A small clutch of emails asking for news on the Rainbow Orchid book is prompting this post. I have been working practically every minute of the past two weeks going over part one with a fine-tooth comb, re-lettering, dialogue editing, and in some cases re-drawing entire panels (as in the sword story and Sir Alfred's house). I don't think I've been to bed before 3 am most nights, and a couple of days ago I did a 38-hour stint, with just a 2-hour mid-morning snooze. But I think it's been well-worth it.

Volume one has two new pages in the form of extended scenes. These are the chase along the dock from the banana warehouse, and the take-off of the Breguet that ends the chapter. As soon as I had finished that take-off scene originally (back in September 2003), I knew it needed to be longer, but it was a case of having to get the comic off to the printer in time for the London comic show that year, and I was just about to shoot off for a holiday in France. It's great to finally get what I actually wanted down on paper. Here's a couple of small panels from each of those scenes to whet your appetite.

To answer the main question, The Rainbow Orchid (volume one) should be out in August 2009, and I will confirm that as soon as I'm able. Having now completed the 're-mastering' (for want of a better term), today and tomorrow I will be conjuring up some artwork for the extra pages in the book - it should be a very nice little package when all put together.

Going back to the Breguet, you may remember that my good friend Harvey put his considerable skills into making a balsa wood model of this scarce aircraft, which made the new drawings I had to do far less of a technical challenge (though drawing cars, boats and planes will never be easy!). This, in turn, inspired long-time Rainbow Orchid supporter, Linda Wada, to have a go at making her own out of cardboard (see below). Note the fact that Linda included the characters in the plane! I'm really impressed with the detail she put into these - fabulous work. Linda is the author of a wonderful book on Edna Purviance, and you can see some of her Orchid drawings in the Readers' Corner.

I will end here with the panel that closes volume one - same as the original, except now in the form of a half page splash rather than the single-tier panel it was before.