Had weird thought today, thought I'd run it by you, but first a question; are you familiar with Amalgam Comics, the thing from the '90s, where for awhile, Marvel and DC put out books set in a universe where their characters were merged? IDK why, but the idea popped into my head of doing something like that with Pulp Heroes, and I was wondering what thoughts you'd have on (to start) Doc Shadow, The Green Spider and (not sure what to call an Amalgam of Kato and Nita), and...IDK, Rocketeer Jones?
Oh I am definitely familiar with Amalgam Comics by concept alone, I've read a couple of the issues, mainly Dark Claw Adventures and I barely remember any of the others. Amalgam in itself was kinda all over-the-place in terms of how well the ideas meshed together and I don't think it was ever going to last outside of it's context as a gimmicky experiment, but it was a neat idea I've gotten a lot out of.
I fuse characters all the time as a creative exercise/when I'm bored and I have over 300 concepts for my own Marvel/DC Amalgam sitting in the toolbox, although as a rule, I always make it a point to fuse exactly 3 characters together whenever I do this kind of thing, no more no less, because that's the point you have to start trimming the excess to focus on what you really want to keep, and then end up with an original character. When it's just two, it doesn't really work for me, because I think it kinda shoots dead the ways you can develop them as original characters in their own right and then you're stuck with just checking off traits of both characters.
I've never actually given much thought on doing this with the Pulp Heroes, I approach them a little differently than I do superheroes. But going over some of your ideas
Doc Shadow: All that's coming to mind is a take on the Black Terror with diminished superpowers, who instead solves supernatural mysteries with scientific methods and theatrics so advanced that they come across as supernatural abilities in their own right. I don't really have any other ideas for this one as is and, I know this isn't really related to the point but, honestly I don't really like the idea of The Shadow and Doc Savage being the World's Finest of any established Pulp Hero Universe. It's an idea that's shown up a lot to the point it's impossible to ignore, but frankly I think that's just retreading superhero stuff that doesn't work as well for either of them unless you're willing to take risks with the premise, which you can't do unless you're working via analogues (like Venture Bros or Incognito). I'm fairly sure someone has already done a Doc Shadow somewhere, but I can't remember it.
The Green Spider: I think this one works the most seamlessly of the three because the two characters already have a lot of common ground you can fuse together without leaving any sizeable gaps, and I think there's an interesting angle here regarding The Green Hornet's campaign of journalist by day and crimelord by night gradually spiraling out of control as he and his city are swept up in storms of violence that transform everything for the worse. I think this one can work fine, although it really comes down to the execution because otherwise, it's just a really generic pulp hero on it's own.
Nita + Kato: My suggestion is for this character to be named Gumo, after the Japanese term for Spider. And you can lean a bit into the imagery of Japanese folklore's spider-women.
Rocketeer Jones: This one I like a little better because it's got a more unorthodox approach to it in two characters that don't really have much in common at a surface, other than they both have two of the most iconic costumes of all time, and came to existence in similar time periods and were intended to be "retro" serials. I think there's potential here, although I imagine this character is going to be the absolute most insufferable shithead going by the two origins. Rocketeer Jones sounds like a really fun name though.
I generally don't care for fusing together characters that already have a lot of stuff in common or are similarly big icons, I find that really limiting in general and I always prefer to mix it up with unlikely combinations, and then find ways to make them work together (ex: Originally my Amalgam Superman was just Superman + Captain America + Tarzan. But I found that idea really boring, so instead I swapped out Captain America for The Thing, and for a third reference, I picked Andre the Giant, and now I'm very satisfied with the character as he's currently). Again, I always have to include a third character in the ingredients to dillude and better mix it into something I can work with.
So I'm gonna take a crack at fusing a few pulp characters together for this post, and going with the Rule of 3 that usually works for me. Three sets of characters, fused together to form three new characters. I'm going to shuffle a couple characters around randomly and see what comes out, see what's gonna come out of this brew.
Allright, so I got these three.
Shiroi Gumo: The White Spider. Distinguished by her albino skin and intense dark eyes that contrast it. Ostracized since birth for her complexion, was once the fiancee and partner of a wealthy and respected Japanese businessman who secretly made plans to fight crime in the city, these plans were dashed following the Bombing of Tokyo that claimed the life of her beloved. Alone again in a world that took everything from her, she now applies her cunning and skills to conducting a private war on imperialists through criminal methods, out for blood. Based on: Nita van Sloan + Madame Atomos + Zenith the Albino.
Lunático: Carlita la Vega is the new sheriff of Santa Maria. Tall, broad-shouldered and middle-aged, she comes from a family of Mexican nobles that she's been estranged from since forever, with only her uncle Fernando to support her as a fellow outcast. In her past, she used to engage in outlaw tactics as a costumed vigilante and rebel outlaw, commonly known as Lunático. What started as a way to sneak off etiquette lessons by disguising her face and gender became a mission to protect others who were trodden upon by law enforcement.
Carlita's tried to put the mask behind her to try and go "straight" upon arriving in California, but lately, dark secrets about the la Vega family have come to light, and copycats have borrowed the legend of Lunático for nefarious purposes, and so Carlita must put on the mask again and the mission to confront her legacy. Based on: Sheriff Minnie + The Phantom + Zorro
Cadavre: The ancients of Atlantis sensed a grave danger in the arrival of humanity, the first of unspeakable crimes against the planet itself to be committed. And so, with the materials they had to work with, they fashioned a human of their own. In order to solve The First Crime, they had to create The First Detective. But the ancients all perished millions of years before ape even stood upright, and so their creation laid dormant until the 1900s, when it was awakened by the French, who called it Cadavre based on it's appearence.
Cadavre knows nothing about it's origins, but has an intuitive understanding of what it's meant to do, and while it searches for it's true purpose, Cadavre has been operating under the command of the scientists who awakened it ever since, along with other detectives, as an occult investigator. Cadavre is indestructible and capable of feats that bend reality, and it's also incredibly helpful and kind towards all tasks, even on janitor duty. However, it also has some...strange ideas, about how the world works, it functionally does not distinguish human life to that of bacteria or plant life, and it's ultimately beholden to whatever authority tells it what to do. Which is going to be quite a problem when WW2 shows up. Based on: Ogon Bat + Thomas Carnacki + The Nyctalope.
Hey, this was fun! A lot more than I thought it'd be.
I may do something with these three concepts in the future, but if anyone wants to do so first, be my guest (although I'd appreciate a bit of credit)
If I can't get to write anything with the characters they are based on for one reason or another, maybe I should start doing these more often.
