The Adventures of Luther Arkwright
Encyclopedia
The Adventures of Luther Arkwright was a limited series
comic book written and drawn by Bryan Talbot
.
The first parts of The Adventures of Luther Arkwright followed as a serial in the British underground comic Near Myths
in 1978, were later continued in pssst! magazine, then interrupted in 1982, less than half complete. Between 1987 and 1989 Bryan Talbot completed the story, which was published as a series of nine standard comic book
s by Valkyrie Press
, followed, at readers' request, by a tenth issue containing articles about the history and production of the comic and some extended back story and character information. It was subsequently published in the United States
by Dark Horse Comics
.
The story is adult in tone, with many mythological, historical and political references, and a little explicit sex. Its genesis owes something to the influence of Michael Moorcock
's Jerry Cornelius
stories, though Moorcock and Talbot agree that the similarities between the characters are limited. Warren Ellis
calls Arkwright "probably the single most influential graphic novel to have come out of Britain to date... probably Anglophone comics' single most important experimental work."
In 1999 Dark Horse published Talbot's sequel to Luther Arkwright, which was called Heart of Empire
.
In 2005 the artwork was digitally remastered by Comics Centrum for an edition in Czech
(Dobrodružství Luther Arkwrighta), allowing proper reproduction of both light and dark parts of "tonal" pages. The new artwork was also used for a French
edition by Kymera Comics. Bryan Talbot has described the Czech edition as "the best ever published".
In 2006 it was republished as a webcomic using the digitally remastered files at the official fanpage at The Adventures of Luther Arkwright
set in parallel universe
s. The eponymous hero has the unique talent of being able to move between parallels purely by force of will, and is aided by Rose Wylde, a telepath whose many incarnations across the parallels are able to communicate with one another. Luther and Rose are agents of a parallel known as "zero-zero", whose stable position in the multiverse has allowed the development of a world at peace with itself and sufficiently high technology to monitor the parallels for signs of the malign influence of the "Disruptors".
Most of the action in the story is set in a parallel world where the English Civil War
has been indefinitely prolonged by the actions of the Disruptors, who are also responsible for unleashing "Firefrost", a legendary artifact which is destabilising the multiverse. Arkwright intervenes on the Royalist side in order to draw out the Disruptors and locate and destroy Firefrost. Along the way he is captured, dies in custody and returns to life with his powers enhanced.
The storytelling of the early episodes is complex, with flashbacks to Arkwright's upbringing by the Disruptors, escape to the parallel of his birth and early missions for zero-zero intermingling with the course of his mission in neo-Cromwellian England, with story-telling techniques and art styles shifting to match. The scenes of Arkwright's death and rebirth are particularly abstract and full of religious and mythological symbolism: the comic is unusual in being one of the few adventure stories where the readers and the protagonist both know from the beginning that he's going to die; the only questions are 'when?', 'where?', 'how?'... and 'what then?'
The later parts of the story have a more straightforward, linear form. At the end Arkwright, having completed his mission, renounces violence.
in 1988, winning four: Favourite Artist, Best New Comic, Favourite Character for Arkwright himself and Best Comic Cover.
, starring David Tennant
(cast near the time of the CD's release as the Tenth Doctor
in Doctor Who
) and Paul Darrow
(Avon in Blake's 7
).
film
with producers Andrew Prowse and Sophie Patrick.
According to Talbot, the rights for the project lapsed June 2010.
Limited series
A limited series is a comic book series with a set number of installments. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues is determined before production and it differs from a one shot in that it is composed of multiple issues....
comic book written and drawn by Bryan Talbot
Bryan Talbot
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.-Career:...
.
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 biker nuns to recover the sacred relics of St. Adolf of Nuremberg from "a buncha male chauvinist priests".The first parts of The Adventures of Luther Arkwright followed as a serial in the British underground comic 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...
in 1978, were later continued in pssst! magazine, then interrupted in 1982, less than half complete. Between 1987 and 1989 Bryan Talbot completed the story, which was published as a series of nine standard comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
s by Valkyrie Press
Valkyrie Press
Valkyrie Press was a specialised publisher of British comics. Originally established to publish Redfox, they also later published Bryan Talbot's The Adventures of Luther Arkwright, both of which won Eagle Awards....
, followed, at readers' request, by a tenth issue containing articles about the history and production of the comic and some extended back story and character information. It was subsequently published in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
by Dark Horse Comics
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...
.
The story is adult in tone, with many mythological, historical and political references, and a little explicit sex. Its genesis owes something to the influence of Michael Moorcock
Michael Moorcock
Michael John Moorcock is an English writer, primarily of science fiction and fantasy, who has also published a number of literary novels....
's Jerry Cornelius
Jerry Cornelius
Jerry Cornelius is a fictional secret agent and adventurer created by science fiction / fantasy author Michael Moorcock. Cornelius is a hipster of ambiguous and occasionally polymorphous sexuality. Many of the same characters feature in each of several Cornelius books, though the individual books...
stories, though Moorcock and Talbot agree that the similarities between the characters are limited. Warren Ellis
Warren Ellis
Warren Girard Ellis is an English author of comics, novels, and television, who is well-known for sociocultural commentary, both through his online presence and through his writing, which covers transhumanist themes...
calls Arkwright "probably the single most influential graphic novel to have come out of Britain to date... probably Anglophone comics' single most important experimental work."
In 1999 Dark Horse published Talbot's sequel to Luther Arkwright, which was called 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....
.
In 2005 the artwork was digitally remastered by Comics Centrum for an edition in Czech
Czech language
Czech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. The language was known as Bohemian in English until the late 19th century...
(Dobrodružství Luther Arkwrighta), allowing proper reproduction of both light and dark parts of "tonal" pages. The new artwork was also used for a French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
edition by Kymera Comics. Bryan Talbot has described the Czech edition as "the best ever published".
In 2006 it was republished as a webcomic using the digitally remastered files at the official fanpage at The Adventures of Luther Arkwright
Synopsis
Luther Arkwright is a work of apocalyptic science fictionScience fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
set in parallel universe
Parallel universe (fiction)
A parallel universe or alternative reality is a hypothetical self-contained separate reality coexisting with one's own. A specific group of parallel universes is called a "multiverse", although this term can also be used to describe the possible parallel universes that constitute reality...
s. The eponymous hero has the unique talent of being able to move between parallels purely by force of will, and is aided by Rose Wylde, a telepath whose many incarnations across the parallels are able to communicate with one another. Luther and Rose are agents of a parallel known as "zero-zero", whose stable position in the multiverse has allowed the development of a world at peace with itself and sufficiently high technology to monitor the parallels for signs of the malign influence of the "Disruptors".
Most of the action in the story is set in a parallel world where the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
has been indefinitely prolonged by the actions of the Disruptors, who are also responsible for unleashing "Firefrost", a legendary artifact which is destabilising the multiverse. Arkwright intervenes on the Royalist side in order to draw out the Disruptors and locate and destroy Firefrost. Along the way he is captured, dies in custody and returns to life with his powers enhanced.
The storytelling of the early episodes is complex, with flashbacks to Arkwright's upbringing by the Disruptors, escape to the parallel of his birth and early missions for zero-zero intermingling with the course of his mission in neo-Cromwellian England, with story-telling techniques and art styles shifting to match. The scenes of Arkwright's death and rebirth are particularly abstract and full of religious and mythological symbolism: the comic is unusual in being one of the few adventure stories where the readers and the protagonist both know from the beginning that he's going to die; the only questions are 'when?', 'where?', 'how?'... and 'what then?'
The later parts of the story have a more straightforward, linear form. At the end Arkwright, having completed his mission, renounces violence.
Awards
Bryan Talbot and the Valkyrie Press edition of Arkwright were nominated for eight Eagle AwardsEagle Awards
The Eagle Award is a series of awards for comic book titles and creators. They are awarded by UK fan voting for work produced during the previous year. Named after the UK's Eagle comic, the awards were set up by Mike Conroy, Nick Landau, Colin Campbell, Phil Clarke and Richard Burton, and launched...
in 1988, winning four: Favourite Artist, Best New Comic, Favourite Character for Arkwright himself and Best Comic Cover.
Audio adaptation
In 2005, The Adventures of Luther Arkwright was made into a full-cast, three-CD audio adventure by Big Finish ProductionsBig Finish Productions
Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and audio plays based, primarily, on cult British science fiction properties...
, starring David Tennant
David Tennant
David Tennant is a Scottish actor. In addition to his work in theatre, including a widely praised Hamlet, Tennant is best known for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who, along with the title role in the 2005 TV serial Casanova and as Barty Crouch, Jr...
(cast near the time of the CD's release as the Tenth Doctor
Tenth Doctor
The Tenth Doctor is the tenth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is played by David Tennant, who appears in three series, as well as eight specials...
in Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
) and Paul Darrow
Paul Darrow
Paul Darrow is an English actor best known for his portrayal of Kerr Avon in the BBC science fiction television series Blake's 7...
(Avon in Blake's 7
Blake's 7
Blake's 7 is a British science fiction television series produced by the BBC for its BBC1 channel. The series was created by Terry Nation, a prolific television writer and creator of the Daleks for the television series Doctor Who. Four series of Blake's 7 were produced and broadcast between 1978...
).
Cast
- Luther Arkwright - David TennantDavid TennantDavid Tennant is a Scottish actor. In addition to his work in theatre, including a widely praised Hamlet, Tennant is best known for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who, along with the title role in the 2005 TV serial Casanova and as Barty Crouch, Jr...
- Cromwell - Paul DarrowPaul DarrowPaul Darrow is an English actor best known for his portrayal of Kerr Avon in the BBC science fiction television series Blake's 7...
- Rose - Siri O'Neal
- Karl/Czar Nicholas - Robert JezekRobert JezekRobert Jezek is a Canadian film and television actor based in the United Kingdom.-Career:He is known for playing companion Frobisher in a range of Doctor Who audio dramas produced by Big Finish Productions and based on the BBC television series Doctor Who...
- Computer/Octobriana/Emily - Michelle Livingstone
- Archduke - Robert Lockwood, Jr.
- Montpelier/Wittgenstein - Alfred Hoffman
- Miranda/Lady-in-waiting - Zoe Robinson
- Standish/the Scientist - Andrew Westfield
- The Disruptor/Harry Fairfax/the Interrogator/The Five - Jeremy James
- Pennington - Robert Curbishley
- Whitelaw - Mark DonovanMark DonovanMark Donovan is a Welsh character actor best known for grotesque roles in productions such as Shaun of the Dead, Black Books, In Bruges, and Murder Investigation Team. He also played a brief scene of Hamlet in an episode of the David Renwick comedy-drama, Love Soup...
- King Charles - Steve Dineen
- Princess Anne - India FisherIndia FisherIndia Fisher is a British actress born in 1974. Her father is the ex-MP Mark Fisher. She is also the stepsister of musician Crispin Hunt and of actress Francesca Hunt, who appears with her in the play Other Lives....
Feature film adaptation
In 2006 it was announced that Benderspink would be creating a live actionLive action
In filmmaking, video production, and other media, the term live action refers to cinematography, videography not produced using animation...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
with producers Andrew Prowse and Sophie Patrick.
According to Talbot, the rights for the project lapsed June 2010.
External links
- The Adventures of Luther Arkwright at Bryan Talbot's official fansite
- The Adventures of Luther Arkwright webcomic - the whole of the comic available to read online as a webcomic.
- Warren Ellis's review of Arkwright, republished at the official fansite.
- ARKeology: partial index and electronic copy of Luther Arkwright issue 10.