TVCU timeline.  See my Futurama timeline for an explanation of how many divergent timelines "re-merged" by the 31st Century.

July 3010?--FUTURAMA--"The Mutants are Revolting"--When the mutants are swept away, Leela's father says 'They're with the C.H.U.D.s now.' This is a reference to the 1980's film C.H.U.Ds (Cannablistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers) and to it's sequel Bud the C.H.U.D.  The Westside Pipeway's design and location (under the city) is a reference to the "M-Machine" from the 1927 movie Metropolis.

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The Television Crossover Universe Celebrates JOHN D. LINDSEY JR!

The forgotten Crewsie.

At the same time that Matt Hickman had joined the Crew, I had also extended an invitation to John D. Lindsey Jr.

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John  has been one of my most valuable resources, not only for the Television Crossover Universe, but more specifically for the Horror Crossover Encyclopedia.  Those who are familiar with this website or our discussion forum are likely family with John's contributions.

So when I invited him to become a website contributor, he accepted, but due to technical difficulties, he wasn't able to actually become a contributor to the site.  He did however continue to be one of my top research resources.



Not many people know, but John was also invited to co-host the first episode of the Television Crossover Universe Podcast, when Ivan couldn't make it.  Our first guest was Simon R. Green, and if not for John, I wouldn't have known how cool Green's work was.  John is the man responsible for all the details in the entries for Green's works in the Horror Crossover Encyclopedia.  Unfortunately, John's paying job conflicted with our recording studio schedule, and so John couldn't make it to the show, but I extended an open invite for him to come on any time we had a guest or discussion he wanted to join in on, but again, our schedules never synced.  I did manage to name drop John to Simon Green and that was a great moment.

So John has been the Crewsie operating in the background, but never making it to the foreground.  And so, when I did the Crew bios, I neglected to include him.

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I'm pleased to say that John is working on his first TVCU post, and that's why I'm adding a bio for him.  So keep an eye out for that.

And also, should John provide me his answers to the questionnaire I sent out to the Crewsies, I will post those answers here.

Johnny Bravo: A Scooby-Doo Multiverse Tie-In and Cartoon Crossover Encyclopedia Preview

JOHNNY BRAVO! A spiritual sequel to the original Saturday morning Scooby-Doo!




SEASON 4 EPISODE 11 “A PAGE RIGHT OUT OF HISTORY”Release Date:  August 2004 (Setting is c. 1,000,000 B.C., during the time when Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm are teens)Animated Series Crosses:  The Flintstones; The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm ShowThe Story:  A million years ago, in Bedrock, an ancestor of Johnny Bravo has his life saved by Fred Flintstone, after which Johnny’s ancestor attempts to repay the debt by doing Fred’s chores.Notes:  The prehistoric ancestor is also named Johnny Bravo, and acts just like our Johnny, but it’s made clear from the episode this is Johnny’s prehistoric ancestor, not a contemporary Johnny in Bedrock.  


1912 to Present--Santa has appeared on screen since 1912, in over a thousand films and television shows. Not all are TVCU canon. Of those that are, some are of the “real” Santa and some are just a man in the suit, but it’s a TVCU concept that anyone wearing the suit can become possessed by the Christmas Spirit, a magical tulpa like aspect of Jesus. Some of those appearances from the TVCU (or Television Crossover Multiverse) are: BABES IN TOYLAND, ROAD TO UTOPIA, SANTA AND THE FAIRY SNOW QUEEN, I LOVE LUCY, THE JACK BENNY PROGRAM, RUDOLPH, THE RED-NOSED REINDEER, THE FLINTSTONES, THUNDERBIRDS, BATMAN, MISTEROGERS, THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE, FROSTY THE SNOWMAN, BEWITCHED, THE BRADY BUNCH, SANTA AND THE THREE BEARS, ADAM-12, MISTER ROGERS’ NEIGHBORHOOD, THE FIRST EASTER RABBIT, RUDOLPH’S SHINY NEW YEAR, MCCLOUD, A FLINTSTONE CHRISTMAS, LOU GRANT, RAGGEDY ANN AND ANDY IN THE GREAT SANTA CLAUS CAPER, ALL IN THE FAMILY, BENJI’S VERY OWN CHRISTMAS STORY, LAVERNE & SHIRLEY, RUDOLPH AND FROSTY’S CHRISTMAS IN JULY, BUGS BUNNY’S LOONEY CHRISTMAS TALES, THE LITTLE RASCALS’ CHRISTMAS SPECIAL, A FAMILY CIRCUS CHRISTMAS, CASPER’S FIRST CHRISTMAS, ALICE, YOGI’S FIRST CHRISTMAS, A CHIPMUNK CHRISTMAS, LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE, FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH, DIFF’RENT STROKES, GLORIA, A CHRISTMAS STORY, T.J. HOOKER, TRANCERS, WHO’S THE BOSS?, ST. ELSEWHERE, THE FALL GUY, BABAR AND FATHER CHRISTMAS, THE GOLDEN GIRLS, D.C. FOLLIES, JAKE AND THE FATMAN, THE FACTS OF LIFE, CHEERS, NIGHT COURT, THE CHARMINGS, 3-2-1, HIGHWAY TO HEAVEN, CHRISTMAS AT PEE WEE’S PLAYHOUSE, PUNKY BREWSTER, ERNEST SAVES CHRISTMAS, SCROOGED, A VERY BRADY CHRISTMAS, SANTA BARBERA, THE REAL GHOSTBUSTERS, MACGYVER, HOME ALONE, A DIFFERENT WORLD, RED DWARF, KNOTS LANDING, INSPECTOR GADGET SAVES CHRISTMAS, MARRIED WITH CHILDREN, HOMICIDE: LIFE ON THE STREET, THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS, BONKERS, PICKET FENCES, EEK! THE CAT, FAMILY MATTERS, MARTIN, THE NANNY, THE FRESH PRINCE OF BEL-AIR, THE SANTA CLAUSE, LOIS & CLARK: THE NEW ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN, MURPHY BROWN, BEVERLY HILLS 90210, A.J.’S TIME TRAVELLERS, V.R. TROOPERS, MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS, THE TICK, SISTER SISTER, FREAKAZOID!, NEWSRADIO, ELMO SAVES CHRISTMAS, SONIC CHRISTMAS BLAST, CAROLINE IN THE CITY, 3RD ROCK FROM THE SUN, ROSEANNE, THE MUNSTERS’ SCARY LITTLE CHRISTMAS, THE DREW CAREY SHOW, EARLY EDITION, MEEGO, STEP BY STEP, OPERATION BUGS BUNNY, RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER: THE MOVIE, SABRINA THE TEENAGE WITCH, THE NEW ADDAMS FAMILY, RECESS, BARNEY’S NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS, FUTURAMA, GRANDMA GOT RUN OVER BY A REINDEER, FRASIER, PROVIDENCE, RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER & THE ISLAND OF MISFIT TOYS, BIG WOLF ON CAMPUS, JOHNNY BRAVO, SPIN CITY, THE HUGHLEYS, THE PARKERS, ROSWELL, THE LOBO PARAMILITARY CHRISTMAS SPECIAL, EASTENDERS, THE SANTA CLAUSE 2, THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES, FRIDAY AFTER NEXT, RUGRATS, JACKIE CHAN ADVENTURES, BECKER, THE HEBREW HAMMER, THE POWERPUFF GIRLS: ‘TWAS THE FIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS, CAILLOU'S HOLIDAY MOVIE, ELF, STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE: BERRY MERRY CHRISTMAS, THE ADVENTURES OF JIMMY NEUTRON: BOY GENIUS, FELIX THE CAT SAVES CHRISTMAS, MICKEY’S TWICE UPON A CHRISTMAS, SEED OF CHUCKY, LAX, AMERICAN DRAGON: JAKE LONG, THE GRIM ADVENTURES OF BILLY & MANDY, THAT ‘70S SHOW, FOSTER’S HOME FOR IMAGINARY FRIENDS, MY LIFE AS A TEENAGE ROBOT, THE SANTA CLAUSE 3: THE ESCAPE CLAUSE, BLACK CHRISTMAS, HOGFATHER, CHRISTMAS IN WONDERLAND, MY FRIENDS TIGGER AND POOH - SUPER SLEUTH CHRISTMAS MOVIE, A DENNIS THE MENACE CHRISTMAS, SHREK THE HALLS, ER, ELMO’S CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN, SOUTH PARK, A MUPPETS CHRISTMAS: LETTERS TO SANTA, THE FAIRLY ODDPARENTS, BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD, A MISER BROTHERS’ CHRISTMAS, HANNAH MONTANA, FAIRY TALE POLICE, MICKEY MOUSE CLUBHOUSE, IT’S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA, SANTA BUDDIES, BACK AT THE BARNYARD, DORA THE EXPLORER, PHINEAS AND FERB, PREP & LANDING, THE MIDDLE, CSI: NY, 30 ROCK, PREP & LANDING STOCKING STUFFER: OPERATION SECRET SANTA, THE PENGUINS OF MADAGASCAR, CRAZY DRACULA SPRING BREAK WEEKEND, A VERY HAROLD & KUMAR 3D CHRISTMAS, ICE AGE: A MAMMOTH CHRISTMAS, PREP & LANDING: NAUGHTY VS. NICE, DAN VS., RISE OF THE GUARDIANS, SANTA PAWS 2: THE SANTA PUPS, SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS, REGULAR SHOW, THE LOONEY TUNES SHOW, LES MISERABLES, THE SIMPSONS, SCARY MOVIE 5, INTO THE WOOD, CHASING FAIRY TAIL, MISTER SCROOGE TO SEE YOU, THE AMAZING WORLD OF GUMBALL, GLEE, THE NOSTALGIA CRITIC, GRUMPY CAT’S WORST CHRISTMAS EVER, ELF: BUDDY’S MUSICAL CHRISTMAS, TWO AND A HALF MEN, THE LIBRARIANS, DOCTOR WHO, FAMILY GUY, AQUA TEEN HUNGER FORCE, BOB’S BURGERS, POWER RANGERS DINO CHARGE, MARVEL SUPER HERO ADVENTURES: FROST FIGHT!, and CORONATION STREET. (And I’m sure I’ve forgotten some still.)

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1973 to 1983--SPEED BUGGY--Animated 'Saturday-morning' television cartoon about a race car. Speed Buggy has been referenced many times in other shows like Johnny Bravo, Looney Tunes: Back in Action, the Powerpuff Girls, Scooby-Doo: Mystery Incorporated, and Futurama. 






CARTOON NETWORK (COMMERCIALS)Release Date: October 1, 1992 - ongoing at time of writingSeries: Cartoon NetworkAnimated Series Crosses: The Addams Family (Animated); The Addams Family (1992 Animated Revival); Adventures of Aquaman; Adventures of Gulliver; Adventure Time; Almost Naked Animals; Alvin and the Chipmunks; Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan; Amazing Spiez!; The Amazing World of Gumball; Angelo Rules; Animaniacs; Aqua Teen Hunger Force; Arabian Knights; Astro Boy; Atom Ant; Atomic Betty; Augie Doggie and Doggie Daddy; Baby Looney Tunes; B.A.E.: The Bremen Avenue Experience; Bakugan; Banana Splits; Barney Bear; Batman Beyond; Batman: The Animated Series; Batman: The Brave and the Bold; Battle of the Planets; Beany and Cecil; Beetlejuice (Animated); Ben 10; Beware the Batman; Beyblade; Big Baby; Big Bag; The Big O; Birdman; Blue Dragon; Bob Clampett Show; Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo; Bomberman Jetters; The Brak Show; Breezly and Sneezly; Buford and the Galloping Ghost; Bugs Bunny; Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kids (Animated); Calling Cat-22!; Camp Lazlo; Capitol Critters; The Captain and the Kids; Captain Caveman; Captain Planet; Cardcaptors; Cartoon Cartoon(s)/What a Cartoon!; Cartoon Planet; Casper and the Angels; Casper’s Scare School; Cattanooga Cats; Cave Kids; CB Bears; Centurions; Chaotic; Chop Socky Chooks; Chuck Jones Show; Chuck Norris: Karate Kommandos; Clarence; Clue Club; Code Lyoko; Codename: Kids Next Door; Courage the Cowardly Dog; Cow and Chicken; The Cramp Twins; Cyborg 009; Daffy Duck; Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines; DC Nation; Dennis the Menace (1986 Animated); Detentionaire; Deviln; Dexter’s Laboratory; D.I.C.E.; Dingbat; Dink, the Little Dinosaur; Dino Boy; Don Coyote; Dragon Ball Z; Dragon Hunters; Droopy; Duck Dodgers; Dudley Do-Right; Duel Masters; Dynomutt; Ed, Edd n Eddy; Ed Grimley; Evil Con Carne; Fangface; Fantastic Four (1992 Cartoon); Fantastic Four: World’s Greatest Heroes (2006 Cartoon); Fantastic Max; Fantastic Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor (1996 Cartoon); Firehouse Tales; Flintstone Kids; Flintstones; Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends; Frankenstein, Jr. (Hanna-Barbera); Freakazoid!; Funky Phantom; Galaxy Goof-Ups; Galaxy Trio; Galtar and the Golden Lance; Garfield; Gary Coleman Show; Generator Rex; George of the Jungle; George of the Jungle (2007 reboot); Gerald McBoing-Boing; G-Force: Guardians of Space (Reboot of Battle of the Planets); G.I. Joe; GoBots; Godzilla (1990s Cartoon); Goober and the Ghost Chasers; Gordon the Garden Gnome; Gormiti; Grape Ape; Green Lantern: The Animated Series; The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy; Grojband; Gumby; Gundam; .hack; Hamtaro; Harlem Globetrotters (Animated); Harry and His Bucket Full of Dinosaurs; Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law; Heathcliff; Help!... It’s the Hair Bear Bunch; He-Man and the Masters of the Universe; Herculoids; Hero: 108; The High Fructose Adventures of Annoying Orange; Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi; Hillbilly Bears; Hokey Wolf; Hong Kong Phooey; Hot Dog TV; Hot Wheels; How To Train Your Dragon; Huckleberry Hound; I am Weasel; Idaten Jump; Immortal Grand Prix; Impossibles (Hanna-Barbera); Inch High, Private Eye; Jabberjaw; Jackie Chan Adventures; James Bond Jr.; Jetsons; Johnny Bravo; Johnny Test; Jonny Quest; Josie and the Pussycats; Justice League; Knights of the Zodiac; Krypto the Superdog; Kwicky Koala Show; La’Antz and Derek; Laff-A-Lympics; Land Before Time; Late Night Black & White; League of Super Evil; Legends of Chima; Lego Ninjago; The Life and Times of Juniper Lee; Lippy the Lion & Hardy Har Har; Li’l Abner; Little Robots; Long Live the Royals; Looney Tunes; The Looney Tunes Show; Loopy De Loop; MAD; Magilla Gorilla; MAR; Marmaduke; Martian Successor Nadesico; The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack; Max Steel; Mega Man; Megas XLR; MetaJets; Midnight Patrol; Mighty Magiswords; Mighty Man and Yukk; Mighty Mightor; Mike, Lu & Og; Mr. Men Show; Mister T; Mixels; Moby Dick (Cartoon); Motormouse and Autocat; The Moxy Show; !Mucha Lucha!; Mumbly; My Gym Partner’s a Monkey; Nacho Bear; Naruto; Neon Genesis Evangelion; New Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1992 Animated); Ninja Robots; O Canada; One Piece; Outlaw Star; Over the Garden Wall; Ozzy & Drix; Pac-Man; Paw Paws; Pecola; Pepe Le Pew; Peppa Pig; Perils of Penelope Pitstop; Pet Alien; Peter Potamus; Pink Panther; Pirates of Dark Water; Pixie and Dixie and Mr. Jinks; Pokemon; Popeye; Porky Pig; Pound Puppies; Powerpuff Girls; Precious Pupp; Prince of Tennis; Princess Natasha; The Problem Solverz; Punkin’ Puss & Mushmouse; A Pup Named Scooby-Doo; Quick Draw McGraw; Rad Roach; Rave Master; Real Adventures of Jonny Quest; ReBoot; Redakai; Regular Show; Rescue Heroes; Richie Rich; Ricochet Rabbit & Droop-a-Long; Road Rovers; Road Runner; Robotboy; Robotech; Robotomy; Rocket Jo; Rocky and Bullwinkle; Roger Ramjet; Roman Holidays; Ronin Warriors; Ruff and Reddy Show; Run It Back; Rurouni Kenshin; Sailor Moon; Samurai Jack; Scan2Go; Scaredy Squirrel; Scooby-Doo!; Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated; Screwy Squirrel; Sealab 2020; Secret Mountain Fort Awesome; The Secret Saturdays; Secret Squirrel; Shazzan; Sheep in the Big City; Shirt Tales; Shmoo; Sidekick; Silverhawks; Sitting Ducks; 6teen; Skatebirds; Skunk Fu!; Sky Commanders; Small World; Smurfs; Snagglepuss; Snooper and Blabber; Snorks; Sonic the Hedgehog; Space Ace; Space Ghost; Space Ghost Coast to Coast; Space Kidettes; Space Stars; Speed Buggy; Speed Racer; Spliced; Squiddly Diddly; Squirrel Boy; Star Wars: Clone Wars; Static Shock; Steven Universe; Stoked!; Storm Hawks; Sunday Pants; Super Chicken; Super Friends; Super Hero Squad Show; Superman: The Animated Series; Supernoobs; The Swashbuckling Perils of the Adventures of the Men & Jeremy; SWAT Kats; Sym-Bionic Titan; The Talented Mr. Bixby; Taz-Mania; Team Galaxy; Teddy Blue Eyes; Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003); Teen Titans; Teen Titans Go!; Tenchi; Tenkai Knights; Tennessee Tuxedo; Tex Avery Show; The Batman; These Are the Days; Thundarr the Barbarian; ThunderCats; ThunderCats (2011); Time Squad; Tiny Toon Adventures; Tom and Jerry; Tom and Jerry Kids; Toonami; ToonHeads; Top Cat; Total Drama; Totally Spies!; Touche Turtle and Dum Dum; Track Rats; Transformers: Armada; Transformers: Beast Wars; Transformers: Cybertron; Transformers: Energon; Transformers: Robots in Disguise; Tweety and Sylvester; 2 Stupid Dogs; Uncle Grandpa; Underdog; Valley of the Dinosaurs; Voltron; Wacky Races; Wait Till Your Father Gets Home; Wally Gator; Waynehead; We Bare Bears; Wedgies; What a Cartoon!; Whatever Happened To… Robot Jones?; Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch; Where’s Huddles?; Wildfire; Winsome Witch; Winx Club; Woody Woodpecker; Wulin Warriors; Xiaolin Showdown; X-Men: Evolution; Yakky Doodle; Yippee, Yappee and Yahooey; Yogi Bear; Yoko! Jakamoko! Toto!; Young Justice; Young Robin Hood; Young Samson; Yu-Gi-Oh!; YuYu Hakusho; Zatch Bell!; Zixx; ZoidsOther Crosses: Bobb’e Says; BrainRush; Destroy Build Destroy; Dude, What Would Happen; Goosebumps; Hole in the Wall; Incredible Crew; Level Up; My Dad’s a Pro; The Othersiders; Out of Jimmy’s Head; Re: Evolution of Sports; Run It Back; Slamball; Survive This; 10 Count; Thumb Wrestling Federation; Tower Prep; Unnatural HistoryThe Story: Several short stories featuring numerous Cartoon Network characters, original and acquired, in various shared reality segments.

Notes: Since its inception, Cartoon Network has run numerous promos that featured it’s original characters and acquired properties in original short segments that demonstrate that everything seen on Cartoon Network, original or reruns from other networks, takes place in the same shared reality. Most of the segments take place at the Cartoon Network studios, or the town the studio is set in, which seems to be Townsville from the Powerpuff Girls. I conjecture that Townsville is nearby Los Angeles and Toontown. However, there is evidence elsewhere, in Phineas and Ferb, that Townsville is part of the same Tri-State Area as Dansville from Phineas and Ferb. There are several areas in the United States that are known as the Tri-State area, and California is not in any known “tri-state area”. Note that some of the series above are not part of the main Cartoon Universe. Also, some of these series exist in the past for future. Clearly Cartoon Network has access to travel between time and alternate realities.



March 1995--THE CARTOON CARTOON SHOW--"Johnny Bravo"--Introducing a legend in his own mind. Johnny tries to impress a zookeeper by bringing back an escaped gorilla for her.

January 1997--THE CARTOON CARTOON SHOW--"The Amazon Women"--Pilot for Johnny Bravo. Johnny Bravo goes an a whale watching trip to meet girls, but when he falls overboard, he washes up on an island of beautiful Amazon women, who don't take too kindly to him.



JOHNNY BRAVO (ANIMATED SERIES)
Release Date: July 7, 1997 - August 27, 2004
Series: Johnny Bravo
The Story: Johnny Bravo is a handsome man who is really full of himself. His cocky, narcissistic, and not too intelligent behavior makes him think he’s God’s gift to women, but women tend not to agree with this. Johnny often finds himself in bizarre and humorous adventures.Notes: Johnny Bravo was the second of Cartoon Network’s original Cartoon Cartoons.

SEASON 1 EPISODE 3 “BRAVO-DOOBY-DOO”Release Date: July 21, 1997Animated Series Crosses: Scooby-Doo!; Speed BuggyThe Story: When Johnny’s aunt vanishes, he enlists Mystery Inc for assistance. Notes: This story is presented in the classic style of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! and the New Scooby-Doo Movies! Johnny m1912eets the gang for the first time, and this is the start of a recurring love relationship between Johnny and Velma. Speed Buggy shows up at the end of the episode. The later seasons had a lot of episodes revolving around Johnny meeting other cartoon characters. Blue Falcon, Huckleberry Hound, "Weird Al" Yankovic...  This story was the beginning of the romance between Johnny and Bravo which you can read more about here, with videos...





SEASON 1 EPISODE 5 “‘TWAS THE NIGHT”Release Date: August 4, 1997 (Setting is Christmas Eve)Animated Series Crosses: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer; How the Grinch Stole Christmas; Wacky Races; Quick Draw McGraw; The Ruff and Reddy Show; Yogi Bear; Jetsons; Scooby-Doo!Other Crosses: H.R. Pufnstuf; Brady BunchThe Story: Johnny thinks Santa is a thief, and injures him trying to stop him. He then has to take Santa’s place to deliver the presents around the world.
Notes: Johnny wonders why Rudolph isn’t part of the sleigh team. The scene then shifts to show Rudolph is at the North Pole fighting the evil forces of the Grinch. Johnny reviews the list of those who are to receive coal, which are all politicians. Some of the names on the list are famed cartoon characters while others are cartoon creators. Others still are unknown to me. The full list is: President (the only one to receive a gift rather than coal), Sen. L’annon, Sen. Aberg, obscured name of senator whose name ends with “dn”, Sen. Sntstgne, Sen. Dascardley, Sen. Muttdy, Sen. McGraw, Sen. Ruff, Sen. Ready, Sen. Freedman, Sen. Davis, Sen. Bell, Sen. Cowsil, Sen. Ceasar, Sen. Johnson, Sen. Deserano, Sen. To, Sen. Granger, Sen. Hanna, Sen. Barbera, Sen. Warner, Sen. Yogi, Sen. Booboo, Sen. Jetson, Sen Oakey, Sen. Ricthey, Sen. Jan, Sen. Tomtishen, Sen. Pamela, Sen. Blip (it’s obscured whether he gets a gift or coal), Mayor of Aron City (gets a gift), and Sen. Puffnstuff (gets a gift). Johnny brings a gift to Scooby-Doo. Scooby was hoping for Scooby snacks but instead receives a coupon for free speech therapy lessons from Cindy Brady.
December 1999--JOHNNY BRAVO--"Johnny's Guardian Angel"--The segment "Johnny's Guardian Angel" is a spoof of IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE.

2000--JBVO--Johnny Bravo hosts "your all-request cartoon show".



2000--CARTOON CARTOON FRIDAYS--Every Friday night, your favorite Cartoon Cartoon stars get together to present four hours of Cartoon Network's newest Cartoon Cartoons. With a different cartoon host every week, you never quite know what's going to happen.

March 2001--JOHNNY BRAVO--"Freudian Dip"--Featuring a minor reference to Peanuts.  Characters appear that unofficially are meant to be the Peanuts gang.

December 2001--JOHNNY BRAVO--"A Johnny Bravo Christmas"--Santa appears.


THE 1ST 13TH ANNUAL FANCY ANVIL AWARD SHOW PROGRAM SPECIAL… LIVE… IN STEREO (ANIMATED/LIVE ACTION SPECIAL)Release Date: 2002Animated Series Crosses: Johnny Bravo; Cow and Chicken; Jetsons; Scooby-Doo!; Powerpuff GirlsThe Story: An awards show for toons.
Notes: This show was hosted by Johnny Bravo and featured many celebrity guests, including some cartoon characters. More cartoons were featured than those listed above, but most were archived footage, which doesn’t imply a shared reality connection.
February 2004--JOHNNY BRAVO--"Johnny Goes Hollywood"--Jabberjaw makes a cameo.

July 2004--JOHNNY BRAVO--"T is for Trouble"--Mr. T is pulled again into the Looniverse, where he meets Johnny Bravo.  I feel that some of these trips are astral, meaning that the soul leaves the body while they are sleeping and travels to the Looniverse.  That would explain how people seem to visit the Looniverse without going into shock, and how they return as if nothing had happened.  To them it was just a dream.

August 2004--JOHNNY BRAVO--"Johnny Makeover"--Blue Falcon appears.  

August 2004--JOHNNY BRAVO--"Back on Shaq"--Huckleberry Hound appears.  








2006--CARTOON NETWORK RACING--'nuff said.

January 2009--FUSIONFALL--Characters from Johnny Bravo appear.  

June 2009--JOHNNY BRAVO IN THE HUKKA MEGA MIGHTY ULTRA EXTREME DATE-O-RAMA!--Video game.  Characters from Johnny Bravo are also featured in the Cartoon Network games  Cartoon Network: Block Party ,  Cartoon Network Racing ,  Cartoon Network Speedway , and  Cartoon Network Universe: FusionFall .

2011--JOHNNY BRAVO GOES TO BOLLYWOOD--A TV Movie.



2011--CARTOON NETWORK:  PUNCH TIME EXPLOSION--All of your favorite Cartoon Network characters band together to defeat an unknown evil destroying their worlds.

CARTOON NETWORK 20TH ANNIVERSARY--This special features appearances by DAFFY DUCK, BATMAN (from Earth-23/BATMAN:  THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD), JOHNNY BRAVO, BUGS BUNNY, characters from THE MARVELOUS MISADVENTURES OF FLAPJACK, THE GRIM ADVENTURES OF BILLY AND MANDY, FOSTER'S HOME FOR IMAGINARY FRIENDS, COURAGE THE COWARDLY DOG, REGULAR SHOW, ED EDD 'N' EDDY, CHOWDER, SAMURAI JACK, DEXTER'S LABORATORY, ADVENTURE TIME, and SCOOBY-DOO!



October 2012--MAD--"Once Upon a Toon"--Normally I'd place Mad sketches in a separate Mad Universe, but this is a Cartoon Network show doing a sketch about older Cartoon Network cartoons in the classic animation style.  This is a parody of Once Upon a Time, but instead, former Cartoon Network characters have forgotten who they were because of a curse placed upon them by Dee Dee from Dexter's Laboratory.  In the end it was all a dream, or was it?  The characters featured are:


Henry MillsJohnny Bravo (from Johnny Bravo)Dexter (from  Dexter's Lab )Jack (from  Samurai Jack )Cow (from  Cow and Chicken )Chicken (also from Cow and Chicken)Hector Con Carne, Boskov and Hector's Stomach (from  Evil Con Carne )Nigel Uno (Numbuh 1) (leader of the 

February 2013--JOHNNY BRAVO (IDW PUBLISHING)



Summer 2014--CARTOON NETWORK:  SUPER SECRET CRISIS WAR"--Samurai Jack, Ben Tennyson, Dexter and the Powerpuff Girls must team up with the help of the Eds to prevent the League of Extraordinary Villains (Aku, Vilgax, Mandark and Mojo Jojo) from taking over the world in the comic mini-series "Cartoon Network: Super Secret Crisis War", and the missing robots are teleported into the five worlds of  Johnny Bravo ,  The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy ,  Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends ,  Cow and Chicken , and 
April 2016--UNCLE GRANDPA--Johnny Bravo is in the audience when Uncle Grandpa hosts the Grampies.  

ALTERNATE REALITIES:

LIVE ACTION UNIVERSE--A live action film was planned and then scrapped in 2002 featuring the Rock as Johnny Bravo.  I probably would have placed this in the same reality as the live action Scooby-Doo films.  

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XENA

In a time of ancient gods, warlords and kings...
A land in turmoil cried out for a hero. 
She was Xena, a mighty princess forged in the heat of battle. 
The power...the passion...the danger. 
Her courage will change the world.

How am I going to manage this one?  Xena is demonstrated to exist in the past of the Television Crossover Universe.  But her timeline has so many crosses with historical figures that are so anachronistic that even within the looseness of TVCU stretches to timelines of historical figures, it's stretched to its limits.  

Did Xena do a lot of time travelling in her journeys that wasn't clearly seen on screen?  Did she exist in some Once Upon a Time type fairy tale realm?  Let's hope things unfold as I cover this chronology.

This may end up to be my least canonical post despite my best attempts to make it strictly canonical.  

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480 B.C.--G.I. JOE # 49--"Serpentor"--Xerxes I gives a speech that later is recalled by Serpentor, who has Xerxes' DNA.  Xerxes has also appeared in XENA, WARRIOR PRINCESS and SOUTH PARK.

100 B.C. to 44 B.C.--G.I. JOE # 50 & 73/YEARBOOK # 3/SERPENTOR'S FILECARD--"The Battle of Springfield/Divided We Fall/My Dinner with Serpentor"--Life of Julius Caesar, whose DNA will be used to create Serpentor. Julius Caesar has also appeared in THE ABBOTT AND COSTELLO SHOW, ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN, BEWITCHED, HERCULES: THE LEGENDARY JOURNEYS, RELIC HUNTER, XENA WARRIOR PRINCESS, and CARMEN SANDIEGO'S GREAT CHASE THROUGH TIME.


THE TIME OF HERCULES AND XENA

From Wikipedia:  

Xena: Warrior Princess is set primarily in a fantasy version of ancient Greece and was filmed in New Zealand. Some filming locations are confidential, but many scenes were recorded in places such as the Waitakere Ranges Regional Park, part of the Auckland Regional parks often credited at the end of the episodes.[13]
The Ancient Greece depicted in the show is largely derived from historical locations and customs, modifying known places and events – battles, trading routes, towns, and so on – to generate an attractive fictional world. The settlements are presented as a mixture of walled villages and rural hamlets set in a lush green, mountainous landscape. They are often seen under attack from warlords, and travelling between them involves frequent encounters with small bands of outlaws. All of the main towns are named after historic towns of Ancient Greece, and exhibit some of their essential characteristics – Amphipolis (birthplace of Xena[14]), Potidaea (birthplace of Gabrielle[15]), Athens (birthplace of Joxer[16]), Corinth, Delphi, and Cirra (birthplace of Callisto[17]) which was burnt to the ground by Xena's army.As the show progressed, however, events took place throughout more modern times and places, from Cleopatra's Alexandria to Julius Caesar's Rome. The mythology of the show transitioned from that of the Olympian Gods to include Judeo-Christian elements. Eastern religions were touched on as well, with little regard to accurate time-and-place concerns. One episode, "The Way", which loosely interpreted elements of Hinduism as major plot points, generated controversy, requiring the producers to add a disclaimer at the head of the episode and a tag explaining the episode's intentions at its end.[18]Mythological and supernatural locations are presented as equally real, physical places, often accessed through physical portals hidden in the landscape such as lakes and caves. They include the Elysian Fields, Tartarus, the River Styx, Valhalla, Heaven and Hell. The inhabitants of such places – gods, mythological beings and forces – are for the most part manifested as human characters who can move at will between their domains and the real world. Ares, the Greek God of War, for instance, is an egotistical man who wears studded black leather, and Aphrodite, Goddess of Love, is a California valley girl who uses typical valley girl slang and dresses in flowing, translucent pink gowns.

There is a version of Greek mythology in the Enchanted Forest dimension, which makes me ponder that the Hercules/Xena shows may actually not be our past, but have been part of this other dimension, which makes sense since this other dimension seems to take events from all over history and smoosh them together into one short period of time, as was also the case with Hercules/Xena.

Please click here for an article that helps argue that Xena actually takes place around 1275 B.C. instead, even reconciling the historical inaccuracies without using time travel or alternate dimensions.  
33 B.C.--Birth of Xena.

26 B.C.--Death of Xena's father.

20 B.C.--Death of Xena's brother.

19 B.C.--Xena begins her journey of death and destruction.

17 B.C.--Xena spends time at sea.

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16 B.C.--Xena has a love relationship with her captive, a young Julius Caesar!  She learns how to apply pressure points during this time.  Caesar betrays Xena.  Xena loses her friend who sacrificed herself to save Xena.  This drives Xena to further darkness.  

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15 B.C.--Xena forms a new army in Hungary with Boria, a man she seduces, taking him away from his wife and child.  Xena then travels to China and learns to use the Force.  Xena then travels to Japan where she received the scar on her chest.  Then she becomes pregnant with Borias' child.  Then she gains the title "Destroyer of All Nations" from a former Amazon.  Xena then takes that to mean she should wipe out the Amazons.  Borias then betrays Xena.  

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14 B.C.--Birth of Solan, Xena's son.  Borias is killed by Xena's soldiers when attempting to see his son.  Xena ends war with Centaurs by giving them her son to raise.  Xena then meets Ares for the first time.  Then she travels north where she becomes Odin's favorite Valkyrie and gets the Ring of the Rheingold.  

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13 B.C.--Xena's army destroys Callisto's village.  In Palestine, Xena befriends Goliath.  Xena then helps create the Ark of the Covenant containing the Ten Commandments!!!  Then she travels to England and steals a Celtic army!

12 B.C.--Half of Xena's army are killed by the Horde.  Then Xena becomes the only person to ever survive the Gauntlet.  




HERCULES: THE LEGENDARY JOURNEYS (TELEVISION SERIES)Release Date: January 16, 1995 - November 20, 1999 (Setting is an ambiguous time of Greek mythology)Series: Hercules: The Legendary JourneysThe Story: After his wife and children are killed, Hercules begins life as a wandering hero with his friend Iolis.
Notes: Hercules is really screwed up historically when it comes to accuracy. But this isn’t the real world,. It’s the Horror Universe. And in the Horror Universe, it happened as it appears on Hercules and Xena.


Circa 1273 - 1279 B.C.--XENA, WARRIOR PRINCESS--Xena was a bandit leader who became inspired by Hercules to turn over a new leaf and become a wandering hero like him.
The Time of HERCULES:  THE LEGENDARY JOURNEYS and XENA:  WARRIOR PRINCESS--I'm more and more inclined to believe that these series took place in some pocket dimension, although both heroes survived into the modern day of the main TVCU.  There are so many anachronistic appearances in this series.  A young Julius Caesar appears in both series, but most of the Hercules/Xena series should place those series centuries before the life of Julius Caesar.  Some argue that Hercules and Xena were time travelling in their journeys, but it feels more likely that they exist in some pocket fairy tale dimension. 
"Xena: Warrior Princess" Destiny (27 January 1997)  The Deliverer (20 October 1997)  The Bitter Suite (2 February 1998)  When in Rome... (2 March 1998)  A Good Day (26 October 1998)  Endgame (3 May 1999)  The Ides of March (10 May 1999)  When Fates Collide (7 May 2001)  "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys" 
XENA WARRIOR PRINCESS SEASON 3 EPISODE 12 “THE BITTER SUITE”, FEBRUARY 2, 1998--This week we talk about musicals. Not Glee. Not the Wizard of Oz. We're talking about television series that are not normally musical, but have a musically themed episodes. These aren't the shows that have a random musical act, but where a complete episode is devoted to a musical theme. We cover Xena, Buffy, Scrubs, Grey's Anatomy, House, Community, Supernatural, and the Flash. We also throw in some honorable mentions including the film Little Shop of Horrors and some sketches from classic Saturday Night Live featuring Norm MacDonald. We also pay tribute to the new novel released by our friend Chris Nigro.  Toby O'Brien adds:  On 'Xena: Warrior Princess', Sweet may have been pulling the strings behind the scenes in the dimension of Illusia, a tarot-card dream world. That was where feuding partners Xena and Gabrielle broke into song for their "Bitter Suite" war of words.
Random Fandom Episode 3: Musicals
1279 B.C.--XENA, WARRIOR PRINCESS--In the Xena: Warrior Princess episode "The Play's the Thing", a theater critic remarks, "I hear "Buffus the Bacchae Slayer" is playing next door." This is likely an adaptation of the legends of this generation's slayer.  [XENA SEASON 4 EPISODE 16, MARCH 15, 1999]

XENA WARRIOR PRINCESS SEASON 5 EPISODE 10 “LYRE, LYRE, HEARTS ON FIRE”, JANUARY 17, 2000



30 A.D.--25 YEARS HAVE PASSED.....  Xena & Gabrielle awaken from their 25 year old slumber to find many things changed. Joxer is an old man, married to Meg, & has 3 children, including a grown son named Virgil. He runs a tavern dedicated to the memory of Xena & Gabrielle, located on the Isle of Sicily. He also kept Argo for Xena until she passed, and even raised her daughter, Argo 2.
30 A.D.--LIVIA THE WHORE OF ROME--Everything Xena didn't want her child to be has happened. Eve now goes by Livia, a fearless roman commander. She has teamed up with Ares as his lover, he promises to make her Empress of Rome in exchange for destroying the cult of Eli.

30 A.D.--GOODBYE JOXER--Livia continues her murderous rampage. Joxer tries to save Gabrielle but is slain by Livia.
30 A.D.--EVE--In a battle between Livia & Xena, she stops midst battle to stop & pray to Eli. Livia is poised to slit Xena's throat, but a bright light intervenes, transforming her back into Eve. Eve is then forgiven for her past mistakes and initiated into the 'Way of Love'.

30 A.D.--TWILIGHT OF THE GODS--Eli grants Xena the power to kill gods since they have discovered that Livia is in fact Eve. She vaporizes Poseiden, decapitates, Discord, struck Hephastus with his own hammer, sets Hades on fire, crushes Deimos, shoots Artemis, stabs Athena, and kills the Furies with her chakram. Gabrielle accidentally kills Eve. Ares saves her by relinquishing his immortality to bring Eve back to life.
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1279 B.C.--XENA WARRIOR PRINCESS--"Heart of Darkness"--In the episode "Heart of Darkness" from season 6 of  Xena: Warrior Princess , Lucifer is seen as a fallen archangel, after Xena causes him to commit all seven deadly sins. After his transformation into Satan, she promptly shoves him into a portal to Hell, taking the place of former leader of Hell, Mephistopheles, whom Xena had killed.  I know this entry makes no sense.  Eventually, when I cover Xena in her own series, I will either make her a time traveler, or attribute her adventures to a series of reincarnations.  Because honestly this would fit better perhaps around 52,000 BC.  [XENA SEASON 6 EPISODE 3 AIRED OCTOBER 16, 2000]

31 A.D.--LEGENDARY BEOWULF--Xena teams up with Beowulf to fight Grendel, whom Xena created years ago using the Rhinegold ring on Odin's favorite Valkyrie.
32 A.D.--OLD ARES HAD A FARM--Xena & Gabrielle attempt to hide the mortal Ares on a farm

32 A.D.--EMPORER CALIGULA--Xena tries to kill Archangel Michael, resulting in the loss of her power to kill gods. She has to trick Emporer Caligula (who is now a god), into killing himself in order to save Aphrodite, who is losing her immortality
32 A.D.--THE GOLDEN APPLES--Xena is hounded by a TV crew while she steals the Golden Apples from the Norselands in order to restore Ares & Aphrodite's godhood so there will be a balance of love and war in the world.
32 A.D.--AN ALTERNATE REALITY--A dead Caesar escapes from Tartarus, captures the Fates and rewrites history where he and Xena rule Rome, Gabrielle is a famous playwrite, and Alti is High Priestess of Rome.
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32 A.D.--THE FINAL DEATH OF XENA--Xena & Gabrielle travel to Japan where Xena must fight the evil Lord Yodoshi (who is Akemi's father) in the spirit realm. She dies to achieve this and defeats him. To resurrect Xena, Gabrielle must cremate Xena's body & sprinkle her ashes in the Fountain of Strength, located on Mt. Fuji before the sun sets the following day. Xena learns of the 40,000 villagers she accidentally killed burning their village down while mourning Akemi. In order for those souls to find peace, Xena must remain dead. Xena refuses to let Gabrielle resurrect her, and Xena passes on as Gabrielle inherits her weapons.
33 A.D.--THE ANCIENT C'THULU--Gabrielle convinces C'thulu to resurrect Xena, who comes back as Dark Xena. Gabrielle and Joxer (who is also brought back from the dead) and try to fix Xena. They succeed and continue their epic journys throughout more comics.

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ARMY OF DARKNESS AND XENA, WARRIOR PRINCESS: WHY NOT? (DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT)Release Date: 2008 (Ash comes from a contemporary setting, transported to the vague period of Greek mythology of Xena’s series)Series: Evil Dead; Xena, Warrior PrincessThe Story: Ash, always being transported through time and space, winds up in the time of Xena.Notes: This crossover brings Xena, Warrior Princess into the Horror Universe.
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XENA, WARRIOR PRINCESS AND ARMY OF DARKNESS: WHAT...AGAIN? # 1 - 4 (DYNAMITE PRESS)Release Date: October 1, 2008 - January 1, 2009 (Contemporary Setting and the time of Xena)Series: Xena, Warrior Princess; Evil DeadThe Story: Immediately following their last meeting, Xena is transported to the present and then Ash, Xena, and Xena’s pals end up in an alternate post-apocalyptic present day timeline, caused by Ash’s meddling in the past.Notes: Xena’s series is very historically inaccurate, but there’s nothing to say that the Greek mythology period of the Horror Universe has to be historically the same as our real world. Ash and Xena also visit the worlds within several books, but the story makes it clear they are visiting the worlds within these books, so they are not crosses with the “real” versions, such as in the case of Wizard of Oz, one of the books.
LOST ISSUES--Ross Pearsall has been putting out amazing faux covers since 2010. You can find them here.





ARMY OF DARKNESS/XENA, WARRIOR PRINCESS: FOREVER... AND A DAY--Xena and Ash team up in another time travel adventure against an Army of Darkness in this four issue mini-series from 2016.
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THE NORMAL TIMELINE OF THE TVCU

March 16, 37 AD--Caligula became Emperor of the Roman Empire upon the death of Tiberius......  Toby O'Brien explains this anachronism here.  

1206--THE WAY OF THE SAINT--Not far from her life as Xena, Xena is reborn as Indian 'Mother of Peace', Arminestra.


19th Century--JACK OF ALL TRADES--From Loki Carbis: I like this idea a lot. I also suspect that the reality of Hercules/Xena may include at least one more show by the same people: Jack of all Trades. (It's possible that yet another show by them, Cleopatra 2525, also exists in this reality.) Jack exhibits the same fractured geography and history as its predecessors, and has a similar action/comedy feel.  James Bojaciuk adds:  As for Jack of All Trades, I enjoy Toby's theory too much to take up a new theory. I love the idea that Jack of All Trades is based on an elderly Jack's memoirs that were distorted by both his boasting and the syphilis that's eating away at his brain.

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1942--WORLD WAR II--During World War II in Macedonia, Xena (reborn as Melinda Pappas) helps archaeologist Janis Covington (who is Gabrielle's descendent) discover The Xena Scrolls. Together with Jack Kleinman (who is Joxer's descendent) uncover the tomb of Ares. Jack keeps The Xena Scrolls hidden in his attic where his grandson Ted found them and used them as ideas for the Xena: Warrior Princess television show.
BATMAN (TELEVISION SERIES)--Batman and Robin protect Gotham City from various bizarre criminals. For this timeline's purposes, this dynamic duo is Bruce Wayne as Batman and Dick Grayson as Robin.The Batusi was seen in two episodes of the original Batman TV series. The first, "Hi Diddle Riddle," was the series' first episode and originally aired January 12, 1966. The second, "The Pharaoh's in a Rut," was the 28th episode and originally aired April 14, 1966.It has reappeared in many television shows, including two episodes of  The Simpsons ,  Xena: Warrior Princess , and  Everybody Loves Raymond , and Shaggy refers to the dance in an episode of  Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!  It has also been in movies such as  Pulp Fiction ,  Antz , and  Return to the Batcave: The Misadventures of Adam and Burt .The cover of the DC comic Solo #7 featured a drawing of Wonder Girl in mid-Batusi. The cover (by writer/artist Mike Allred) was originally meant to be one of the Adam West TV Batman in the same pose. However, due to unspecified tensions regarding DC's relationship with the company that produced the 1960s TV show, Allred was forced to submit a different cover for the issue.The Batusi is mentioned in the  Batman: The Brave and the Bold  episode "Mayhem of the Music Meister!" during the song "Drives us bats!".The Batusi is performed by character Fox Mulder in the 2016 episode of  The X-Files , "Babylon".
October 1969--BEWITCHED--"Samantha's Caesar Salad"--Esmerelda accidentally pulls Julius Caesar from the past. Julius Caesar has also appeared on THE ABBOTT AND COSTELLO SHOW, THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN, HERCULES: THE LEGENDARY JOURNEYS, RELIC HUNTER, and XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS.



1991--CHANGES--Read here to find how this film could be linked to Xena.

August 2, 2010--SCOOBY-DOO! MYSTERY INCORPORATED (ANIMATED SERIES) SEASON 1 EPISODE 4 “REVENGE OF THE MAN CRAB”--Crystal Cove gets crabs. Actually, it’s just one very, very large crab. Dylan McKay and Brendan Walsh are victims of the Man Crab Beast, which places Beverly Hills, 90210 in the main Television Crossover Universe timeline. Pebbles Flintstone and Bamm-Bamm Rubble appear to be students at Crystal Cove High School. See the beginning of this chronology for more on Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm. Regarding Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm in Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated: Pebbles Flintstone and Bamm-Bamm Rubble appear to be students at Crystal Cove High School. They appear in their teenaged incarnations from the Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show. That means in this timeline, the Flintstones and Rubbles must exist in contemporary Crystal Cove. But by the rules of links in divergent timelines, that would place the Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm show, and the show it spawned from, The Flintstones, in the main TVCU timeline. Only, can it? The setting for the Flintstones is usually said to be circa one million B.C., and occasionally 10,000 B.C. mistakenly. Bedrock, and the entire world of their time, is a place where dinosaurs coexist with humans, and are pets and appliances. Television and telephones exist. Modern cigarettes exist there. They celebrate Christmas. They put on plays of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol and have met Santa. And Fred and Wilma saw Star Wars as kids. In conclusion, the Flintstones cannot exist in the main TVCU timeline. I allowed for some bad history in allowing Hercules and Xena, but the Flintstones is too much. But the divergent timeline rule still applies. It could possibly be that the Flintstones and the Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show exist not in the main TVCU, but in a pocket dimension, possibly accessible through portals to the lost worlds in the center of the Earth. If that’s the case, it may be that the Flintstones was actually a contemporary setting, or exists in a reality where time operates differently than in the real world, or the TVCU. 

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1999----REINCARNATION--In present day, Joxer is reborn as Annie Day; a hard core Xena fan. Her boyfriend Harry is reincarnated as Xena and their hippie psychologist Mattie Merril is really Gabielle. The manager of their past-life clinic turns out to be Ares in disguise.
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2001--CLONED!--In the 21st century, a reincarnated Alti cloned Xena & Gabrielle from a strand of their hair. They defeat Alti and the clones are seen driving off into the sunset.



2011 to Present-ONCE UPON A TIME--TELEVISION CROSSOVER UNIVERSE/ENCHANTED FOREST--There are many alternate dimensions whose origins are unknown, but there are many things parallel. One such dimension is the Enchanted Forest, where a different version of fairy tales happened in an ambiguous once upon a time. However, many of these characters found themselves trapped in the town of Storybrooke, in the TVCU, with amnesia,and apparently not aging, though not aware of it, which is part of a what we para-scholars call a time lock. Here Belle's Beast was actually Rumplestitlskin, and she is currently being locked up a prisoner of Snow White's step-mother. Cinderella has also appeared. There is a version of Greek mythology in the Enchanted Forest dimension, which makes me ponder that the Hercules/Xena shows may actually not be our past, but have been part of this other dimension, which makes sense since this other dimension seems to take events from all over history and smoosh them together into one short period of time, as was also the case with Hercules/Xena. Ivan Ronald Schablotski on Once Upon A Time / Disney Animated Universe: I'm not 100% on the status of the Tooninverse / Looniverse / Toon Town / House of Mouse these days, but I can now safely state that the fairy tale characters in ONCE UPON A TIME originated in a world that parallels the Disney Princess Universe (for lack of a better name), at least geopolitically. This week's episode featured a genie from the land of Agrabah. Agrabah is the home of Disney's animated Aladdin (and Genie), and even if the metafictional House of Mouse is not considered, characters from Aladdin have appeared in-continuity on the Hercules animated series (and in parody form in Drawn Together). And, of course, Aladdin originated in 1001 Arabian Tales, rather than Grimms' Fairy Tales, as most of the characters on Once Upon A Time did. Also, just remember that they eat Apollo candy bars in Storybrook, Maine, so it should be the same reality as SCRUBS and LOST. Another Lost / Once Upon A Time connection: Emma's car has a Geronimo Jackson bumper sticker. That's a reference to a fictional band whose hit song "Dharma Lady" was featured on LOST. Also, Emma Swann and Mary Margaret drink MacCutcheon whisky. This is a fictional brand of scotch whisky used throughout the LOST series. Toby O'Brien adds: and in the first episode the town clock was stuck at 8:15......I see the numerical sequence as being a crossover since there's something universal about them of great power and significance. 
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TVCU-2--Rumors abound that there will be a rebooted Xena series. Lawless denies it but other official sources seem to confirm it. I'm presuming that Lawless will not be involved.
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Confused?  Me too.  It was hard to make sense of this timeline.  But I tried.  I really, really tried.  

RELIC HUNTER

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4800 B.C.--RELIC HUNTER--"The Legend of the Lost"--Flashback in the Vanuatu Islands regarding the Kai Nomata (lost tribe).

3000 B.C.--RELIC HUNTER--"The Myth of the Maze"--Flashback in Athens regarding the Minotaur's Maze.

1516 B.C.--RELIC HUNTER--"The Reel Thing"--Flashback in Egypt regarding relics of Egyptian Pharaoh Amun II.

1425 BC--RELIC HUNTER--"Afterlife and Death"--Flashback in Egypt regarding the diamond of Thutmose III.



1200 B.C.--RELIC HUNTER--"Antianeirai"--Flashback in Asia Minor regarding the belt of Hippolyte.

1000 BC--RELIC HUNTER--"The Emperor's Bride"--Flashback at the Huang River, China regarding the coffin of the bride of a Chinese Emperor.

800 B.C.--RELIC HUNTER--"All Choked Up"--Flashback in Greece regarding a statue of Athena.

523 BC--RELIC HUNTER--"Buddha's Bowl"--Flashback in Nepal regarding Buddha's alms bowl.

339 B.C.--RELIC HUNTER--"Run Sydney Run"--Flashback in Ural Steppes regarding the sword of Ateas.

100 B.C. to 44 B.C.--G.I. JOE # 50 & 73/YEARBOOK # 3/SERPENTOR'S FILECARD--"The Battle of Springfield/Divided We Fall/My Dinner with Serpentor"--Life of Julius Caesar, whose DNA will be used to create Serpentor. Julius Caesar has also appeared in THE ABBOTT AND COSTELLO SHOW, ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN, BEWITCHED, HERCULES: THE LEGENDARY JOURNEYS, RELIC HUNTER, XENA WARRIOR PRINCESS, and CARMEN SANDIEGO'S GREAT CHASE THROUGH TIME.

44 B.C.--RELIC HUNTER--"Roman Holiday"--An alchemist creates an impenetrable armor for Caesar. Flashback in Rome regarding Caesar's breastplate.
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30 B.C.--RELIC HUNTER--"Out of the Past"--Flashback in Egypt regarding Cleopatra's necklace.

100 A.D.--RELIC HUNTER--"The Put Back"--Flashback in Kuba, Africa regarding an idol from the Temple of Woot.

121 A.D.--RELIC HUNTER--"So Shall It Be"--Flashback in Stonehenge, England regarding the keys to Stonehenge.

Circa 400 A.D.--RELIC HUNTER--"Midnight Flight"--Flashback in Germania regarding the ruby-encrusted scepter of Gunther the Brave.

422 A.D.--RELIC HUNTER--"Pandora's Box"--Flashback in An-Najaf, Persia regarding Pandora's Box.
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455 A.D.--RELIC HUNTER--"Arthur's Cross"--Flashback in England regarding the cross of King Arthur.

500 A.D.--RELIC HUNTER--"Dagger of Death"--Flashback at the Temple of Kali, India regarding the dagger of Kali.

662 A.D.--RELIC HUNTER--"Last of the Mochicas"--Flashback in South America regarding a vessel believed to contain the Great Warrior Spirit of the Mochicas.

843 A.D.--RELIC HUNTER--"The Light of Truth"--Flashback in Arabia regarding the Light of Truth.

935 AD--RELIC HUNTER--"Etched in Stone"--Flashback at the Northumbrian Coast regarding the treasure of legendary Viking Jann the Bold.

1000 AD--RELIC HUNTER--"Irish Crown Affair"--Flashback in Ireland regarding the lost crown of the last King of Ireland.

1075 A.D.--RELIC HUNTER--"Women Want to Know"--Flashback in Southeast Asia regarding a statue of Ganesha.

1099 A.D.--RELIC HUNTER--"Deadline"--Flashback in Jerusalem regarding the first Christian Tau cross.

1245 A.D.--RELIC HUNTER--"Three Rivers to Cross"--Flashback in Three Rivers, China regarding the Jade Empress.

circa 1300--RELIC HUNTER--"The Last Knight"--Flashback in Paris regarding the Templar Grand Master's sword.
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14th Century--RELIC HUNTER--"Possessed"--Flashback in Libya regarding Zeus' sacred sundial.

1355 A.D.--RELIC HUNTER--"Under the Ice"--Flashback in the Arctic Circle regarding an Anasazi mummy.

1359--RELIC HUNTER--"Wages of Sydney"--Flashback in Quan Shu Fortress, Manchuria regarding a Chinese dragon's egg.

1398 A.D.--RELIC HUNTER--"Fire in the Sky"--Flashback in the Pacific Northwest regarding an extraterrestrial artifact.

1401 A.D.--RELIC HUNTER--"The Warlord"--Flashback in Bekkastan regarding Kahina's Saddle.

1423--RELIC HUNTER--"Star of Nadir"--Flashback at the Palace of the Talibs, Endostan regarding the Star of Nadir.

1430--RELIC HUNTER--"Affaire de Coeur"--Flashback in Scotland regarding rings that belonged to lovers, Callum and Elena.

1459 A.D.--RELIC HUNTER--"Mr. Right"--Flashback in Bali, Indonesia regarding the bowl of Parvati.

1488 A.D.--RELIC HUNTER--"Devil Doll"--Flashback in Meso-America regarding a cursed Aztec Devil Doll.


1521--RELIC HUNTER--"Fountain of Youth"--Flashback in Pascus Florida, West Indies regarding water from the Fountain of Youth.

1522 A.D.--RELIC HUNTER--"Incognito"--Flashback in New Guinea regarding a lancet which causes anyone cut with it to gain incredible strength.

1534--RELIC HUNTER--"Nothing But the Truth"--Flashback on the Barbary Coast regarding the Ruby Chalice of Truth.
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1536--RELIC HUNTER--"The Royal Ring"--Flashback in the Tower of London regarding the ring of Anne Boleyn.

1595--RELIC HUNTER--"Set in Stone"--Flashback in Balaton, Hungary regarding the magical sword of St. Gabriel.

1600--RELIC HUNTER--"French Connection"--Flashback at the Church Of Cordiers Salon regarding a prophecy of Nostradamus.

17th Century--RELIC HUNTER--"The Headless Nun"--Flashback in Nova Scotia regarding remains of Sister Evangeline.

1605--RELIC HUNTER--"Eyes of Toklamanee"--Flashback in Mississippi Valley regarding the Eyes of Toklamanee.

1692 A.D.--RELIC HUNTER--"Warlock of Nu Theta Phi"--Flashback in the New England colonies regarding a Wicca amulet.

1711 A.D.--RELIC HUNTER--"Don't Go Into the Woods"--Flashback in the Carpathian Mountains regarding the Golden Falcon of Maribor.

1720 A.D.--RELIC HUNTER--"Vampire's Kiss"--Flashback in Czechoslovakia regarding a vampire chalice.

1749--RELIC HUNTER--"The Book of Love"--Flashback at Casanova's Hideaway, Italy regarding Casanova's Book of Love.

1779--RELIC HUNTER--"Fertile Ground"--Flashback in Hawaii regarding the idol of Lono.

1789--RELIC HUNTER--"Love Letter"--Flashback in a village south of Paris regarding records proving a secret marriage on the eve of the French Revolution.

1789--RELIC HUNTER--"The Executioner's Mask"--Flashback in Bourg, France regarding an executioner's mask.
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1790--RELIC HUNTER--"Treasure Island"--Flashback in the Spanish Main regarding the treasure of Treasure Island.

1792--RELIC HUNTER--"A Good Year"--Flashback in Paris regarding the crown jewels of France.

Late 18th Century--RELIC HUNTER--"Cross of Voodoo"--Flashback in Haiti regarding the Haitian Cross of Utu.

1808--RELIC HUNTER--"Faux Fox"--Flashback in the Royal Palace, Madrid regarding the crown jewels of Charles IV of Spain.

1824--RELIC HUNTER--"Lost Contact"--Flashback in Burma regarding a sacrificial bowl.

1830--RELIC HUNTER--"Gypsy Jigsaw"--Flashback in Romania regarding the crown of the Romani people.

1846--RELIC HUNTER--"Flag Day"--Flashback in California regarding pioneer's Bear Flag of California.

1886--RELIC HUNTER--"M.I.A."--Flashback in St. Petersburg, Russia regarding a Faberge egg.

1895--RELIC HUNTER--"Nine Lives"--Flashback in Egypt regarding a statue of the cat goddess Mafdet.

1897--RELIC HUNTER--"A Vanishing Art"--Flashback in Budapest regarding the scepter of the Kingdom of Hungary.

1930--RELIC HUNTER--"Smoking Gun"--Flashback in Chicago regarding Al Capone's diamond-encrusted gun.

1930s--RELIC HUNTER--"Memories of Montmartre"--Flashback in Moulin Rouge regarding a tiara known as the Heart of Europe.
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1946--RELIC HUNTER--"Diamond in the Rough"--Flashback at Fenway Park in Boston regarding magical glove of former baseball great Jimmy Jonesboro.

1946--RELIC HUNTER--"Transformation"--Flashback in Salzburg, Austria regarding Paracelsus scrolls.

1952--RELIC HUNTER--"Hunting with the Enemy"--Flashback in Cambodia regarding the ashes of Confucius.

1960--RELIC HUNTER--"Thank You Very Much"--Flashback in Germany regarding lost guitar of Elvis Presley.

October 1969--BEWITCHED--"Samantha's Caesar Salad"--Esmerelda accidentally pulls Julius Caesar from the past. Julius Caesar has also appeared on THE ABBOTT AND COSTELLO SHOW, THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN, HERCULES: THE LEGENDARY JOURNEYS, RELIC HUNTER, and XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS.

September 1971--BEWITCHED--"How Not To Lose Your Head To Henry VIII"--Darrin and Samantha go on a vacation to England. Samantha discovers a man trapped in a painting. She frees him and suffers the wraith of the man who trapped him there by sending her back to the 16th century. Darrin and Endora must go back to the 16th century to rescue her from Henry VIII, who wants to make Samantha one of his future late wives. Henry VIII also appears on I DREAM OF JEANNIE, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, and RELIC HUNTER.

1981--RELIC HUNTER--"Sydney at Ten"--Flashback at St. Beatrice's School regarding an Egyptian necklace.



1986--MOSQUITO COAST--An interesting fan theory from Jonathan Gysen: In "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade", Harrison Ford and River Phoenix play Indy. In "The Mosquito Coast", Harrison Ford plays Allie Fox and River Phoenix play his son Charlie Fox. In "Relic Hunter", Sydney Fox is a female version of Indiana Jones. Do you think that Allie Fox could be the Indy’s illigetimate son ? Do you think that Sydney Fox could be born of the first mariage of Allie Fox ?

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1997--RELIC HUNTER--First recorded adventures of Sydney Fox (whose true full name is Sydney Fox Renwick), a Professor of History at a traditional East Coast University. Her specialty is Ancient Civilizations, and she is also an expert in the customs and myths of historic cultures throughout the world. Sydney is an explorer/adventurer who has traveled the world in search of lost icons, cities, and tombs. It is this vast knowledge of the arcane combined with her mastery of the martial arts that allows Sydney to take care of herself in the most dangerous of situations.  Toobworlder Toby O'Brien has his own O'Bservations on Relic Hunter which you can read here.  


2000--RELIC HUNTER--"Roman Holiday"--Sydney and Nigel are on a trip, so Claudia decides to help Sydney's friend Roger to find Caesar's Armor. But relic hunting is not her strongest talent.

2001--RELIC HUNTER--"Treasure Island"--Relic Hunter Sydney Fox and her crew locate and salvage the booty from the legendary Treasure Island. Jim Hawkins told the tale to author Robert Louis Stevenson, and the events were then fictionalized by setting them in the South Seas instead of the Caribbean.
February 2002--RELIC HUNTER--"Antianeirai"--Sydney and Nigel travel to Istanbul to investigate the death of one Sydney's friends, a professor who was trying to prove Hercules did exist by finding the Belt of Hippolyte. They soon realize they're facing the Antianeirai - women who fight as men, a group of modern days "Amazons". Hercules appears.


Late 2016--PULPWORK CHRISTMAS SPECIAL 2014--"Dillon and the Night of the Krampus"--Legendary action hero Dillon takes on the mythical holiday monster known as the Krampus. This may be the first time I've introduced either Dillon or the Krampus to the Television Crossover Universe. Dillon is said to know both ALASKA JIM and JIM ANTHONY, both of which appeared in the previous DILLON story THE VRIL AGENDA. A professor from Grand Lakes University is hired as an expert on the Krampus. Grand Lakes University is from the Rodney Dangerfield film, BACK TO SCHOOL. Dillon also once took some courses at the University of Northeastern California taught by Professor Sydney Fox. The University of Northeastern California is from the Judd Apatow series, UNDECLARED, while Professor Fox is of course our RELIC HUNTER. My appreciation to author Derrick Ferguson for bringing in both BACK TO SCHOOL and UNDECLARED into the TVCU. This means I have to revise my Adam Sandler post though. On the dating of this entry, I used a date best guessed by James Bojaciuk. I'm privileged to know author Derrick Ferguson and was able to directly ask him about the date setting and he responded: "Nope. I don't even know. Seriously. If anybody's been reading my Dillon stories for a goodly period of time then you'll notice that I painstakingly avoid mentioning dates, years or the ages of the characters. Ron Fortier recently asked me exactly how old Eli Creed is and the best I could come up with is that he's somewhere between 60-70 and that's as much as I'll commit to. The reason I avoid ages is because there's always going to be some smart-ass that will dispute the physical abilities of a character of a certain age or argue that such-and-such technology couldn't possibly exist in the year I say the story is taking place. Not taking to account that this is a completely fictional universe of my own creation and what I says goes. Now due to "Dead Beat In La Esca" written by my good friend Joel Jenkins is set in 1987 this has led fans of my character to take it as a given that the Dillon Adventures are set during the 1980s/1990s. I would not necessarily agree with that but on the other hand, I'll play fair and not dispute it either if that's what others want to think." Of course, since this is a blog that relies on chronologies, I couldn't go with "I don't know" and so relied on James' best guess. Derrick said I didn't need to include his explanation but it was a great excuse for me to tell all of you readers that I know him.

Julius Caesar in the TVCU

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Yes, another historical figure who has a doppelganger whose TVCU presence is of major importance to us.

The Time of HERCULES:  THE LEGENDARY JOURNEYS and XENA:  WARRIOR PRINCESS--I'm more and more inclined to believe that these series took place in some pocket dimension, although both heroes survived into the modern day of the main TVCU.  There are so many anachronistic appearances in this series.  A young Julius Caesar appears in both series, but most of the Hercules/Xena series should place those series centuries before the life of Julius Caesar.  Some argue that Hercules and Xena were time travelling in their journeys, but it feels more likely that they exist in some pocket fairy tale dimension.

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100 B.C. to 44 B.C.--G.I. JOE # 50 & 73/YEARBOOK # 3/SERPENTOR'S FILECARD--"The Battle of Springfield/Divided We Fall/My Dinner with Serpentor"--Life of Julius Caesar, whose DNA will be used to create Serpentor.  Julius Caesar has also appeared in THE ABBOTT AND COSTELLO SHOW, ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN, BEWITCHED, HERCULES:  THE LEGENDARY JOURNEYS, RELIC HUNTER, XENA WARRIOR PRINCESS, and CARMEN SANDIEGO'S GREAT CHASE THROUGH TIME.  A full list of appearances of Julius Caesar in television and film can be found here.  I'm only going to list the most significant for TVCU purposes.  



October 49 BC – 15 March 44 BC--Reign of Julius Caesar as Dictator of the Roman Republic.



During the reign--ASTERIX AND OBELIX MEET CLEOPATRA--Astérix and Obélix go to Egypt to help architect Numérobis who is building a palace for Cleopatra.  Julius Caesar also appears.  




During the reign--ASTERIX AND CAESAR--Obelix falls for a new arrival in his home village in Gaul, but is heartbroken when her true love arrives to visit her. However, the lovers are kidnapped by Romans; Asterix and Obelix set out to rescue them on a dangerous journey that will involve gladiators, slavers and beauracracy - and a personal encounter with the Emperor himself, Julius Caesar...



During the reign--ASTERIX IN BRITAIN--The diminutive Asterix and his rather larger companion Obelix, warriors of the last village in Gaul still free after the Roman invasion, set out on a mission to deliver a barrel of their druid's famous magic potion to help Asterix's cousin in Britain fight off the invading Roman army.



During the reign--ASTERIX IN AMERICA--Caesar has had enough when another legion is hacked to pieces by the damned single indomitable village in Gaul because of the druid's magic potion, so he decides to tackle the problem at the root before conspiratorial senators exploit his humiliation: sycophant Lucullus is ordered to capture the druid (believed immortal) and push him over the edge of the earth (according to the story still believed to be flat as a pizza; actually Greeks and Romans knew better). By pure luck, Lucullus' first net traps both druid and Obelix's pet dog, so the giant and Asterix follow them by ship on the Atlantic, and crash after a storm on the North America coast in pursuit of the druid who was catapulted off the Roman galley before Lucullus triumphantly sets sails back for Europe. They find the druid and meet a tribe of Indians (believing to be in India), literally a whole New World for the equally primitive Celts. At the home front, Caesar sees his chance to overrun the village, but has to wait till the last magic potion has run out, hoping the heroes won't return. In America, the medicine man has a bad eye in the foreigners, especially when the druid proves a dangerous rival...



During the reign--ASTERIX AND OBELIX VS. CAESAR--The well-known little village from the Asterix and Obelix-comic books is in trouble: It is the last place not controlled by Rome. When Tax collector Claudius Incorruptus does not get his money from the villagers, Julius Caesar himself comes to the place to see what's so special about their resistance. A special magic potion, prepared by the village's druid, gives incredible power to those who drink it. And Obelix, who fell into the pot as a child has been invincible ever since. With the help of Tullius Destructivus, an intrigeur, the Romans try to get Obelix and the druid into their hands in order to wipe the little village off the map, when the last potion of it's stock has been used up. But each individual also has some plans of his own...



During the reign--CELEBRITY DEATH MATCH--"Time Travelling:  Part 2"--The search for Debbie leads Johnny and Nick to the Coliseum, where the latter must fight the Satyr.  Julius Caesar also appears.  



During the reign--ASTERIX AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES--Astérix and Obélix compete at the Olympics in order to help their friend Lovesix marry Princess Irina. Brutus also tries to win the game with his own team and get rid of his father Julius Caesar.



During the reign--ASTERIX AND OBELIX:  GOD SAVE BRITANNIA--Asterix crosses the channel to help second-cousin Anticlimax face down Julius Caesar and invading Romans.



During the reign--ASTERIX AND OBELIX:  MANSION OF THE GODS--In order to wipe out the Gaulish village by any means necessary, Caesar plans to absorb the villagers into Roman culture by having an estate built next to the village to start a new Roman colony.



47 B.C.--THE MR. PEABODY AND SHERMAN SHOW--"Cleopatra"--Beautiful Cleopatra turns out to be a belching queen.  Julius Caesar also appears.  



45 B.C.--EPIC RAP BATTLES OF HISTORY--"Shaka Zulu vs. Julius Caesar"--Using the Epic Rap Battles time machine, Shaka Zulu and Julius Caesar have a rap battle.  



During the reign--CARMEN SANDIEGO'S GREAT CHASE THROUGH TIME--Master thief Carmen Sandiego has a time machine called Chronoskimmer and plans to steal historical reaches, such as the Declaration of Independence. Travel to various eras, find out why she's there and stop her plan.  Julius Caesare appears.  

44 B.C.--RELIC HUNTER--"Roman Holiday"--An alchemist creates an impenetrable armor for Caesar. 















Adventures of Superman--Great Caesar's Ghost--Everybody knows that the favorite expletive of "Daily Planet" reporter Perry White (John Hamilton is "Great Caesar's Ghost!" With this in mind, imagine White's shock and dismay when he is confronted with the ghost of Julius Caesar (Trevor Bardette). Before long, all of Metropolis is seriously questioning White's sanity--which is precisely the intention of a gang of crooks who hope to discredit Perry's testimony at a criminal trial. Looks like Superman (George Reeves) is going to have to do some ghost-busting in this one!

October 1969--BEWITCHED--"Samantha's Caesar Salad"--Esmerelda accidentally pulls Julius Caesar from the past.  Julius Caesar has also appeared on THE ABBOTT AND COSTELLO SHOW, THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN, HERCULES:  THE LEGENDARY JOURNEYS, RELIC HUNTER, and XENA:  WARRIOR PRINCESS.



2000--RELIC HUNTER--"Roman Holiday"--Sydney and Nigel are on a trip, so Claudia decides to help Sydney's friend Roger to find Caesar's Armor. But relic hunting is not her strongest talent.

2013—Deadpool Killustrated; Cullen Bunn, Matteo Lolli, Sean Parsons, and Veronica Gandini

One of the infinite Deadpools in the infinite multiverse has a problem.

He knows he's fictional. He's a puppet dancing at the edge of a pen, colorist's brush tickling his funny places.

So he sets out, guns and swords and insanity and incredibly awful one-liners in tow, to kill every fictional universe, and keep on killing every fictional universe, until he arrives at Earth Zero and can murder every last writer. So it goes. We find him at the far end of the Marvel multiverse, having carved and shot and exploded his way from somewhere near the center out to the fringes. He forces captive mad scientists to make him a portal into the next multiverse over. As he leaves, he murders them with a pre-prepared trap.

But before they die, the mad scientists send a distress signal through the portal. It arrives in 1895 London, where it is swiftly brought to 221b Baker Street. The Holmes tulpa quickly gets the signal in order; and discovers that a madman is out, killing the universe. Because, as Deadpool thinks, killing the Commonwealth--or, as he calls it, the "Ideaverse"--will wipe away every character inspired by the tulpa.

Therefore, killing Mowgli prevents the existence of Tarzan and Ka-Zarr; or murdering the Little Meremaid prevents Namor. It's incredibly unlikely, but other kind of plan would you expect Deadpool to concoct?

While's he's out and about, killing everything you ever loved, Holmes fetches The Time Traveller's time machine. He and the Watson tulpa collect their own team to hunt down Deadpool: Beowulf, the monster-killer; Natty Bumpo, the tracker, Hua Mulan, the warrior; and the ever-trusty Dr. John H. Watson. 

During this time, Deadpool implants one of his alternate personalities in Frankenstein's monster.

Holmes and his hunters track Deadpool all across the Commonwealth; finally, they confront him in 1627 Paris, over the corpses of the Three Musketeers. A fight ensues. Beowulf dies at the hands of Frankenstein's Monsters, which Watson then guns down. Deadpool steals the time machine, planning to deal a final blow to the Commonwealth. Holmes clambers aboard himself, and the two battle as spacetime passes them by. Just as Moriarty before him, Deadpool is thrown far away into the void of space.

The Commonwealth, however, is mortally wounded. No-one remembers the stories as they were. Things break apart, break down, like a wound allowed to fester. All that can repair it is memory. And so Holmes begins to recite, from memory, every altered story...

"My father's family name being Pirrip, and my Christian name Philip, my infant tongue could make of both names nothing longer or more explicit than Pip. So, I called myself Pip, and came to be..."

The Commonwealth begins to heal.



Deadpool murders, in order:  Don Quixote and Sancho, Moby Dick, Pinocchio (who was inside Moby Dick's belly), Ismael (from Moby Dick), Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Fin, Dracula and his brides, the Headless Horseman (in reality, Brom Bones), the Little Women, Ebenezer Scrooge and the Ghost of Christmas Future, Dr. Frankenstein, Dr. Moreau and his ani-men, the entire island of Lilliput, Julius Caesar and all of his murderers, the wonderfully heroic Kaa, Baloo Mowgil, and Baghera, the entire crew of the Hispaniola (from Treasure Island), Captain Ahab, Captain Nemo, and the Little Mermaid, Scylla and Charybdis, the three witches (from Macbeth), the narrator and the Raven (from Poe's "The Raven"), Dorian Grey, Gregor Samsa (from Kafka's The Metamorphosis), The Three Musketeers (and D'artagnan), Natty Bumpo, and, lastly, Beowulf.

With the universe restored, all of Deadpool's murders are undone and the stories resume their natural course.  [Deadpool entry provided by James Bojaciuk from his timeline on the Sherlock Holmes tulpa, ONE GHOST NEED APPLY.]

LAFF-A-LYMPICS: A CARTOON MULTIVERSE PREVIEW

I first became aware of the fictional crossover/shared reality concept when I was five years old. As my family was about to embark on a drive from Massachusetts to California, my father gave me my first comic book to keep me occupied, and it was an issue of the Marvel Comics adaptation of Scooby’s All-Star Laff-A-Lympics. This is the first time I was able to comprehend what was going on here, on a significant level. All these characters from their own cartoons were appearing together, as part of the same reality, thus placing all their previous cartoons in the same reality.

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Chris Nigro adds, from this except from his foreword in TELEVISION CROSSOVER UNIVERSE: WORLDS AND MYTHOLOGY I: Nevertheless, it’s far from a new concept. It was simply a trope not commonly presented to the general public, save in a few popular fictional universes we are encouraged (quite unfortunately) to “forget” once we enter the esteemed status of adulthood. Relevant to some of the timelines presented in this first volume of Television Crossovers, that includes the worlds presented to our childhood TV viewing eyes by Hanna-Barbera cartoons. During the 1970s, these two masters of old-style cel animation brought us shows like Yogi’s Gang (later shown as part of the Fred Flintstone and Friends anthology), which spun out of the animated TV special Yogi’s Ark Lark and brought numerous Hanna-Barbera cartoon characters from the 1960s into a single adventure (aboard a flying version of Noah’s Ark, no less). A bit later in the ‘70s, Scooby’s All-Star Laff-A-Lympics further expanded the roster of Hanna-Barbera crossover cast to include many of their characters who debuted in the 1970s, this time with Scooby Doo as the featured star, as he had since eclipsed Yogi Bear as Hanna-Barbera’s most popular cartoon character.



So. 1978, driving cross country with my parents, Laff-A-Lympics comic. You know all that stuff. You know about the notebooks. You know about the Wold Newton Group. You know I met Ivan, James and Gordon there. You know about the book club and Hannah Montana.

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THE SCOOBY/YOGI/LAFF-A-LYMPICS TIMELINE

This is the timeline the TVCU Crew had traditionally identified as the Looniverse but the Cartoon Crossover Encyclopedia will identify as the Cartoon Universe. This timeline will be covered in depth in the upcoming Cartoon Crossover Encyclopedia by Robert E. Wronski, Jr.




10,000 YEARS AGO--The Flintstones --The misadventures of two modern-day Stone Age families, the Flintstones and the Rubbles. Followed by The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show

HANNA-BARBERA ERA BEGINS





1958 to 1961--THE HUCKLEBERRY HOUND SHOW--Preceded by The Ruff & Reddy Show (1957) and Followed by The Quick Draw McGraw Show (1959)





1959 to 1962--Quick Draw McGraw--Quick Draw Mcgraw was a dimwitted and lanky mustang (horse) who caused much chaos in the Old West. If he could get his own six shooter out of his holster at all, he would usually shoot the wrong man. His partner, a Mexican burro name Baba Looie, was always trying to help Quick Draw as much as he could. Also on the show were cartoons featuring Snooper and Blabber, Augie Doggie and Doggie Daddy. Though it seems as though this series took place in the 19th century, most evidence shows that in fact it took place in a contemporary period, but in this universe, much of the western U.S. still seems to be very much identical to how it was in the 19th century. This series spun-off Quick Draw El Kabong (1999) (Short).

1961 to 1962--THE YOGI BEAR SHOW--Followed by Yogi Bear & Friends

1962 to 1963--THE HANNA-BARBERA NEW CARTOON SERIES--This series spun-off Lippy the Lion and Hardy Har Har (1962) (TV Series).




1964--HEY THERE, IT'S YOGI BEAR!--Ranger Smith, tired of Yogi's picnic basket stealing, has him and Boo-Boo shipped off to the San Diego Zoo. Yogi escapes being sent away, unknown to Yogi's girlfriend Cindy, who goes looking for him and is kidnapped by a circus owner. Yogi and Boo-Boo are forced to sneak out of the park and travel across the country to save Cindy and bring her back home. This film follows the Yogi Bear Show.
 



1965 to 1970--I DREAM OF JEANNIE--Astronaut Major Anthony Nelson finds a bottle and releases Jeannie. Even though he releases her from servitude, she has immediately fallen in love with him and follows him home to Coco Beach, Florida. Followed by I Dream of Jeannie... Fifteen Years Later







1968 to 1969--WACKY RACES--The villains (and also the stars) of the series drive a purple, rocket-powered car with an abundance of concealed weapons and the ability to fly. Dick Dastardly is an archetypal mustache-twirling villain; Muttley is his wheezily snickering dog henchman. Dastardly's usual race strategy revolves around using the Mean Machine's great speed to get ahead of the other racers, and then setting a trap to stop them and maintain the lead; but most of his plans backfire, causing him to fall back into last place. Dastardly never sees victory. The other racers include The Slag Brothers, Rock and Gravel, in two cavemen themed racers called the Boulder Mobile; the Gruesome Twosome, who are monsters in the Creepy Coupe; Professor Pat Pending, a scientist, in the Convert-a-Car; the Red Max in a car/plane hybrid; Penelope Pitstop, the lone female, in a 1930s racing costume; Sergeant Blast, in an army tank/jeep hybrid with a small steamroller wheel attached to the front, called the Army Surplus Special; the Ant Hill Mob, gangsters, in the Bulletproof Bomb; Luke, a hillbilly, and Blubber Bear, his pet bear, in the Arkansas Chugabug; Peter Perfect, a gentlemanly racer, in the Turbo Terrific; and finally Rufus Roughcut, a lumberjack, and his companion Sawtooth in the Buzzwagon. Followed by The Perils of Penelope Pitstop (1969–1970) and Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines (1969–1970)







1969 to 1978--SCOOBY-DOO, WHERE ARE YOU! (ANIMATED SERIES)--A group of teenagers and their talking dog go around solving mysteries which always involves debunking a fake haunting. Scooby was not the star within the Laff-A-Lympics series, but was one of three team captains with Yogi and Mumbly, but he got top billing because he was at the time the biggest star of the Hanna-Barbera Universe. Followed by The New Scooby-Doo Movies (1972–1973)

1972 to 1973--THE NEW SCOOBY-DOO MOVIES (ANIMATED SERIES)--Mystery, Inc. continues to solve mysteries, but now they meet a lot of interesting people. This series is a continuation of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! It continues in 1976 as The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour. It was remade in 2002 as a live-action film. This series also spun off the animated Harlem Globetrotters series. The series has been referenced several times in other series and films. It has also been spoofed in Gremlins 2, Night of the Living Doo, and Family Guy.





1972--THE ABC SATURDAY SUPERSTAR MOVIE--"Yogi's Ark Lark"--In this, the pilot for what would eventually become "Yogi's Gang", Yogi, Boo Boo and many of his friends including Huckleberry Hound, Snagglepuss, Magilla Gorilla among others decide to build an ark to look for the mythical Perfect Place which is peaceful and hasn't been affected by man and pollution. They hire the Jellystone's janitor Noah Smith to act as captain and travel throughout the world looking for such a place. Even though they think every place they land is a "Perfect place", they soon find out that there is definitely no place like home. Preceded by The Brady Kids on Mysterious Island and Followed by Mad Mad Mad Monsters




1973 to 1975--YOGI'S GANG--When his natural habitat is threatened to be overrun by civilization and pollution, Yogi Bear, together with his faithful sidekick, Boo Boo Bear, and a gaggle of cartoon notables ranging from Huckleberry Hound, Quick Draw McGraw, and Pixie and Dixie, to Peter Potamus, Augie Doggy, and Snagglepuss, build and board a muscle-powered, propeller-flying ark in search of a "Perfect Place" into which for cartoon animals to relocate. En route, Yogi's group encounter and battle a series of conniving villains. Preceded by Yogi Bear & Friends and Followed by Fred Flintstone and Friends

1973 to 1975--JEANNIE--Corey Anders, an average California teenager, finds an unusual-looking bottle on the beach while surfing. He opens it, and a beautiful genie named Jeannie emerges. Her bumbling, corpulent sidekick genie Babu also emerges, and the two become Corey's servants. Most of the show's plots found Corey trying to live a normal teenager's life, while keeping the genies' identities secret, and teaming up with Jeannie to repair the damages caused by Babu's bungling. Spun-off from I Dream of Jeannie (1965) (TV Series)

1973 to 1983--SPEED BUGGY--Animated 'Saturday-morning' television cartoon about a race car. Speed Buggy has been referenced many times in other shows like Johnny Bravo, Looney Tunes: Back in Action, the Powerpuff Girls, Scooby-Doo: Mystery Incorporated, and Futurama.

September 1973--THE NEW SCOOBY-DOO MOVIES (ANIMATED SERIES)--SEASON 2 EPISODE 3 “THE HAUNTED SHOWBOAT”--Mystery, Inc. find themselves aboard a showboat where Josie and the Pussycats are booked to perform. When ghosts appear, the two groups of teens join together to solve the mystery. This brings in the animated version of Josie and the Pussycats (and Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space) but not necessarily the comic books from which the characters originate.

September 1973--THE NEW SCOOBY-DOO MOVIES (ANIMATED SERIES)--SEASON 2 EPISODE 2 “SCOOBY-DOO MEETS JEANNIE (AKA MYSTERY IN PERSIA)”--Jeanie transports Mystery, Inc. back to ancient Egypt to solve a mystery. This crossover brings the animated Jeanie into the Cartoon Universe. This Jeanie was not the same from I Dream of Jeannie.

October 1973--THE NEW SCOOBY-DOO MOVIES (ANIMATED SERIES)--SEASON 2 EPISODE 6 “THE WEIRD WINDS OF WINONA”--Two groups of teens and their talking dog and car try to determine why people are fleeing their town. This brings in the animated Speed Buggy, which is about a living, talking, intelligent, animate car.

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1974--HONG KONG PHOOEY--A martial arts canine super-hero. This series spun-off as Web Premiere Toons: Hong Kong Phooey (2001) (Video)





1975 to 1978--THE GREAT GRAPE APE SHOW--Grape Ape first appeared in "The New Tom & Jerry Show"




1976 to 1977--THE MUMBLY CARTOON SHOW--Mumbly is a cartoon dog character famous for his wheezy laugh, voiced by Don Messick. Mumbly appears to be the twin brother of Muttley from the animated series Wacky Races and Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines. Like Muttley, Mumbly does not really talk; he mumbles and grumbles unintelligibly, and often uses his trademark snicker. Detective Lieutenant Mumbly's boss is Schnooker (inspired by Telly Savalas' Kojak detective and voiced by John Stephenson), an aptly named egotistical police chief who tries to take credit for nearly all of Mumbly's heroic deeds. Mumbly may have been inspired by Peter Falk's TV character Columbo, as the two share a similar sartorial style and speech patterns. In addition, both are police lieutenants, wear trench coats, and drive old broken down cars. A further link is that Muttley was based on a similar premise to Peter Falk's character Max Meen in The Great Race. The Mumbly character first appeared on "The New Tom & Jerry Show".




1976 to 1978--THE SCOOBY-DOO SHOW--This show was part of a Scooby-Doo two hour block that included Laff-A-Lympics and Dynomutt. The show introduced Scooby-Dum and Scooby-Dee and also Scooby guest-starred on Dynomutt in three episodes of Dynomutt's series. Preceded by The New Scooby-Doo Movies (1972–1973) and Followed by Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo (1979–1980)





1976 to 1977--DYNOMUTT, DOG WONDER--This series was part of the Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour and later part of the larger Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics block. Scooby guest appeared in three episodes. This is part of why the newer animated movies are not part of the same canon. In the newer movies, Dynomutt and other HB talking animals are fictional. This series follows The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour (1976) (TV Series) and is followed by Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo (1979) (TV Series).




1976 to 1978--THE SCOOBY-DOO/DYNOMUTT HOUR--Scooby Doo and the gang solve mysteries; then Blue Falcon and Dynomutt fight crime in each two-part episode of this animated series. This series follows The New Scooby-Doo Movies (1972) (TV Series) and is followed by Dynomutt Dog Wonder (1976) (TV Series).




1977 to 1980--CAPTAIN CAVEMAN AND THE TEEN ANGELS--The adventures of a superhero caveman and a trio of female amateur detectives. This series is spun-off from Scooby's Laff-A Lympics (1977) (TV Series) and has its own spin-off, The Flintstone Kids (1986) (TV Series).




1977 to 1979--SCOOBY’S ALL-STAR LAFF-A-LYMPICS (ANIMATED SERIES)--The Hanna-Barbera characters compete regularly in various sporting events. Every episode of the series was a crossover between all the major series owned by Hanna-Barbera. The three teams that compete are the Scooby-Doobies, the Yogi Yahooeys and the Really Rottens.

Scooby-Doo is the team captain of the Scooby-Doobies. Scooby-Doo first appeared in Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?, which began in 1969. The Scooby-Doobies consisted mostly of characters from Hanna-Barbera’s mystery solving teen group of cartoons. The team roster was Scooby-Doo, Shaggy Rogers, Scooby-Dum, Dynomutt, the Blue Falcon, Captain Caveman, Brenda Chance, Taffy Dare, Dee Dee Skyes, Speed Buggy, Tinker, Babu and Hong Kong Phooey. Shaggy Rogers also debuted in 1969 in Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? He is Scooby’s owner. Scooby-Dum is Scooby-Doo’s cousin, who first appeared in the Scooby-Doo Show in the 1976 episode “The Gruesome Game of the Gator Ghoul”. Dynomutt and the Blue Falcon originated from Dynomutt, Dog Wonder, which debuted in 1976. Captain Caveman, Brenda, Taffy, and Dee Dee originated in Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels, starting in 1977. Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels were allegedly created as substitutes for Josie and the Pussycats (due to clearance issues with "Radio Comics"). Speed Buggy and Tinker originate from Speed Buggy, that first aired in 1973. Babu is from Jeannie, which began airing in 1973. Babu appeared alone because Columbia Pictures Television still owned I Dream of Jeannie (never mind that Jeannie and Babu appeared together on The New Scooby-Doo Movies). Curiously, ABC's print ad for Laff-a-Lympics in the Sept. 10–16, 1977, issue of TV Guide had Jeannie and Josie and the Pussycats featured. The order of who got bumped or replaced before whom is debated, except that Jeannie's removal was clearly last as she's counted in the opening narration and was included in the main model sheets for the series. During the Canada sled race, pause when Mildew and Snag are shown talking. Jeannie can be spotted standing between Babu and Hong Kong Phooey. In the opening credits it says there are 45 stars. Counting all three teams and announcers, there's 44. If recurring guest stars are counted (Fred Flintstone, Barney Rubble, Jabberjaw), there are 47. The real reason being that it was written before Jeannie was cut. Unless the narrator is counting himself as the 45th (and hey, Don Messick narrated a lot of Hanna-Barbera cartoons in that "Ranger Smith" voice, so why not?) Finally, Hong Kong Phooey is from the cartoon of the same name that began in 1974. The Narrator and Announcers make multiple references to unseen "judges" that often hand out rulings and penalties. In the trivia What Could Have Been entry, it would appear at one point Hong Kong Phooey and Spot were to have filled this role before Spot was dropped and Phooey joined the Scooby Doobies. Some of the members of this team have met before this series and some would meet again after this series ended, but for the most part, the series that combined to make the Scooby-Doobies continued to stay separate for the most part, thus it still makes sense to count them as crossovers whenever they interact with each other. Yogi Bear is the team captain of the Yogi Yahooeys. Yogi Bear first appeared in his own segment in The Huckleberry Hound Show in 1958. The Yogi Yahooeys consisted of characters from Hanna-Barbera’s anthropomorphic funny talking animals group of cartoons. The team roster was Yogi Bear, Boo-Boo Bear, Cindy Bear, Huckleberry Hound, Pixie, Dixie, Mr. Jinks, Hokey Wolf, Yakky Doodle, Quick Draw McGraw, Snooper, Blabber, Augie Doggie, Doggie Daddy, Wally Gator and Grape Ape. Boo-Boo Bear also debuted in also debuted in 1958 in the Yogi Bear segment of The Huckleberry Hound Show. Cindy Bear first appeared in the Yogi Bear Show in the 1961 episode “Acrobatty Bear”. Huckleberry Hound originated from The Huckleberry Hound Show, which debuted in 1958. Pixie and Dixie and Mr. Jinks originated in their own segment in The Huckleberry Hound Show, starting in 1958. Hokey Wolf originates from his own segment in The Huckleberry Hound Show, that first aired in 1960. Yakky Doodle is from the Augie Doggie and Doggie Daddy segments of the Huckleberry Hound Show, debuting in the 1960 episode “Gone to the Ducks”. He would later spin-off into his own segments on the Yogi Bear Show. Quick Draw McGraw originated from The Quick Draw McGraw Show, which debuted in 1959. Snooper and Blabber originated in their own segment in The Quick Draw McGraw Show, starting in 1959. Augie Doggie and Doggie Daddy originated in their own segment in The Quick Draw McGraw Show, starting in 1959. Wally Gator originated from his own segments of The Hanna-Barbera New Cartoon Series, starting in 1962. Finally, Grape Ape is from The Great Grape Ape Show that began in 1975. Unlike the Scooby-Doobies, the members of the Yogi Yahooeys would regularly appear together even beyond this series. From this point on, the members of this team would become supporting cast members in cartoons that feature Yogi Bear. For that reason, any crossovers after this point between members of the Yogi Yahooeys will not be listed, just as I do not consider crosses between members of Disney’s “Mickey Mouse Universe” after the debut of Disneyland and the Mickey Mouse Club, or between Looney Tunes characters after the debut of the Bugs Bunny Show. Mumbly is the team captain of the Really Rottens. Mumbly first appeared in The Mumbly Cartoon Show in 1976. The Really Rottens consisted of original characters (except for Mumbly), though most of the roster were based on other villains that had previously appeared in Hanna-Barbera cartoons. The team roster was Mumbly, Dread Baron, Dinky Dalton, Dirty Dalton, Dastardly Dalton, Mr. Creepley, Mrs. Creepley, Junior Creepley, Orful Octopus, the Great Fondoo, Magic Rabbit, Daisy Mayhem and Sooey. Mumbly is almost identical to Muttley, who first appeared in 1968’s Wacky Races. In the second season, Mumbly did get mistakenly called "Muttley". Mumbly was originally a police detective. The studio attempted to distinguish Mumbly and Muttley by fur color (Muttley was light green, Mumbly light blue), ears (Muttley's were black, Mumbly's were the same color as his fur) and clothing (Muttley wore a collar, then his flying helmet and scarf; Mumbly, a trenchcoat). Dread Baron is identical to Dick Dastardly, who also debuted in 1968’s Wacky Races. In the Marvel Comics’ continuation of Laff-A-Lympics, it’s said that Dick and Dread Baron are twin brothers. Using this logic, it could be that Muttley and Mumbly are also twin brothers. Hanna-Barbera wanted to use Dick Dastardly and Muttley as captains of the Rottens, but Merrill Heatter allegedly still had part ownership of the Wacky Races characters. The Dalton Gang are original characters based on real life brothers of the 19th century who were infamous bank and train robbers. The Creepleys were a family modeled after the Gruesomes, who were neighbors of the Flintstones. And the Gruesomes were modeled after the previous Hanna-Barbera creations, Mr. & Mrs. J. Evil Scientist, as well as live-action series, the Addams Family and the Munsters. Orful Octopus is a Composite Character Expy of Squiddly Diddly and Occy the Octopus (The Gruesomes' pet octopus.) There may be a trace of Ocho, the pet octopus from the 1973 Addams Family cartoon. The Great Fondoo was an evil stage magician and is similar to Abner K. Dabra from the 1963 book, Yogi Bear and the Cranky Magician. Magic Rabbit is Pet of the Great Fondoo and bears a resemblance to the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland (or What's a Nice Kid Like You Doing in a Place Like This?) Finally, Daisy Mayhem is a bad girl redneck, who seems to be modeled after Moonbeam McShine from Li’l Abner, and also seems to be a bad guy counterpart of the Teen Angels and the Pussycats. Most of these villains would show up in later Hanna-Barbera cartoons as bad guys. The show’s hosts were Snagglepuss and Mildew Wolf. Snagglepuss is from his own segments of the Quick Draw McGraw Show, starting in 1959, while Mildew is from the It’s the Wolf! segments of the Cattanooga Cats, which began airing in 1969. Because the series aired on ABC, commentators Snagglepuss and Mildew Wolf were depicted wearing the then-standard yellow sportscoats worn by ABC Sports broadcasters. Mildew Wolf referring to everyone as "savages" is a double reference to both his original voice actor, Paul Lynde (who again, originally voiced Mildew), and the Hanna-Barbera series Where's Huddles? (CBS, 1970), in which Lynde played Claude Pertwee, a character who often referred to show's football-playing Fred and Barney expies as "savages". Jabberjaw and Peter Potamus were frequent guest judges. Jabberjaw is from his own series that debuted in 1976. Jabberjaw takes place in the future, but based on how time works in the Cartoon Universe, he seems to easily visit the 20th century. Peter Potamus also comes from his own show that debuted in 1964. Fred and Barney from the Flintstones also show up from time to time as guest commentators. See my comments for the Flintstones for how Fred and Barney often show up in the 20th century. Preceded by The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour (1976–77)



1978 to 1999--VARIOUS COMICS--Jabberjaw has appeared over the years in comics such as Laff-A-Lympics issues No. 10 and No. 12 in 1978 and 1979. Hanna Barbera Presents No. 6 in 1995, and Cartoon Network Presents No. 23 in 1999.


 [image error]


June, 1978--Worcester, MA. . My parents decide to move to California. I am five. To keep me occupied for the long trip, I'm given a handheld football video game, and a comic book, and that book was the spark. It was an issue of Scooby's Laff-a-Lympics, based on the cartoon. It was my first crossover. Scooby, Yogi, the Flintstones, and all the rest, interacting in the same story. It was amazing.






December 1979--CASPER'S FIRST CHRISTMAS--Yogi Bear, Boo Boo, Huckleberry Hound and more Hanna-Barbera characters get lost and decide to spend Christmas by vising Casper, the friendly ghost. But soon they encounter a not-so-friendly ghost.

Early 1980s--LOST ISSUES--From Ross Pearsall: Who wouldn't have wanted to tune in and see this pairing together on TV in the early 80's? I used to love seeing cartoon crossovers back in the day. Birdman showing up on Space Ghost, Batman meeting Shaggy and Scoobie, The Laff-A-Lympics, even Fred and Barney meeting The Thing... they were all so cool to me! Those offbeat and sometimes cross-company team ups were right up my alley and fueled my imagination. They were definitely a big influence on this blog. See more Lost Issues here.





1982--YOGI BEAR’S ALL STAR COMEDY CHRISTMAS CAPER (ANIMATED SPECIAL)--When Yogi’s friends go to visit him at Jellystone for Christmas, they find he and Boo Boo have escaped to New York where they are posing as department store Santa and elf. While the gang search for Yogi, the smarter than average bear helps the daughter of a billionaire reunite with her busy father for Christmas. Most of the above are alumni of the “Yogi Yahooeys” group that often appear together in modern times as part of Yogi’s gang of friends, despite having all come from independent series. Not all modern Hanna Barbera cartoons featuring Yogi and his anthropomorphic pals will be listed, as the crossovers are not very unique following Laff-a-Lympics. This falls under the same policy being used for “the Mickey Mouse Universe” following the debut of Disneyland and Mickey Mouse Club, and for the Looney Tunes characters following the Saturday morning television debut. However, with the extra added camoes of Fred and Barney as street Santas, this crossover is particularly worth mentioning.






1992 to Present--CARTOON NETWORK (COMMERCIALS)--Several short stories featuring numerous Cartoon Network characters, original and acquired, in various shared reality segments. Since its inception, Cartoon Network has run numerous promos that featured it’s original characters and acquired properties in original short segments that demonstrate that everything seen on Cartoon Network, original or reruns from other networks, takes place in the same shared reality. Most of the segments take place at the Cartoon Network studios, or the town the studio is set in, which seems to be Townsville from the Powerpuff Girls. I conjecture that Townsville is nearby Los Angeles and Toontown. However, there is evidence elsewhere, in Phineas and Ferb, that Townsville is part of the same Tri-State Area as Dansville from Phineas and Ferb. There are several areas in the United States that are known as the Tri-State area, and California is not in any known “tri-state area”. Note that some of the series above are not part of the main Cartoon Universe. Also, some of these series exist in the past for future. Clearly Cartoon Network has access to travel between time and alternate realities.





1996--HANNA-BARBERA PRESENTS # 6--An updated Laff-A-Lympics called the "Superstar Olympics" appeared in the Hanna-Barbera Presents #6 comic book in 1996. The Superstar Olympics featured Atom Ant, Augie Doggie and Doggie Daddy, Barney Rubble, Betty Rubble, Boo Boo Bear, Chopper, Cindy Bear, Dick Dastardly, Fred Flintstone, Grape Ape, Hokey Wolf, Huckleberry Hound, Jabberjaw, Magilla Gorilla, Muttley, Peter Potamus, Pixie and Dixie and Mr. Jinks, Quick Draw McGraw, Ranger Smith, Secret Squirrel, Snagglepuss, Snooper and Blabber, Squiddly Diddly, Top Cat, Touché Turtle, Wally Gator, Wilma Flintstone, and Yogi Bear.

May 2004--HARVEY BIRDMAN ATTORNEY-AT-LAW--"Grape Juiced"-- In that episode, Grape Ape is accused of using steroids at the recent Laff-A-Lympics event. Yakky Doodle, Grape Ape's teammate from the Yogi Yahooeys, also makes a cameo appearance as a witness during Grape Ape's trial. The Magic Rabbit makes a cameo in the episode "SPF" as a victim of CyberSquatting.

April 2011--CLEVELAND SHOW--"Ship'rect"--Mumbly appears on a boat crewed by vaguely evil looking characters intended to parody the team of the "Really Rottens" in the cartoon show the Laff-A-Lympics.
March 1, 2016--TVCU #12 - Robert E. Wronski, Jr., or the one where the host is the guest--Join us this week as our host, Robert E. Wronski, Jr., takes the night off from his regular duties to appear as guest on his own show. The TVCU Crew chat with the author and podcast host about Laff-a-Lympics, Happy Days, Leave it to Beaver, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, Batman'66, Scooby-Doo Team-Up, Superman, the secret origin of the Television Crossover Universe, the Horror Crossover Encyclopedia, the Cartoon Crossover Encyclopedia, Worlds and Mythology, Bones, and Sleepy Hollow!!!





OTHER REALITIES OF THE TELEVISION CROSSOVER MULTIVERSE:

FAN FICTION--I don't like to include too much fan fiction, but everything happens somewhere and there is a notable fan made continuation of Laff-A-Lympics which you can find here.





ROBOT CHICKEN UNIVERSE--Captain Caveman appeared in the Robot Chicken episode "Ban on the Fun" voiced by Breckin Meyer. In a segment that parodies the Laff-A-Lympics in the style of the Munich massacre, Captain Caveman and Shaggy Rogers confront Daisy Mayhem and Captain Caveman blows her up with the wrong club.

The Greatest Story No One Wanted To See Told: MIKE NERO'S TELEVISION CROSSOVER TIMELINE

This silhouette tells it all! 
And if you think this timeline won't be an interesting read, well, howl you know unless you give it a whirl?

Who is Mike Nero, you may ask (though more likely, you won't)? Michael Alexander Nero is a monster hunter who effectively serves as an avatar for moi (that's Christofer Nigro, to those who may actually be concerned) in various alternate universes where the laws of physics are, let's say, a lot more "lax" -- and thus, a lot more interesting -- than the mundane world outside our window. 
You know, the world where exposure to radiation merely makes you puke and mucks up your chromosomes instead of causing you to grow super-large, or super-strong, or into a rampaging green monster.

Where excessive exposure to ultra-violet rays provides a good way to get painful sunburns and skin cancer instead serving as a potent weapon for obliterating vampires (well, at least some strains of vampires, that is).

 Where travel to the Moon is done once every few decades when NASA feels like it, has the budget, and doesn't blow up its latest vessel, instead of a few dozen secret journeys per year by government agents, adventurers with bucks to burn, and intrepid entrepreneurs seeking the source of that strange coded signal that their exclusive computer software detected.

 Where aliens are nothing more than annoyingly popular memes that populate stories, Halloween costume shops, and  the latest fake "caught on film" or "found footage" films uploaded to YouTube which highlight the wonders that computer programmers and photoshoppers with a lot of time on their hands, rather than the wonders that xenobiology throughout deep space can evolve to invariably find a means to invade our world and require us to fight for our very survival. 
Yes, that universe. The mundane one that we all know and get bored with, thus requiring some of us to invent our own universes that are a lot more interesting and cool to behold.

Or, with a specific ability to "perceive" what may be going on in other universes on the other side of some dimensional veil. Whatever, you decide which; I'm just here to relieve my boredom, and I'll do that here by inflicting on you the timeline that chronicles the history of a tragic monster hunter and champion who dwells in the type of universe that we can only dream about... and, yes, sometimes write about!

The universe in question is the one we call the mainstream Television Crossover Universe, where what those of us see on the toob in this world portrayed by actors and special effects technicians "actually" occurred in, well, "reality". I know it sounds silly to many, but just go with me here and consider indulging me for a few minutes (or maybe several, if you're so inclined and still here by the time I type everything I intend to type).

Consider what you are about to read a sneak preview of sorts. Yes, you're seeing it here first! This author, who is lucky enough to have gotten published (yes! Some people read my stuff! Boo-yahh!), has every intention of starting a series of Mike Nero stories & novels, and self-publishing them through my own digital label, Wild Hunt Press. That will lead into another such universe I like to call the Wild Hunt Universe (duh!), but which the esteemed curator of the TVCU prefers to call the TVCU-32. Tomato, ta-mahto, I say! Call it whatever you prefer, as long as you're thinking about it enough to possibly consider reading about it! So, as a proud sponsor of this blog -- which means you have to tolerate my access to it with periodic entries like this (mwah-ha-hah!) -- I hereby give you a treat you never asked for: a preview of an epic saga yet to come in print, the story of... (*drum roll, followed by crickets chirping*) Mike Nero! (*cue pre-recorded track of an audience cheering*)

1968 -- Michael Alexander Nero officially enters the world in Buffalo, New York. He is born out of wedlock to a teen mom, who passes the buck of responsibility largely to her parents, who raise him much of the time. He grows up greatly misunderstood by his family, as his interests include research into the paranormal, creative writing, and all sorts of unconventional political territory instead of sports and cars (though he did really like fire trucks as a kid!). Needless to say, he is quite a handful for his family to deal with, not to mention his peers, and he grows up excessively bullied and ostracized (if you consider "absolutely hated" to be too strong a description). The resulting trauma he would experience because of this wasn't pretty for all concerned, to say the least.


1970s -- Mike grows up during a rather extraordinary decade. He became a huge fan of horror, sci-fi, and fantasy films. Of particular interest to him was the vintage Universal Monster movies, which regularly played on TV during those years, and whose depiction of a shared universe fascinated him. Mike always suspected there was much truth behind the "fiction" in these movies, but only later would he confirm this after discovering the research of many, eventually collected by and added to by Prof. Chuck Loridans and the original version of the organization created, M*O*N*S*T*A*A*H.

Mike felt a particularly strong kinship with Universal's recorded cinematic exploits of Lawrence Stewart "Larry" Talbot, the lycanthrope known as the Wolf Man, along with those of Jacob "Jack" Russoff, a.k.a., Jack Russell, the lycanthrope designated "Werewolf By Night" by the writers and artists of Marvel Comics who recorded his exploits in the comic book medium (Prof. Loridans later conjectured that Russell was related to the Talbot clan, and actually the son of Larry Talbot). See UNIVERSAL MONSTERS master file, sub-file set The Wolf Man; and LEGION OF MONSTERS master file, sub-file set WEREWOLF BY NIGHT.



Lawrence Stewart "Larry" Talbot, a.k.a., the Wolf Man, famed lycanthrope that Mike felt an early kinship with.





Artist's rendition of Jacob "Jack" Russoff, a.k.a., Jack Russell, the lycanthrope referred to as "Werewolf By Night", whom Mike likewise felt a strong kinship with. 

 Mike also became fascinated by kaiju films, particularly those involving Godzilla, and he also suspected that Godzilla and Mothra had actual substance behind them. See TOHO KAIJU master file set, with sub-files Godzilla and Mothra. 
As the decade progressed, Mike realized that it would take a monumental cover-up by a combination of many international government agencies and corporations -- as well as various strange entities -- to hide all the evidence of these events being real, leaving only the reports collected by various researchers and authors who could only present them as "fiction" via the mediums of cinema, television, prose, comic books, video games, etc. Hence, he knew he could never convince anyone of their veracity, and later came to realize the general public's belief that they were mere fiction was to their benefit.

Mike was an ardent collector of comic books, and the heroes depicted within gave him a sufficiently strong moral foundation to resist the darkness encompassing his soul due to the social trauma and ostracization (is that a word?) he was regularly subjected to. This battle between a desire to help the world and to exact vengeance upon the society he was raised in was a source of much conflict and turmoil during his formative years. 
1978 -- Mike has his first paranormal encounter, with a female ghost he simply dubbed "Apparitia" (okay, so his naming skills needed some work!). Upon leading his neighborhood crew in a "Sly Club" he put together, he had various encounters with dangerous oddities plaguing his Lower West Side neighborhood, such as the Witch Woman, the Jack Dog, and a Slithis.

1981 -- By this point in time, when Mike was 13, his anger and resentment towards the treatment he received from his peers and his inability to get along with and be understood by his family had taken a terrible toll on his psyche. It was at this low point in his early life that he was approached by Rutger, a representative of the Brotherhood of Fenris, worshipers of the Norse lupine deity known as the Fenris Wolf (and none other than the progeny of Loki, the notorious god of mischief!). This was a large kindred of werewolves formed a decade earlier, whose leader at the time -- a savage piece of work called Gottvang -- sent various agents to recruit youthful individuals who in their judgment would expand the power and scope of the pack. Their frequent M.O. was to approach young people perceived as being likely potential supporters by the Brotherhood, and offer them the sacred mystical knowledge they required to become a shamanic lycanthrope.


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Fenris himself. Fear him, or he'll bite your hand off! 
(If you don't believe me, ask what happened to the war god Tyr for daring not to fear him!)

They would be free to use the power any way they saw fit in exchange for joining up with the Brotherhood at a later, to be determined point in their lives that would vary depending on a variety of factors (read the upcoming published Mike Nero stories for more elaboration on this! You can't expect me to reveal it all here! And yes, that was a bit of shameless plugging on my part. Sue me, I want people to buy my books *grin*).


Symbol of the Brotherhood of Fenris

Mike eagerly accepted Rutger's offer, and after using the supplies he was given to carry out the ancient Germanic-Norse rituals to the letter, he indeed gained the power of the lycanthrope, soon taking the official code name of Beowolf (this being a permutation of  Beowulf, the legendary Danish king and superhuman hero of Norse legend whom Mike greatly admired). His inner rage and pain initially caused him to use this power to take revenge on those who hurt him. He never actually took the life of any of these people, but several of his targets were maimed and suffered permanent scars both physical and mental.




Not actually Mike Nero in his Beowolf form, but close enough!



Early 1980s --  Mike spent the next few years as an extremely "gray" figure from a moral standpoint, but as time went on he found himself having run-ins with various menaces to the Queen City and its surrounding environs that were a greater threat than himself. This entailed both paranormal foes, including final confrontations with the Witch Woman and the Jack Dog; and those of a mundane but dangerous variety, such as street gangs, kidnappers, and even a brutal serial killer.



1985 - early 1986 -- By his senior year in high school, Mike had gained a good degree of control over his inner pain, and began training in the martial arts and various mental/spiritual conditioning by young martial arts master Alan Jones, who also took the masked identity of the crime fighter Dark Justice. Mike's physical formidibility in human form increased during his two years of training with Jones, as did his versatility with inducing his lycanthropic transformations at times other than the waxing or full moon, or even during the day time for limited periods (although doing so against the flow of the positive lunar energies took a heavy toll on him). It was during this time that Mike also began studying the occult to enhance this abilities further still, which included studying Witchcraft, Norse magick, and Eastern hermetic disciplines. At the side of Dark Justice and his crew the Dark Clan, Beowolf clashed with and protected his home city from a variety of threats, everything from street gangs to an invading alien Sarmak.



Also not Mike, but so bad-ass I decided to include it anyway. Just try to help that guy, I dare you!


August 1986 - April 1987 -- Mike becomes a freshman at Deamon College in the nearby large affluent town of Amherst. After arriving, he soon had a falling out with Dark Justice and left his team. To make things worse, he met LaTrella, a sultry female vampire of the Dacian strain (those connected to the Karnstein family, first introduced in Sheridan Le Fanu's novella CARMILLA and since followed up on in many other sources, including Hammer films such as The Vampire Lovers; see respective files). Mike became infatuated with LaTrella, and she exploited his feelings by starting an uneasy, cold romantic relationship with him so she had the power of a lycanthrope on her side. 
During the first and most of his second semester at Deamon College, Mike was under LaTrella's thrall, and he frequently assisted in getting her the mostly male victims she desired. He justified this to himself because she had more control than a typical Dacian vampire and rarely killed any of them, but the sexual desires she fulfilled with these male victims made Mike extremely jealous. This caused his behavior to become darker and more erratic, effectively undoing all the progress he made over the previous two years.

However, during his time on the campus, where a small Hellmouth was situated, he did occasionally face off against threats to the campus than himself that were attracted to the locale due to its demonic energies, including an actual demon and his cult of devil-worshipers, a woman who could transform into a predatory giant insect, and an invasion from an otherdimensional criminal. 
Towards the end of April 1986, this situation came to a major climax (and not the good kind, mind you) when Mike finally went over the edge and engaged in a vicious battle with Nayland Ralston, a male fellow student whom LaTrella made into a vampire, and with whom she attempted to replace Mike as her main paramour/thrall. Soon after Mike's narrow destruction of Nayland (with the aid of a fellow student whose sister was harmed by the vampire), a group of monster hunters descended on the campus, forcing LaTrella and Mike to flee and go their separate ways. The few other vampires she created on the campus were soon wiped out by this unidentified team of monster hunters.

May 1986 - October 1987 -- Upon fleeing Deamon, Mike/Beowolf spent nearly a year wandering about New York State in a mentally deranged state to to the trauma he suffered there, where he had various strange adventures as he slowly recouped his sanity. This included an encounter with the Barsoomian "Red Martian" police officer Cy Tharnn in New York City (see "Cy Tharnn" file). 
Late 1988 - 1990 -- Mike returned to Buffalo and attempted to resume his crime-fighting career with Dark Justice, but this ended within two years when the latter's organization proved increasingly corrupt due to covert connections to a local drug czar and crimelord. 
Late 1991 - Late 1992 -- Mike finally joins up with the Brotherhood of Fenris, hoping for the companionship and acceptance he always craved. During this time, he again fell under the thrall of a femme fatale, this time a female lycan named Monika. Hoping to gain the affections and attention of Gottvang, who proved to be extremely corrupt and a dangerous hater of mainstream humanity, Monika attempted use Mike towards these ends. When he realized the extent of both Monika's treachery and the immorality of Gottvang's ultimate plans, he fled the Brotherhood, hoping to find assistance to take it down.

This assistance was found with a team led by the thunder god Thor, who had again recently incarnated in corporeal humanoid form (see THOR master file; and sub-file The Return of the Incredible Hulk). The whole conflict ended with the destruction of Gottvang, Monika forced to flee the inner circle of the Brotherhood for her life, and the pack/kindred taken over by Arranka, a more moderate lycan who had no major hostilities towards the human race.



Thor in the early '90s physical incarnation, in which he first met Beowolf. 

1993 -- Mike goes a tour with Thor's hippie group of social activists, latter day flower children, Wiccans, Asatruar, Nordic warriors, and opponents of both corporate and paranormal malfeasance as the "Thor Corp." It was here that Mike adopted his highly progressive political tendencies, maximized his fighting and magickal skills, and chose to reject and resist his dark side once and for all to become a champion of the human race and a hunter of dangerous monsters & other dark paranormal phenomena. He also becomes involved with the worldwide group of progressively-minded activist champions known as the Aquarian Alliance, who are secretly run and controlled by the hidden, peaceful underwater super-civilization known as Latitude Zero (see the Latitude Zero file).


Thor and two members of his "Thor Corp." team who arrives to challenge the Brotherhood of Fenris circa 1992: the David Banner Hulk and Super-Stan.


The city of Latitude Zero

1994 -- The Thor Corp. is dissolved when the thunder god abandons his latest flesh and blood incarnation for an extended mission to Asgard. Mike is disallowed to accompany him, and was told his destiny was to be a champion of the material plane. He thus set up his status as a monster hunter, which he has continued to this day.

1997 -- Late in this year, Mike suffered a horrendous setback when he developed a rare but debilitating condition that has afflicted certain lycanthropes which they simply refer to as the "wasting illness" (among these other unfortunate lycans is Eric Cord; see Werewolf file). It results from the body partially rejecting the transformation process and developing negative side effects whenever a transformation into lupine form is done too long, or attempted for any amount of time under a waning or new moon, or particularly if attempted during the day. When an attack of the wasting illness is triggered, the symptoms carry over once the lycan reverts back to human form, and can last anywhere from a mere two days to as long as five months. The symptoms include extreme fatigue, severe skin rashes all over the body, dizzy spells, and "brain fog" (i.e., severe short-term forgetfulness). The level of the symptoms can vary from one hour to the next, and from one day to the next, for the duration of any given flare-up. During this duration the symptoms do not lessen with any amount of rest or sleep, and will become far more severe if the afflicted lycan attempts to metamorphose into lupine form during such a time. As a result, such lycans typically suffer from extreme depression, and the condition itself can last anywhere from six months to for the rest of the afflicted lycan's life.

As a result of this affliction, which Mike suffered from for the next 15 years, he had to exercise great caution in using his shape-shifting powers, and did his best to do so only during the waxing or full moon, and even then only when absolutely necessary. He would only initiate the change during negative lunar phases, or at any point during the day, during dire emergencies.



Eric Cord in lycan form.

1998 -- It was around this time that Mike was contacted by physician turned master mage Dr. Stephen Stroud, the latest holder of the title of Master of the Mystic Arts, who were also known in various sources as Dr. Fate, Dr. Mordrid, Dr. Strange, and Dr. Enygma, who sought to conscript Beowolf into his team of agents/minions, the Order of the Secret Defenders.

 [Note: The various holders of the Masters of the Mystic Arts during the 20th-21st centuries had fictionalized depictions of their recorded exploits published in the comic book, television, and cinematic mediums. The earliest known Master Mage of the 20th century, Kent Nelson, started having files of his adventures published in 1940 by National Comics, now known as DC Comics, in an anthology title called MORE FUN COMICS, where he was called Doctor Fate. His career is unique among these mages, as it eventually split off from the line when he came in possession of a mystical object called the Helmet of Nabu, which caused him to become the bodily host of a Lord of Order. The helmet has since been passed onto others, and DC Comics has continued to sporadically publish fictionalized accounts of these individuals into the present. See DOCTOR STRANGEFATE master file, and DOCTOR FATE file.

Dr. Stephen Stroud Sr. took over the mantle in the early 1950s, and Marvel published a comic book series based on filed reports of his exploits in the first volume of a comic called STRANGE TALES, beginning in 1964, and as a result of the book's title, chronicler Stan Lee decided to refer to him as "Doctor Strange." His stories were moved into his own title later in the '60s, which picked up the numbering of STRANGE TALES v1. After disappearing during a conflict with a demonic entity called Dormmamu circa 1971, Stroud's adult son, Dr. Stephen Vincent Stroud Jr. -- who followed in his footsteps as a physician -- took over the mantle. Marvel then began recording his exploits in a second volume of DOCTOR STRANGE, writing the tales to appear as if he and his father were the same person. A file describing his origin was made into a telefilm circa 1978, with no mention made that he took over from his father. See DOCTOR STRANGEFATE master file, DOCTOR STRANGE file, and Doctor Strange telefilm sub-file.

Another holder of the title, Dr. Anton West -- a member of the infamous lineage of the four personages to hold the name Dr. Herbert West and the designation "ReAnimator" -- is the subject of a 1992 file turned film called Doctor Mordrid, with its events updated to the early '90s and his origin mis-reported as being of extraterrestrial origin when it was released direct to video. See DOCTOR STRANGEFATE master file; Doctor Mordrid sub-file; and REANIMATOR master file.]

 Dr. Stroud Jr., who became known as "Dr. Enygma" in some circles by the 1990s (this was never acknowledged in the Marvel Comics, which have been continuously published into the present under the DOCTOR STRANGE title) had long been distinguished for using any means he deemed necessary to protect the world from supernatural threats, and he rarely hesitated to use amoral schemes to make other individuals indebted to him so he could secure their assistance whenever he needed it. These means often included forms of outright manipulation. He secured the debt of Beowolf later in this year by offering him an extremely rare herb, acquired from an allegedly otherdimensional source, that Mike could use to ameliorate the intensity and lessen the duration of the wasting illness flare-ups. In desperation for relief, and knowing of no other treatment, Mike agreed to the deal, and this allowed him to remain active as a monster hunter more often.


Dr. Stephen Vincent Stroud Jr., a.k.a., Dr. Strange, soon after adopting the mantle of Master of the Mystic Arts circa 1970s, and long before he became known as "Dr. Enygma."




Dr. Anton West, a.k.a., Dr. Mordrid



For the next several years, Mike Nero engaged in missions for Enygma's Order on a periodic basis. Little did he know that Enygma was manipulating his life continuously outside of these missions, initiating covert schemes to exacerbate Mike's own negative traits and social weaknesses by secretly setting him up to frequently suffer failed romantic relationships and end up in the arms of women who would callously use and manipulate him. The seeming cruelty behind this was actually one of practicality: Engyma wanted Mike to serve as a sacrificial lamb if need be, and he mused that an individual who had a happy life and everything to live for wouldn't make the necessary sacrifice when the time finally came. The mage justified this as being in the greater good, and he felt all champions should be willing to make these sacrifices; he didn't think they should be given a choice in the matter, however.

It would be over 13 years before Mike discovered Enygma's machinations and angrily severed his connection to the Order. Nevertheless, circumstances sometimes continued to force him to work with Enygma... again, for the greater good.

It was during this year that Mike also became a mentor to the late 1990s iteration of the youthful team of monster hunters who referred to themselves as the Monster Squad (see Monster Squad file). This lasted for a few years, before he turned over mentorship of the team to Sean Crenshaw, its now adult founder from the late 1980s.



Artist rendition of Sean Crenshaw and the original Monster Squad, circa 1988.

2000s -- Mike, as Beowolf, develops numerous contacts in the burgeoning online world, where he begins his secondary career as a writer, researcher, and social activist. These contacts includes fellow monster hunters, such as "Crazy" Ivan Ronald Schablotski, whom he exchanges research information and monster fighting theories and ideas with for many years. His set of contacts acquired during this time also includes a shared exchange network of monster hunters and paranormal researchers called the Boogie Knights, which he, Ivan, and Dale Parker -- a third monster hunter they also met through M*O*N*S*T*A*A*H's network -- created together.

However, Ivan's missions in the military and his own plethora of colorful adventures keep the two of them from meeting in person until 2016, where they did so twice (in just two months! See below). It is during this time that he also meets the famous Robert Wronski Jr. (a.k.a., Little Bobby, a.k.a.,  Super-Bob, a.k.a., Powerkid, a.k.a., Powerman [don't tell Luke Cage!], a.k.a., Rob, a.k.a., Christopher Kowalski, a.k.a... well, there are likely others, but you get the gist!), who becomes a valued part of his research circle (and whose own incredible TVCU saga is told here).

2011 -- Following the loss of his grandfather, the man who helped raise him despite their often rocky relationship, and other major upheavals in his life, Mike takes stock of matters and forms a new iteration of the Boogie Knights to more actively pursue paranormal and other unusual threats as a team. He continues networking with Ivan, Rob, and others who would eventually become part of the TVCU research group, including Matt Hickman, Gordon Long, and James Bojaciuk.

This year Mike finally discovered Dr. Enygma's "well-intentioned" treachery. He reacted by angrily severing his relationship with Engyma's Order of the Secret Defenders, and resolving to find his own cure for the wasting illness.

2014 -- Mike makes a near-complete recovery from the wasting illness, thus freeing him from the possibility of falling under the debt of Dr. Enygma again (at least for that reason). He thus becomes more active in leading missions of the new version of the Boogie Knights, in addition to serving as director of M*O*N*S*T*A*A*H 2.0.

May 2016 -- Mike has his first actual meeting with Ivan Schablotski, where they team up against an escaped daikaiju (that's Japanese for "giant monster" to you laymen!) from the Taconic Mountains Wildlife Sanctuary. Ivan tracked the creature -- believed to be an escaped mega-dinosaur known as a "Godzillasaurus" -- throughout his home state of Massachusetts, but when the situation spills over into the upstate New York area, Ivan felt he had no choice but to seek help for this one, and alas, Mike Nero was the closest assistance he could call upon (if you don't understand his reluctance, well, you try spending a day dealing with Mr. Nero in addition to whatever else you're dealing with! But hey, Ivan needed the help, just like Jack Be Nimble needed the money... ).

The fracas ended up being resolved with the use of a giant radioactive chocolate bar designed by Snickers to entice an actual kaiju (it's best either not to ask, or to check Ivan's own timeline for the full skinny), a group of homo magi wizards acting incognito, and a stop at one of the infamous Sam's Mart markets corrupting the landscape of North America (but this one was more specifically corrupting the town of Summer Falls, NY).

Don't let the slogan fool you... it's not smart to shop there!

Just ask a certain employee named Ash!



And it all ended with Mike and Ivan sharing a pizza back in Buffalo. Also, I should mention that a mysterious cat appeared out of nowhere and glared at Ivan just as he approached the steps to Mike's apartment, but what that may have portended remains a mystery (that's why I used the adjective "mysterious" to refer to the cat, in case it wasn't obvious).


June 2016 -- As if their crossing paths in person the previous month wasn't enough, Mike not only met Ivan Schablotski again, but he also ran into none other than Rob Wronski Jr. himself at the SCARE-AWAY CAMP incident. This occurred in Springfield, MA where the energies of a nearby "window event" caused many unusual individuals to converge in a single area. This included infamous serial killer Angela Baker (see file on Sleepaway Camp and follow-up "sequel" file Return to Sleepaway Camp for more info), whose was reported to have fled to Springfield after wreaking havoc on the nearby Camp Fugawi following her latest escape from Arkham Asylum attracted the attention of Ivan. The latter arrived there only to find Mike was also on the scene to deal with Angela, but this time there was a conflict of methodology: though Mike didn't approve of Angela's grisly means of dealing with individuals that reminded her of the people at Camp Fugawi who brutally bullied her and caused her mind to snap back when she was 13 (the same age Mike was when he first became a lycanthrope), he nevertheless saw her as a kindred spirit and sympathized with her plight.



Not exactly the DC Trinity, but they'll do in a pinch! Hey, they took down Samhain, right?

Difficulties were bound to arise, and the arrival of many other strange entities, including a mute Jason Vorhees copycat, an acrobatic midget serial killer, the Frankenhooker, and the powerful demonic being Samhain (whom the Ghostbusters have clashed with before; see the "Samhain" sub-file from The Real Ghostbusters master file), meant they needed to call for more outside help. Soon, the team of monster hunters and Electro-Shock Band known as the Deadites, contacted via the Grand Guignol Radio Network, where at the scene, and Patsy the Angry Nerd and Agent Nicole were on hand to lend a hand.



 They may not seem like the Dynamic Duo at first glance, but they are to me! 

You couldn't possibly have a better monster hunting duo at your side in a crisis than Patsy the Angry Nerd and Agent Nicole. 

Listen to their way cool podcast Throwdown Thursday! Because it's cool!

Additionally, an enchanted statue head of a Cyclopean Frankenstein Monster that Mike brought to help deal with the situation seemed to cause as many problems as it resolved, however. It should also be mentioned that Mike was generous enough to share his French fries with Ivan during a lunch break (but whenever he throws this in Ivan's face, Mr. Schablotski reminds him how he introduced Mike to Harley Quinn, who was also drawn to the SCARE-ATTACK event, and took their picture together).

After Ivan and Mike located Angela thanks to some timely assistance from Rob, Mike convinced them to allow him to attempt to talk Angela down rather than engage her in a bloody death match (despite how cool that would have been!). His nagging convinced them to enable him to try, and much to everyone's surprise, it worked. Angela agreed to peaceably return to the sanitarium where she was forced to reside (between her periodic escapes, that is), and she even agreed to be interviewed by the three on a special online podcast created by Rob's Super Entertainment network, directly from her cell at Arkham. Further, she offered to take a pic with Mike before being taken back to her usual home (until she escapes again).



Two peas in a pod. 
Just don't piss them off! You wouldn't like them when they're pissed off. (Well, many people do not like Mike even when he's happy, but yanno what I mean.)
Also, Samhain was defeated thanks to the assistance of the Deadites, and with that entity taken down the temporary Hellmouth in Springville was successfully sealed... at least for now.


Artist rendition of Samhain, a truly big kahuna of the supernatural world. 
You don't wanna run into him in a dark alley... or anywhere else, for that matter. 

Early 2017 -- Mike's career as a novelist finally get's started when Severed Press publishes his "fictionalized" account of a kaiju called Dargolla, a beast of Biblical-level nastiness that embarked on a swath of destruction in a small city called Metroville (see the file DARGOLLA: A KAIJU NIGHTMARE). He had it published under a pen name, however.



Mike wrote this. Honestly! 
(Yes, it's another shameless plug! What can I say, I want people to buy the book *grins*)