In this Parallel, the man known as Bryan Talbot is a student of medieval architecture (he can usually date a medieval church or cathedral within fifty years); he is reasonably fluent in French; he is considered to be, by those lucky enough to sample his culinary creations, an excellent cook; and he is a genuinely nice guy.

In addition to all these things, Talbot is also an acclaimed artist and storyteller; a comics visionary whose work has, by their own admissions, inspired and influenced such creators as Alan Moore, Garth Ennis, Grant Morrison, Neil Gaiman, and Steve Bissette, to name a few. Among the high points of his twenty-year career in comics are The Adventures of Luther Arkwright, his epic, history-warping tale of a battle spanning dozens of dimensional Parallels; and 1994's A Tale of One Bad Rat, which chronicles a young girl's adventures (both real and imagined) as she struggles to break free of an abusive relationship with her parents and establish a new life for herself.

Arkwright, a skillful blending of science fiction, the supernatural, and historical and espionage adventures, garnered Talbot four British Eagle Awards (including "Favourite Artist" and "Favourite Character") and the Mekon award given by the Society of Strip Illustration for "Best British Work." But the real proof of the story's mettle has been the attention and praise it has received from comics fans, comics creators, and numerous science fiction authors.

In tone and style, One Bad Rat couldn't be more different from Arkwright, but Talbot imbued it with the same meticulous attention to detail and compelling understanding of the human heart that marked his earlier work. Among the awards Talbot has received for A Tale of One Bad Rat are an Eisner Award, two UK Comic Art awards, two Comics Buyer's Guide Don Thompson awards, a Parent's Choice award, and the Internet Comic Award for "Best Graphic Novel." There have been five one-man comics art exhibitions of his work from One Bad Rat held in Lancashire, Tuscany, London, New York, and just last month at the Milan Comics Festival (which coincided with the publication of the graphic novel in six different countries), and Talbot was invited to teach a week-long course on comics storytelling at Ouro Preto University in Brazil.

Currently, Talbot is putting the finishing touches on his latest work, Heart of Empire, the long-awaited follow-up to The Adventures of Luther Arkwright. Set primarily in Para 00.72.87 -- which readers of Arkwright will remember as a dimension in which technology as well as history have taken different turns from our own, and in which the British Empire ranks as the world's supreme power -- Heart of Empire picks up the story twenty years after Luther was last seen alive and deals with the mystery of his disappearance, his daughter Victoria, and an impending cataclysm that could have dire affects on all Parallels. Heart of Empire debuts in April, and promises to once again make Bryan Talbot one of the most celebrated comics creators in the business.

Of course, that's in Para 00.30.23. Dark Horse has it on good authority that the Bryan Talbot from Para 00.38.56 is a member of the Tenth Prince of Wales Royal Hussars. But that's another column...