The Unseen Grant Morrison - Gideon Stargrave in... Famine

Post date: May 02, 2012 8:10:8 PM

Inspired in equal parts by J.G. Ballard's The Day of Forever and Michael Moorcock's Jerry Cornelius stories, free-wheeling time-hopping mod secret agent Gideon Stargrave appeared in some of Grant's earliest work in the Scottish underground anthology Near Myths, alongside fellow Cornelius-a-like Luther Arkwright. One complete story was published, the two-part 'The Vatican Conspiracy' In Near Myths #3-4, and another, 'The Entropy Concerto', was completed (script-wise at least; sources differ as to whether Morrison ever finished drawing it) though never published. Stargrave returned for a final bow in The Invisibles arc 'Entropy in the UK', his ludicrous tales of derring-do functioning as a sort of backup personality for King Mob whilst under interrogation.

Stargrave made one more rarely seen appearance - presented here for your reading edification - in Gary Spencer Millidge's Food For Thought anthology, a Live Aid-inspired benefit comic for the 1985 Ethiopian famine. Though Millidge had arranged a distribution deal through Titan, it fell through and he ended up distributing the comics himself through the post to fulfill orders. As a result there are very few copies in circulation these days. Given that it also features some of Warren Ellis' earliest work and a short tale by Alan Moore, its become a red hot collectors item and commands a premium sum on the rare occassion a copy comes up for sale.

Thanks to Bob Temuka over at the awesome Tearoom of Despair for swapping me his copy for a bunch of random 2000 A.D.'s. Click the pictures for the (much) bigger version. 'Gideon Stargrave in... Famine' is copyright Grant Morrison. If anyone has a problem with it being here please let me know.