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Bryan Talbot (1952- ) was born in Wigan, Lancashire and after completing his education at Preston Polytechnic with an LISA in Graphic Design he worked in the UK underground press, creating his Brainstorm Comix. In 1978, Bryan began work on the first British graphic novel, The Adventures Of Luther Arkwright, which was to take over ten years to complete as Bryan faced the commercial realities of producing comics for adults. During that time Bryan produced commercial comics, most notably Nemesis The Warlock for 2000AD. "I always try and do my best, whether it's commercial work or my own work. I throw myself into my own work a lot more, I spend more time thinking about it and dreaming about it. It takes me over." Despite working on corporate owned characters, Bryan's Batman: Mask story earned him a nomination for the comic industry's most prestigious awards, The Eisners. However, the book which would finally win him that award in 1996 was to be The Tale Of One Bad Rat, the dramatic story about the victim of child abuse. "The only unrealistic part of the book is that she gets over it so quickly. I've had quite a few letters from people who've been abused. They're quite touching. A lot of people have said they read it when they're depressed. It cheers them up. They like reading an optimistic story about child abuse." In 1999, Bryan returned to the parallel worlds of Luther Arkwright with a sequel, Heart Of Empire, set 23 years later dealing with the legacy of Luther Arkwright on the world. Although less experimental in nature, it is an equally enticing read and as Bryan explained, "There's a ticking clock to the whole thing. The first page says 'Seven days to cataclysm' and then within fifteen pages it's 'four days to cataclysm.' The last five chapters are all in the last 24 hours, as it gets faster and faster toward the end. Usually when you read an adventure story they're pretty dumb and the plots are full of holes. I wanted to write an adventure story which was rich and deep but still had a strong narrative drive and excited different things, visual sense, erotic sense, humour, adventure, all sorts of stuff." Interviews: Web Comic: Resources: |
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ESSENTIAL READING: |
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"It would be easy to simply categorise The
Tale Of One Bad Rat as a fine fiction about overcoming
the effects of abuse. And it is that, but it's more than that:
it's a lovingly crafted story about, in the end, the meaning
and value of fiction and art, about what we take from the past,
and what we bring to the future. With it, Bryan Talbot moves
into the front rank of writer/artists." |
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"Ambitious, dense, exciting, stimulating, Arkwright is
a tightly etched vision of the other side of Now presented by
a master craftsman." "For me, the heart of the strip's appeal lies in its relentless
experimentation. While remaining lucid, it explores as wide a
range of graphic storytelling techniques as you're likely to
find between soft covers these days. That it accomplishes this
with such visual power and charm is an added bonus." |
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"Other than the obvious delights that Heart
Of The Empire offers in terms of your art and storytelling,
it's a wonderful, compelling narrative. The mad, socio-historical
satire that has always formed the backbone of your Arkwright work
has never been more pointed or accurate." |
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Books: Short Stories In: CD-ROM: Periodicals: |
