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Stickleback (comics)

Stickleback
Stickleback by D'Israeli.jpg
Stickleback himself, on the cover of 2000 AD Prog #1525 (Feb 2007)
Character information
First appearance 2000 AD Prog 2007 (December 2006) (2006)
Created by Ian Edginton
D'Israeli
Publication information
Publisher Rebellion Developments
Schedule Weekly
Formats Original material for the series has been published as a strip in the comics anthology(s) 2000 AD.
Genre
Publication date 2006 – present
Main character(s) Stickleback
Detective Valentine Bey
Creative team
Writer(s) Ian Edginton
Artist(s) D'Israeli
Letterer(s) Ellie De Ville
Creator(s) Ian Edginton
D'Israeli
Editor(s) Tharg (Matt Smith)
Reprints
Collected editions
Stickleback ISBN

Stickleback is the eponymous title character of a steampunk comic series created by Ian Edginton and D'Israeli appearing in UK comics anthology 2000 AD. Described by his author as a "bad guy," Stickleback is cast initially as a Moriarty-type figure, "The Pope of Crime[, who] secretly presides over the criminal fraternity of a fantastical, grotesque, Gormenghast-style old London town."

The artist has stated that Stickleback takes place in the same universe as Ian Edginton and Steve Yeowell (and Mike Collins)'s The Red Seas.

The series currently consists of three serials (and one single-parter), starting with double - ten page - features in the end of year special issues of 2006, 2007 and 2009, and were then serialised in five page instalments. The first two stories were collected into a trade paperback in August 2008.

A festive one-off in the 2008 end of year special, "Twas the Fight Before Christmas," was drawn by new artist I. N. J. Culbard, who has worked with Edginton on two graphic novel adaptations of books for Self Made Hero.

Although the title character, Stickleback does not appear in the series immediately, instead ceding the limelight to main character Detective Valentine Bey, and his assistant Sgt. Leonard Chipps. When he makes his appearance, Stickleback (whose true name and origin are only hinted at throughout) is accompanied by a "coterie of freakish compatriots."

Bey and Chipps do not return for the second story, which revolves around Lovecraftian goings-on at Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Circus.

The main characters include:

Throughout the Stickleback episodes, artist D'Israeli includes nods both overt and sly to a variety of steampunk, Victoriana and other characters and objects. These are noted by the artist on his Blog, and include Gog and Magog, various Cthulhu/Lovecraft characters and tropes; Nigel Kneale's Kinvig; Doctor Who (in particular the serial "The Dæmons" (1971)) and British television series such as Only Fools and Horses, Steptoe and Son and Dixon of Dock Green.


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Wikipedia

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