Herbie once teamed up with Flaming Carrot.
Flaming Carrot met Cerebus.
Cerebus met Spawn.
Spawn teamed up with Batman.
Batman knows Snapper Carr.

Hm.
Reid Fleming crossed over with Flaming Carrot
Flaming Carrot has met Cerebus (In Church and State Vol II)
Cerebus has met Spawn (in the 'good writers slum' sequence)
Spawn has met Batman (in at least one horrid crossover 90's thing)
Batman knows Snapper Carr

So that's 5. Some obscure Fleming supporting character who wasn't in that crossover would make 6, probably.

Vanth Dreadstar met Nexus (Crossroads #5) ...
who met Magnus, Robot Fighter (Magnus/Nexus#1) ...
who has fought Predators (Predator vs. Magnus) ...
who have fought Batman (Batman vs. Predator) ...
who knows Snapper!

Neat. But are we sure that Batman isn't the Snapper Carr of the Comics Universe?

Side note: It occurs to me that if someone were to find a good character appearance index for Boris the Bear (especially the earlier, less trademark-sensitive issues), we'd be able to get to just about anything...

Here's my try at the Green Lama. Note that for the second, critical connection, I haven't actually read the story in question--I'm working off a summary. So it may not stand up to scrutiny.

The Green Lama fought an Uberbund ("The Case of the Invisible Enemy", Double Detective, Dec 1940).
The Uberbund were sponsored by Hitler. (As above.)
Hitler fought Captain America (Captain America #1).
Captain America met Superman (Avengers / JLA).
Superman knows Snapper Carr.

That's 5...

Okay, for the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. agents, I'm taking a page out of Alex's book, since he used Hitler.

The T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents worked at the behest of the United Nations.
The United Nations once gave the Justice League International, including Batman, their sponsorship.
Batman has met Snapper Carr.

If you don't allow that one, the only other way I can see to make it work is that George Perez has done covers for the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents series that came out in the 80's.

Don't forget Snapper's extensive connections in the world of organized crime.

Sam "Momo" Giancana knew Judith Exner.
Judith Exner knew John F. Kennedy.
John F. Kennedy teamed up with Superman.
Superman knows Snapper Carr.

Hey, if we're counting JLA/Avengers, wasn't Snapper Carr in that comic? Or does it only count if it didn't happen in a fused reality created by the Gamemaster?

I was in Justice League: In Darkest Night (animated universe). There is a Snapper Carr (TV reporter) in the animated universe.

My highest possible Carr Number is therefore 3: I worked on satellite that went nuts and was fought by the Justice League who have met Snapper Carr.

So all of us here are at maximum 4, then?

3 if we're allowed to go through Mike Chary's parademon career...

I met Hyperion (Squadron Supreme #5).
Hyperion --> Superman --> Snapper Carr.

Alternately, I've met Elliot S! Maggin.
Maggin --> Justice Leaguers aplenty (JLA 124-125) --> Snapper Carr.

I might be a 2, depending on how strict you get. My tuckerized character contacted the League off-screen at one point, IIRC. But 3 is a solid.

Well, if you go by real writers, I've met Peter David, who has written Snapper Carr, but it's more fun to go through tuckerizations. :)

Jason:

I'm not sure predators make a good connection, unless there's some evidence that it was the same predator in both stories.

One can always amuse oneself by attempting to come up with minimal Carr paths that don't include Batman. In principle, the Superman channel is going to be nearly as productive. For example, Dorothy Gale has met Captain Carrot (Oz-Wonderland War) who has met Superman (first appearance of CC) who knows Snapper.

Alex:

If the Uberbund haven't actually met Hitler, there's at least one more step in the chain.

Matt:

I don't think the United Nations per se counts as a link. Also, you can't count as a link by working on a book, only by appearing as a character.

I don't happen to recall who Snapper interacted with in JLA/Avengers (presumably at least Rick Jones), but that might well provide shorter links to the Marvel universe.

Kevin:

When did Hyperion meet Superman?

I did wonder whether it was kosher to go through predators (saying that "so and so met a predator" is a bit like saying "so and so met a human"). In fact, before I learned there was a Magnus/Predator crossover, I had planned to go through that Valiant/Image crossover under the assumption that Magnus and Spawn met during that thing. Since Spawn met Batman, that would only add one step.

I never read the Valiant/Image thing, so I don't know for sure that Magnus met Spawn, but really -- if I'm wrong, who around here is going to cop to having read the thing?

You can go from Nexus to Madman (Nexus Meets Madman) to Superman (Madman/Superman)
to Snapper Carr and bypass Magnus completely.

The Superman vs. Muhammad Ali crossover also provides many real-world opportunities. For example:

-- The Beatles met Muhammad Ali;
-- Muhammad Ali fought Superman;
-- Superman knows Snapper Carr.

(You could also connect the Beatles to Snapper through the '90s Chronos series, I think, but that would be more steps.)

I've met several people (Neil Gaiman, for instance) who've met Grant Morrison.

Grant Morrison has met Animal Man (wrote himself into the book).

Animal Man inevitably knows Snapper Carr, although I can't cite an issue. So my SC number is three.

If you want to find the highest SC number in comics, I think that Zachary "Zot" Paleozogt would be a good candidate. You need four links to get him anywhere: Zot -> Floyd -> Goofy Service Jerks (Floyd cameo'd in one issue of Beanworld) -> Beanish -> Eclipseverse characters (Total Eclipse). From the Eclipseverse characters I can think of Mr. Monster -> Swamp Thing -> Batman/Superman -> Snapper, but there's probably something shorter.

Greg - fair enough, but without the UN I dont think the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents crossed over with anyone. So they may not be doable at all.

Personally, I think Snapper's the wrong choice for Kevin Bacon. Batman or Spider-Man, due to their many team-up stories, are much more in line with the "He's in everything" motif of Bacon. Heck Rick Jones is even a better choice as he moved around a lot more than Snapper (although I guess with Hourman and Young Justice, Snapper's heading for Rick territory).

My own Snapper number is either two:
My DCU physicist analog has a theory that was referenced in the JLA 80-page giant by the Atom, but it's unclear if "I"'ve ever met Ray.

or 5:

Admiral Tom Y. Galloway met James Kirk.
Kirk has met the X-Men.
The X-Men have met Dick Grayson.
Dick Grayson has met Batman.
Batman has met Snapper.

Okay, here are a couple challenges:

Krazy Kat
Popeye (Though, there was a Popeye homage character in Superman)
Snoopy
Mickey Mouse
Mike Doonesbury

David van D: I wasn't counting Maggin writing the Justice League; I was counting him meeting the Justice League, much the same way that Grant Morrison met Animal Man.

Greg M: After I posted, I realized that I couldn't actually point to a story where Hyperion met Superman. Blast.

Chary: Snoopy met the Red Baron; Red Baron met Enemy Ace; Enemy Ace was in Crisis, so almost certainly met some Justice Leaguer.

Mickey Mouse is chains through Donald Duck.

Dunno about the others.

Enemy Ace met the JLA back in JLA #159-160. And Hans von Hammer appears alongside Manfred von Richtofen in Kim Newman's The Bloody Red Baron, if nowhere else.

The Bugs Bunny to Superman connection brings in everybody from Alf to the TMNT to Poppa Smurf via this - http://www.x-entertainment.com/articles/0712/

Chary:

Doonesbury's possible, since real-world people appear in the strip. Without trying very hard, Mike knows Joanie Caucus, who knows Lacey Davenport, who met Elizabeth Taylor (when she was married to the senator from Virginia), who knows Michael Jackson, who met Sonny Bono (episode 3.1 of "The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour"), who met Scooby-Doo, who met Batman, who knows Snapper. That's eight steps, and it can probably be shortened.

Krazy Kat met Churchy La Femme and Howland Owl (off-panel in "Pogo"). From there, there are a couple of routes: the Mouse, who has a lot of stories about meeting people, which might provide an out-cross to the real world, from which we can get to Snapper, or the political parodies that appeared in the strip in the 1960s, who may or may not count as their real-world selves. (I exclude, e.g., Simple J. Malarkey on the grounds that he's not Joe McCarthy, just a parody, but the parodies that appeared in the strip's later days were far less disguised.)

As for Popeye, I think we'd probably have to work through a cameo appearance somewhere, but I can't suggest anything concrete.

Found one: First Google hit on "popeye cameos".

Popeye has met Jerry Lewis ("Popeye's 20th Anniversary", 1954 animated show). I believe either Superman or Batman appeared in Jerry's comic book, which gets us the rest of the link.

Jay Cantor's Krazy Kat novel apparently features, e.g., Robert Oppenheimer "alongside" the Kat, so that provides us a simple real-world outcross, from which we can get to Snapper via the usual channels.

...Mike [Doonesbury] knows Joanie Caucus, who knows Lacey Davenport, who met Elizabeth Taylor (when she was married to the senator from Virginia), who knows Michael Jackson, who met Sonny Bono (episode 3.1 of "The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour"), who met Scooby-Doo, who met Batman, who knows Snapper. That's eight steps, and it can probably be shortened.

1. Mike knows Uncle Duke,
2. who met Cher (while demoted to the "Gregg/Cher beat" at Rolling Stone),
3. who was married to Sonny,
4. who met Scooby,
5. who met Batman,
6. who knows Snapper.

I haven't read any T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, but their website says Adolf Hitler appeared in NoMan #2.

Hitler really is handy for this, isn't he?

I'm surprised that no one's used Dracula or Frankenstein's monster for any connections, yet. I'd think they'd be handy for crossovers dealing with fictional characters.

Tom,

The Mike Doonesbury -> Snapper Carr link you gave should only be a 5-step one. Cher was in the same Scooby-Doo episode as Sonny Bono (since they were still a team at that point and hadn't yet gotten divorced).

Jer

An interesting one for non-fictional people entering the fictional world is Jack The Ripper, if you accept any (or all) of the various suspects (especially any which have appeared in fictional accounts).
For example:
Alice in wonderland knew Lewis Carrol
Lewis Carrol 'was' Jack The Ripper
Jack The Ripper's spirit met both the Doom Patrol and John Constantine
and so into the DCU

Or
Queen Victoria knew Sir William Gull
William Gull 'was' Jack the Ripper
etc....

FTR, a secondary source for Marvel/DC crossover appeal is Rick Jones' (the Marvel one, not me) wedding issue. Peter David was the priest and Death made a cameo, giving Marlo a brush.

Snapper was in the smooshed-together-verse of JLA/Avengers (but not in any other scenes IIRC) talking with Jarvis and Rick about the best way to grill a burger.

Also, to be a total pedant, the Kevin Bacon game is based on everyone in the film-verse being at most 6 steps away from him. So you want someone at the center of the comic-verse. That's presumably Batman (barely beating Supes by virtue of the number of inter-company crossovers he's done), Spider-Man or Scooby Doo.

Don't forget that Popeye is in the background during an Shi'ar ball during one of the Claremont/Byrne issues of Uncanny X-Men from back in the day, when Charles thought the X-Men were dead and left Earth to be with Lilandra. So now you have a Popeye to Prof. X gateway to get anywhere you want to go with Popeye.

I disagree with Tyg and Rick about Batman being the Kevin Bacon analog, BTW. The point isn't that Bacon is the center of the film universe -- if that were the case, it would be "Six Degrees of Michael Caine" -- but that he's always in movies with other famous actors (from whom you can get to to anyone else in the world). In that sense Snapper or the Marvel Rick Jones both work better than Batman or Superman or Spidey, IMO.

(Besides, it's too easy if you use major characters like those three, or Scooby.)

--Chris M.

I think that the "hard" version of this has to exclude both Batman and Superman.

(You can still get to Lobo fairly easily, either through Blasters or the Giffen era leaguers, and from there to just about anywhere. So "no Batman, Superman, or Lobo" would make the extra-hard version.)

And I've seen at least one reference to a THUNDER agents appearance in Boris the Bear (#11). If that pans out, then they get Carr numbers of 4 (Boris killed any number of people who have met Batman in his first couple issues.)

Chris captures my position on why it should be six degrees of Snapper. I'll add that one of the points is that Kevin Bacon, while a good actor, is not the acme of acting, nor has he been in all-time best films, which is a reason not to choose Batman, Superman, etc.

The reason I chose Snapper instead of Rick Jones is, of course, that I prefer DC to Marvel.

Ooh! OOH! OPTIMUS PRIME!

Optimus Prime knows Spider-Man (Transformers #3)
Spider-Man knows Captain America (somewhere)
Captain America knows Batman (JLA/Avengers)
Batman knows SNAPPER!

Until someone reminds me of the Batman/Spider-Man teamup I've forgotten, Optimus Prime has a Snapper Number of 4.

Greg and Chris ably express all of my reasons why it should be Snapper, as he's the guy who's always a supporting character, never the star.

Now here's one for you, tough guys:

Baby Huey.

The whole point of the Kevin Bacon game is that Kevin has been many different types of movies - he's ubiquitous. Although certain movies prove "key" to connections, JFK is one, we are not forced to rely on any one association.

Isn't Snapper Carr limited to his JLA role? Every connection to Snapper seems to be either Batman or Superman.

A better character would be one equally obscure, but possible to show up in multiple titles and have a more variety of links. He would not be a member of a supporting cast, but have a role in a general comic universe that various writers have inserted into their comics. Honestly, the best candidates for this are probably governmental officials or the like.

Six Degrees of Henry Peter Gyrich perhaps? People could connect to him through:

Avengers
X-Men
Rom
Hulk

While it is possible to always arrive at HPG via one popular character (say Captain America) there is much more variety.

Justin, there were 2 different Batman/Spider-Man teamups in the late 90s. One had them fight the Joker and Carnage, the other had Kinpin and Ra's Al Ghul, so these provide links through these characters, if anybody cares.

So how come no one's done Kevin Bacon to Snapper Carr yet?

I assume you can get there through David Letterman, somehow, though I can't do the full route myself.

We can also approach Gyrich via Black Panther,or the Thunderbolts.

Okay, here's a tough one.

Agatha Clay is is the daughter of one of the Heterodyne Boys. A more primitive version of the Heterodyne Boys wound up in Munden's Bar, where they met Gordon the bartender. Gordon knew John "Grimjack" Gaunt, who knew Judah of Thune, who knew Horatio "Nexus" Hellpop, who met Frank "Madman" Einstein, who met Clark "Superman" Kent, who knows Snapper Carr.

*Eight* degrees of Snapper Carr.

Now try Lou Grant.

Hmm, my candidate for the most famous character without a Snapper number is Felix the Cat.

Alex:

Kevin's got a Snapper number of no more than five, as I indicated up in the original post, smart guy.

Marc:

Baby Huey has met Casper. Father Guido Sarducci and Mister Rogers appeared in the Casper movie. Assuming that one or both have a finite link to Casper within the movie, they provide the crucial out-cross necessary to build a link, and the rest is left as an exercise for the reader. (Did Jerry Seinfeld host SNL? Seinfeld connects to Superman.)

Kevin Bacon's actually got a Snapper number of no more than 4:
Kevin Bacon was in "In the Cut" with Vinny Vella
Vinny Vella was in "Casino" with Don Rickles
Don Rickles met Superman in those Kirby issues of Jimmy Olsen
Superman knows Snapper.

Mike -- Felix once Saved Christmas, and in the course of doing so, met Santa Claus. I'd be surprised if Santa hasn't met Superman, but if they've never met, I'm sure it's trivial to connect them. If nothing else, you can go through Ilya Salkind.

I figured the Baby Huey connection would go through that old issue of WHAT THE-?! where Casper and Wendy made a cameo appearance with one of the Avengers.

I have too much free time.

Greg: I bow my head in shame, and shall refrain from posting further until I can redeem myself with a sufficiently insightful comment.

(How about Oscar the Grouch, from Sesame Street, to Snapper? I imagine you can get there with a Sesame Street celebrity guest and linking a few times to...JFK, or someone. But it'd be tricky.)

Uncle Scrooge is actually only three removed.

Uncle Scrooge has met Santa Claus
Who has met Superman
who knows Snapper Carr

Mine is five.

I have a cousin who has met Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton has met JFK
JFK has met the Pre-Crisis Superman
and the Pre-Crisis Superman knows the One True Snapper Carr.

(As opposed to that phoney Post-Crisis Snapper Carr)

Jesus Christ knows God
God knows the Spectre
the Spectre knows Green Lantern
Green Lantern knows Snapper Carr.

(The Phantom Stranger might have met Jesus Christ.
I can't remember.)

Suicide Squid knows Squidboy
Squidboy knows the Ultimate Ninja
The Ultimate Ninja has met Santa Claus
Santa Claus has met Batman
Batman knows Snapper Carr

Now can anyone do Darth Vader, Hamlet, and Hawkeye from MASH?

(Luke Skywalker did appear on the Muppets once although
I'm not sure how that helps.)

Arthur "I'm five removed from Rorschach" Spitzer

Arthur: That's "Squid Boy". And I should know.

Although he did later become "Squidman" to be sure.

Hawkeye from MASH met General MacArthur (He was once berated for pulling some prank on the General when visiting Tokyo).
General MacArthur met JFK.
JFK met Superman.
Superman met Snapper Carr.

Darth Vader met Luke Skywalker.
Luke Skywalker met Mark Hamill in that episode of the Muppet Show (they're cousins!).
Mark Hamill met Fanboy on an episode of Freakazoid.
Fanboy met the Joker when he tried out as a Harley Quinn replacement in an episode of Batman:TAS.
Joker met Snapper Carr in JLA #77.

Hamlet has me stumped. Since his father is in Hell 'cause his sins were unconfessed, perhaps his father met Lucifer.

Colonel Klink only has a Snapper number of 2!

Two more hubs to help with crossover fodder:
http://www.reuben.org/rosenthal/members/Timspage/canthey/gasalley/gastamp2.html
http://www.bcdb.com/bcdb/cartoon.cgi?film=48259&cartoon=The%20Man%20Who%20Hated%20Laughter%20

Isn't Hamlet's father a ghost?

Buffy the Vampire Slayer met Dracula.
Dracula met Superman.
Superman has met Snapper Carr.

Daniel Jackson has met Chronus.
Chronus has met Wonder Woman.
Wonder Woman knows Snapper Carr.

John Crichton...

Useful crossovers to consider:

A DC Comics Presents teamed up Superman with Santa Claus.

A Marvel Team-Up paired up Spider-Man with the original Not Ready For Prime Time Players, minus Chevy and plus Bill.

Stan Lee has met many Marvel characters and has made various movie and tv appearances.

And the critic: (the short running animated show) had a crossover with the simpsons,
which once had nixon,
who met superman/batman (http://www.ryaninteractive.com
/comicvault/21_bat_sup_gen.htm),
who met Snapper Car.

Who is Snapper Car?

Danny--

Lou Grant showed up in Munden's Bar (in a Hembeck-illustrated story, bizarrely enough).

Also, Snapper Carr was in Kingdom Come, which brings in a lot of folks from the DC Universe along with a handful of Marvel folks and the Monkees. In case, y'know, someone was dying to Baconize Davy Jones or Mike Nesmith.

As per the challenge, here's my roundabout way to link Barnaby and Mr. O'Malley:

1. Barnaby was created by Crockett Johnson, who also wrote the Harold and the Purple Crayon books.
2. Harold had his own HBO series, just like Little Lulu.
3. Little Lulu was published by Dell, who also used to publish Bugs Bunny.
4. Bugs Bunny met Superman in the DC/Looney Tunes crossover.
5. Superman knows Snapper Carr.

Through this route, you can now connect anyone who has ever been on HBO, as well as the ABC Weekend Special, since they produced two Lulu "movies" for that series in the late 70s/early 80s.

Bill, you can't link characters by same creator, same publisher, or same network. You can't link Harold and Barnaby via Crockett Johnson. Sorry. Links have to be through animate beings.

Aside: One shouldn't confuse actor and role, either; Wonder Wom knows Steve Trevor, and Linda Carter knows Lyle Waggoner, but you can't connect Wonder Woman directly to Lyle Waggoner or Linda Carter directly to Steve Trevor.

More challenges:
White Spy (from Spy vs Spy)
The Keebler Elf Leader guy.
Cathy (from the epinymous strip)
Trogdor
Dangermouse

The White Spy drank Mountain Dew, made by Coke, which Michael Jordan drunk (in Commercials) and he was in Space Jam, with bugs bunny, who so on.

That count?

Other useful crossovers:

Spider-man met various Electric Company and Sesame Street characters in Spidey Super Stories.

The Trix Rabbit met Bugs Bunny in a two-part commercial which brings in General Mills cereal mascots.

Various celebrities would pop up from the window when Batman and Robin climbed walls (this is the source of Colonel Klink's Snapper rating of 2 (and note that the character of Klink popped up and not actor Werner Klemphart)).

Who did Snapper Carr talk to in Kingdom Come?

Anyway, Davy Jones already knows Marcia Brady (Brady Bunch) who knows Superman (Brady Kids) who
knows Snapper.

Yorick Brown knows Agent 355.
Agent 355 met George W. Bush, off-panel but mentioned in dialogue.
George W. Bush met Magento in Ultimate X-Men.
Magneto met Wolverine several times.
Wolverine met Spiderman, also in Ultimate X-Men.
Spiderman met Batman, as mentioned above.
Batman knows Snapper Carr.
Seven links.
Mitchell Hundred from Ex Machina is much more difficult, as his comic contains no crossover or real-world characters.

Spider Jerusalem knows Mary the revival
Mary photographed the Beatles (pick any one)
Batman met the Beatles. (#222)
Batman Knows Snapper Carr. (4)

Jesse Custer knows his Dad.
Papa Custer met John Wayne
John Wayne was a friend of Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan met Superman
Superman knows Snapper. (5)

The Avengers met David Letterman. The people in the issue were Hank McCoy, Hawkeye, Mockingbird, Black Widow, Black Panther and Wonderman.

Since Hawkeye met Snapper in the JLA Avs crossover this gets us everyone in Hollywood to Snapper in 4/3 steps. And a only a bit more for everyone on Earth. For instance, Rob Knauerhase has Rupert Gee... He'sa also met me, so through the the parademon he's pretty close anyway, but Letterman is a powerful connection.

Sorry, but two previous linkages don't work. Batman didn't actually meet the Beatles in that story, but homages. The classic comics Beatles connection is via the Thing and Torch meeting them (I forget if Jimmy Olsen actually met a Beatle in "The Red-Headed Beatle of 1000 B.C." or just referenced one).

And the Yorick link doesn't work because you jump at some point from using an Ultimate universe character to using the classic Marvel universe same-named character, and those characters are both distinct and haven't met. Dubya's either a direct jump to a DCU or Marvel U character, or you can work backward through Presidents until you hit one who's met a particular DCU or Marvel U character.

Hamlet is quite easy, actually, since he's met the Scooby Gang in this.

To be sure, if we allow crossover fanfic it's probably easy to link any two characters, but this is really good crossover fanfic.

I'm not convinced, Tom; we haven't so far particularly bothered to distinguish Earth-2, Earth-1, and post-Crisis versions of Superman and Batman, for example, so I'm not sure that we should be scrupulous to distinguish between Ultimate and mainstream Marvel characters. Or, indeed, between comic, book, movie, TV show, and radio versions of the characters.

Hm. If I have to go over to Marvel-land to get out through the Beatles, I'd do just about as well to stay in the real world, I think. (Jerry Lewis.)

I think that Nixon is closed to the DCU as well, leading only into Marvel-land and Watchmen-land.

Any DCU appearances for William Burroughs, Nelson Mandela, or Mother Theresa? (The other real-life celebs that Mary knew...)

Dubya has met Black Panther (and Queen Divine Justice and Junta) during Enemy of the State II in Black Panther.

I haven't read the issues, but I suspect Dubya appeared in the "Tony Stark, Secretary of Defense" issues of Iron Man.

So Dubya->Panther->Hawkeye->Snapper Carr

Dubya might be closer; I think that he and Gore both still ran in the DCU 2000 election, both losing to Lex. Anyone who actually read that storyline/owns the 'President Lex' TPB know if Superman ever met all the candidates?

In Milligan's Animal Man run, there was a character who *referenced* Burroughs as existing in his universe (a parallel DCU, but Animal Man visited there...)
Davy Jones actually also met Scooby Doo once, so that knocks a link out of the Monkees connections.
As for Dangermouse, he met Count Duckula, whose assistant was Igor, who obviously knows at least Frankenstein and Dracula, and from there you can get into both the DCU and Marvel Universe. If you don't like that connection because you think it was a different Igor, Duckula also apparently (according to an episode guide I just checked) met the Phantom of the Opera, and I'm sure you can get there from that.

Oh, and Duckula also met Santa.

Cathy.
OK, Cathy was *HARD*, but I did it (with a HELL of a lot of Googling - I read none of these comics until we get to Cerebus).
Cathy appeared (non-speaking) in Liberty Meadows for Nov 11 2004
Liberty Meadows has featured characters from PVP PVP #11 featured Savage Dragon
Savage Dragon has met the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have met Cerebus
Cerebus has met Spawn
Spawn has met Batman
Batman has met Snapper Carr

Actually, it turns out there was a Superman/Savage Dragon crossover as well, so you can knock a couple of those links out...

You can actually connect a lot of comic strips through Liberty Meadows. Off the top of my head, I can think of cameo appearances in the strip from Cathy, Chip from Hi & Lois, Snuffy Smith, Blondie/Dagwood, and B.C. I'm sure there are others as well.

"Who did Snapper Carr talk to in Kingdom Come?"

He's seen in a panel with other JLA members.

Trogdor appeared in the final episode of Buffy. Therefore, Trogdor -> Buffy -> Dracula -> Supes -> Snapper

Unless you're thinking of something I'm not, Trogdor was a character in an RPG in that episode (which wasn't quite the last one.) So unless you can demonstrate that someone was playing themself in that game, you can't get out of there and into the Buffyverse proper.

Well, there was... I mean... how about... hey, look over there! [MAX runs away]

Let's see... Popeye knows Betty Boop (they danced together in his first cartoon). Betty Boop knows Eddie Valiant from Roger Rabbit. I can't remember whom Eddie meets, but that should be a good start to a connection.

Greg M: After I posted, I realized that I couldn't actually point to a story where Hyperion met Superman. Blast.

Hyperion has met the Avengers who have met Superman

For Asterix:

Snapper knows Superman
Superman met Obelix in an old Action Comics story
Obelix knows ASterix

or

Snapper knows Amazo
Amazo was in Grand Central Station with King Peacock in Top 10
Asterix and Obelix turned up to see King Peacock in the arena

As for Tintin:
Snapper knows the Teen Titans
The Teen Titans know the Brotherhood of Evil
The Brotherhood of Evil met Tintin once in a homage story

Mickey mouse met Bugs Bunny in Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
Superman met the Looney Tunes Gang (and Bugs) in a mini-series some years ago.
Snapper Carr knows Superman

Snapper Carr and Rick Jones have actually met a few times. They had a phone conversation in an issue of "Young Justice", they talked trash at each other during the Captain Marvel/Thor fight in "DC versus Marvel", and they grilled burgers together in "JLA/Avengers". That's half the game right there.

As for Hamlet, can we connect him through Shakespeare, who has had a few dealings with Neil Gaiman's Sandman?

For that matter, can Homer Simpson be counted if he clubbed zombie Shakespeare with the butt of a shotgun in a Halloween Episode?

Dubya is actually an easy one, as is anyone who was featured on the Simpsons.

Dubya knows George Bush Sr. (via Barb's uterus),
George Bush Sr. lived across the street from Homer Simpson (ep. "Two Bad Neighbors", which, incidently, Dubya appeared in, but only as a cardboard cutout),
Homer accidentally created Peter Griffin (ep. "Treehouse of Horror XIII"),
Peter Griffin was saved by Spiderman, because "everybody gets one" (ep. "Let's go to the hop"),
Spiderman knows Batman (various),
Batman knows Snapper Carr. Tada!

Now try Dorothy Zbornak.

Ooh, or far more difficult (but still possible) - Lioness Lola.

A possible useful shortcut: KISS met Howard the Duck, who met Spider man etc.
Gene Simmons shacks up with Shannon Tweed, who used to live at the Playboy Mansion, which opens up all kinds of possibilities, including the John Gardner story where Hef met James Bond.

Here's a hard one: Holden Carver. Unless you count the author... then:

Ed Brubaker co-wrote both Sleeper AND Gotham Central, and Gotham Central has Batman in it.

Any other connections though, character wise?

Excuse me, Brubaker writes Sleeper, and co-writes Gotham Central (just to clarify).

How about Neo? The Nevermen? Jonah Hex? Malcolm Reynolds?

Holden carver exists in the Wildstorm universe. He knows henty Bendix. There has to be a link from Bendix to Majestic, who just wrapped a Superman crossover.
Jonah Hex met Vandal Savage in Batman TAS.

The Nevermen is a stumper. I know of no crossovers.

Sorry: "Henry Bendix."

As if on cue, today's Oddball Comic is "Superman meets the Quik Bunny"
http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/oddball/
More possible shortcuts Re: above posts: The Simpsons met three of the Beatles and Stan Lee. Lisa met G.I. Joe when he tried to woo Malibu Stacy.
Hellboy teamed with Batman. Hellboy fought Rasputin, who knew Hitler in the comic.
Also: Batman fought Spawn, who battle the Heap, who met Airboy, who met everyone else in Eclipse including Miracleman during Total Eclipse.

Okay, okay. Lioness Lola was the cartoon girlfriend of Loony Leo, who later tried to attack Honor Guard, one of whose later members is Samaritan, who appeared in the Shi/Cyblade "Battle for Independence" oneshot (it was really him, he was listed in the credits and had a speaking part), Cyblade is a Wildstorm character who is no more than three degrees away from Majestic, who met Superman, who knows Snapper Carr.

No more than eight degrees.

I'm thinking Lola must show up in Kingdom Hearts somewhere, which links her to other Disney characters who have been Snappered above.

Superman & Batman met Jonah Hex in the last issue of Superman/Batman.

Oh, and I just figured out that I have a Snapper Carr number of four.
I've met Brian Wilson
Brian Wilson knew Jan & Dean
Jan & Dean met Batman (on the album Jan & Dean Meet Batman)
Batman knows Snapper Carr

Carver knows Tao, who served on the WildCATs with Majestic, who's met Superman, who knows Snapper. Four.

So...Buffy goes through Dracula, that's been established. But what about Spike? Can you get it shorter by doing this?

Spike is played by James Marsters.
James Marsters is the voice of Snapper Carr.

I can't help feeling that some amount of exception for James Marsters is in order.

There's some G.I. Joe story (94-98 in the Marvel run, I think) where a team of Joes are hiding out in a newstand before they attack the Cobra Consulate and J. Jonah Jameson bugs them about why they don't have the Daily Bugle. Spiderman works for Jameson. Spiderman knows Supes...etc.

Alternately, G.I. Joe met the Transformers, who crossed over with Spider-Man.

Finally, I think Wolverine referenced "ol' Billy Burroughs" in an issue of the Age of Apocalypse Weapon X.

What about Little Nemo? And the Nemo-esque sequence in Sandman does not count.

Little Nemo's too easy:
Gertie The Dinosaur (another Winsor McKay creation) appeared in the 1992 version of Little Nemo.
Gertie The Dinosaur knew Winsor McKay (she was an animated character who would respond to his commands in live shows)
Winsor McKay knew William Randolph Hearst
Hearst knew Orson Welles
Orson Welles slept with Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe met Lex Luthor in Superman: Red Son

Actually, Superman met Orson Welles once, in "Superman & Orson Welles Defeat The Martians", so the sequence goes Nemo-Gertie-McKay-Hearst-Welles-Superman-Carr...

Jason Marsden is the voice of Snapper Carr, not James Marsters.

Jonny Quest?

The Quest team faced the mummy of Anubis, whose amulet is wielded by Dr. Fate.
Anubis also appeared in Horus: Lord of Light from Alan Moore's 1963 books. At the end of those books the Tommorow Syndicate (including Horus) had been transported to the Image universe. At the time Wildstorm was part of Image, so there is some possible linkage to Majestic, who met Supes.

Race and Dr. Quest also had a custody battle that involved Harvey Birdman.

Yep, so the best (in terms of character versions) chain for Jonny is:

Jonny Quest -> Harvey Birdman
Harvey -> Scooby Doo
Scooby -> Batman
Batman -> Snapper

Dawn? Bone? Concrete? Napoleon Dynamite? Newt Gingrich?

Sorry for the late comment (especially when it's on the origninal post) but Inch-high Private Eye's Snapper Carr number is only 3:

Inch-high was represented by Harvey Birdman;
who sought "young ward" advice from Superfriends-era Batman by calling him at the Hall of Justice;
who knows Snapper Carr.

I'll suggest my favorite:

The lost colony of Roanoke;
was founded by Sir Walter Raleigh;
who met Queen Elizabeth I;
who provided patronage to William Shakespeare;
who has met Gaiman's Sandman;
who has received assistance from Martian Manhunter;
who knows Batman;
who knows Snapper Carr.

The lost colony of Roanoke to Snapper Carr in seven steps. Surely anyone else can be connected...

Newt knows Dubya.
Dubya met Black Panther in Enemy of the State II.
Black Panther and Snapper were in JLA/Avengers.

Heck Roanoke's even easier than that;

Roanoke met Captain America (in 1602)
Captain America met Batman
Batman knows Snapper.

What might be the most frighteningly short paths I've found:

Chiun met Tom DeFalco (Destroyer #3, "Chiun Visits Marvel Comics"), who, if memory serves, met a bunch of Marvel heroes in the cartoons in the annoying "what's out this week" ads that appeared for years. Which gives Chiun a likely Snapper Number of three.

Also, Spiderman's appearance in Bill and Ted's Excellent Comic #8 gives Wyld Stallyns a Snapper Number of three as well.

I find it more fun to do long connections that involve people as varied as possible. Such as:

Godzilla played basketball against Charles Barkley.
Charles Barkley met Jay and Silent Bob in Clerks: The Animated Series.
Jay and Silent Bob met God.
God knows Jesus.
Jesus met Swamp Thing.
Swamp Thing met Batman.
Batman knows Snapper Carr.

QE1 and Raleigh also connect Snapper to Blackadder.

JLA/Avengers is a great shortcut.
It gives you Thor - Conan (in What If?)- Elric - to the rest of the multiverse, including a Tom Strong Moorcock is writing.

This thread suggests that "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" is much more interesting in the pre-Crisis DC multiverse.

Kevin Bacon was in "JFK" with Sissy Spacek.
Sissy Spacek was in "Lonesome Dove" with Ned Beatty.
Ned Beatty was in "Superman: The Movie" with Gregory Reed.
Greg Reed met Superman several times in the late 70s and early 80s.
Superman met Captain Marvel.
Captain Marvel knows Mr. Tawky Tawny.
Mr. Tawky Tawny has a Kevin Bacon number of 6.

"Okay, now do Kevin Bacon to the Earth-2 Kevin Bacon."

Superman knows Jay Garrick.
Jay Garrick fought the Ultra-Humanite.
The Ultra-Humanite's brain was in the body of Dolores Winters.
Dolores Winters appeared in "My Silly Kitten" with Cary Grant.
Cary Grant was in "Charade" with Walter Matthau.
Walter Matthau was not in "JFK" with Kevin Bacon, because the Earth-2 Kevin Bacon works in a law firm and the Earth-2 Superman saved Kennedy, but the Earth-2 Matthau gets his dry cleaning from a guy who once dated the Earth-2 Bacon's college roommate.

Etc.

A better connection to the Conanverse is Spider-Man's team-up with Red Sonja; removes the What If? stigma (and of course Kulan Gath met the X-Men and the Avengers and you can go from there as well).

What about astro-boy?