About The Rainbow Orchid webcomic, its artist and writer, and history

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About The Rainbow Orchid

If you like your comics full of mystery and adventure and you love the worlds of H. Rider Haggard, Arthur Conan Doyle, Jules Verne, Edgar P. Jacobs and Hergé, then you'll want to read The Rainbow Orchid.

Set in the 1920s, it is a tale of the search for a mythical flower last mentioned by the ancient Greek philosopher and botanist, Theophrastus.

But why does the orchid also feature on a stone slab that may tell of a forgotten Vedic legend? Who was the mysterious stranger who brought one to a remote village in the Hindu Kush, populated by those who are said to be descended from Alexander the Great? And why does Urkaz Grope want the legendary Trembling Sword of Tybalt Stone at all costs?

The Rainbow Orchid is traditional adventure at its best. Strong and simple storyteling with attractive and cinematic artwork, it enjoys a varied international readership of all ages and both sexes.

A brief history...

The Rainbow Orchid was originally started in 1997, but the only sign of it was a three-page preview that appeared in Cherokee Comics' Imagineers magazine. It wasn't until 2002/2003 that it got going properly, and the series saw publication in BAM!, with the first part printed there over the next year or so. Eventually these strips were published in a collected edition in order to guage public reaction, and it quickly sold out at London's Winterfest, the Bristol Comics Festival (where it was also nominated for two National Comic Awards), and through internet sales. The last copy was sold on ebay for £79, with some frantic last-minute bidding.

About the author

Garen's love of drawing and writing goes back to when he was very young, and had to spend a lot of time in hospital - so his mum supplied him with plenty of comics to read, and pencils and blank paper to draw with - and he's been making comics ever since! Other jobs have included working at a mushroom farm (he's a qualified fork-lift truck driver), an airport hotel, a computer software company and doing loads and loads of illustrations for various books and magazines. He's been the editor of a local entertainments guide (5D) and a comic strip anthology (Cosmorama). He's adapted Shakespeare's The Tempest into a comic and is the writer and artist behind The Rainbow Orchid. He's an expert on the Second Anglo-Afghan War of 1878-1880, he's half Scottish, one-sixteenth Romany Gypsy and plays bass guitar and does karate (though not at the same time!).

Related links:
garenewing.co.uk	Webbledegook (blog)

FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions

The Rainbow Orchid Part One was released to the comic-reading public at the London Comics Festival in Bloomsbury. A large number of copies were sold to enthusiastic comic strip admirers and it also gave people the opportunity to ask any questions they had. As a number of these questions popped up more than once, this FAQ is presented to help provide the answers to them. If you want to know the answer to a question that isn't here, then please don't hesitate to get in touch.

How long will The Rainbow Orchid be?

The story will be available in three parts, each consisting of about five or six episodes. Part One (episodes 1-5) takes up 34 pages, but the other two parts won't be exactly that length. An estimated total may be about 120 pages.

Do you know how the story ends?

Yes, the plot of The Rainbow Orchid is all worked out, including the rather exciting ending! While part one was scripted an episode at a time, parts two and three are being more carefully detailed to make sure all the plot strands tie up properly when it comes together at the end.

Will there be more Julius Chancer adventures once The Rainbow Orchid has finished?

I hope so. I have many story ideas bouncing around, and if The Rainbow Orchid is a success, then I would certainly like to continue his adventures. The next one already exists as series of rough notes, and takes place entirely in Britain.

It reminds me of Tintin!

I wanted to invoke the atmosphere found in European adventure albums such as Hergé's 'Tintin', Edgar P. Jacobs' 'Blake & Mortimer' and Yves Chaland's 'Freddy Lombard' to name just a few. Most British readers cite Tintin because not many other ligne claire comics have made it over from France and Belgium, but it is an entire school of comic strip storytelling with many creators working in the style, just like Manga has a certain look to it, or the recent popularity of an 'animation' or Disney style in comics. While I do consciously use elements of the clear-line school, I also remain true to my own somewhat more fiddly and often less-cartoony style (perhaps closer to Jacobs). The better you know Tintin, the more apparent the differences, but I don't refute the similarities - it was a conscious desicion. Related blog entries here and here.

What are the publishing plans for The Rainbow Orchid?

The Rainbow Orchid is to be published by Egmont in the UK in 2009. Book and media rights are represented by Blake Friedmann.

Why is some of the strip in black and white?

I am colouring these strips when I can, so eventually it will all be in colour. As I do this, I am enlarging the text slightly to make it more readable, though the size is intended for print rather than screen anyway.