Bryan Talbot

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Bryan Talbot
Bryan Talbot Eastercon.jpg
Talbot signing Alice in Sunderland at Eastercon in England, 25 March 2008
Born (1952-02-24) 24 February 1952 (age 72)
Wigan, Lancashire, England, UK
Area(s)Writer, Penciller, Inker, Colorist
Pseudonym(s)Véronique Tanaka
Notable works
The Adventures of Luther Arkwright
Heart of Empire
Alice in Sunderland
The Tale of One Bad Rat
Grandville
Awards Eisner Award for Best Graphic Album: Reprint (1996)
Haxtur Award for Best Long Comic Strip (1999)
Inkpot Award (2000)
Costa biography award (2012)
http://www.bryan-talbot.com

Bryan Talbot (born 24 February 1952) is a British comics artist and writer, best known as the creator of The Adventures of Luther Arkwright and its sequel Heart of Empire , as well as the Grandville series of books. He collaborated with his wife, Mary M. Talbot to produce Dotter of Her Father's Eyes , which won the 2012 Costa biography award. [1]

Contents

Early life

Bryan Talbot was born in Wigan, Lancashire, [2] on 24 February 1952. [3] He attended Wigan Grammar School, the Wigan School of Art, and Harris College in Preston, Lancashire, from which he graduated with a degree in Graphic Design. [4]

Career

Talbot began his comics work in the underground comix scene of the late 1960s. In 1969 his first work appeared as illustrations in Mallorn, the British Tolkien Society magazine, [5] 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 . [6]

Talbot started The Adventures of Luther Arkwright in 1978. It was originally published in Near Myths and continued on over the years in other publications, including Pssst! and by the publisher Valkyrie Press. It was eventually collected into one volume by Dark Horse Comics. Along with Raymond Briggs' When the Wind Blows , it is considered one of the first British graphic novels.[ citation needed ] In the early-to-mid 80s Talbot provided art for some of 2000 AD's flagship serials, producing three series of Nemesis the Warlock , as well as occasional strips for Judge Dredd .

Talbot moved to the U.S. market in the 1990s and principally worked for DC Comics on titles such as Hellblazer , [7] Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight , and Dead Boy Detectives . Talbot collaborated with Neil Gaiman on The Sandman and provided art for the "Fables & Reflections", "A Game of You", and "Worlds' End" story arcs. [8] [9] His The Tale of One Bad Rat (1994) deals with a girl's recovery from childhood sexual abuse. He drew The Nazz limited series which was written 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 illustrated Bill Willingham's Fables , [10] as well as returning to the Luther Arkwright universe with Heart of Empire .

In 2006, he announced the graphic novel Metronome, an existential, textless erotically charged visual poem, [11] [12] written under the pseudonym Véronique Tanaka. [13] He admitted that he was the author in 2009. [14] Talbot turned down an offer to appear in character as Tanaka for an in-store signing of the work. [15]

In 2007 he released Alice in Sunderland , which documents the connections between Lewis Carroll, Alice Liddell, and the Sunderland and Wearside area. [16] He wrote and drew the layouts for Cherubs! , which he describes as "an irreverent fast-paced supernatural comedy-adventure." [17]

In 2019 it was reported that Talbot was producing the latest installment in the Arkwright series, titled The Legend of Luther Arkwright, [18] which was published by Dark Horse in 2022.

In April 2024, it was announced that Talbot will be inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Awards Hall of Fame, the highest accolade for comic writers and artists from across the world. [19]

Awards and recognition

Bibliography

2000 AD

Tharg's Future Shocks

Ro-Busters

  • Ro-Busters : "Old Red Eyes is Back" (with Alan Moore, in 2000AD Annual 1983, 1982)

Nemesis the Warlock

  • "The Gothic Empire (Book IV)" (in 2000 AD No. 390–406, 1984–1985)
  • "Vengeance of Thoth (Book V)" (in 2000 AD No. 435–445, 1985)
  • "Torquemurder (Book VI) Part 1" (in 2000 AD No. 482–487, 1986)
  • "Torquemurder (Book VI) Part 2" (in 2000 AD No. 500–504, 1986–1987)
  • Torquemada : "The Garden of Alien Delights" (with Pat Mills, in Diceman No. 3, 1986)

Sláine

  • "The Time Killer" (with Pat Mills, in 2000 AD No. 431, 1985)

Judge Dredd

  • "House of Death" (with John Wagner/Alan Grant, in Diceman No. 1, 1986)
  • "Last Voyage of the Flying Dutchman" (with John Wagner/Alan Grant, in 2000 AD No. 459, 1986)
  • "Judge Dredd and the Seven Dwarves" (with John Wagner/Alan Grant, in Judge Dredd Annual 1987, 1986)
  • "Ladies' Night" (with John Wagner/Alan Grant, in 2000AD Annual 1987, 1986)
  • "Caterpillars" (script by Michael Carroll, coloured by Alwyn Talbot, in 2000 AD No. 1730, April 2011)

Enemy Alien

  • "Enemy Alien" (with script and pencils Mike Matthews, in 2000AD Sci-Fi Special 1987)

Memento

  • "Memento" (in 2000 AD Prog 2002, 2001)

Ad Astra

Avatar Press

Brainstorm Comix

Chester P. Hackenbush, the Psychedelic Alchemist

  • "Out of the Crucible", in Brainstorm Comix #1 (Alchemy, 1975)
  • "From Here to Infinity", in Brainstorm Comix #2 (Alchemy, 1976)
  • "A Streetcar Named Delirium", in Brainstorm Comix #4 (Alchemy, 1977)

Amazing Rock'n'Roll Adventures

  • "The Omega Report", in Brainstorm Comix #6 (Alchemy, 1978)

Dark Horse Comics

DC Comics/Vertigo

The Sandman

Shade, the Changing Man

  • The Santa Fe Trail (written by Peter Milligan, inks by Mark Pennington, coloured by Daniel Vozzo, August 1991)

Fables

Desperado Publishing

Jonathan Cape

Grandville

  • Grandville (graphic novel, 104 pages, November 2009)
  • Grandville Mon Amour (graphic novel, 104 pages, December 2010)
  • Grandville Bête Noire (graphic novel, 104 pages, December 2012)
  • Grandville: Nöel (graphic novel, Jonathan Cape, November 2014)
  • Grandville: Force Majeure (graphic novel, Jonathan Cape, November 2017)

Luther Arkwright

Moonstone Books

NBM Publishing

Sounds

Tekno Comix

Other

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References

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Interviews