Bryan Talbot
Encyclopedia
Bryan Talbot is a British comic book artist
and writer
, born in Wigan, Lancashire, in 1952. He is best known as the creator of The Adventures of Luther Arkwright
and its sequel Heart of Empire
.
scene of the late 1960s. In 1969 his first work appeared as illustrations in Mallorn, the British Tolkien Society magazine, followed in 1972 by a weekly strip in his college newspaper
.
He continued in the scene after leaving college, producing Brainstorm Comix, the first three of which formed The Chester P. Hackenbush Trilogy (a character reworked by Alan Moore
as Chester Williams for Swamp Thing
).
He started The Adventures of Luther Arkwright
in 1978. It was originally published in Near Myths
and continued on over the years in other publications. It was eventually collected together into one volume by Dark Horse
. Along with When the Wind Blows it is one of the first British graphic novel
s.
In the early to mid-eighties he provide art for some of 2000 ADs flagship serials, producing 3 series of Nemesis the Warlock
, as well as strips for Judge Dredd
and Sláine
.
The Tale of One Bad Rat
deals with recovery from childhood sexual abuse
.
Talbot moved to the American market in the 1990s, principally for DC
, on titles like Hellblazer
, Sandman and Batman
. He also produced the art for The Nazz by Tom Veitch
and worked with Tom's brother Rick Veitch
on Teknophage, one of a number of mini-series
he drew for Tekno Comix
.
Talbot has illustrated cards for the Magic: The Gathering
collectible card game.
He has also illustrated Bill Willingham
's Fables, as well as returning to the Luther Arkwright universe with Heart of Empire
. He has also worked on The Dead Boy Detectives.
In 2006, he announced the graphic novel Metronome, an existential, textless erotically-charged visual poem, written under the pseudonym Véronique Tanaka. He admitted that he was the author in 2009.
In 2007 he released Alice in Sunderland
, which documents the connections between Lewis Carroll
, Alice Liddell
, and the Sunderland and Wearside
area. He also wrote and drew the layouts for Cherubs!
, which he describes as "an irreverent fast-paced supernatural comedy-adventure."
His upcoming work includes a sequel to 2009's Grandville
, which Talbot says is "a detective steampunk
thriller" and Paul Gravett
calls it "an inspired reimagining of some of the first French anthropomorphic caricatures". It is planned as the first in a series of four or five graphic novels.
Talbot was given an Honorary Doctorate of Arts by University of Sunderland
in July 2009, the first time this has been done for a comic book artist.
Comic Book Artist
Comic Book Artist was an American magazine founded by Jon B. Cooke devoted to anecdotal histories of American comic books, with emphasis on comics published since the 1960s...
and writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, born in Wigan, Lancashire, in 1952. He is best known as the creator of The Adventures of Luther Arkwright
The Adventures of Luther Arkwright
The Adventures of Luther Arkwright was a limited series comic book written and drawn by Bryan Talbot.-Publishing history:Luther Arkwright made his first appearance in the mid 1970s in "The Papist Affair", a short strip for Brainstorm Comix where Arkwright teamed up with a group of cigar-chewing...
and its sequel Heart of Empire
Heart of Empire
Heart of Empire, or the Legacy of Luther Arkwright is a limited series by Bryan Talbot, published in nine monthly parts in 1999 by Dark Horse Comics....
.
Career
Talbot began his comics work in the underground comixUnderground comix
Underground comix are small press or self-published comic books which are often socially relevant or satirical in nature. They differ from mainstream comics in depicting content forbidden to mainstream publications by the Comics Code Authority, including explicit drug use, sexuality and violence...
scene of the late 1960s. In 1969 his first work appeared as illustrations in Mallorn, the British Tolkien Society magazine, followed in 1972 by a weekly strip in his college newspaper
Student newspaper
A student newspaper is a newspaper run by students of a university, high school, middle school, or other school. These papers traditionally cover local and, primarily, school or university news....
.
He continued in the scene after leaving college, producing Brainstorm Comix, the first three of which formed The Chester P. Hackenbush Trilogy (a character reworked by Alan Moore
Alan Moore
Alan Oswald Moore is an English writer primarily known for his work in comic books, a medium where he has produced a number of critically acclaimed and popular series, including Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and From Hell...
as Chester Williams for Swamp Thing
Swamp Thing
Swamp Thing, a fictional character, is a plant elemental in the created by Len Wein and Berni Wrightson. He first appeared in House of Secrets #92 in a stand-alone horror story set in the early 20th century . The Swamp Thing then returned in his own series, set in the contemporary world and in...
).
He started The Adventures of Luther Arkwright
The Adventures of Luther Arkwright
The Adventures of Luther Arkwright was a limited series comic book written and drawn by Bryan Talbot.-Publishing history:Luther Arkwright made his first appearance in the mid 1970s in "The Papist Affair", a short strip for Brainstorm Comix where Arkwright teamed up with a group of cigar-chewing...
in 1978. It was originally published in Near Myths
Near Myths
Near Myths was a comic magazine published in Edinburgh during the late 1970s that only ran for five issues. The initial editor was Rob King and it was produced by Galaxy Media...
and continued on over the years in other publications. It was eventually collected together into one volume by Dark Horse
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...
. Along with When the Wind Blows it is one of the first British graphic novel
Graphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
s.
In the early to mid-eighties he provide art for some of 2000 ADs flagship serials, producing 3 series of Nemesis the Warlock
Nemesis the Warlock
Nemesis the Warlock is a story created by writer Pat Mills and artist Kevin O'Neill which appeared in the pages of the weekly comics anthology 2000 AD. The title character, a fire-breathing demonic alien, fights against the fanatical Torquemada, Grand Master of the Terran Empire in Earth's distant...
, as well as strips for Judge Dredd
Judge Dredd
Judge Joseph Dredd is a comics character whose strip in the British science fiction anthology 2000 AD is the magazine's longest running . Dredd is an American law enforcement officer in a violent city of the future where uniformed Judges combine the powers of police, judge, jury and executioner...
and Sláine
Sláine (comics)
Sláine is a comic hero from the pages of 2000 AD - one of Britain's most popular comic books.Sláine is a barbarian fantasy adventure series based on Celtic myths and stories which first appeared in 1983, written by Pat Mills and initially drawn by his then wife, Angela Kincaid. Most of the early...
.
The Tale of One Bad Rat
The Tale of One Bad Rat
The Tale of One Bad Rat is a 4-issue comic book limited series by Bryan Talbot. It was first published by Dark Horse Comics in 1994 and later brought out in a collected edition.The story is about a victim of child abuse...
deals with recovery from childhood sexual abuse
Sexual abuse
Sexual abuse, also referred to as molestation, is the forcing of undesired sexual behavior by one person upon another. When that force is immediate, of short duration, or infrequent, it is called sexual assault. The offender is referred to as a sexual abuser or molester...
.
Talbot moved to the American market in the 1990s, principally for DC
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
, on titles like Hellblazer
Hellblazer
Hellblazer is a contemporary horror comic book series, originally published by DC Comics, and subsequently by the Vertigo imprint since March 1993, the month the imprint was introduced, where it remains to this day...
, Sandman and Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
. He also produced the art for The Nazz by Tom Veitch
Tom Veitch
Tom Veitch is an American writer, best known for his contributions to the Dark Horse Comics line of Star Wars comic books, primarily Dark Empire and Tales of the Jedi. For DC Comics Veitch wrote Animal Man, along with two Elseworlds series featuring Kamandi and an elder Superman...
and worked with Tom's brother Rick Veitch
Rick Veitch
Richard "Rick" Veitch is an American comic book artist and writer who has worked in mainstream, underground, and alternative comics.-Early career:...
on Teknophage, one of a number of mini-series
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
he drew for Tekno Comix
Tekno Comix
Tekno Comix was an American publishing company that produced comic books from 1995 to 1997.-History:The company was founded by Laurie Silvers and Mitchell Rubenstein as a division of their publicly traded company, Big Entertainment...
.
Talbot has illustrated cards for the Magic: The Gathering
Magic: The Gathering
Magic: The Gathering , also known as Magic, is the first collectible trading card game created by mathematics professor Richard Garfield and introduced in 1993 by Wizards of the Coast. Magic continues to thrive, with approximately twelve million players as of 2011...
collectible card game.
He has also illustrated Bill Willingham
Bill Willingham
Bill Willingham is an American writer and artist of comics.-Career:Willingham got his start in the late 1970s to early 1980s as a staff artist for TSR, Inc., where he illustrated a number of their role-playing game products...
's Fables, as well as returning to the Luther Arkwright universe with Heart of Empire
Heart of Empire
Heart of Empire, or the Legacy of Luther Arkwright is a limited series by Bryan Talbot, published in nine monthly parts in 1999 by Dark Horse Comics....
. He has also worked on The Dead Boy Detectives.
In 2006, he announced the graphic novel Metronome, an existential, textless erotically-charged visual poem, written under the pseudonym Véronique Tanaka. He admitted that he was the author in 2009.
In 2007 he released Alice in Sunderland
Alice in Sunderland
Alice in Sunderland: An Entertainment is a graphic novel by comics writer and artist Bryan Talbot. It explores the links between Lewis Carroll and the Sunderland area, with wider themes of history, myth and storytelling — and the truth about what happened to Sid James on stage at the Sunderland...
, which documents the connections between Lewis Carroll
Lewis Carroll
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson , better known by the pseudonym Lewis Carroll , was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer. His most famous writings are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass, as well as the poems "The Hunting of the...
, Alice Liddell
Alice Liddell
Alice Pleasance Liddell , known for most of her adult life by her married name, Alice Hargreaves, inspired the children's classic Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, whose protagonist Alice is said to be named after her.-Biography:...
, and the Sunderland and Wearside
Wearside
Wearside is an area of north east England, centred on the continuous urban area formed by Sunderland, Seaham and other settlements by the River Wear. Mackems is a nickname used for the people of Wearside....
area. He also wrote and drew the layouts for Cherubs!
Cherubs!
Cherubs! Paradise Lost is a graphic novel by Bryan Talbot who wrote the script and provided the layouts, with the finished art by Mark Stafford...
, which he describes as "an irreverent fast-paced supernatural comedy-adventure."
His upcoming work includes a sequel to 2009's Grandville
Grandville (comics)
Grandville is a British graphic novel series written and drawn by Bryan Talbot. It is a mixture of the steampunk, alternative history and thriller genres. It is set in a world in which France won the Napoleonic Wars and invaded Britain, and in which the world is populated mostly by anthropomorphic...
, which Talbot says is "a detective steampunk
Steampunk
Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction, fantasy, alternate history, and speculative fiction that came into prominence during the 1980s and early 1990s. Steampunk involves a setting where steam power is still widely used—usually Victorian era Britain or "Wild West"-era United...
thriller" and Paul Gravett
Paul Gravett
Paul Gravett is a London-based journalist, curator, writer and broadcaster who has worked in comics publishing and promotion for over 20 years....
calls it "an inspired reimagining of some of the first French anthropomorphic caricatures". It is planned as the first in a series of four or five graphic novels.
Awards and recognition
- 1984 Eagle Award for Best Character for TorquemadaTorquemada (comics)Tomás de Torquemada is the fictional main villain from the comic strip Nemesis the Warlock in British comic 2000 AD, who eventually appeared in 7 episodes of spin-off adventures of his own...
, from Nemesis the WarlockNemesis the WarlockNemesis the Warlock is a story created by writer Pat Mills and artist Kevin O'Neill which appeared in the pages of the weekly comics anthology 2000 AD. The title character, a fire-breathing demonic alien, fights against the fanatical Torquemada, Grand Master of the Terran Empire in Earth's distant... - 1987 Eagle Award for Favourite Artist (British)
- 1988:
- Eagle Award for Best Artist, for The Adventures of Luther Arkwright
- Eagle Award for Best New Comic, for The Adventures of Luther Arkwright
- Eagle Award for Best Character, for Luther Arkwright
- Eagle Award for Best Comic Cover, for The Adventures of Luther Arkwright
- 1993 a couple of Eagle Awards, for The Tale of One Bad Rat
- 1996 Eisner Award for Best Graphic Album: Reprint, for The Tale of One Bad Rat
- 1999 Haxtur Award, for Best Long Comic Strip for The Tale of One Bad Rat
- 2000 Inkpot Award
- 2007:
- Nominated for "Award for Favourite Comics Writer/Artist" Eagle Award
- Nominated for "Favourite Original Graphic Novel" Eagle Award, for Alice in Sunderland
- 2008: Nominated for "Best Painter or Multimedia Artist (interior art)" Eisner AwardEisner AwardThe Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, and sometimes referred to as the Oscar Awards of the Comics Industry, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books. The Eisner Awards were first conferred in 1988, created in response to the...
. - 2010: Nominated for "Favourite Original Graphic Novel Published During 2009" Eagle Award for Grandville
Talbot was given an Honorary Doctorate of Arts by University of Sunderland
University of Sunderland
The University of Sunderland is located in Sunderland, north east England. The university has more than 17,500 students, including 7,000-plus international students from some 70 countries....
in July 2009, the first time this has been done for a comic book artist.
External links
- Bryan Talbot.com The official Bryan Talbot fanpage.
- The Preston Speculative Fiction Group biography
- Pod Comix bio
- Memento, "silent" comic available free online
- From honey to homogenous, free online comic: a collaboration by Talbot and Neil Gaiman campaigning against homophobic legislation in the UK.
- The Moorcock Effect by Bryan Talbot, Heliotrope 5, 2008
Interviews
- The Life of Bryan, Comics BulletinComics BulletinComics Bulletin is a website with an emphasis on the American comic book industry, updated daily with news, reviews, interviews, and editorial content. Coverage ranges from mainstream to independent/small press comic book and graphic novel publishers.-History:...
, June 16, 2000 - British Comics Month - Bryan Talbot speaks, Forbidden PlanetForbidden Planet (bookstore)Forbidden Planet is the trading name of two separate science fiction, fantasy and horror bookshop chains across the United Kingdom, Ireland, and the United States of America, after the feature film of the same name....
, 26 July 2006 - Talbot Deconstructs Alice and Lewis, Publishers WeeklyPublishers WeeklyPublishers Weekly, aka PW, is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents...
, 21 November 2006 - Engraving the Void and Sketching Parallel Worlds: An Interview with Bryan Talbot, ImageTexT, Winter 2007
- The Many Layers of Bryan Talbot, Comics BulletinComics BulletinComics Bulletin is a website with an emphasis on the American comic book industry, updated daily with news, reviews, interviews, and editorial content. Coverage ranges from mainstream to independent/small press comic book and graphic novel publishers.-History:...
, 21 August 2007 - Curioser and curioser – Bryan draws on Alice, Sunderland EchoSunderland EchoThe Sunderland Echo is an evening newspaper serving the Sunderland, South Tyneside and East Durham areas of North East England. The newspaper was founded by Samuel Storey, Edward Backhouse, Edward Temperley Gourley, Charles Palmer, Richard Ruddock, Thomas Glaholm and Thomas Scott Turnbull in 1873,...
, 17 March 2008 - The road from Wigan Pier: Bryan Talbot talks with Pádraig Ó Méalóid, part one and part two, Forbidden PlanetForbidden Planet (bookstore)Forbidden Planet is the trading name of two separate science fiction, fantasy and horror bookshop chains across the United Kingdom, Ireland, and the United States of America, after the feature film of the same name....
blog, October 1, 2009