“Blood of the Centipede” is the second book-length appearance of Chuck Miller‘s character The Black Centipede. The first one, “Creeping Dawn: The Rise of the Black Centipede,” served as an origin story for the character.
I recommend you read the first before this one. You’ll have a better understanding of the character, and his link to two of the other characters in this story. Some shorter stories have appeared in Pro Se Presents, Pro Se Press‘s monthly digest ‘zine.
And Chuck has exploring his Black Centipede character and the world he lives in on his blog.
Overall, the Black Centipede is a mixture of crime/pulp hero/weird menace character. Real characters from the period (William Randolph Hearst, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Amelia Earhart, Fatty Arbuckle, Albert Einstein, Aleister Crowley, and others) are mixed in, along with fictitious characters and places.
With this story, set in 1933 after the first one, has the Centipede in Hollywood dealing with a movie based on him called “Blood of the Centipede,” written by his pulp biographer and directed by Arbuckle. While there, the Centipede is accompanied by Earhart at the bequest of FDR, whom the Centipede saved from assassination.
But the Centipede must deal with a new menace: Jack the Ripper, who is helped by the mysterious White Centipede and the Black Centipede Eater. While he defeats the White Centipede, he doesn’t learn who/what he is, and hints at the end of the story indicate he will return to plague the Black Centipede and the world in the future. We are also introduced to some new characters in the world of the Centipede: Doctor Unknown and Doctor Unknown, Junior, Vionna Valis and Mary Jane Kelly, the Blue Candiru (some have appeared in short stories, and I am sure they will appear in future stories as well).
As noted, there are three Black Centipede related short stories that have appeared in Pro Se Presents so far, and a new story being serialized on his blog, so should see more stories of the Centipede and the others. Can’t wait.
