CROSSOVER MADNESS

 In some of my posts on the crossover subject, I've noted that I didn't consider a work a crossover if a famous icon appeared only as a conventionally dead person. Thus DRACULA'S DAUGHTER is not a crossover simply due to the presence of Dracula as a slain corpse, because in that form the vampire has no agency. If he was seen doing only one thing before he perished, as happens with Fu Manchu in DAUGHTER OF THE DRAGON, Dracula would have agency. (Parenthetically, DRACULA'S DAUGHTER is a charisma-crossover because Van Helsing carries over from the 1931 film and does have agency within DAUGHTER as well.) So an undead being can still have agency, even if the original character of the individual has erased, as seems to be the case with Undead Wild Bill Hickock in JONAH HEX TWO GUN MOJO.                                                           

 The same principle holds for spirits of the dead that may not be able to do anything but render warnings or advice. This type includes the various specters that tutor the Ghost Rider so that he can become a new champion of the frontier: Wild Bill Hickock, Calamity Jane, Pat Garrett, Kit Carson, and some lawman I never heard of, Bill Tighman. The end of the story suggests that the hero may have dreamed the encounter, but as long as the icons in question have a possible real existence, as opposed to being null-variants, they still have crossover-agency.                                                                   

  

RAR #87: INJUN JONES

 Injun Jones, a white kid raised to maturity by an Indian tribe, hung out in the pages of ACG's BLAZING WEST title for a while. The name sounds a bit inspired by Mark Twain's "Injun Joe" character in TOM SAWYER. I bet he was more consistent than the Apache Kid about maintaining his "redskin" appearance with the use of "warpaint."             

 

RAR #86: THE FROZEN GHOST

 

"The Frozen Ghost" was first the title of a old Lon Chaney Jr mystery flick, but here the name is a literal ghost of an Indian, turned into a frost-demon by the Indians' "god of winter." Only a courageous white guy, armed with Indian magic, can descend into the Frozen Ghost's icy lake and destroy the fell spectre. 

RAR #85: LITTLE CLOUD

 

After the tribe of the juvenile medicine man gives succor to a gang of white outlaws, the evildoers slaughter the Indians. But they come back, possibly due to Little Cloud's powers, and wreak vengeance. The leader gets a non-supernatural punishment in the form of the old "shrinking rawhide" trick.  

MONSTER MASHUPS #115

 There's no story in OUT OF THE NIGHT #4 (1952) that corresponds to this cover, apparently depicting a battle between a witch (note the broomstick) and a winged demon. But since it's Frank Frazetta, who would complain?                                                                                               

   Same thing here: two monsters fight on the cover with no corresponding story inside. The white creep battling the winged demon was perhaps meant to be a zombie, given the graveyard setting.                                                                                                   

 

RAR #84: MOONSTALKER

 Moonstalker is a noble villain who tries to kill people with explosive arrows. He first appears in the 1994 ZORRO series being rescued from a whipping by the title hero. He then pauses in the midst of the action to interrogate Zorro to find out why the hero rescued him. A possible anticipation of the popular "white savior" canard of the 2000s?               

    

RAR #83: JOHN RUNNING BEAR

 If this "pilot" for space-series SEEKER 3000 had launched, possibly the Indian Guy in the multi-culti crew would have got something more to do than just pose on the closing page.