Talbot began his comics work in the underground comix scene of the late 1960s. In 1969 his first work appeared as illustrations in Mallorn, the British Tolkien Society Magazine, followed in 1972 by a weekly strip in his college newspaper.

He continued in the scene after leaving college, producing Brainstorm Comix, the first three of which formed The Chester P. Hackenbush Trilogy (a character reworked by Alan Moore as Chester Williams for Swamp Thing).

He started The Adventures of Luther Arkwright in 1978. It was originally published in Near Myths and continued on over the years in other publications. It was eventually collected together into one volume by Dark Horse. Along with When the Wind Blows it is one of the first British graphic novels.

In the early to mid-eighties he provide art for some of 2000 AD's flagship serials, producing 3 series of Nemesis the Warlock, as well as strips for Judge Dredd and Sláine.

The Tale of One Bad Rat deals with recovery from childhood sexual abuse.

Talbot moved to the American market in the 1990s, principally for DC, on titles like Hellblazer, Sandman and Batman. He also produced the art for The Nazz by Tom Veitch and worked with Tom's brother Rick Veitch on Teknophage, one of a number of mini-series he drew for Tekno Comix.

Talbot has illustrated cards for the The Gathering collectible card game.

He has also illustrated Bill Willingham's Fables, as well as returning to the Luther Arkwright universe with Heart of Empire. He has also worked on The Dead Boy Detectives.

In 2006, he announced the graphic novel Metronome, an existential, textless erotically-charged visual poem, written under the pseudonym Véronique Tanaka. He admitted that he was the author in 2009.

In 2007 he released Alice in Sunderland, which documents the connections between Lewis Carroll, Alice Liddell, and the Sunderland and Wearside area. He also wrote and drew the layouts for Cherubs!, which he describes as "an irreverent fast-paced supernatural comedy-adventure."

His upcoming work includes a sequel to 2009's Grandville, which Talbot says is "a detective steampunk thriller" and Paul Gravett calls it "an inspired reimagining of some of the first French anthropomorphic caricatures". It is planned as the first in a series of four or five graphic novels.

Comics work includes:

• The Adventures of Luther Arkwright (various publishers: 1978-1989, ISBN 1-56971-255-7)
• Brainstorm: The Complete Chester P.Hackenbush and Other Underground Classics (Alchemy Publications, 1982, ISBN 0-9508487-0-0 reprinted 1999, ISBN 0-9508487-1-9)
• Tharg's Future Shocks: "The Wages of Sin" (with Alan Moore, in 2000 AD #257, 1982)
• Ro-Busters: "Old Red Eyes is Back" (with Alan Moore, in 2000AD Annual 1983, 1982)
• Nemesis the Warlock (with Pat Mills):
• "The Gothic Empire (Book IV)" (in 2000 AD #390-406, 1984—1985)
• "Vengeance of Thoth (Book V)" (in 2000 AD #435-445, 1985)
• "Torquemurder (Book VI) Part 1" (in 2000 AD #482-487, 1986)
• "Torquemurder (Book VI) Part 2" (in 2000 AD #500-504, 1986—1987)
• Sláine: "The Time Killer" (with Pat Mills, in 2000 AD #431, 1985)
• Judge Dredd:
• "House of Death" (with John Wagner/Alan Grant, in Dice Man #1, 1986)
• "Last Voyage of the Flying Dutchman" (with John Wagner/Alan Grant, in 2000 AD #459, 1986)
• "Judge Dredd and the Seven Dwarves" (with John Wagner/Alan Grant, in Judge Dredd Annual 1987, 1986)
• "Ladies' Night" (with John Wagner/Alan Grant, in 2000AD Annual 1987, 1986)

• Torquemada: "The Garden of Alien Delights" (with Pat Mills, in Dice Man #3, 1986)

• One-Off:
• "Alien Enemy" (with script and pencils Mike Matthews, in 2000AD Sci-Fi Special 1987)
• "Memento" (in 2000 AD prog 2002, 2001)

• Sandman (with Neil Gaiman):
• A Game of You (DC, 1991—1992, ISBN 1-56389-089-5 )
• Fables and Reflections (DC, 1991—1993, ISBN 1-56389-105-0 )
• Worlds' End (DC, 1993, ISBN 1-56389-170-0)

• The Tale of One Bad Rat (Dark Horse, 4-issue mini-series, 1995, ISBN 1-56971-077-5)
• Batman: Dark Legends (reprints Legends of the Dark Knight #39 - 40, 50, 52 - 54, 1996, ISBN 1-85286-723-X)
• The Dreaming #9-12 (writer, with artists Dave Taylor (#9) and Peter Doherty (#10-12), DC, February—May, 1997)
• Heart of Empire: Or the Legacy of Luther Arkwright (Dark Horse, 9-issue limited series, 1999, ISBN 1-56971-567-X)
• Hellblazer Annual #1 (Hellblazer Annual story: "The Bloody Saint", interior art only.)
• The Dead Boy Detectives (with Ed Brubaker, Vertigo, 4 issue mini-series, 2001)
• "Nightjar" (with Alan Moore, in Alan Moore's Yuggoth Cultures and Other Growths #1, Avatar, 2003)
• Fables: Storybook Love (with Bill Willingham, Vertigo, 2004, ISBN 1-4012-0256-X)
• Alice in Sunderland (graphic novel, Jonathan Cape, April 2007, ISBN 978-0-224-08076-7)
• Cherubs! (with Mark Stafford, graphic novel, 104 pages, Desperado Publishing, November 2007, ISBN 0979593999)
• The Art of Bryan Talbot (96 pages, NBM Publishing, December 2007, ISBN 1-561635-12-X)
• Metronome (as Véronique Tanaka, 64 pages, NBM Publishing, May 2008, ISBN 1-561635-26-X)
• Grandville (graphic novel, 104 pages, Jonathan Cape, ISBN 0224084887, October 2009, Dark Horse Comics, ISBN 1595823972, November 2009)

• 1984 Eagle Award for Best Character for Torquemada, from Nemesis the Warlock
• 1987 Eagle Award for Favourite Artist (British)
• 1988:
• Eagle Award for Best Artist, for The Adventures of Luther Arkwright
• Eagle Award for Best New Comic, for The Adventures of Luther Arkwright
• Eagle Award for Best Character, for Luther Arkwright
• Eagle Award for Best Comic Cover, for The Adventures of Luther Arkwright
• 1993 a couple of Eagle Awards, for The Tale of One Bad Rat
• 1996 Reprint, for The Tale of One Bad Rat
• 1999 Haxtur Award, for Best Long Comic Strip for The Tale of One Bad Rat
• 2000 Inkpot Award
• 2007:
• Nominated for "Award for Favourite Comics Writer/Artist" Eagle Award
• Nominated for "Favourite Original Graphic Novel" Eagle Award, for Alice in Sunderland
• 2008: Nominated for "Best Painter or Multimedia Artist (interior art)" Eisner Award.
• 2010: Nominated for "Favourite Original Graphic Novel Published During 2009" Eagle Award for Grandville

Talbot was given an Honorary Doctorate of Arts by University of Sunderland in July 2009, the first time this has been done for a comic book artist.

Interviews

• The Life of Bryan, Comics Bulletin, June 16, 2000
• British Comics Month - Bryan Talbot speaks, Forbidden Planet, 26 July 2006
• Talbot Deconstructs Alice and Lewis, Publishers Weekly, 21 November 2006
• Engraving the Void and Sketching Parallel Worlds: An Interview with Bryan Talbot, ImageTexT, Winter 2007
• The Many Layers of Bryan Talbot, Comics Bulletin, 21 August 2007
• Curioser and curioser — Bryan draws on Alice, Sunderland Echo, 17 March 2008
• The road from Wigan Pier: Bryan Talbot talks with Pádraig Ó Méalóid, part one and part two, Forbidden Planet blog, October 1, 2009

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