I have posted before on Doctor Omega, a largely forgotten early (1906) French SF character created by Arnould Galopin. Interestingly, he is in appearance and attitude very much like the first Doctor Who, played by William Hartnell. Because of this, he has been used by other authors 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.
We had gotten a previous collection of these stories, and now we get Doctor Omega and The Shadowmen, Vol. 2. In it, we get over a dozen stories by several authors. All are reprinted from the Tales of the Shadowmen series volumes 9-13, 15, and 17-20. While they are included in the volume in order that they appeared in Tales, I am instead going to discuss them by author, but I will note the volume of Tales they appear in.
First up is Martin Gately‘s “Wolf at the Door of Time” (Tales, Vol. 9) where he has Doctor Omega teaming up with Moses Nebogipfel, a time traveler created by H.G. Wells in another of his works (though we learn there is a connection to Doctor Omega/Doctor Who). They are in search of a prehistoric wolf let loose in the timestream. They encounter several other characters, such as The Nyctalope.
“As Time Goes By…” (Tales, Vol. 9), by Paul Hugli, has the Doctor dealing with some villains who caused The Spider (the American pulp hero) some problems (in a story that has recently been reprinted by Moonstone).
Atom Mudman Bezecny gives us two stories. First is “The Revelation of the Yeti” (Tales, Vol. 12), which has Doctor Omega in Africa with Barton Werper (the pseudonymous author of a group of unauthorized Tarzan novels) on the trail of the yeti. They are assisted by Ki-Gor (a popular Tarzan pastiche from the pulps) and Nora the Ape-Woman (from the novel of the same name published by Black Coat Press). Next is “Orpheus Omega” (Tales, Vol. 19), where the Doctor is traveling with Orpheus, a character from a trilogy of French films from the 1950s. They somehow find themselves in a strange world, where Orpheus departs. But can the Doctor do as well?
From John Peel is “Time to Kill” (Tales, Vol. 13), where Bob Morane (a 1950s and ’60s French adventurer that I wish BCP could bring into English) looks into a locked-room mystery. Thankfully Doctor Omega shows up to help him out.
Then we have “Doctor Omega and the Future Museum” (Tales, Vol. 15) from David Friend. This story more expressly makes use of characters from Doctor Who, but also mixing in Fantômas.
“The Cubic Displacement of the Soul” (Tales, Vol. 17), by Matthew Baugh, gives us a meeting of the Little Prince and Professor Moriarity, thanks to Doctor Omega. I guess it’s good that I read The Little Prince as a kid.
From Jean-Marc Lofficier, we get “Foiled Again” (Tales, Vol. 19) were the good Doctor picks up an unusual passenger, a man known only by a number who lives in a strange Village. But will he be able to escape?
Next is Nigel Malcolm‘s “When the Children Leave Home” (Tales, Vol. 19), which has the Doctor encounter the characters and events of a lesser known Arthur C. Clarke novel (now recently made into a TV mini-series).
Then we get from Travis Hiltz a total of five stories. This kicks off with a series of three connected stories.
The first is “What Lurks in Romney Marsh?” (Tales, Vol. 9), where the Doctor and his companions have been separated, and they are looking for him, this time meeting Doctor Syn (alias the Scarecrow of Romney Marsh, who appeared in several books and was later adapted by Disney into TV episodes/movie).
Next is “The Next Omega” (Tales, Vol. 10), where the Doctor meets The Parisian Aeronaut, the title character from a proto-SF novel of the same name (reprinted by Black Coat Press). They must deal with a matter involving The Wandering Jew and Red Lectoids (from Planet 10).
And finally, “All Roads Lead to Mars” (Tales, Vol. 11) concludes the adventures of Doctor Omega and his companions trying to get back together and find the Doctor’s time and space vehicle. They are joined by Black Lectoids (also from Planet 10) and the Time Brigade as they try to figure out what is messing up time, which has the Doctor traveling to several different Mars, including Barsoom and Malacandra.
Also from Hiltz is “These are the Voyages…” (Tales, Vol. 17), which is a sequel to the early French novel translated as the Timeslip Troopers (also published by Black Coat Press). That story, a sequel to H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine, had a group of WWI French soldiers cast back in time to Spain. Trying to get home, they are scattered over several islands, and Doctor Omega, aided by The Hawk of the Sea, is looking for them on Lilliput, Caspak, Prospero’s Island, and more.
And finally, “The Ghosts of Gascony” (Tales, Vol. 20) gives us a strange team-up of Orlando, Solomon Kane, and Porthos (of the Three Musketeers). Here they look into the matter of ghosts appearing that could lead to a war between France and Spain. Can they get to the bottom of things before it gets out of control?
I have no idea if we will get more Doctor Omega short stories. But we will be getting a new novel. In April of this year, we’ll get Doctor Omega: His First Adventure by Brian Gallagher. Sounds interesting.
Add Comment