Preview: ‘The Stainless Steel Rat’ Color Omnibus — The Classic Harry Harrison Sci-Fi Epic Gets The Edition It Deserves

by Richard Bruton

From the classic sci-fi novels of the late 1950s comes the late ’70s/early ’80s classic comics adaptation – now collected in a perfect omnibus edition…

The Stainless Steel Rat is a classic sci-fi comedy book series by Harry Harrison, first published in the late ’50s, telling a tale of James Bolivar DiGriz, aka the Stainless Steel Rat, legendary thief and con man, and his adventures in the stars.

Way back in the early years of 2000 AD, It was adapted, quite brilliantly by Kevin Gosnell and Carlos Ezquerra in a series of three books from 1979 to 1985. It was just the sort of tongue-in-cheek sci-fi adventuring that sat perfectly alongside Judge Dredd, Rogue Trooper, Strontium Dog and the rest back then.

It’s a great bit of comedy sci-fi, given new life by Ezquerra’s typically strong artwork, a must-have for fans of both the books and the comic adaptation, lovingly restored, reprinting the Eagle Comics colour series in the mid 80s, and containing the three main Stainless Steel Rat stories, giving us Bolivar’s unusual adventures in time and space dealing with his battles against the Special Corps, his dealings with the beautiful and deadly Angelina, and the overthrowing of an evil President that leads to the Rat becoming a candidate for the highest office himself.

It’s a genuine classic, often overlooked in the history of 2000 AD and rightfully collected in full here.

Here’s the 2000 AD PR for this one:

‘James Bolivar diGriz aka ‘The Stainless Steel Rat’ is many things, including a con man, a thief and a member of an elite law-enforcement agency known as the Special Corps. After escaping the corps, the Rat crosses paths with the beautiful but deadly Angelina. Like Jim diGriz she is also a master criminal, albeit a lot more ruthless. They are a match made in hell!

‘After marrying Angelina, the Rat has to travel through time to stop a master criminal meddling with the past and then later help overthrown an evil President by running for the job himself!

‘A classic from 2000 AD’s first ‘golden age’, Stainless Steel Rat is a must-read for fans of Harrison or old-school sci-fi action with bold characters and a wry twist of humour, complemented by Ezquerra’s dynamic and inimitable artwork.’