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Double Trouble: An Anthology of Two-Fisted Team-Ups
Batman and Superman. Alien and Predator. Zatoichi and Yojimbo. The Six-Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman. Carol Danvers and Kamala Khan. Hercules and Xena. Iron Man and Captain America. Team-ups have been a part of storytelling for as long as stories have been told, from Enkidu helping Gilgamesh to the coming together of the Avengers.
As writers of licensed fiction, one of the most enjoyable aspects is to put together various combinations of characters that don’t always get together. But one thing we rarely get to do is team characters from different milieus. Sure, it happens sometimes—in 1998, Simon & Schuster published a Star The Next Generation/X-Men crossover novel, and the comics company IDW has an impressive recent history of mixing and matching some of their licensed universes—but for the most part such pairings are left to the realm of fanfiction.
But what about characters who are in the public domain? The sky’s the limit there.
And so we as co-editors decided to get some of our favorite tie-in writers together to see what team-ups of classic characters they could come up with. And holy cow, did they give us some great ones.
Some authors went with some instantly recognizable Kevin J. Anderson pairs Jules Verne’s Captain Nemo with Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein monster; David Mack put Shakespeare’s Prospero (along with Ariel) together with Cervantes’s Don Quixote de la Mancha (along with Sancho Panza); and Derek Tyler Attico joins Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Robert Louis Stevenson’s Jekyll & Hyde, and the folk hero John Henry.
Some pairings are natural, like several from the pulp era of the late nineteenth and early twentieth Captain Battle and Blackout are World War II-era comics heroes; Dan Fowler and Stinger Seave are Depression-era adventurers; Ace Harlem and Frimbo are Harlem Renaissance heroes; the Moon Man and the Man in the Black Cloak are mysterious two-fisted crime-fighters; Fantomah and Jane Trent, Science Sleuth, are both impressive women who battle injustice. Dayton Ward, James Reasoner, Maurice Broaddus, James A. Moore, and Debbie Daughetee, respectively, took those on.
Some pairings are less natural, but become so in the hands of our incredibly talented Jane Austen’s drawing-room delights of the Bennet family may not seem a natural fit for the vampiric hunting of John Polidori’s Lord Ruthven, but Delilah S. Dawson makes the Pride and Prejudice/The Vampyre crossover work; The Brain that Wouldn’t Die and Night of the Living Dead are two completely different types of movie horror, but Greg Cox melds them effortlessly; Flaxman Low is an early example of the occult detective, while Mezzanotte is a modern take on nineteenth-century vampires, who are combined with style by Nancy Holder & Alan Philipson; and Scott Sigler chronicles the strangely melded aftermath of The Island of Doctor Moreau and Little Shop of Horrors .
Some authors chose to mix historical personages with literary Diana Dru Botsford puts Ernest Shackleton and Sacajawea together with Jonathan Swift’s Lemuel Gulliver in a tale of explorers; Rigel Ailur pairs history’s sharpshooter Annie Oakley with legendary archer Marian of Locksley; and David McIntee puts Chinese Emperor Taizong together with the mythical Tripitaka.
Some team-ups incorporate gods into their Ben H. Rome combines Norse, Egyptian, and Aztec mythologies in his tale of Bastet, Sekhmet, Quetzalcoatl, and Fenrir; Jennifer Brody has Bram Stoker’s Abraham Van Helsing going back in time to ancient Greece to battle the legendary Medusa at the behest of Athena; and co-editor Keith R.A. DeCandido joins Yoruba goddess Egungun-oya with H. Rider Haggard’s title character from She .
So sit back, relax, and enjoy these terrific tales of two-fisted team-ups!
As writers of licensed fiction, one of the most enjoyable aspects is to put together various combinations of characters that don’t always get together. But one thing we rarely get to do is team characters from different milieus. Sure, it happens sometimes—in 1998, Simon & Schuster published a Star The Next Generation/X-Men crossover novel, and the comics company IDW has an impressive recent history of mixing and matching some of their licensed universes—but for the most part such pairings are left to the realm of fanfiction.
But what about characters who are in the public domain? The sky’s the limit there.
And so we as co-editors decided to get some of our favorite tie-in writers together to see what team-ups of classic characters they could come up with. And holy cow, did they give us some great ones.
Some authors went with some instantly recognizable Kevin J. Anderson pairs Jules Verne’s Captain Nemo with Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein monster; David Mack put Shakespeare’s Prospero (along with Ariel) together with Cervantes’s Don Quixote de la Mancha (along with Sancho Panza); and Derek Tyler Attico joins Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Robert Louis Stevenson’s Jekyll & Hyde, and the folk hero John Henry.
Some pairings are natural, like several from the pulp era of the late nineteenth and early twentieth Captain Battle and Blackout are World War II-era comics heroes; Dan Fowler and Stinger Seave are Depression-era adventurers; Ace Harlem and Frimbo are Harlem Renaissance heroes; the Moon Man and the Man in the Black Cloak are mysterious two-fisted crime-fighters; Fantomah and Jane Trent, Science Sleuth, are both impressive women who battle injustice. Dayton Ward, James Reasoner, Maurice Broaddus, James A. Moore, and Debbie Daughetee, respectively, took those on.
Some pairings are less natural, but become so in the hands of our incredibly talented Jane Austen’s drawing-room delights of the Bennet family may not seem a natural fit for the vampiric hunting of John Polidori’s Lord Ruthven, but Delilah S. Dawson makes the Pride and Prejudice/The Vampyre crossover work; The Brain that Wouldn’t Die and Night of the Living Dead are two completely different types of movie horror, but Greg Cox melds them effortlessly; Flaxman Low is an early example of the occult detective, while Mezzanotte is a modern take on nineteenth-century vampires, who are combined with style by Nancy Holder & Alan Philipson; and Scott Sigler chronicles the strangely melded aftermath of The Island of Doctor Moreau and Little Shop of Horrors .
Some authors chose to mix historical personages with literary Diana Dru Botsford puts Ernest Shackleton and Sacajawea together with Jonathan Swift’s Lemuel Gulliver in a tale of explorers; Rigel Ailur pairs history’s sharpshooter Annie Oakley with legendary archer Marian of Locksley; and David McIntee puts Chinese Emperor Taizong together with the mythical Tripitaka.
Some team-ups incorporate gods into their Ben H. Rome combines Norse, Egyptian, and Aztec mythologies in his tale of Bastet, Sekhmet, Quetzalcoatl, and Fenrir; Jennifer Brody has Bram Stoker’s Abraham Van Helsing going back in time to ancient Greece to battle the legendary Medusa at the behest of Athena; and co-editor Keith R.A. DeCandido joins Yoruba goddess Egungun-oya with H. Rider Haggard’s title character from She .
So sit back, relax, and enjoy these terrific tales of two-fisted team-ups!
487 pages, Paperback
First published May 31, 2023
2 people are currently reading
13 people want to read
About the author
Kevin J. Anderson
1,038 books3,110 followersYes, I have a lot of books, and if this is your first visit to my amazon author page, it can be a little overwhelming. If you are new to my work, let me recommend a few titles as good places to start. I love my Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I. series, humorous horror/mysteries, which begin with DEATH WARMED OVER. My steampunk fantasy adventures, CLOCKWORK ANGELS and CLOCKWORK LIVES, written with Neil Peart, legendary drummer from Rush, are two of my very favorite novels ever. And my magnum opus, the science fiction epic The Saga of Seven Suns, begins with HIDDEN EMPIRE. After you've tried those, I hope you'll check out some of my other series.
I have written spin-off novels for Star Wars, StarCraft, Titan A.E., and The X-Files, and I'm the co-author of the Dune prequels. My original works include the Saga of Seven Suns series and the Nebula Award-nominated Assemblers of Infinity. I have also written several comic books including the Dark Horse Star Wars collection Tales of the Jedi written in collaboration with Tom Veitch, Predator titles (also for Dark Horse), and X-Files titles for Topps.
I serve as a judge in the Writers of the Future contest.
My wife is author Rebecca Moesta. We currently reside near Monument, Colorado.
I have written spin-off novels for Star Wars, StarCraft, Titan A.E., and The X-Files, and I'm the co-author of the Dune prequels. My original works include the Saga of Seven Suns series and the Nebula Award-nominated Assemblers of Infinity. I have also written several comic books including the Dark Horse Star Wars collection Tales of the Jedi written in collaboration with Tom Veitch, Predator titles (also for Dark Horse), and X-Files titles for Topps.
I serve as a judge in the Writers of the Future contest.
My wife is author Rebecca Moesta. We currently reside near Monument, Colorado.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 14, 2024
The last two stories were just as enjoyable as the others!
Overall, the anthology and all of the short crossover stories within eye fantastic! Some I loved more than others, but I enjoyed them all and disliked or hated none! This was a concept I never thought could exist but I am glad that someone took such an undertaking! Having all these different characters interact and play with or against each other was beyond enchanting and thrilling! Of course, the authors really did a fantastic creating these crossover possibilities. I look forward to any more anthologies in the future!
Overall, the anthology and all of the short crossover stories within eye fantastic! Some I loved more than others, but I enjoyed them all and disliked or hated none! This was a concept I never thought could exist but I am glad that someone took such an undertaking! Having all these different characters interact and play with or against each other was beyond enchanting and thrilling! Of course, the authors really did a fantastic creating these crossover possibilities. I look forward to any more anthologies in the future!
October 6, 2023
The idea of pairing up characters in the public-domain for a short story collection is a very good one. As in most "themed" collections like this you'll find some stories you love, some you hate and be indifferent to most. Of course everyone's list of love/hate/don't care will be different but my favorite by far was "Rough Magic” by David Mack, a Prospero and Don Quixote mash-up.
(3 stars = "Liked it" using Goodread's ratings)
(3 stars = "Liked it" using Goodread's ratings)
February 2, 2024
Greatly disappointed. Only a handful of the stories were all that interesting to me. This was one of those collections i am glad that i'm finally finished with.
I got this through the Kickstarter they did for it, which was a whole debacle in itself (took over six months after the books release to get it) that just makes the kind of boringness of most of this book even more depressing.
I got this through the Kickstarter they did for it, which was a whole debacle in itself (took over six months after the books release to get it) that just makes the kind of boringness of most of this book even more depressing.
February 6, 2024
It's not surprising given the premise -- two historical or public-domain characters meeting up -- but there were too many of these two story concepts:
- A meets B, and they learn all about each other. The end.
- Oh no, there's a time warp!
- A meets B, and they learn all about each other. The end.
- Oh no, there's a time warp!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews