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Powell, Frank

(1845-1906) US author of Dime-Novel SF whose friendship with historical figures like Buffalo Bill Cody (1846-1917) led to his appearance as a character in some (entirely fictional) Buffalo Bill tales, none actually written by him. It is not clear which books published as by Powell were not in fact by Colonel Prentiss Ingraham (1843-1904), the main figure behind the success of Buffalo Bill, whose prolific output – mostly Westerns – may not have included tales of the fantastic.

It is therefore likely, or at least possible, that Powell himself authored the Wolf-Men sequence – comprising The Wolf-Men: A Tale of Amazing Adventure in the Under-World (1905 Boy's World; 1906) and "The Vengeance of the Wolf-Men" (1906 Boy's World), the latter novel never reaching book form – after two lads make their supersubmarine available (see Edisonade; Inventions; Transportation), Professor Mervyn leads them to the North Pole, where they are all swallowed into the Hollow Earth below, which is occupied by prehistoric Monsters and Chenobi the Atlantean Atlantis; the eponymous wolf-men play an Apes as Human role as slaves to the survivors of an ancient Island (see Lost Race) which had long sunk into the Atlantic. The wolf-men are inspired to revolt but are justly crushed (see Imperialism) by their betters. In the sequel, they try again, out in the open. [JC]

Dr David Frank Powell

born Kentucky: 25 May 1845

died near El Paso, Texas [in train wreck]: 8 May 1906

works

series

Wolf-Men

links

Entry from The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (2011-current) edited by John Clute and David Langford.
Accessed 12:05 pm on 29 March 2024.
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