CROSSOVER MADNESS

 As I noted in my review of Heinlein's novel METHUSELAH'S CHILDREN, it stands as a crossover not for being part of the so called "Future History" of the author, but because Heinlein included another character, "Slipstick" Libby, as a support-character to main star Lazarus Long. Libby had been the star of just one short story, "Misfit."

This brings up an interesting point about crossover functions. It appears that Libby only appeared as an on-stage character in the novel and the short story; in the first as a subordinate icon and in the second as a superordinate icon. Since there's no question of one mode dominating the other numerically, which one determines Libby's overall status?

Going by the argument I made in QUICK CROSSOVER CORRECTION, Libby possessed stature by virtue of being the star of "Misfit," and this confers him on a level of Qualitative Escalation that "outranks" his subordinate status in CHILDREN. But I don't necessarily think that would be the case if, say, Libby had appeared in many stories in a subordinate role to Long or to other superordinate characters. In DOMINANT PRIMES AND SUBS I've noted that the Joker's appearance as a superordinate icon in a handful of stories does not overrule his dominant subordinate status. 

The novel also includes a null-crossover, in that Long mentions having conversed with Hugo Pinero, the star of "Life-Line," the author's first published short story.

CROSSOVER MADNESS

 In the story "Rainbow's End" in FELIX THE CAT #1 (Dell, 1948), the reality-bending feline discovers a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. For some reason, going to the end of the rainbow puts him in some sort of Fairy-Land, where almost all the inhabitants want to horn in on his new riches: Miss Muffet, Bo Peep, Red Riding Hood, Jack and Jill, Hansel and Gretel, and Cinderella. He dodges them by hiding in the home of Old Mother Hubbard and her dog, but to prove he's not a greedhead like everyone else, he fills the old lady's larder with lots of food, and the story ends on that underwhelming note.

CROSSOVER MADNESS

 I've reviewed the first season of XENA WARRIOR PRINCESS, which includes four crossover episodes. The best one brings together the principles of XENA with those of HERCULES, while the other three cross over Xena with support characters from HERCULES: Autolycus in one episode and Salmoneus in two.

While I'm on this topic, here's my review of HERCULES SEASON ONE, with the three proto-crossovers for Xena.

NULL-CROSSOVERS #14

 THE ROBBERIES OF THE MUMMIES OF GUANAJUATO  registers as a null-crossover for its implication that it takes place in the same universe as two sixties vampire flicks. I'm not sure if Mil Mascaras' two wrestling playmates constitute a crossover. Each of them made at least one other film but I'd have to see them to be evaluate the nature of their iconic status in those other films.

CROSSOVER MADNESS

 Marvel's original Ant-Man started out as a "mad scientist" in a one-shot SF-story before graduating to costumed crusader status. However, in DEFENDERS #21 Steve Gerber topped Stan Lee in the re-purposing of one-shot characters, when he invented The Headmen. These characters-- Arthur Nagan, Jerry Morgan and Chondu the Mystic-- had all been the "stars" of one-shot tales in 1950s mystery-stories, and Gerber only brought them together because all of their separate stories had been collected in an issue of the 1970s reprint-title WEIRD WONDER TALES. Of course, once they became villains to the Defenders, they became "charisma-dominant" types from then on.

CROSSOVER MADNESS

 I've finished a review of the first season of STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS. 

In many post-Classic TREK tales, Spock-- one of the three Primary stars of the original show-- made guest appearances on other programs, and most of the time, I'd probably consider these valid "dynamic crossovers." However, since Spock is a major character in SNW, this is more like a "static crossover," in which a character from one "cosmos" becomes a featured member of another one-- much like Worf from NEXTGEN migrating to DEEP SPACE 9, or even Iron Man, a charter member of the original AVENGERS, showing up regularly in WEST COAST AVENGERS.

I've usually maintained that subordinate icons from certain narratives only count as "crossovers" in the very FIRST stories wherein those icons become ensconced as superordinate entities in new narratives, like Hawkeye, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch transitioning from "sympathetic super-villains" to members of the heroic Avengers. So the promotion of previously established support-characters from Classic Trek-- specifically, Uhura, Chapel and Number One-- into main characters means that each would only have "crossover status" at whatever episode they first appeared. Superordinate icon Captain Kirk makes a guest appearance in the season's final episode.

CROSSOVER MADNESS

 The 1948 B-film BELLE STARR'S DAUGHTER is another of many "one-shot crossovers." The titular daughter Rose was played by Ruth Roman in her first feature-film lead, though the poster is misleading in that she hardly ever draws iron.

Isabell Jewell plays Belle for about ten minutes before her character is offed to provide Rose with a mission for revenge.