LAST UPDATE: 23 July 2012 Timeline Articles Character Profiles Fan Fiction Sources Books Links

PREMISE The Wold Newton Universe is a concept created by Philip Jose Farmer in his pseudo biographies of Tarzan (Tarzan Alive) and Doc Savage (Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life). In short, it presupposes that in 1795, a meteorite that fell in the English village of Wold Newton caused a number of mutations in the genealogies of the ancestors of various fictional characters. These include not only Tarzan and Doc Savage, but also Sherlock Holmes, Bulldog Drummond, Nero Wolfe and many, many more. The Wold Newton Universe has therefore become a giant fictional melting pot in which characters (or their ancestors) meet, interact, etc. in ways that were never intended by their creators. Since most of the contributors -- professionals and fans alike -- to the Wold Newton Universe are English-speaking, it is not surprising that very few characters from the vast field of French popular fiction have found their way there -- two notable exceptions being Jules Verne's Captain Nemo and Maurice Leblanc's Arsene Lupin. The purpose of this site is to remedy this, and bring into the Wold Newton Universe a gallery of new characters, easily the equals of Holmes, Tarzan or Doc Savage. Finally, we have chosen to limit ourselves strictly to literary characters, and exclude film, television and comic books. (French comic books characters can be reviewed by visiting our Cool French Comics host site.) Now, enter the... TIMELINE PART 1 (BEFORE 1800) PART 2 (1800-1900) PART 3 (1900-1945) PART 4 (1945-PRESENT) PART 5 (THE FUTURE) SHORT VERSION (INCLUDING COMICS) ARTICLES THE LYING DUTCHMEN - Genealogy of the Members of the American van Helsing family. THE TANGLED WEB - Genealogies of the Members of the French Wold Newton Families. THE HOLY BLOOD AND THE SAINT-CLAIRS - About the unclear genealogy of the Saint-Clairs, St. Claires, St. Clares and Sinclairs - by Vincent Mollet. THE BLACK COATS - A TIMELINE ALONE IN THE DARK - Annotations by Rick Lai. MARS À L'OMBRE - The French on Mars: A Hundred Years Retrospective (1865-1965) - by Jacques Garin. DR. SIGER HOLMES AND THE WOLD NEWTON CONSPIRACY - Some Further Thoughts - by Brett Fawcett. THE FACE STEALER - The Man with a Thousand Faces - by Vincent Mollet. ARSENE LUPIN - A TIMELINE - by André-François Ruaud. WHO WAS NOBODY? - The Life and Times of the Man We Knew as "Nemo." WILL THERE BE LIGHT TOMORROW? - Part 1 of the History of the Greatest Conspiracy Man Has Ever Known. THE INHERITORS - Part 2 of the Secret History of the French Wold Newton Universe. FROM CYRANO TO JEAN-LUC PICARD - Part 1: The Conquest of Space. FROM CYRANO TO JEAN-LUC PICARD - Part 2: Manifest Destiny. CHARACTER PROFILES ANTINEA (L'ATLANTIDE) ARSENE LUPIN MADAME ATOMOS BELPHEGOR THE BLACK COATS (LES HABITS NOIRS) BOB MORANE BUREAU OF THE UNSEEN (BUREAU DE L'INVISIBLE) CHERI-BIBI CIGALE CORSAIR TRIPLEX D'ARTAGNAN & CYRANO DOCTOR CORNELIUS DOCTOR MYSTERY DOCTOR OMEGA SÂR DUBNOTAL FANTÔMAS FANTÔMETTE FASCINAX FATALA FEN-CHU FEROCIAS FRANKENSTEIN HARRY DICKSON THE ICE COMPANY (LA COMPAGNIE DES GLACES) THE ILLUSION KNIGHT (LE CHEVALIER ILLUSION) JEAN FANFARE JUDEX LANGELOT LAVAREDE MONSIEUR LECOQ LEONOX MAIGRET MALAUSSÈNE MALPERTUIS MEPHISTA MICHEL MISS MOUSQUETERR MISS TÉRIA NESTOR BURMA NICK JORDAN LE NYCTALOPE PAO TCHEOU, MASTER OF THE INVISIBLE ROCAMBOLE ROULETABILLE THE "OTHER" SHADOW (L'OMBRE) SHERLOCK HOLMES TIGRIS THE VAMPIRES (LES VAMPIRES) FICTION Read all about the new exploits of these characters in: NEW! TALES OF THE SHADOWMEN 6 NOW AVAILABLE! ESCALIBOR by Mikel Midnight (starring Marvel Comics' Capitaine Angleterre, Langelot, Fantômette & Michel) SOURCES SHADOWMEN: Heroes and Villains of French Pulp Fiction by J-M. & R. Lofficier; Cover by Andrew Paquette From Black Coat Press, $19.95, 6x9 trade pb, 320 pages. CONTAINS: biographies, fictional biographies, filmographies, timelines, an index and 150 black & white illustrations. TO ORDER CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT FRENCH PULP LITERATURE, ORDER JEAN-MARC'S FRENCH SCIENCE FICTION, FANTASY, HORROR AND PULP FICTION ENCYCLOPEDIA (800 pages, $95) from AMAZON.COM or McFARLAND direct! TO BUY MORE BOOKS FEATURING FRENCH WOLD NEWTON UNIVERSE CHARACTERS & CONCEPTS! CLICK ON COVER TO BUY THE BOOK LINKS W. Eckert's The Wold Newton Universe Win Scott Eckert's Official Site The Wold Newton Chronicles J. Nevins' Some Unknown Members of the Wold Newton Families D. Power's Secret History of the Wold Newton Universe M. Steele's Autobiography of the Phantom of theOpera C. Loridans' Monstaah Timeline M. Norwitz' Capitaine Angleterre D. Gordon's Les Hommes Mysterieux Warrenverse