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Luther Arkwright

Started by AlexF, 18 July, 2016, 05:13:16 PM

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sheridan

Quote from: Link Prime on 19 July, 2016, 10:50:23 AM
I must admit, the Arkwright Integral collection does look very tempting. An upgrade for this material would certainly be worth the purchase.
Does anyone know if it includes the first Arkwright story ('The Papist Affair')?

It's included in the Brainstorm collection, the only time it was reprinted to my knowledge.
https://www.amazon.com/Brainstorm-complete-Hackenbush-underground-classics/dp/0950848719

I have a copy of the Papist Affair, but it isn't in the Brainstorm collection, as I don't own that.  The one I have is similar to the ARKeology comic, but a few years later, and printed in a more small-press manner (you couldn't mix it up with a publication from a mainstream publisher).

Tjm86

Quote from: Link Prime on 19 July, 2016, 10:50:23 AM

Does anyone know if it includes the first Arkwright story ('The Papist Affair')?


Unfortunately no.  It is mentioned briefly in the Bisette interview with a sample illustration but that is it.  TBH I've never actually seen it reprinted anywhere (not that it hasn't).

I, Cosh

Quote from: Dandontdare on 18 July, 2016, 07:25:18 PM
I like the way you can see Talbot's art visibly get better over the two series, and the obvious parallels to one of my favourite author's Michael Moorcock (who wrote the introduction in the edition I've got).
I assume this is as much to do with how long it took to finish the first series as anything else but it's definitely something you notice and it's not like it was bad to start with.

Quote from: Butch on 18 July, 2016, 07:10:08 PM
Aaaah. I bought Heart Of Empire and couldn't see what the fuss was about.
I should point out that Heart of Empire is in no way bad, it's just a lot more straightforward. It's a perfectly fine story with nice Bryan Talbot art but everything is laid out very simply. This is obviously a deliberate choice but it's partly the wild layouts, unexpected modes of storytelling and the idea that Bryan himself is having tremendous fun using all those devices that make the original so memorable.

Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 18 July, 2016, 07:30:17 PM
... tried it (issue 1) again and still found myself baffled) I've always wanted to give it a proper go as I'm told as you get further in it becomes less of a puzzle.
This definitely doesn't tie up with my recollections. The first few issues seem relatively straightforward. It's around halfway through that it all goes mental.

Quote from: The Cosh on 18 July, 2016, 06:49:57 PM
I'm not sure about a direct influence on Morrison though. I think it's more a case of similar interests and influence (Moorcock and occult esoterica in particular)
I started having a look at this last night and it turns out that Morrison's own Jerry Cornelius rip-off Gideon Stargrave (which I only really know about from its resurrection in The Invisibles) appeared in the same run of Near Myths as the first episodes of Arkwright.

Quote from: Dandontdare on 18 July, 2016, 07:25:18 PMHmm .. I think this may be due for a re-read!
Hmm. Only 8 quid in the Dark Horse store...
We never really die.

Satanist

I've had this up the loft for the last 10 years and still havent read it. I probably should get round to fixing that.
Hmm, just pretend I wrote something witty eh?

Colin YNWA

Quote from: Link Prime on 19 July, 2016, 10:26:20 AM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 18 July, 2016, 07:30:17 PM
I got issue 1 of the Valkyrie series and tried it time and time again really wanting to love it but just finding it baffling.

I think you sold that to me Colin!

I do love The Adventures of Luther Arkwright, but for me Heart of Empire is the greatest thing since sliced pomegranate.

Did I, in my head I sold it on eBay, but then my memory isn't to be trusted!

Fungus

It's overly dense for my taste and make no apology for contenting myself with art appreciation, when it became very experimental, a few issues in. That there was a more digestible follow-up makes sense, then. More a curio than a work of genius, I'd say. Nice  to look at in places.

AlexF

Great to get such a range of reactions to this stuff! I'm still deciding whether or not to have a go on Heart of Empire. The experimental stream-of-consciousness parts of Arkwright were hard to read at times, but frankly it was that sort of thing that really made me pay attention and latch onto it as a great work.

It's sacrilege to say, especially here, but I was left a bit cold by Grandville (the first book, anyway), in part because the story itself was rather bland. I think I prefer Talbot in whacked-out mode. But the fact that he's always done the comics he wanted, in his own way, is a huge cause for celebration, regardless of whether or not I happen to like it all.

Tale of One Bad Rat is pretty good.

Jim_Campbell

Quote from: AlexF on 20 July, 2016, 03:29:06 PM
Tale of One Bad Rat is pretty good.

Allegedly bought by Dark Horse because they thought were getting another Luther Arkwright book...
Stupidly Busy Letterer: Samples. | Blog
Less-Awesome-Artist: Scribbles.

Link Prime

Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 19 July, 2016, 09:14:21 PM
Did I, in my head I sold it on eBay, but then my memory isn't to be trusted!

Yeah, to me!  ::)

Cheers for the info Sheriden & TJM, I wouldn't say The Papist Affair is essential reading, but it would have been nice to have it in the collection.

If anyone spots Arkwright Integral going for a decent price online, give us a heads up.

TordelBack

I assembled LA from floppies from various imprints in secondhand boxes over several years. Having read it piecemeal and out of order (my first issue was the one where Luther crashes through a stained glass window for 20 pages) I was pleasantly surprised how coherent it was read in one go!

Jim_Campbell

The sequence at what was the end of the original Book 1 GN, where Arkwright walks up the stairs of the cathedral, and the panels get smaller, and we cutback in time, and the narrative drags us back, and back, and back, away from the 'now' of the story... and then he jumps and we get that splash...

One of the most masterful illustrations of what the medium is capable of. So far ahead of its time.
Stupidly Busy Letterer: Samples. | Blog
Less-Awesome-Artist: Scribbles.

maryanddavid

Probably the comic I have read the most times. I bought the original Valkyrie run in FB on Dawson street in two separate chunks.
I bought it on the back of his art on Nemesis and I wasn't disappointed,  blown away by the art, and the story, I only had a vague sense of it, but I could feel the scale of it and it was something that was worth another go.
I reread it over the following years and  there is something extra that I noticed new on every reading.
Its quiet a few years since I last read it, I think its due another.

I'd heartily recommend it, it's easily one of my favourite comics. If anyone is wavering ,go for it, plunge straight in, even its convoluted and erratic publishing history is interesting, never mind the fact that Mr. Talbot must have lived on beans while he wrote and drew this, which IMO is one of the finest comics ever to be published in Britain.

Heart of Empire however suffers from my (thankfully gone-ish) complete-ism problem, I have all the issues bar one and this was before I discovered the joy of collections, so I cant read it. Might be time to get that collection!

Tjm86

Quote from: Link Prime on 20 July, 2016, 08:32:59 PM

If anyone spots Arkwright Integral going for a decent price online, give us a heads up.

www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/1616553871/ref=tmm_hrd_new_olp_sr?ie=UTF8&condition=new&qid=1469077733&sr=1-1

£25 inc P&P decent? (For a £45 GN)

Bazooka Joe

Quote from: sheridan on 19 July, 2016, 01:00:09 PM
Quote from: Link Prime on 19 July, 2016, 10:50:23 AM
I must admit, the Arkwright Integral collection does look very tempting. An upgrade for this material would certainly be worth the purchase.
Does anyone know if it includes the first Arkwright story ('The Papist Affair')?

It's included in the Brainstorm collection, the only time it was reprinted to my knowledge.
https://www.amazon.com/Brainstorm-complete-Hackenbush-underground-classics/dp/0950848719

I have a copy of the Papist Affair, but it isn't in the Brainstorm collection, as I don't own that.  The one I have is similar to the ARKeology comic, but a few years later, and printed in a more small-press manner (you couldn't mix it up with a publication from a mainstream publisher).

It was probably this


sheridan

Quote from: Bazooka Joe on 22 July, 2016, 09:43:54 AM
Quote from: sheridan on 19 July, 2016, 01:00:09 PM
I have a copy of the Papist Affair, but it isn't in the Brainstorm collection, as I don't own that.  The one I have is similar to the ARKeology comic, but a few years later, and printed in a more small-press manner (you couldn't mix it up with a publication from a mainstream publisher).

It was probably this


It is indeed - couldn't remember the name of it!  (The Crystal Palace Exhibition of 1991 if you can't make out the font).

Looks like Bryan's having a problem with his web hosting at the moment, but here's a cached page about it:
web cache from bryan-talbot.com.