Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is the original title of a novella written by the Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson first published in 1886. The work is commonly known today as The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, or simply Jekyll & Hyde. It is about a London lawyer named Gabriel John Utterson who investigates strange occurrences between his old friend, Dr. Henry Jekyll, and the evil Edward Hyde. The novella's impact is such that it has become a part of the language, with the very phrase "Jekyll and Hyde" coming to mean a person who is vastly different in moral character from one situation to the next.

There have been many audio recordings of the novella, with some of the more famous readers including Tom Baker, Roger Rees, Christopher Lee, Anthony Quayle, Martin Jarvis, Tim Pigott-Smith, John Hurt, Ian Holm and Gene Lockhart.

Inspiration and writing

Stevenson had long been intrigued by the idea of how personalities can affect a human and how to incorporate the interplay of good and evil into a story. While still a teenager, he developed a script for a play about Deacon Brodie, which he later reworked with the help of W. E. Henley and was produced for the first time in 1882. In early 1884 he wrote the short story "Markheim", which he revised in 1884 for publication in a Christmas annual. One night in late September or early October 1885, possibly while he was still revising "Markheim," Stevenson had a dream, and upon wakening had the intuition for two or three scenes that would appear in the story. Biographer Graham Balfour quoted Stevenson's wife Fanny Stevenson:

Dr. Henry Jekyll and his alternative personality, Mr Edward Hyde, is a fictional character in Robert Louis Stevenson's 1886 novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

Fictional character biography

Dr. Henry Jekyll is a "large, well-made, smooth-faced man of fifty with something of a slyish cast", who occasionally feels he is battling between the good and evil within himself, thus leading to the struggle between his dual personalities of Jekyll and Edward Hyde. He has spent a great part of his life trying to repress evil urges that were not fitting for a man of his stature. He creates a serum, or potion, in an attempt to mask this hidden evil within his personality. However, in doing so, Jekyll transforms into Mr. Hyde, a hideous, evil creature without compassion or remorse. Jekyll has many friends and has a friendly personality, but as Hyde, he becomes mysterious and violent. As time goes by, Hyde grows in power. After taking the potion repetitively, he no longer relies upon it to unleash his inner demon i.e., his alter ego. Eventually, Hyde grows to be stronger than Jekyll.

Mister Hyde (Calvin Zabo) is a fictional character, a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.

Publication history

Mister Hyde first appeared in Journey into Mystery #99 and was created by Stan Lee and Don Heck. Mister Hyde based upon the literary character by Robert Louis Stevenson.

He has appeared as a regular character in Thunderbolts since issue #157, and remained with the team after the title transitioned into Dark Avengers beginning with issue #175.

Fictional character biography

The Byrds /ˈbɜːrdz/ were an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964. The band underwent multiple line-up changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) remaining the sole consistent member, until the group disbanded in 1973. Although they only managed to attain the huge commercial success of contemporaries like the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Rolling Stones for a short period (1965–66), the Byrds are today considered by critics to be one of the most influential bands of the 1960s. Initially, they pioneered the musical genre of folk rock, melding the influence of the Beatles and other British Invasion bands with contemporary and traditional folk music. As the 1960s progressed, the band was also influential in originating psychedelic rock, raga rock, and country rock.

The band's signature blend of clear harmony singing and McGuinn's jangly twelve-string Rickenbacker guitar has continued to be influential on popular music up to the present day. Among the band's most enduring songs are their cover versions of Bob Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man" and Pete Seeger's "Turn! Turn! Turn! (to Everything There Is a Season)", along with the self-penned originals, "I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better", "Eight Miles High", "So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star", "Ballad of Easy Rider" and "Chestnut Mare".

The Byrds is a four-CD box set by the American rock band The Byrds that was released on October 19, 1990 by Columbia/Legacy. The compilation comprises 90 tracks and covers the band's career from 1965 to 1971 (a period when they were signed to Columbia Records) in roughly chronological order, but excludes material from their 1973 reunion album Byrds, which was released on Asylum Records. The box set also includes six songs performed by a reunited line-up of The Byrds, featuring original members Roger McGuinn, David Crosby, and Chris Hillman. Of these six songs, two were recorded live at the Roy Orbison Tribute Concert on February 24, 1990 and four are new studio recordings dating from August 1990. The two other original members of The Byrds, Gene Clark and Michael Clarke, who were both still living in 1990, did not participate in the reunion.

At the time of its release, The Byrds was the first box set by a defunct rock act to be issued by Columbia Records. The compilation includes a number of rare and previously unreleased songs, many of which were later included as bonus tracks on the remastered editions of the band's individual albums. Of special interest to fans of both The Byrds and country rock pioneer Gram Parsons, was the inclusion of six previously unreleased tracks from the recording sessions of The Byrds' 1968 album, Sweetheart of the Rodeo. Of these unreleased tracks, the versions of "The Christian Life", "You Don't Miss Your Water", and "One Hundred Years from Now" featured their original Parsons' lead vocals, which had been removed and replaced by McGuinn and Hillman prior to the release of the album. In the years since Sweetheart of the Rodeo was issued, these "lost" Parsons' vocals had become near-legendary among fans of the band and their inclusion on The Byrds provided a major selling point for the box set.

The Byrds were an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964. The term was also the name of several eponymous albums:

See also