Jerry Cornelius

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One of the most popular inhabitants of Michael Moorcock's Multiverse was Jerry Cornelius, a kind of hip secret agent of ambiguous and occasionally polymorphous sexuality; the same characters featured in each of several Cornelius books, though the individual books had little connection with one another, having a more metafictional than causal relationship to one another. The first Jerry Cornelius book, The Final Programme was made into a feature film starring Jon Finch and Jenny Runacre.

The series draws plot elements from Moorcock's Elric series, as well as the Commedia dell'arte. Moorcock hints in many places that Cornelius may be an aspect of the Eternal Champion. Characters from the Cornelius novels show up in much of Moorcock's other fiction: for example, Moorcock's Dancers at the End of Time series has a character called Jherek Carnelian; Una Persson appears in the Dancers series, the Oswald Bastable books, and possibly as Oona in the latest Elric books; and Colonel Pyat has his own non-SF series of books by Moorcock, beginning with Byzantium Endures. The location of Notting Hill in London features prominently.

Moorcock encouraged other authors and artists to create works about Jerry Cornelius, in a sort of early open source attempt at open brand sharing. One example is Norman Spinrad's The Last Hurrah of the Golden Horde; another is Mœbius's The Airtight Garage. (Although in the case of this work he later retroactively withdrew the permission, meaning that later reprints of The Airtight Garage rename the protagonist.) The Nature of the Catastrophe, a collection of Jerry Cornelius stories and comic strips which had appeared in the International Times (with art by Mal Dean) by various hands, was published in 1971. It includes works by Moorcock himself, James Sallis, Brian Aldiss, Langdon Jones, M. John Harrison, Alex Krislov and Maxim Jakubowski.

Contents

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Notable characters

  • Jerry Cornelius - secret agent, superhero, adventurer, all things to all men (and women). A figure of almost complete anarchy. Typically destroys repressive authority. Later exposed as a false Harlequin, a tragic Pierrot at heart, or simply an adolescent fantasy.
  • Miss Brunner - Jerry's opposite. Representing stifling authority. Also follows a more mystical path than Jerry's fatalistic realism.
  • Bishop Beesley - Endlessly corrupt gluttonous villain. Thirsts for power, money, pleasure.
  • Una Persson - A female version of Jerry, even to the extent of being Catherine's lover. In The Condition of Muzak she is revealed to be a true Harlequin.
  • Catherine Cornelius - Jerry's sister and incestuous lover. Usually dies tragically. Often pregnant by Jerry. In some stories, a masochistic figure.
  • Major Nye - a retired British Army officer, participant in secret missions, and Una Persson's sometime lover.
  • Colonel Pyat - a Russian emigre officer, also a sometime lover of Una Persson.
  • Professor Hira - occasionally another of Jerry's lover. Counterpart to Jerry's character, always calm and in control. Maybe it is what Jerry aspires to?
  • Frank Cornelius - Jerry's scheming brother, Cain to Jerry's Abel. Usually killed by Jerry, but always returns.
  • Mrs. Cornelius - Fat, libidinous, foul-mouthed mother to Frank, Jerry and Catherine. The quintessential urban survivor, a modern Mother Courage.
  • 'Shaky' Mo Collier - A companion on many adventures, and also supplier of many and varied drugs to almost everyone. He almost acts as Jerry's right hand man always there when needed, although somewhat unreliable in execution of tasks. (Created by M. John Harrison, rather than Moorcock.)
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Bibliography

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Novels

  • The Final Programme
  • A Cure for Cancer
  • The English Assassin
  • The Condition of Muzak
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Collections

  • The Lives and Times of Jerry Cornelius
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Associated Novels

  • The Adventures of Una Persson and Catherine Cornelius in the Twentieth Century
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Novellas

  • The Entropy Tango
  • The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle (a.k.a. Gold Diggers of '77). Ties the Sex Pistols in with the Cornelius mythos.
  • The Alchemist's Question
  • Firing the Cathedral
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Shorter fiction

  • "The Peking Junction"
  • "The Delhi Division"
  • "The Tank Trapeze"
  • "The Nature of the Catastrophe"
  • "The Swastika Set-up"
  • "The Sunset Perspective"
  • "Sea Wolves"
  • "Voortrekker"
  • "Dead Singers" (not to be confused with the non-Jerry Cornelius story of the same title)
  • "The Longford Cup"
  • "The Entropy Circuit"
  • "The Entropy Tango"
  • "The Murderer's Song"
  • "The Gangrene Collection"
  • "The Roumanian Question"
  • "The Dodgem Decision" (vt "The Dodgem Division", "The Dodgem Arrangement")
  • "All the Way Round Again" (vt "The Enigma Windows")
  • "Cheering for the Rockets" [1]
  • "The Spencer Inheritance" [2]
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Comics

  • "The Adventures of Jerry Cornelius" (or "The English Assassin"), co-written with M. John Harrison and illustrated by Mal Dean
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Film Adaptations

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Musical Adaptations

  • "Needle Gun" by Hawkwind (The Chronicle Of The Black Sword, 1985)
  • "Veteran of the Psychic Wars" by Blue Öyster Cult (Heavy Metal: Music From The Motion Picture, 1981)
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See also

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External links

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