Many in England dream of past glories and an empire ruled by the long exiled Kings and Queens of England.

In addition to high tech weapons, over the course of his adventures Arkwright makes frequent use of psychic powers, meditation, and consciousness-expanding drugs. The Adventures of Luther Arkwright is a pioneering science fiction graphic novel by Bryan Talbot, serialised in a variety of forms from 1978 to 1989. And unlike the superhero comics I was also into, I could read Luther Arkwright on the bus without getting beaten up – I even made friends with other kids who were in on this culty secret. Talbot is also currently writing a new instalment of Arkwright’s saga, “The Legend of Luther Arkwright,” due in 2022. But the fate of these infinite existences depends on one man, an anomaly who exists in but a single universe, a being of vast psychic power capable of traveling between realities - Luther Arkwright!Of particular interest are the scenes of Arkwright’s death and rebirth which are full of religious and mythological symbolism encased in a particularly abstract style. The combat rules are fairly straightforward: you roll to hit, the other guy rolls to parry or dodge, and you work out the damage. It's violence is brutal in a mad with an air brush way, the sexual content is well handled, and the story is intricate and intriguing. To pick from his British peers, Talbot's illustration style lies between the heavy, dark inks of David Lloyd (V FOR VENDETTA) and the intricately detailed linework of Brian Bolland (CAMELOT 3000, BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE).

In 1978, Bryan Talbot began the epic Luther Arkwright saga with 'The Adventures of Luther Arkwright' . Sure enough this is what happens and it's all very flattened and aloof, like some of the low points of Sandman when we're waiting for the main character to remember they're ominpotent; in similar moments in From Hell we're seeing the flickering out of a human brain, the aura that the deep structures of human history might give off if it they could, there are also panels from that book which are legitimately terrifying. If it's near as good as the original, the new Luther Arkwright adventure is sure to be a hit in 2039.The multiverse of Bryan Talbot is similar to that of Moorcock, but unlike Moorcock's setting which had a different Eternal Champion in each parallel, there was only one Luther Arkwright, unique across every parallel. The book is 160 pages long, printed on slick, shiny (as opposed to glossy) paper in European A4 size (slightly narrower and taller than US Letter size, if I remember right). Luther’s unique status as a traveller between parallel realities and his saviour-like qualities might liken him to Doctor Who – but an R-Rated version, that doesn’t shy away from sex, politics and the grim realities of violence,” Drake added.