The Stainless Steel Rat by Harry Harrison
Eagle Comics - 1985
Issues 1-6
Characters
James Bolivar diGriz
The Stainless Steel Rat is anti-hero James Bolivar diGriz, who goes by many aliases, including "Slippery Jim" and "The Stainless Steel Rat". He is a futuristic con man, thief and all-round rascal. He is charming and quick-witted, a master of disguise and martial arts, an accomplished bank robber, an expert on breaking and entering, and (perhaps most usefully) a skilled liar. A master of self-rationalization, the Rat frequently justifies his crimes by arguing that he is providing society with entertainment; and besides which, he only steals from institutions which have insurance coverage. He displays a strong morality, albeit in a much more restricted sense than is traditional. (For example, he will happily steal, but deplores killing.)
...We must be as stealthy as rats in the wainscoting of their society. It was easier in the old days, of course, and society had more rats when the rules were looser, just as old wooden buildings have more rats than concrete buildings. But there are rats in the building now as well. Now that society is all ferrocrete and stainless steel there are fewer gaps in the joints. It takes a very smart rat indeed to find these openings. Only a stainless steel rat can be at home in this environment...
The character was introduced in Harrison's short story, The Stainless Steel Rat, which was first published in 1957 in Astounding magazine. The story introduces the Rat, who has just carried out a successful larceny operation, and subsequently details a complex bank robbery which the Rat pulls off with ease. However, he is outfoxed by the mysterious "Special Corps" — a crime-fighting organisation staffed with former criminals — and recruited by them in order to fight crime. Harrison used the story, with minor modifications, as the introduction to the series' first full-length novel, also called The Stainless Steel Rat. Like other characters created by Harrison, the Rat is a speaker of Esperanto and advocates atheism.
Angelina diGriz
She is a criminal mastermind much like the Rat, only less ethical and more willing to kill. As the Rat's first case for the Special Corps, he tracks Angelina down and ends up falling in love with her. After her capture, she undergoes psycho surgery (not to be mistaken for "psychic surgery") to considerably lessen her homicidal tendencies and joins the Corps; during that time she begins a relationship with the Rat that ends with them marrying in the last trimester of her pregnancy. She later assists on many of the Rat's adventures. While she is no longer a heartless killer, her suppressed homicidal tendencies occasionally come out, especially when she sees another woman in close proximity to her husband.
James and Bolivar diGriz
They are the twin sons of the Rat and Angelina. The Rat missed the first six years of their life because of his adventures in time, but they share their father's attitudes and many of his skills. They end up marrying the same woman, who falls in love with both of them and gets herself duplicated into two identical women sharing one mind.
Harold Peters Inskipp
He is the director of the Special Corps and one of the most powerful men in the Galaxy. He recruits the Rat, but is frequently infuriated by his insubordinate attitude and tendency to "go rogue" and commit independent crimes for sheer enjoyment. Ironically, the Special Corps is composed almost entirely of former criminals—Inskipp himself was a legendary fugitive known as "Inskipp the Uncatchable" before becoming the Corps' commander.
Professor Coypu
He is a Special Corps boffin who had developed a Time Helix device permitting time travel as well as a portal to alternate realities. He also has a great deal of general scientific knowledge. He sent a copy of his mind with the Rat on his excursion to the 20th century. Coypu himself is rarely described apart from having prominent buck teeth - a trait he shares with his namesake, the Coypu, or nutria.
The Bishop
The Bishop was a master criminal on Bit O'Heaven, the Stainless Steel Rat's home planet. He was a lot less physical in his capers than Jim, he focused a great deal on computer crime, but also undertook robberies, always leaving as his calling card a picture of the bishop chess piece. He retired from crime before Jim was born, and Jim only learnt of his existence from a fellow prisoner while briefly in jail. Jim then contacted The Bishop by using his calling card in a robbery, however as a result The Bishop was forced out of retirement when he underestimated the Police's computer security systems after running a check on Jim himself. The Bishop eventually became Jim's mentor and taught him a great deal about their trade, as well as a code of ethics. Eventually Jim and The Bishop had to leave Bit O'Heaven and on their first off-planet adventure The Bishop was killed. As a parting gift he left Jim a note that he signed with his real name, although the name is not revealed to the reader.
The Kekkonshiki
Also known as "The Gray Men", they are a human subculture who prefer domination to coexistence. Their expertise lies in using technology to manipulate sentient minds, and have manipulated both humans and aliens on a grand scale. Jim has experienced one of their techniques (in which a gray man agent seemingly severs his hands with an axe; this was an illusion). Jim has knowingly opposed them on two separate occasions (The Stainless Steel Rat's Revenge & The Stainless Steel Rat Wants You) however during conversation it is revealed by Kome that prior to The Stainless Steel Rat Wants You Jim has in fact thwarted their plans twice already, making this their third encounter. The text can also be read to say that the second time he thwarted their plans was with the alien invasion so the third encounter also happened during The Stainless Steel Rat Wants You when Jim invaded their home planet. They live on a harsh, icy world; this existence forced them to eliminate all emotion from their culture. This society is also completely patriarchal, with women being treated as nothing more than property. (Incidentally "Kekkonshiki" is the romanization of the Japanese word for "Marriage Ceremony" 結婚式.)
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