Win Scott Eckert

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Win Scott Eckert
Occupation Writer
Editor
Consultant
Genres Pulp
Suspense
Horror
Mystery
Science fiction
Non-fiction
www.winscotteckert.com

Win Scott Eckert is an author and editor, best known for his work on the literary-crossover Wold Newton Universe, created by author Philip José Farmer, but much expanded-upon subsequently by Eckert and others. He holds a B.A. in Anthropology and a Juris Doctorate.

Contents

[edit] Creation of the "Wold Newton Universe"

Win Scott Eckert first read Philip José Farmer's "fictional biography" Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life, and become hooked by the concept of the Wold Newton family. In 1997, he coined the term "Wold Newton Universe" on his website, An Expansion of Philip José Farmer's Wold Newton Universe.[1]

Farmer's original concept of the Wold Newton family was of a literary merging between novels, a crossover between multiple works, linking standout fictional characters into a deliberate family and coherent chronology. Farmer's two fictional "biographies" of the fictional characters Tarzan (Tarzan Alive)(Right) and Clark Savage, Jr. (Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life) proposed that actual meteorite which landed in Wold Newton, Yorkshire, England, on December 13, 1795 caused a genetic mutation in the occupants of a passing coach.

Their (fictional) descendants, therefore, became the stalwarts of fantastic fiction. Farmer's initial family trees include such luminaries (and their ancestors and descendants) as Sherlock Holmes, Lord Greystoke, A.J. Raffles, (Conan Doyle's) Professor Challenger, Sir Percy Blakeney, (Poe's) C. Auguste Dupin, Lord Peter Wimsey, Bulldog Drummond and Nero Wolfe;[2] James Bond, Mr Moto, Philip Marlowe, Kilgore Trout, Sam Spade, Professor Moriarty (A.K.A. Captain Nemo), Phileas Fogg, Wells' Time Traveller and Fu Manchu.[1]

Eckert and others expanded upon Farmer's concept of the Wold Newton Family, using the family trees as a central device to expand the fictional universe that the family inhabits, by documenting crossovers between said fictional characters in various media. Thus, the original core, related Wold Newton Family became a Universe, no longer tied to being the relatives, descendants and ancestors of those present at the 1795 Wold Newton meteor strike. (Eckert also expanded the 'main' family tree in 2002.[1]

The presumption from the family trees was that most – if not all – fictional characters could be said to share the same universe. Farmer himself penned a number of crossover fiction stories and novels set in what is now termed the Wold Newton Universe, largely based around the three central pillars of Tarzan, Holmes and Savage, but also incorporating (among others) Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos into the universe. Subsequently, the early history of the WNU has been expanded forwards and backwards in time to incorporate the very early history of Conan the Barbarian (through the works of Robert E. Howard, L. Sprague de Camp, Roy Thomas and others), right through to the far-future exploits of the many characters in the Star Trek universe.[1]

Eckert (and others)'s work in bringing together diverse articles and references by, and from works by, such individuals as Alan Moore, William S. Baring-Gould, Michael Moorcock, Kim Newman, John Pearson and Jess Nevins have expanded the idea. With the blessing and approval of P.J. Farmer, the primary Wold Newton website features details on various fictional biographies (including those of Biggles and John Steed); details on Farmer's own contributions to the WNU and a comprehensive chronology of the WNU from "Prehistory" to the future.[1]

[edit] The "LXG" lawsuit

See also: Larry Cohen

Eckert served as an expert consultant on "crossovers involving characters from pulp fiction and Victorian literature"[3] for the lawsuit brought against Twentieth Century Fox over their similarities between their adaptation of Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill's comic The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and an earlier screenplay entitled Cast of Characters.[4] (Famously, this lawsuit proved to be another nail in the coffin of Alan Moore's disillusionment with the film industry – not least since many of the similarities between the two screenplays were not present in Moore's original work, and yet part of the allegation was directed squarely at him.)[5]

[edit] Books

Art by John Picacio

Eckert is editor of – and contributor to – the 2005 MonkeyBrain-published work Myths for the Modern Age: Philip José Farmer's Wold Newton Universe (originally titled: Creative Mythography: An Expansion of Philip José Farmer’s Wold Newton Universe[6]), collecting Farmer's little-seen stories and essays which expand upon the Wold Newtonian concept, alongside "contributions from Farmer’s successors—scholars, writers, and pop-culture historians—who bring even more fictional characters into the fold".[1]

Myths for the Modern Age was a 2007 Locus Award finalist for best non-fiction work.

He has written pulp tales for a yearly anthology of Wold-Newtonish stories edited by Jean Marc and Randy Lofficier, Tales of the Shadowmen volumes 1–5 (Black Coat Press, 2005–2009), mostly centered on the adventures of Doc Ardan, a French version of Doc Savage. He has also written stories for Lance Star – Sky Ranger (Wild Cat Books, 2006) and The Avenger Chronicles (Moonstone Books, 2008). He is a regular contributor of Wold Newton essays and stories to the pro-zine dedicated to and authorized by Farmer, Farmerphile: The Magazine of Philip José Farmer.

In 2006, he wrote the forward to Bison Books' new edition of Philip José Farmer's original Wold Newtonian work Tarzan Alive: A Definitive Biography of Lord Greystoke (Bison Books, 2006).

Eckert's "Crossover Chronology" of the WNU, detailing in large part the full history of the Wold Newton Universe, largely (although not entirely) through the use of literary/film/TV crossovers between members of the core Wold Newton family and other fictional individuals was published in book form, greatly expanded, by Black Coat Press in 2010 as the two-volume Crossovers: A Secret Chronology of the World.[1]

[edit] Bibliography

Novels

Non-Fiction Books

  • Myths for the Modern Age: Philip José Farmer’s Wold Newton Universe, editor and author, MonkeyBrain Books, November 2005.
    • "Introduction: Myths for the Modern Age: Farmer’s Wold Newton Family and Shared Universe" in Myths for the Modern Age (2005)
    • "Who's Going to Take Over the World When I'm Gone?: A Look at the Genealogies of Wold Newton Family Super-Villains and Their Nemeses" in Myths for the Modern Age (2005)
  • Crossovers 1: A Secret Chronology of the World, Black Coat Press, May 2010.
  • Crossovers 2: A Secret Chronology of the World, Black Coat Press, July 2010.

Short Fiction

Essays & Articles

Podcasts & Panels

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g PJFarmer.com
  2. ^ Farmer's Tarzan Family Tree, from Tarzan Alive. Accessed January 18, 2008
  3. ^ WSE Biography. Accessed January 18, 2008
  4. ^ Silverman, Stephen M. Connery Flick Sparks $100 Mil Lawsuit, People Magazine, Thurs. September 25, 2003. Accessed January 18, 2008
  5. ^ Johnston, Rich Lying in the Gutters: "MOORE SLAMS V FOR VENDETTA MOVIE, PULLS LoEG FROM DC COMICS" Vol. 2 No. 1, Monday May 23, 2005. Accessed January 18, 2008
  6. ^ Chris Roberson, interviewed at Emerald City. Accessed on January 21, 2008

[edit] External links


Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Win_Scott_Eckert&oldid=474729403"
Personal tools
Namespaces

Variants
Actions
Navigation
Interaction
Toolbox
Print/export