Zenith or Zodiac?

[Kamelion]

I'm reading "The Affair of the Seven Virgins" in Fabulous Harbours and Monsieur Zenith has just made his appearance. I thought that I had seen him before in "Sir Milk and Blood", so had a look there, but the character is named Monsieur Zodiac in the Earl Aubec collection that contains that story, as well as in Tales from the Texas Woods.

However, in the version of "Sir Milk and Blood" that appears in Pawn of Chaos, he is called Monsieur Zenith after all.

I'm familiar with the inspiration for Elric that came from the old Zenith the Albino character and the multiverse is a fluid place and I'm quite happy to chalk it up to bubbles in the megaflow - but I did wonder if there was an "author's preferred version" of the name for the character in "Sir Milk and Blood". Are Zodiac and Zenith the same fellow in this instance?

[Sexton Blake]

Neither Zenith nor Zodiac

My Dear Sir,

The individual to whom you refer - a criminal of the highest order - is neither Zenith nor Zodiac, though he has used both names and more. An Eastern European nobleman - called by some a prince - his true identity has always remained a mystery and despite my every effort to cast the light of truth upon him, he forever remains a pale blur in the shadows.

Zenith, Zodiac, whatever he might choose to be known as, is a scoundrel who, cursed by albinoism, chooses to remain an outcast from decent society. It is true, yes, that some remnant of nobilty flickers in his dark heart; he has saved my life on many an occasion, as I have saved his, though we remain the bitterest of foes... but, nevertheless, the day must come when justice will have its way. Across the endless planes of the multiverse, an end is nigh: the day will come when I, Sexton Blake, or perhaps Seaton Begg, or even that buffon Septic Flake, will serve Zenith, Zodiac or whomever, his just deserts.

[Michael Moorcock]

Prince Zoran Badehof-Krasny, hereditary prince of Waldenstein, whose old seat was in Mirenburg, left Yugo-Slavia some time around 1918, shortly after the end of WW2, turning up in London soon after. From around 1919 until 1941, when he was apparently killed in a collapsing house, he and Blake crossed swords, sometimes literally. During WW2 he led a group of guerillas against the Nazis. Some of this information, and his association with Elric of Melnibone, is to be found in various stories, especially the forthcoming THE METATEMPORAL DETECTIVE, which collects all his conflicts with Sir Seaton Begg, believed to be the fictional name of Sexton Blake. He has appeared in Fabulous Harbours, Michael Moorcock's Multiverse and various other stories and some are convinced he is actually Elric the Albino living his Thousand Year Dream on the dream couches of Melnibone. Again more of this will be explained in the above-named book due from Pyr next year.

[Governor of Rowe Island]

That strikes a chord. Would he also be known as 'The Mongol' Mike?

'The Mongol' is a character in 'The Vengeance Of Rome.'

[Kamelion]

Prince Zoran Badehof-Krasny, hereditary prince of Waldenstein, whose old seat was in Mirenburg, left Yugo-Slavia some time around 1918, shortly after the end of WW2, turning up in London soon after. From around 1919 until 1941, when he was apparently killed in a collapsing house, he and Blake crossed swords, sometimes literally. During WW2 he led a group of guerillas against the Nazis. Some of this information, and his association with Elric of Melnibone, is to be found in various stories, especially the forthcoming THE METATEMPORAL DETECTIVE, which collects all his conflicts with Sir Seaton Begg, believed to be the fictional name of Sexton Blake. He has appeared in Fabulous Harbours, Michael Moorcock's Multiverse and various other stories and some are convinced he is actually Elric the Albino living his Thousand Year Dream on the dream couches of Melnibone. Again more of this will be explained in the above-named book due from Pyr next year.

Thanks! I've just finished the Second Ether trilogy and am reading Tales from the Texas Woods before diving into the Multiverse comic, so he has been cropping up all over the place. A fascinating character and I'll be sure to snag a copy of the Metatemporal Detective when it appears. The idea that he is Elric on the dream-couches is marvellous .