Tod und verklärung
The opening sequence of “Luther Arkwright” #6
At the risk of committing a brutal act of
over-simplification, it is possible to define two distinct
(but not separate) narrative elements in “The Adevntures of
Luther Arkwright”. The first of these can be handily
described as “plot” and is concerned with two interlocking
stories; that of the search for Firefrost and the
Disruptors' home parallel mounted by the denizens of
Valhalla Nova, and that of the political crises centred in
the Cromwellian England of parallel 00.72.87. The second
element is not so easy to formularize but can perhaps be
described as “self-discovery”, concerning as it does the
spiritual growth and development of Arkwright himself. Such
definitions are little more than a reductio ad
absurdum of Bryan's achievement, but they serve to
indicate that his narrative is constructed on the plot /
characterisation combination that has been a staple
foundation in English writing since Chaucer. What makes
“Luther Arkwright” a unique experience is the way in which
the two elements are intertwined, and, especially, the
incredible wealth of detail packed into the account of
Arkwright's personal evolution.
It is in this latter respect that Bryan demonstrates the
potential of comics as a superior literary medium. He is
not only a fine writer but also a brilliant illustrator who
understands, as do comparatively few comics creators, that
his chosen medium is ideally suited to the use of
iconography as an extension of textual imagery. Adapting
for that purpose Nicolas Roeg's flash-cutting cinematic
technique, he has created a work perhaps rivalling in
density Joyce's “Ulysees”, whilst being a good deal more
compact and much easier to read!
At the epicentre of this hugely complex narrative stands
the figure of Luther Arkwright. More than just the central
character, he is the focus of the comic's iconology; much
of the visual symbolism in the story is perceived by the
reader through the medium of Arkwright's perceptions, made
coherent by the impact upon him of sights and sounds,
images and words. Mindful of dramatic unities, Bryan does
not limit himself to a single narrative viewpoint; that
which Arkwright does not perceive is conveyed to the reader
through the dei ex machina of Zero-Zero, the
Brechtian commentary of Kowolsky's dispatches, and the
psychic linkage of the principal Rose Wyldes. That,
however, simply demonstrates his mastery of dramatic
plotting; Arkwright's perceptions constitute the cohesive
factor uniting the narrative's storytelling and imagery.
One crucial nexus in which these threads are climactically
brought together is the “coma sequence” which opens #6.
Once again, bald definition proves inadequate, for the
“coma sequence” is very much more than that simple phrase
suggests. His body broken and tortured to the point of
destruction, Arkwright is compelled to resort wholly to his
spiritual and psychic resources for the first time in a
life during which he has either suppressed them with drugs
or allowed them only to serve the violence for which he was
programmed by his childhood imprinting (Leary's
“dexterity-symbolism” circuit) at the hands of the
Disruptors. Having been further imprinted with awareness of
this self-inhibition during his first sexual experience
(Leary's “socio-sexual” circuit), he is now faced with the
choice between dying and breaking the mould by evolving
beyond the restrictions that have shaped his life so far.
What follows is a tour-de-force,an exraordinary piece of
writing in which many of the details delineated in the
story so far are fused and shaped into the material of
Arkwright's personal gnosis.
The underlying concept of this third person "stream of
consciousness" is a fusion of various resonances of the
figure 8.Bryan acknowledges this by appending a note
(attributed to one Dr. S. Heywood) at the end of the
sequence which explains the significance of the “Magician”
card in the Tarot pack and refers to the figure 8 as a
symbol of resurrection. Furthermore,while it is common
knowledge that 666 is the number of the Beast, it is less
well known that 888, according to the Greek numerological
system called Gematria, is the number of Jesus. There is
other material in this note which will be referred to
later; for now,there are other aspects of the figure 8
which,to further clarify the episode, it seems worth
emphasising. The Western musical scales (Major and Minor)
contain eight notes - the octave first defined by
Pythagoras. Kundalini is a yogic process involving
channeling of one's psychic energy upwards through seven
chakras (energy centres corresponding to the base of the
spine, the sacrum, the solar plexus, the heart, throat,
brow and the crown of the head) in a spiral, resembling the
DNA helix, around an intangible axis; the whole pattern
resembles the Hermetic caduceus. The “circuits” referred to
in the previous paragraph are respectively the third and
fourth “elements” in Tim Leary's postulated "Periodic Table
of Evolution", which theorizes the existence of eight
stages of potential mental evolution; the socio-sexual
circuit is, according to Leary, as far as most people get.
(1)
In short, the core material of the episode is a fusion of
Occidental and Oriental consciousness-raising techniques.
Arkwright is assailed by images of music and sex, two
mystical experiences still common coin in the West, as his
kundalini energy rises toward the sahasrana chakra atop his
head and he is propelled further up Leary's evolutionary
scale. Woven in with this are kaleidoscopic impressions of
a past which he must come to terms with, must comprehend if
he is to survive and grow beyond his near-death experience.
Apparently random details seen previously during the story
become a code of imagery deciphers for Arkwright the
meaning of his past. The picture of Leda and the swan
before which Anne stood in #4 gives him the key to his
memories of their coupling and emphasises his imminent
elevation away from Homo Sapiens; at the same time, the
icon presages the result of Anne's pregnancy, for the
offspring of Leda and Zeus were twins.
As the sequence climaxes, Arkwright's earlier struggle with
his fear of death is replaced by an ecstatic appreciation
of his ability to transcend it. The empty rhetoric of King
Charles' last words on Black Tuesday is invested with new
meaning, a lyric from a Gene Kelly film is placed in a new
context, the music takes on the apparently chaotic form of
modernism as Arkwright's kundalini peaks, shattering his
ego and with it his fear of dying. The Wheel of Fortune
ceases turning and Death is revealed, a significator not of
finality but of Change. Arkwright is resurrected as a
shaman, receiving a baptism of blood as he stands on an
octagonal flagstone in the guardroom - the eight-sided
baptismal font referred to in the note concerning the Tarot
mentioned above. He has become as a new-born child, a
near-innocent purged, except for the violence program
identified for him by Miranda, of his past and possessing
not super-powers but super-humanity.
As this crucial episode in Bryan's narrative ends with the
transfiguration of the cold and unemotional Arkwright, so a
corresponding shift in the relationship between his
perceptions and the narrative's style follows. Elevated to
Leary's sixth (“neuro-electric”) circuit, the reborn
Arkwright displays the traditional attributes of shamanism
- the power of flight, expanded awareness of, and oneness
with, nature (beautifully delineated in his walk through
the woods at the close of #6) and, above all, a fully
developed precognitive sense. It is this that enables Bryan
to effect a major change in narrative technique; where he
had previously used the character and perceptions of
Arkwright as a medium through which the reader could
decipher the story's symbolism, the enhancement of those
perceptions allows the character to more directly convey
the story's action. The shaman shapes his own reality; thus
#7's time-displacement sequence encapsulates for the reader
Arkwright's knowledge of what is to come, triggered by the
poignancy of what he knows to be his final meeting with
00.72.87's Rose. Immediately after comes the assassination
of the Cabinet in #8, seen by the reader in the slow-motion
mode in which Arkwright himself perceives it.
Bryan's adoption of prescience into the narrative mode
following the climax of the “coma sequence” not only
mirrors Arkwright's increased perceptions but accelerates
the story's motion towards its climax. For the
transformation is not yet complete; that is held over until
#9, when Arkwright, in a first person “stream of
consciousness” mode this time, confronts the ancient
Urizen-like alien and is further elevated (albeit
momentarily) to the godhood of Leary's eighth,
”neuro-atomic” ,circuit. In the course of the encounter his
violence program peaks (“Stitch that!”) and is fulfilled,
enabling him to at last objectify his personal mantra of
violence, the intermingled images of the Bayeux Tapestry
and the Vietnam slaughter footage. The story ends with a
conversation with Rose, a kind of coda which amplifies and
finally exhausts the material in #6's note on the Tarot,
and concludes on a note of mythic resonance as the saviour
of the multiverse hurls his vibro-beamer into the sea,
Excalibur cast back into the lake.
The foregoing analysis of a single episode in Bryan's
narrative, a superficial analysis at best, is intended to
present a microcosmic model of the density of information
apparent throughout the whole story. The thought of
attempting an overview of the narrative is, frankly,
horrifying; to suggest an “underview”, though, is perhaps a
simpler task. Beneath the erudition and embellishment with
which Bryan has continually dazzled and delighted the
reader during the past year-and-a-half lies the solid
foundation of a very venerable story. Hero opposes villain,
achieves victory and individuation, goes home to a happy
ending. Odysseus too underwent rites of passage and
returned to his loved one; like Arkwright he then vanished
beyond the readers' ken. "The Adventures of Luther
Arkwright" may be the first genuine epic in the history of
the comics medium; in my opinion, it is certainly the
finest.
Mike Kidson, Liverpool 1989.
(1) See Robert Anton Wilson's “Cosmic Trigger” (London:
Sphere, 1979) Bryan has publicly acknowledged the influence
of Wilson on his work, and I therefore consider it
appropriate to employ Wilsonian terminology in analysing
this episode.
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
-
Campbell, J: Myths to live by (London, Souvenir Press, 1979)
-
Jung, C. G. and Kerenyi, F: Science of mythology (New York, Bollingen, 1949)
-
Miller, R. A: The magical and ritual use of herbs (New York, Destiny, 1983)
-
Rendel, P: Introduction to the Chakras (Wellingborough, Aquarian, 1979)
-
Skidmore, M. (ed.): Fantasy Advertiser #102, May 1988,pps. 24-28, FA #103, June 1988, pps. 24-55 (Leicester, Neptune, 1988)
-
Wilson, R. A: Cosmic Trigger: the final secret of the Innumanati (London, Sphere, 1979)
-
Zappa, F: Guitar (Hollywood:Barking Pumpkin, 1988)
WITH THANKS TO:
-
Bryan for advice,encouragement,subject matter!
-
Khris for patience,encouragement,hot tea!
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Harry for making me use the computer!
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Danny for showing me how to use it!
-
R. Strauss for the title - and for the final scene of Der Rosenkavalier!