The Adventures of Luther Arkwright is a nine-issue comic booklimited series written and drawn by Bryan Talbot in the period 1978–1989. The story is adult in tone, with many mythological, historical, and political references, and a little explicit sex.
In 2003 English writer Warren Ellis called Arkwright "probably the single most influential graphic novel to have come out of Britain to date... probably Anglophone comics' single most important experimental work".[1] The series was nominated for eight Eagle Awards in 1988, winning four: Best New Comic, Favourite Character, and Best Comic Cover, with Talbot winning the award for Favourite Artist.[2] In addition, the book was given the 1989 Mekon Award for "Best British Work" by the Society of Strip Illustration.[3][4]
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".[9][a]
Synopsis
Luther Arkwright is a work of apocalyptic science fiction set in parallel universes. The eponymous hero has the unique talent of being able to move between universes purely by force of will, and is aided by Rose Wylde, a telepath whose many incarnations across the parallels can communicate with one another. Luther and Rose are agents of a parallel universe 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 that is destabilizing the multiverse. Arkwright intervenes on the Royalist side to draw out the Disruptors and locate and destroy Firefrost. Along the way his unit is ambushed, and he is killed, only to return 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 will die; only the event itself is not known.
The later parts of the story have a more straightforward, linear form. In the end, Arkwright, having completed his mission, renounces violence.
Publication history
The Adventures of Luther Arkwright had a start-and-stop publication history, beginning in 1978 and not being completed until 1989. The first parts of the story appeared as a five-part serial in the British underground comicNear Myths in 1978–1980.
The story continued in the comics anthology pssst! in 1982. After five more episodes, however, the story was interrupted when pssst! was canceled, less than half complete. Before shutting down, pssst!'s publisher, Serge Boissevain, collected all the Luther Arkwright stories — including the material from Near Myths — in a trade paperback called The Adventures of Luther Arkwright Book 1: Rat Trap.[10]
Between 1987 and 1989 Talbot completed the story, which was published as a series of nine standard comic books by Valkyrie Press, followed, at readers' request, by a tenth issue, titled ARKeology, containing articles about the history and production of the comic and some extended back story and character information.[11]
In 1987, Serge Boissevain paid for the printing of the Valkyrie Press trade paperback, The Adventures of Luther Arkwright Book 2: Transfiguration. In 1989, under the publisher name Proutt, he published the final trade paperback, Book 3: Götterdämmerung.[10]
Later publications
The entire series was subsequently published in the United States by Dark Horse Comics.
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".[citation needed] In 2006, the story was republished as a webcomic using the digitally remastered files at the official fan page.[citation needed]
A third story, The Legend of Luther Arkwright,[3] was published in the UK in July 2022 by Jonathan Cape.[5][7] The much delayed American edition by Dark Horse Comics is currently scheduled for December 2024. [14]
In 2023, Big Finish produced an audio adaptation of the 1999 Arkwright sequel, Heart of Empire. David Tennant returned as Arkwright, along with the entire cast from the 2005 production, with the exception of Paul Darrow, who had passed away in 2019.[15]
Feature film adaptation
In 2006, Benderspink announced a live actionfilm adaptation of Arkwright, with producers Andrew Prowse and Sophie Patrick.[16] According to Talbot, the rights for the project lapsed in June 2010.[17]
Television adaptation
In 2021, Three River Studios announced to adapt Arkwright into a live-action television series. The Arkwright series would be produced by Three River CEO Jonathan Drake, with Talbot acting as executive producer.[18]
Notes
^"The Papist Affair" was reprinted in Bryan Talbot's Brainstorm: The Complete Chester P. Hackenbush and Other Underground Classics, released by Alchemy Publications in 1999, ISBN0-9508487-1-9.
^ abBell, Chris (Spring 1989). "Arkeology: Not just Luther Arkwright 10". Arkeology. Serge Boissevain ... has been waiting for the complete Adventures for about ten years now, patiently encouraging Bryan, publishing the first Book, putting up the money for the second, and publishing the third...; without him, Bryan might well never have managed to make time to complete Luther.
