Counterfeit Flashmen

During my web searches I've encountered any number of books claiming (to varying degrees) descent or inspiration from the Flashman series.

The first is Keith Thompson's Scoundrel!, positing Revolutionary War General James Wilkinson as "the American Flashman."

http://www.amazon.com/Scoundrel-Secret-Memoirs-General-Wilkinson/dp/19 35254634/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_2

This one may actually have potential, inasmuch as Wilkinson is an interesting (real-life) personage and there's no claim of direct Flashy involvement. Plus most of the reviews are positive.

But then I came across this just-published work, Flashman in the Civil War:

http://www.amazon.com/Flashman-Between-States-Barry-Tighe/dp/095630284 X/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_4

And Flashman in the Great War:

http://www.amazon.com/Flashman-In-The-Great-War/dp/1612200338/ref=pd_s im_sbs_b_1

And oddest-sounding of all, Flashman and the Invasion of Iraq:

http://www.amazon.com/Harry-Flashman-Invasion-Iraq-Tayler/dp/072234040 0/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_7

Then awhile ago there was The Carton Chronicles, which cites Sidney Carton from A Tale of Two Cities as Flashman's father.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Carton-Chronicles-curious-Flashmans/dp/19075 23014/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_3

I realize it's unfair to condemn books without reading them, but is there any chance these are more than just fanfiction that somehow got published? Mostly they seem in poor taste.

I guess the counter to this argument is that Fraser lifted Flashman from Tom Brown's Schooldays. Very well.

"Haven't they replaced you with a coin-operated machine yet?"