- Monsieur Zenith
-
Monsieur Zenith the Albino is an ambiguous villain created by writer Anthony Skene for the "Sexton Blake" series of detective pulp fiction.Zenith is an albinistic, world-weary gentleman thief, originally Romanian nobility but in exile for undetermined reasons. He is full of an ennui which can only be relieved by opium, danger and adventure. Zenith sets himself against Blake not out of avarice but for the joy of the game, and treats Blake with sportsmanship rather than anger or hatred.
Zenith is influenced as much by the anti-heroes of Gothic fiction as he is by the master villains of 20th century pulp fiction, notably Fantômas. Zenith remains one of Blake's most popular adversaries.
M. Zenith was an important influence in the creation of the fantasy character Elric of Melniboné. Elric's creator Michael Moorcock in turn influenced the re-publication of Skene's stories in Monsieur Zenith: The Albino (ISBN 0861301099), for which he wrote an introduction,[1] and reused the characters in The Metatemporal Detective.
A new collection of Zenith short stories from Obverse Books, with contributions from Sexton Blake scholar, Mark Hodder, in addition to noted fans Michael Moorcock and George Mann was announced for the end of 2011.[2][3][4]
Other uses
- Zenith is briefly mentioned in Kim Newman's novel Dracula Cha Cha Cha as a possible leader of anti-vampire murders in Rome.
- Zenith appears in Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill's The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier as a member of Les Hommes Mysterieux, a French version of Britain's League.
Footnotes
External links
- Moorcock's Miscellany (formerly Tanelorn, Multiverse.org & Moorcock's Weekly Miscellany)
- Jess Nevins' Zenith the Albino Page
Categories:- Fictional characters with albinism
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
