''Michael Moorcock's Multiverse'' is an American twelve-issue

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

limited series In the field of comic books, and particularly in the United States, a limited series is a comics series with a predetermined number of issues. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues is finite and determined ...

published in

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

as a part of the short-lived

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

imprint

Helix A helix (; ) is a shape like a cylindrical coil spring or the thread of a machine screw. It is a type of smooth space curve with tangent lines at a constant angle to a fixed axis. Helices are important in biology, as the DNA molecule is for ...

. It was later collected as a single edition

graphic novel A graphic novel is a self-contained, book-length form of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and Anthology, anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comics sc ...

. Written by

Michael Moorcock Michael John Moorcock (born 18 December 1939) is an English writer, particularly of science fiction and fantasy, who has published a number of well-received literary novels as well as comic thrillers, graphic novels and non-fiction. He has wo ...

, each monthly issue contained a chapter from three separate storylines featuring distinct groups of characters lifted from Moorcock's sprawling ''

Eternal Champion The Eternal Champion is a fictional character created by British author Michael Moorcock and is a recurrent feature in many of his speculative fiction works. General overview Many of Moorcock's novels and short stories take place in a shared ...

'' novels. A different artist illustrated each story: Walter Simonson for ''Moonbeams and Roses'', Mark Reeve for ''The Metatemporal Detective'' and John Ridgway for ''Duke Elric''. Whilst each story depicted an independent series of events set across different locations and time-lines, by the conclusion of the title the three plot threads had converged in a logical manner centred on their mutual search for the ''Silverskin'', an enigmatic underworld crime figure and recurring protagonist from Moorcock's novels. Despite a positive reception in comparison with other Helix titles, critics remarked that the title was not the best introduction to Moorcock's work.

Synopsis of plotlines

Each of the three tales is set within a distinct aspect of the

multiverse The multiverse is the hypothetical set of all universes. Together, these universes are presumed to comprise everything that exists: the entirety of space, time, matter, energy, information, and the physical laws and constants that describ ...

that Moorcock has built up over four decades in his novels and short stories about the ''

'': The first tale, I: ''Moonbeams and Roses'', is set in the ''Terminal Cafe'', in present-day

Biloxi, Mississippi Biloxi ( ; ) is a city in Harrison County, Mississippi, United States. It lies on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast in southern Mississippi, bordering the city of Gulfport, Mississippi, Gulfport to its west. The adjacent cities ar ...

where Jack Karaquazian indulges in meta-universal games of chance with an assortment of leading characters from the Moorcock novels, together with Moorcock himself, and later, artist Walter Simonson. Somewhat impenetrable, the story tracks the adventures of Rose, who originally appeared in the novel ''The Revenge of the Rose'' (1991) and Sam Oakenhurst, hero of ''Blood'' (1995) and subsequent novels as their progress towards Silverskin is manipulated at each turn by the unseen players of the Game. II: ''The Metatemporal Detective'' is set in the inter-war period and follows Sir Seaton Begg and his off-sider Dr Taffy Sinclair from the eponymous novel sleuthing an array of crimes

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a Detective fiction, fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a "Private investigator, consulting detective" in his stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with obser ...

-style, including the murder of

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

's incestuous girlfriend and niece. The final tale III: ''Duke Elric'' features the popular albino emperor

Elric of Melniboné Elric of Melniboné is a fictional character created by English writer Michael Moorcock and the protagonist of a series of sword and sorcery stories taking place on an alternative Earth. The proper name and title of the character are Elric VI ...

displaced from his fantastical world and transported to the Europe and the Middle East of 1000 AD. Here he pursues a quest to uncover certain artifacts which will allow him freedom to confront King Silverskin and to return to his home world. The three plotlines converge in a single narrative in the final issue of the title, ''The Harmonies of Chaos'' (drawn by Walter Simonson) as Elric confronts the Silverskin and its connection to Moorcock's multiverse is revealed.

Collected editions

* ''Michael Moorcock's Multiverse'' (by

, 1999, 288 pages, )

References

External links

* {{Michael Moorcock 1997 comics debuts Comics based on fiction DC Comics limited series Fantasy books by series Helix (comics) titles Novels by Michael Moorcock Comics about parallel universes Science fiction comics