Bryan Talbot's Brainstorm
published by Alchemy Books

To order by mail, send a cheque for £10.50 (incl.p&p) payable to Alchemy to...

Alchemy, 261 Portobello Road, London W11 1LR
Telephone: (44) 020 7792 0166

"It's All in the Mind, You Know" by Bryan Talbot
(introduction written for the 25th anniversary edition of Brainstorm )

"Glad You're Back" by Lee Harris
(article written for the 25th anniversary edition of Brainstorm )

Cover Gallery
(the covers from the original series)

Bryan Talbot Homepage
(artist Bryan Talbot's site with more on Brainstorm Comix and his other work)

Brainstorm Launch Party Photo-Album
(link to Burnsite is currently inactive)
(pictures of Bryan, Lee Harris and party guests)

Shall we take a trip down memory lane?
What better reading material to take you there than a collection of some of the best underground comix to come out of Britain. Bryan Talbot is better known these days as the creator of the award-winning Tale Of One Bad Rat and Luther Arkwright, but his roots are deeply planted in the counter-culture movement of the 1970s. Brainstorm collects together Talbot's seminal work, his Chester P Hackenbush - Psychedelic Alchemist stories setting the chemically-enhanced tone for the rest of the book. So deep do Talbot's roots go that the first appearance of Luther Arkwright is contained in these pages, an appearance that was to have a lasting impact on the comics scene. An obscure treat to delight Luther fans currently devouring Heart Of Empire

As well as being of great interest to track the early works of one of Britain's foremost comics creators, the work itself is very good and Bryan's art noticeably refines in a very short period of time, gaining clarity and detail without losing the awesome visual sensibilities that characterised the hallucinogenic Chester strips. The stories have a wide range of themes, from Hackenbush's spaced-out meanderings, the Smokey Bears gentle dop humour, to Luther Arkwright and Ace Wimslow - Freelance Rock Reporter covering science-fiction tales.

Much of this material is truely hard to find, and as Talbot's Heart Of Empire raises his profile further, this is a retrospective book that will find an eager audience.
 
Review from Red Route magazine