A comic by 2000 AD set in a Steampunk Victorian London. The story centers on Detective Valentine Bey and his partner Sergeant Leonard "Len" Chipps as they investigate the titular gangster Stickleback, whose very existence is doubted by their superiors.
Stickleback is a gangster with a second spine and ribcage sticking out of his back due to chemicals his mother was exposed to before he was born. He runs a Ragtag Bunch of Misfits gang including a zombie, a pygmy warrior, a pyrokinetic, and more.
Not to be confused with Graham Annable's Stickleback.
This work provides examples of:
- Ancient Conspiracy: Stickleback claims that a group called the "City Fathers" is threatening the fragile order he's created in London.
- Bigger on the Inside: Rob the Human Bullseye, a member of Buffalo Bill's troupe, isn't actually a person. He's a transport.
- Blow Gun: Tonga's weapon of choice.
- Cat Girl: One of the White Lotus Empress' servants.
- Characters Dropping Like Flies: By the end of London's Burning the entire main crew except for Stickleback and Scarlet are dead. Mr. Tickle is blown up by a self-destructing automaton. Peepers and Lug are killed when Jack and John betray Stickleback. Jack, John, and Bob are killed in a fight onboard an airship. Tonga commits suicide when Bob is killed.
- Chinese Vampire: Used by Shen, a member of Buffalo Bill's troupe.
- Clap Your Hands If You Believe: The Rat Queen gains nourishment from people's love for her. She's reduced to a withered old woman when an army of Lizard Folk kill several of her followers.
- Da Chief: Lime, who dislikes Bey's wild theories about Stickleback but still respects him as a lawman.
- Death by Racism: Gay John doesn't say anything racist until he calls Bob a "darkie deviant" right before his death.
- Decoy Protagonist: Bey is the protagonist for the first book but Stickleback kills him once he leads him to the City Fathers.
- Do Wrong, Right:
- Stickleback deals in drugs, alcohol, and prostitution but takes pride in the fact that his opium is pure, his drinks aren't watered down, and his prostitutes are clean.
- The City Fathers as well. They have total control of the city including the criminal underworld. They believe that the only way to truly control crime is to be a part of it. However, this has only corrupted them.
- Driven to Suicide: Tonga throws himself from Countess Bernoulli's airship after Bob is killed.
- Enemy Mine: Tries to get Detective Bey to join him in fighting the City Fathers.
- Equal-Opportunity Evil: Stickleback's gang include Black Bob (a black zombie), Tonga (a black man with dwarfism), Gay John, Miss Scarlet (a woman), Fiery Jack (disfigured by burns), and Peepers and Lug (conjoined twins).
- Expy: The White Lotus Empress is a Chinese crime lord based out of Limehouse in Victorian England. She's basically a Gender Flip Fu Manchu.
- Fingore: Tonga wears a necklace of severed fingers.
- Half-Breed Discrimination: Detective Bey is mockingly nicknamed the "Dark Detective" due to his biracial heritage.
- Historical Domain Character: Buffalo Bill, Annie Oakley, Lord Byron, Ada Lovelace, and Charles Babbage all appear.
- Historical Villain Upgrade: Buffalo Bill Cody works with a Chinese mystic to steal gems from museums. He also eats a boy who tried to join his show. Subverted because he's actually an imposter and Stickleback knows the real Cody.
- Hypocritical Humor: Stickleback is disgusted by an enemy's use of zombies before apologizing the Black Bob.
- Kavorka Man: Stickleback is a long-nosed, balding hunchback but has had relationships with at least two attractive women.
- King of the Homeless: The Rat Queen runs her own kingdom down in the sewers.
- Kukris are Kool: One of Stickleback's weapons.
- Last of His Kind: Moody is the last surviving child of the Rat Queen after all her other children and followers are slaughtered by sorries.
- Lizard Folk: Professor Challenger's recovery of a dinosaur egg has resulted in a servant class of saurian humanoids nicknamed "sorries".
- Mole in Charge: Lime is one of the City Fathers.
- Neighbourhood-Friendly Gangsters: Stickleback deals in drugs, alcohol, and prostitution but he also claims to make sure poor kids get fed and that men don't abuse their wives.
- "Not So Different" Remark:
- Most of Stickleback's gang are outsiders in some way. He tries to appeal to the biracial Detective Bey as a fellow outsider.
- Lime says this to Bey. Both are officers who grew disillusioned by the mundane brutality of humanity.
- Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: Bey notices that Stickleback's "Rotherhithe by way of Eton and Harrow" accent shifts quite a bit.
- Our Werebeasts Are Different: The Rat Queen is a humanoid creature that can turn into a giant rat (though we never see her do this). She requires the love of her worshipers as nourishment and is weakened and withered when they are killed by sorries.
- Parasol of Pain: Gay John carries an umbrella that conceals a sword.
- Playing with Fire: Fiery Jack's ability.
- Public Domain Character:
- Professor Challenger exists in this world.
- There's a character named Henry who turns into a reptillian monster named Edward Hide (spelled differently because he resents how his gay lover hides him away).
- Stickleback himself is eventually revealed to be Sherlock Holmes.
- Really Gets Around: The Rat Queen has several lovers and has born children with them all. Her daughter Moody uses the surname "Various" because she doesn't know who her biological father is.
- Red Right Hand: Stickleback gets his name from his exposed spine.
- Shared Unusual Trait: The Ratlings, children of Madge the Rat Queen, all have mismatched eyes.
- Shout-Out:
- Bey and Chipps' Starter Villain is a mesmerist named Abdul Alhazred.
- A Chinese mystic working for Buffalo Bill is named Egg Shen.
- Stickleback says he wants "rache", which another character mishears as "Rachel."
- Stickleback answers a phone with "Ahoy-hoy?" much like Mr. Burns, with whom he shares a strong resemblance.
- Skeletons in the Coat Closet: Tongo wears a bone through his nose.
- Spotting the Thread: Stickleback is thrown during a fight and Gay John feels a harness when he catches him. He starts to suspect Stickleback's trademark deformity isn't real.
- Stuffed in the Fridge: After Detective Bey is given incriminating documents about Chief Lime by Stickleback his house is burned down, killing his wife and children.
- The Bus Came Back: At the end of Volume 2, it's revealed that Detective Valentine Bey is alive and has become the new City Father.
- Too Spicy for Yog-Sothoth: Edward Hide refuses to eat a post-resurrection Stickleback as he's not sure what he is.
- Took a Level in Badass: Miss Scarlet, originally just a madam in Stickleback's brothel, became a skilled martial artist while he was gone and she served the White Lotus Empress for five years.
- The Unintelligible: Tongo, who speaks in random sounds from various languages.
- Villainous Friendship: Fiery Jack and Gay John. Black Bob and Tonga.
- Villainous Rescue:
- Stickleback and his men rescue Bey from being murdered by the City Fathers.
- Stickleback's crew is rescued by the White Lotus Empress.