“Doctor Omega” is an almost forgotten early (1906) French SF novel by Arnould Galopin written as a sort-of response to H.G. Well‘s First Men on the Moon.
What is unusual about it, is that the title character — Doctor Omega — is in appearance and attitude very much like the first Doctor Who, played by William Hartnell.
For Black Coat Press, Jean-Marc and Randy Lofficier have “adapted and retold” the story, that is made minor tweaks so the story is a little more clearer. This has allowed other authors to use Doctor Omega to write new stories that hint at him being Doctor Who, and interact with other fictional and real characters in Black Coat Press’ “Tales of the Shadowmen” series.
Overall, the storyline is very similar to Wells’. Set in Normandy, the narrator, a now retired musician, meets the odd and mysterious Doctor Omega and his handyman Fred. Doctor Omega is building a bullet-shaped spaceship, sheathed in an unusual material called “stellite,” which protects the ship from space and time. They are planning a trip to Mars. Doctor Omega hints he is estranged from his people, and wished to build his own ship so they can’t monitor him.
We also learn that unlike the ships of Wells and Jules Verne, this one will have wheels that can extend and move the vehicle around.
In traveling to Mars, they also travel back in time millions of years. They land at the North Pole and start a journey south. Along the way they meet various beings. They encounter an aquatic race in the seas of Mars. Then they are attacked by race of dwarfish creatures, and menaced by dangerous predators. In a land plagued by snakes, they find a race that has created batwings to keep above the snakes. Finally, they encounter a race of technologically advanced creatures. Learning their language, they stay for a while. Sadly, this race is soon engaged in a war over crop lands with a group to the south, and Doctor Omega and crew are pulled into it. When their stellite coating is found to be a good defense against the invaders, it is taken from them. But without it, their ship can’t return to Earth!
Soon, however, Doctor Omega is able to erect a secret radio tower and send a message to his granddaughter on Earth, who passes this along with a colleague of his, Professor Helvetius (an unusual name), who is teaching in England. Thankfully, the message gets through before the tower is destroyed, and Professor Helvetius comes in his own ship to rescue them. (How convenient that another of the Doctor’s people is on Earth with this own ship.) One of the Martians, Tiziraou, accompanies them.
All return home, and are hailed as heroes in their little town. But we learn at the end that the now four travelers are planning a new trip into the Cosmos!
All editions of this work (there are two) have a forward by Terrance Dicks, and an afterward with more info on the author. There is also a deluxe edition with original artwork from the first edition.
As noted, Black Coat Press has been including new Doctor Omega stories in their Tales of the Shadowmen series. Black Coat has collected those stories along with new ones in a volume called “Doctor Omega and the Shadowmen.”
In this collection are:
• Chris Roberson: “Annus Mirabilis” (previously published in “Tales of the Shadowmen 2”) is set between two of the early chapters of “Doctor Omega,” as their ship is being built. Here, the Doctor has an encounter that includes a patent clerk named Einstein.
• 
Stuart Shiffman: “The Last Roundup” has Doctor Omega and friends in the old West, but one altered by mistake by one of them. They have to work to fix the problem. Also involved are James West and Artemus Gordon (of “The Wild, Wild West”), the Long Ranger and Tonto, and other western characters both real and fictional.
• Samuel T. Payne: “Lacunal Visions” (previously published in “Tales of the Shadowmen”) deals with the events that led to Doctor Omega becoming stranded on Earth, in a story that also include Edgar Allan Poe‘s detective C. Auguste Dupin.
• Matthew Baugh: “The Heart of the Moon” (previously published in “Tales of the Shadowmen” v3)- set in Paul Feval‘s vampire city Selene, Doctor Omega teams up with several other vampire hunters.
• The Lofficiers: “The Three Doctors” is a strange little story with Doctor Omega, Doctor Mystere and Doctor Fu Manchu teaming up to stop a menace. (What, you thought there would be other “Doctors” than that?)
• Travis Hiltz: “Three Men, A Martian and A Baby” (previously published in “Tales of the Shadowmen 4”), a sort-of direct sequel to the original, has the Doctor and his now three companions encountering a baby who was shot into space (do I have to tell you who that is?)
• Dennis E. Power: “The Deadly Desert Gnome” (previously published in “Glimmerglass: The Creative Writers Annual” Volume 1, published by Ethan Books and Bookemon.com), the first of a two-part story, has Doctor Omega working to fix time messed up by “Voyager” Phineaus Bogg that has affected the future of Doc Ardan. Here Doctor Omega meets Ardan’s father as well as the Gnome King from the Land of Oz.
• Also by Power: “Bronze Lady Down” is the second part of the story from above. The Doctor is still working to fix the trouble caused by Bogg. This time it deals with Doc Ardan’s mother, who is supposed to die but also has a future. In the far future of the E.E. Smith‘s Lensman series.
• G.L. Gick: “Beware the Beasts” (previously published in “Tales of the Shadowmen 3”) has Doctor and Tizirou visit the Planet of the Apes (but of the original French novel, not the later movies and such).
• John Peel: “The Dynamics of an Asteroid” (previously published in “Tales of the Shadowmen 5”) pits Doctor Omega against Professor Moriarty.
• Neil Penswick: “The Two Doctors,” another weird little story, has Doctor Omega and Sar Dubnotal (the French psychic/occult detective) investigating the strange disappearance of everyone else.
• Thom Brannan: “What Doesn’t Die” (previously published in “Tales of the Shadowmen 7”) finds Doctor Omega encountering the “Bride of Frankenstein,” in a story that also includes Nicola Tesla.
• Travis Hiltz: “The Robots of Metropolis” (previously published in “Tales of the Shadowmen 7”) takes Doctor Omega to Metropolis, where he must contend with Rotwang and his robots. (This sets up Rotwang as a possible future foe for the Doctor).
• Olivier Legrand: “Castle Atlante” has Doctor Omega encounter Jirel of Jory and pits them against the Dark Tower.
• Samuel T. Payne: “The Seeds of Cassiopeia” is the first part of a serialized story. I assume the rest will appeared in the planned Doctor Omega collections. This one has the characters from Doctor Omega in the world of C.I. Defontenay‘s “Star of Psi Cassiopeia” (available from Black Coat Press).
• The Lofficiers: “Doctor Omega and The Producers” lands Doctor Omega in the insanity that is Hollywood.
• Serge Lehman: “The Melons of Trafalmadore” (previously published in “Tales of the Shadowmen 2”) is a strange short story that deals with the beings from Kurt Vonnegut‘s works.
More stories of Doctor Omega are planned. He will be in future “Tales” collections, and two new Doctor Omega books are coming. Can’t wait.
