Catastroika. Charles Rammelkamp

      Foreword

      Grigory Rasputin is an endlessly fascinating character. Apart from his role in Russian history, which has constantly been revised, revisited, reconsidered, the many works of historical analysis in which he figures, Rasputin is a ubiquitous figure in popular culture. The Rasputin character appears in operas, plays, comics, novels, songs and video games: he’s everywhere. He’s been played by John Belushi in a Saturday Night Live sketch, Alan Rickman in an HBO film, Gerard Depardieu in a French-Russian collaboration, Raspoutine. He’s the villain in 2004’s Hellboy. He’s appeared in an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer as a demon, and as a sorcerer who sells his soul for power in the Disney animation, Anastasia. He’s even the title figure in a 1970’s disco song, “Rasputin,” by the German band, Boney M, a number