When Bryan Talbot began working on his epic second installment of his Luther Arkwright mythology, Heart of Empire, he envisioned the story as an actual novel, rather than a comic-book series as it was released by Dark Horse. Fans who picked up on the nuances this created (varying page lengths of each issue of the series, etc.) will be happy to learn that Dark Horse is now preparing to release Heart of Empire as it was originally intended -- as a complete graphic novel -- in February of 2001.

Dark Horse spokesgirl Ivana Fanboy met with Talbot earlier to discuss what he's been up to since he completed the nearly-300-page epic Heart of Empire. Here's a transcript of that conversation.

Ivana Fanboy: Dark Horse is finally releasing your epic Heart of Empire as a graphic novel... Didn't you originally conceive of this as a complete novel as opposed to a series of individual issues? How did that affect the way the comic series turned out?

Bryan Talbot: Yes, Heart of Empire was conceived and structured as a novel from the start, not as an episodic series. That's why most issues of the comic book had different pages counts -- varying between 25 and 41 --- I had to choose the best places to break the story. That's what makes the difference between a trade paperback collecting together a few issues of a comic series and a "real graphic" novel.

IF: At the heart of Heart of Empire is also the history of your other epic story, Luther Arkwright. Can you please discuss his character a little bit-- what does he mean to you, and why is he at the heart of these stories?

BT: Arkwright's character changes during the course of the story, as Victoria's does in Heart of Empire, in response to the events in the story. At the beginning, he's a cold-blooded assassin, a product of his conditioning and training. After his traumatic transfiguration -- his metamorphosis from one evolutionary state to a higher state -- he becomes more powerful, but, at the same time, more sensitive, more human in a way.

IF: You're obviously a fan and a student of history. What appeals to you about practicing this type of revisionist history as opposed to another genre of fiction? I see so-called revisionist history as being particularly intriguing to some people because what we come to think of as "historical fact" is often very subjective and malleable, anyway. Your fictionalized truths might be just as accurate or valid as the history you were taught in school ....

BT: The basic fun with playing around with history is fundamentally the game of "what if?" You can play around with history to come up with some bizarre and ludicrous scenarios. I also like using it to subvert conventional, respectful views of monarchy and religion.

IF: I'm assuming you still do a lot of research when you write revisionist historical accounts -- how does one research a history that doesn't, in reality, exist?

BT: Yes, I did a lot of research for Heart of Empire -- in Rome, the Louvre, the British Museum, Windsor Castle, York museum, The Metropolitan in New York, and other places. Much of it was for visual information -- for example, costumes or historical artifacts I could use in the story -- but looking `round these places always fires off my imagination, which obviously is essential when you're creating any stories, not just those to do with parallel histories.

IF: A lot of what you do in Heart of Empire seems to stem from suspicions or beliefs about groups or people or organizations, say, the Catholic Church, that many people already claim. Is part of your creative process sifting through various beliefs and rumors and amplifying what might work well in the story?

BT: I don't know how conscious it is, but these do seem to have an effect on my stories. The first one especially was informed by my readings of conspiracy theory. Both The Adventures of Luther Arkwright and Heart of Empire have definite anti-fascist themes. There's also a healthy distrust of organized religion in there too.

IF: Your work always seems to tackle moral issues, but in very unconventional ways ... I don't think anyone could peg Heart of Empire as being moralistic or didactic, but you certainly weave a great story by means of exploiting the depraved or lunatic side of various individuals. What are your ultimate goals with dredging up so much of humanity's unappealing attributes? How do you think a work like this reflects how you feel about religion or government or people in general?

BT: My primary intent is to entertain -- to produce a cracking good read. Stories would be boring if we only read about nice, ordinary folk doing nice, ordinary things. Also, I wanted to put a lot of humor in the book and some of the darker humor derives from the more wacky characters.

IF: I'd like to talk a little about Victoria -- part of this book's title is The Legacy of Luther Arkwright... Is Victoria's relationship to Arkwright clear at the start of the book? Is she very much like him, as you see her?

BT: She has no relationship with him at the start of the book -- he vanished shortly after her birth. She simply hates him for not being there for her. In someways, she is very like him -- intelligent, logical, and, to some degree, amoral. But she's also been raised as the heir to an empire and, as such, she is imperious, elitist, and racist. As I said earlier, part of the story is how her character slowly evolves throughout the novel.

IF: I can't stay away from Luther, and I think his story and your relationship to that character is very important here. When did you first develop Luther, and what was your inspiration? It seems like such an ambitious approach for anyone to have taken to comics when he first appeared ...

BT: The Adventures of Luther Arkwright was an attempt to do an intelligent adventure story for adults that was every bit as rich as a text novel and was drawn in illustration-quality artwork, not in the American "shorthand" style then employed by most comic artists.

It was also a reaction against the bland state of mainstream superhero comics of the time; Arkwright had sex, drugs, swore, vomited etc. -- sounds inane now but, at the time, these were shocking things to see in comics. I thought "mainstream text novels and movies contain all this stuff -- why not comic books?"

On the story level, I also wanted to get away from the mainstream formulaic story; I wanted to create a story that was complex and multi-layered, one that had real depth, one that dealt with politics, religion, sex, philosophy -- stuff that adults were into but was totally lacking in mainstream comics in 1978 -- but was also a cracking good adventure. It's hard to imagine now, with books like Hellblazer around for years, but I think Arkwright was one of the first comic books to use "real" magic, genuine occult material, as opposed to fantasy hocus-pocus.

IF: How would you expect the average, intelligent comics reader to react to your work if they've never seen it before

BT: Obviously I hope they'd like it!

IF: Of course! Is there anything you would want someone to understand right off?

BT: Nothing really...I designed Heart of Empire to be a stand-alone story. The readers don't need to have seen any previous books to be able to follow it.

IF: Fair enough. It's been a while now since you've finished Heart of Empire ... what have you been up to these last many months?

BT: I spent probably far too long this year working on the Heart of Empire CD-Rom, but I think it will have been worth it. Seldom do you have the chance to explain what's going through your head while you're creating a book in so much depth. The CD-Rom contains the whole of Heart of Empire in its pencilled, inked and colored forms plus some preparatory sketches and color guides. There are over 80 reference pictures -- for instance, in the Bedlam sequence you can click and see the original 18th century William Hogarth Bedlam engraving. The theme of the CD-Rom is "Where do you get your ideas from?" -- and that's answered in over 60,000 words of annotations and commentary. It's not an academic work. I've tried to make it very entertaining, and there's lots of humorous comments, anecdotes, and jokes.

There's also many mini-essays on related subjects as diverse as William Blake, English mythology, the sexual activities of Charles II, William Hogarth, Free Love, Catastrophe Theory, Magic Mushrooms, Pagan Festivals, The Golden Section, Orgone Energy, Subliminal Imagery, Famous Farters, Synchronicity, and the Twenty-three Enigma. Plus, there are also two interviews with me on the disc.

This year saw me doing some movie treatments and a concept for an animated cartoon series/feature called Cherubs! -- a supernatural comedy adventure.

IF: That's interesting. Any details on that?

BT: Not just yet, but I'll be keeping people abreast as things develop.

I should also mention that I just finished a four page vampire strip for a French anthology album and the frontispiece to Gwyneth Jones' next sci-fi novel, Bold As Love. And I just started pencilling a four part mini series for DC/Vertigo. It's called The Dead Boy Detectives and The Secrets of Immortality, written by Ed Brubaker and to be inked by Steve Leialoha. It's the first story in the new Sandman spin-off series that's going to be replacing The Dreaming, the "Sandman Presents" line.

Learning how to use the computer to create artwork has also taken up quite a bit of time. I've recently got myself a new computer set up: a Mac G4, with a Wacom tablet, CD writer, and everything. My first piece done completely on computer is the cover for an Italian album, Winds of Winter, and I've just done an illustration for the official T-shirt of the UncommonCon convention. That was a scanned-in line illustration that I colored on computer.

Also traveled a bit -- been in France, San Diego, and Finland, where I currently have an exhibition in Turku.

IF: That's busy! I know the Heart of Empire CD-Rom project was a huge undertaking and very time-consuming, but I -- along with many of your other fans -- are hoping it means there will be more stories of Luther's legacy somewhere down the line. Will there?

BT: Perhaps -- in two or three years. I'd want it to be different from the other two stories. I'm just not interested in doing the same thing over and over. I do have a basic idea of what it'll involve.

IF: Your American fans seem especially dedicated and excited to see you at conventions. How do you see your fans, and how do you feel in regard to their attention and appreciation? Do you have any appearances here planned soon?

BT: I do enjoy meeting the fans and do think they are something special. I always try to spend a lot of time with them at cons, as I really appreciate their feedback and their love of the work. The next time I'll be over will be for the UNCOMMONCON convention that I mentioned earlier, which is in Dallas in November. I believe the website is up-and-running at http://www.uncommoncon.com/, so readers can find more information there.

Don't miss the debut of Bryan Talbot's collected Heart of Empire: The Legacy of Luther Arkwright, on sale February 28 for the retail price of $29.95 at your local comics shop.