Gideon Stargrave

Infobox comics character
character_name = Gideon Stargrave


caption =
publisher =
debut = "Near Myths" #3 (1978)
creators = Grant Morrison
alter_ego = King Mob
Gideon Starorzewski
full_name =
species =
homeworld =
alliances = The Invisibles
partners =
supports =
aliases =
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Gideon Stargrave is a comics character created by Grant Morrison in 1978 for the anthology comic "Near Myths."

The character is based on Jerry Cornelius, also Morrison has said he was inspired by J. G. Ballard's "The Day of Forever" [http://homepage.ntlworld.com/fish1000/index/lostcontent/gm-afterimage6-jan88.txt] .

History

The character appeared in issues 3-4 of "Near Myths" in stories written and also drawn by Morrison, before that title was cancelled (Morrison also wrote and drew stories in issues 2 and 5, but they did not contain Stargrave). He made a brief appearance in "Food for Thought" (a British benefit comic to aid Ethiopian famine relief ) in 1985.

The character next made an appearance in Morrison's "The Invisibles" as an alter-ego of King Mob, one of that title's main characters.

In this incarnation, Stargrave is used by King Mob to confuse his enemies during interrogation. Gideon is a '70s spy modelled after James Bond and Jason King who spends every scene he appears in seducing his partner, and is supposedly the main character of King Mob's works as an author. In this sequence, we see not only the actual Stargrave story but King Mob's cover identity (or probable real world identity) as Gideon Starorzewski, who produces his work under the pen name Kirk Morrison.

This ties the real creator (Grant Morrison) in with his various fictional creations (Gideon Stargrave and King Mob/Gideon Starorzewski/Kirk Morrison) and bringing together the various creations in a metafictional conceit. Much of the premise of "The Invisibles" involves the philosophy that language is a perfectly acceptable method of creation so the notion that Gideon Stargrave is a fictional character does not preclude him being also a real person.

Controversy

Although Michael Moorcock has encouraged other authors to use Jerry Cornelius, in a way that borders on open source, he has posted a number of comments about a couple of authors who, he believes, have directly lifted the character. [ [http://www.multiverse.org/fora/showthread.php?t=2853 Discussion of Morrison's work at Moorcock's Miscellany] ] David Gemmell is one author, but he reserves most of his scorn for Morrison:

On June 12 2003:

On March 14 2003:

In the session letter of Invisibles vol 1 #17 Grant Morrison admitted the ho

cquote|Meanwhile as a bafflement reduction experiment I feel that I must explain a little about Gideon Stargrave.Stargrave made his debut in the # 3 of the "ground level" comic Near Myth in December 1978 .The character(...) was inspired by my enthusiasm for the work of J.G.Ballard and Michael Moorcock.As a thinly veiled ripp-off of Moorcock's "Jerry Cornelius" character > [http://www.multiverse.org/imagehive/v/bookcovers/comiccovers/Inspirations/album41/invink1-17.jpg.html]

Notes

References

*comicbookdb|type=character|id=11349|title=Gideon Stargrave

External links

* [http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=78475 King Mob, Gideon Starorzewski and Gideon Stargrave entry at Everything2] , which looks at the links between the characters
* [http://www.barbelith.com/topic/2891 Discussion on the Cornelius/Stargrave links] at Barbelith
* [http://www.barbelith.com/bomb/1_17.htm The Bomb annontations for "The Invisibles" volume 1 #17 in which Stargrave appears]