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Michael Moorcock Brings Back Elric

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Elric Volume 3: The White Wolf (OCT181944) unveils the penultimate chapter in the acclaimed French adaptation of fantasy's great anti-hero, while his two previous adventures The Ruby Throne and Stormbringer are set to receive gorgeously oversized Deluxe Editions!

Titan Comics sat down with legendary writer Michael Moorcock to find out what he thinks of his creation's comic book adventures, and why readers still flock to tales of the Albino Emperor.

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Titan Comics: Elric made his debut more than 50 years ago, and yet he's still attracting new readers today. Do you feel he's timeless, or that he's meant different things to readers across the years?

Michael Moorcock: I think he's always appealed to a particular reader. Maybe someone who isn't satisfied by the standard kind of heroic fantasy.

I tried to capture the spirit of our original myths, and that could be the reason for his longevity. Rather than write in the style and spirit of some of the writers who immediately preceded me, I went back to mainly Scandinavian myths, and to 18th and 19th century Gothic novels, and sometimes even to penny dreadfuls, of which I have a fairly large collection. The Pre-Raphaelites and Symbolist painters were another inspiration.

Titan Comics: You've previously called this French adaptation your favorite version of Elric; why is that? What particularly struck you?

Michael Moorcock: Blondel's scripting is excellent, and the artwork by Robin Recht and Didier Poli is outstanding. That first book blew my mind. The variations of plot introduced by Blonde! were what I might have done if I'd been writing the story today - they mostly involved the stronger motivation given to the major characters.

Titan Comics: How does it feel to read these oversized deluxe editions of The Ruby Throne and Stormbringer?

Michael Moorcock: They're wonderful. About as close to the original artwork as you can get!

Titan Comics: Elric first appeared in comics in the 1970s. What were your first thoughts about the new medium?

Michael Moorcock: I always worked with artists from the very beginning, when Jim Cawthorn and I discussed the stories as I wrote them. The first comic was by Phillipe Druillet, in France, in the 60s. A very different version, since he didn't know English! There were several small press comics in the late 60s and early 70s, one in particular by Robert Gould. I loved those Russell comics, which were as idiosyncratic in their way as Druillet.

I'm very happy that my work inspires so many talented artists. Some inspire me in turn, especially when they capture the plurality of Elric's character; while some work has been outstanding it has made Elric too much of a muscle man. This is someone tormented by inner struggles, unsure which path to follow. In comics, Russell and Recht got that sense best.

Titan Comics: Titan have been collecting Elric and other adaptations under the Michael Moorcock Library banner. How does it feel, to look back at the breadth of material based on your work?

Michael Moorcock: It's wonderful to see them all lined up together. It gives me good sense of everything I've done, and has actually inspired me to write new Elric stories! I' m doing one as we speak!

Titan Comics: What would you say to readers who are coming to your work now, or discovering it afresh?

Michael Moorcock: Don't expect Conan or Lord of the Rings. Elric is darker, more thoughtful. He is forever questioning his world and its institutions, religions and authorities, but from the position of someone who has studied these things and is a great Magus in his own right. His relation with his soul-drinking sword makes him an altogether stranger and more complex character. A lonelier character, too, in many ways. He is based on the young man I was myself.

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ELRIC: STORMBRINGER DELUXE EDITION HARDCOVER (OCT181945)
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