Reading this graphic novel about the savior of the multiverse was more a flashback to my Heavy Metal days than anything else. Black-and-white illustrations and small, dense type make it visually a long slog, and the sex and violence never felt more than gratuitous, with the success of the god-like hero never in doubt. And Michael Moorcock's 'introduction' was more a self-serving rant than illuminating of the work, to boot. Not recommended

This is a review of the audio book, though I now really want to read the graphic novel. This was a full cast audio drama, and I found it very immersive and enjoyable, though sometimes a little hard to follow.The story describes a breakdown in the barriers between realities, and the chaos that ensues as a result. Luther Arkwright is played by David Tennant, who seems to suit the character perfectly.

While some of the technique on display hasn't aged brilliantly and the dense storytelling is a bit cumbersome, it still retains its startling effect as a rousing scientifiction tour de force.

I don't know that I've ever given a book ONE star before, so this one is really a landmark. The strange thing is that I've had this since it came out, read it a few times and even have the sequel, Heart of Empire. Whether I keep this volume will depend entirely on how much I like Heart... this time through.Talbot's always been an artist I admire, but he does tend to be a little out of his depth with his writing. This older book (done, it seems, in the late 80s, though it reads like the mid-70s)

This is what I was in the mood for, except I wanted it to be larger and ideally in color. I don't know if the original series run was in a different format, but I could hardly make out some of details, especially in the ephemera-style writings, and reading the blocks of tiny print gave me a headache. This is a fairly text-heavy graphic novel, too, and the only punctuation the author seems fond of is the colon. The lack of punctuation was for a 70s-style altered state stream of consciousness. Phy...

Not an easy story to get into, what with the confusing layout and rather a messy dimension-hopping story that gives little to go with from the start - but if you stick with it until you regain your bearings, it may be worthwhile.

What it is: A universe-spanning action adventure where Arkwright hops from parallel to parallel in order to save the multiverse by inducing revolution and drawing out the dominant alien enemy who is seeking to wipe out all parallels via a power gem.The Bad: Overly verbose writing. Mostly hollow characterization, especially of the supporting cast. Art that suffers from inconsistency and poor anatomy and perspective. Monologue upon monologue. Lengthy. Although a lot can be forgiven if you take int...

Mind-bending, freak-ass sci-fi mysticism. Grant Morrison wishes he was this good.*Both this graphical novel (black & white) and the sequel, Heart of Empire: The Legacy of Luther Arkwright (in color) deserve to be in the collection of anyone who likes literary comics. The Adventures of… (first issued in 1990) was just reprinted by Dark Horse, so this is a great chance to snap up both collections.Bryan Talbot writes (sophisticated storytelling, complex characters) and illustrates (beautifully) thi...

This book is like Lou Reed and the Velvet Undergroung. It's the guy behind the guy. Talbot's book has influenced the face of modern comics so greatly that it seeps into everything. Morrison, Moore, Ellis, Carey, Ennis. . . . They all come from Talbot. And from Arkwright. It's worth a read, for sure. And it's worth and oversized hardcover treatment as well.

I had a very difficult time following the story, partially due to the fact that the text was so tiny. I had to wear magnifying glasses to read this book!Regarding the story being told, perhaps I do not know enough about British history to understand what the author was writing about. The narrative was very hard to follow.Decent enough art, yet a labored read.

While my awareness with British comics is mostly limited to second-hand knowledge of Judge Dredd, I had seen praise for this series and decided to check it out.The book begins with a foreword by Michael Moorcock, which is extremely appropriate. The story that follows reminded very much of Moorcock's New Wave SF work on the Eternal Champion series and the Jerry Cornelius character in particular. The hero is a (somewhat groovy) super agent who journeys to various parallel Earths in a semi-mystical...

The sixties new wave lingers strongly over this comics masterpiece. Moorcock’s Nomad of the Time Streams, Cornelius Quartet, Keith Robert’s Pavane, Burrough’s cut-ups, and stream of consciousness combine in a dense, mythic, non-linear narrative with beautiful black and white illustrations. Hugely influential but more than worthwhile on its own. Moorcock always does something interesting with intros and here he provides an essay on post-empire/war Britain.

http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/2164391.html[return][return]It's weird to think that this is over thirty years old, though not published in book form until some time later. It's also a bit embarrassing that I hadn't read it before, given its seminal importance to the comics genre in the UK. I liked a lot of things about it very much: the interplay between Royalist rebels and Cromwellian puritans, the latter still ruling Britain in the 1970s; the role of Arkwright, agent of order, but not necessari...

There's the inevitable parallel to Moorcock's Jerry Cornelius, who was the first in a chain of a whole new skew of fiction for me, in mindblowing read after mindblowing read. I don't think I would have appreciated this book had I read it five years ago. More familiar with Talbot's more contemporary, historical work, I was astounded at the level of his skill. I'd say this is a perfect visual reference for any reader of Moorcock's Cornelius... you get an idea of how he moves through the multiverse...

I'm really not entirely sure what to make of this graphic novel. It was very dense, in multiple senses of the word, and I did get lost more than once. Luther Arkwright can travel without technological aid between the worlds of the multiverse, and he's working with the stable, ordered Earth of zero-zero to try and prevent a weapon that will destroy Earths throughout the multiverse from being found and unleashed.The first thing that hit me here was Talbot's art style. As someone who's only really

DNF, which is rare for a comic. I'm a black-and-white art snob, so flipping through this, I thought I would like it. And the inkwork is amazing. But underneath the extensive detail is some bland figure drawing. Not bad, just lacking in gesture.Luther Arkwright is James Bond of a multidimensional security agency. What he lacks in personality, he makes up for in naked women waiting in every alternate world. There's something happening involving some sort of evil crossdimensional organization which...

While this was a great comic and a great read, it has aged incredibly poorly in style. The overall result of this book is one that is a multidimensional literary achievement that is rooted in British history and various tropes, but has such an old feel that is difficult to overcome.Get past the style and you have a wonderful read, though. A must for those who like their comics a little more esoteric and strange.

This was a slog.There were some good ideas in there and the art was pretty incredible. And there was experimentation with the comics medium - something which will always get a thumbs up from me and cover for a multitude of sins. But in this case, the sins are too great.For the most part, I found it a confusing mess. I couldn't care less about any of the characters. The main character Luther is almost a nobody in terms of personality. There were other horrible characters. And the machinations of

This graphic novel has been sitting on my shelf for years. I picked it up a few times, meaning to start it, but flipped through it a bit and put it back. Finally, I decided to take the plunge. Wow. I'm glad I looked up the book online to get an idea of the plot, as I wouldn't have got much from reading it. Confusing doesn't begin to cover it. And the words...my god. There were pages that probably took me 10 or 15 minutes to read. A single page! Talbot is a good artist (I've enjoyed his work in o...

I can understand why some might dislike this one. It's fairly complex, at times over-indulging in philosophical rant with a bit more modernist sense of narration that the average graphic novel reader is accustomed to, and the protagonist is, well, basically a superhuman in every sense of the word. But heck, did I like it a lot.I'm just attracted to alternate history as a narrative device and am immediatelly intrigued when an author decides to go down that lane. The world depicted in AOLA is rich...