Monday, January 22, 2007

Crossovers are cool!


The Sensational She-Hulk #12

I've been cleaning out the Star Trek Shrine and finally found a She-Hulk/Star Trek crossover parody I've been dying to share. The Hulk's cousin, "The Sensational She-Hulk" (issue #12, Feb 1990) is making a feature film at Major Motion Pictures. Crashing through a soundstage wall, she interrupts William Shatner, Patrick Stewart and Wil Wheaton making a crossover Star Trek movie, long before "Star Trek Generations" was ever conceived. The comic was written for Marvel Comics by Peter David, of course, a prolific "Star Trek" novelist and comics writer.

Less explicable is this frame of 1986's "Elftrek" #1 (below), which contains an obscure Number 96 reference - to the 1973 novelization Bev & Bruce & Maggie & Don - in an American parody comic, "Elftrek", which sends up both "Star Trek" and "ElfQuest". (The arrow and question mark are mine.) I guess artist Martin Poe at Dimension Graphics has an Australian connection?

ElfTrek #1

Of course, the actual "Number 96" paperback's title was a parody of the movie "Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice", and that's part of the above panel, too. ("Troublets" is a reference to the "Star Trek" episode, "The Trouble with Tribbles".) If anyone knows Martin Poe, please let him know I'd love an answer as to how the "96" reference came about. I feel like the only reader of "Elftrek" who ever got the joke!

2 comments:

Jean Prouvaire said...

I think it's more likely that - while the book title is indeed a play on the movie "Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice" - the "Don & Maggie" refers to Don & Maggie Thompson, noted comics fans and - in 1986 - joint editors of the Comics Buyer's Guide. Note the issues of the CBG on the shelf above and the many other comics related titles - (Will) Eisner, (Steve) Gerber, Moonshadow, Dark Knight, Amazing Heroes, Nexus etc.

What I want to know is how Harlan Ellison's short story "Jefty is Five" got expanded into the mammoth volume we see on the shelf second from bottom. Been wondering that for 20 years actually...

Therin of Andor said...

Ah! That's it then. See? Blogger solves a mystery, in one day, that's plagued me since 1986. Very cool, thank you.

Yeah, there are lots of in-jokes. "Loose Tails" is the first volume of "Bloom County" reprints (1983). "Toons for our Times" (1984), the second volume is also there.

I love how "Harold" and "& Maude" has become a duology.