GAREN EWING EXCLUSIVE!
2011 Interview by Paul H. Birch
Birmingham Mail's Speech Ballons blog is no longer available online, so this interview is now archived here. The original can still be found at the Internet Archive.
GAREN EWING'S The Rainbow Orchid has delighted readers since its inception; young and old alike, comics fans and just your average Joe - they heard about it word-of-mouth, read about it in a respected newspaper, or just stumbled across it in a bookshop as it called out to them asking to be purchased and taken home, and promising hours of delight once it was allowed to share their life.
The Rainbow Orchid has now become a must-read for many: having studied Tintin like some long-lost road map leading to hidden treasures its then set off on its own unique adventure, taking as its walking partner a very reassuring British flavour to keep it company... and yet for all this traditionalism can still be termed a cool read!
Countless features and interviews over the last few years have said similar things about the Egmont published graphic novel series. Having read many myself and having known Garen well before the series was published I wasn't particularly interested in going over now old ground. My interests, and perhaps concerns, were that I wanted to know how the all-encompassing tome that is now The Rainbow Orchid may have affected Garen Ewing's life, or his perspectives on it...
Fear not, it's not some dourishly bleak interview that follows, but a frank and amiable exchange of dialogues where optomism, goodwill, and a very nice surprise or two surfaces, alongside featuring some exclusive art from the imminent third volume of The Rainbow Orchid.
Paul H Birch: Have you completed The Rainbow Orchid now? If not how does it feel to be so close to finishing such an extensive piece of work, or if you have, is there a tremendous sense of relief, satisfaction or even sadness in having done so?
Garen Ewing: As of now, early March 2011, I have 15 pages to draw (pencil and ink) and 35 to colour (out of 41), so it still feels as though there's quite a way to go, despite the bulk of the work being behind me.
As for how it feels, well, mixed emotions, I guess! I'm really pleased with the book, especially the third and final part, but also I can't wait to be free of it. I'm currently feeling a little out of sorts with comics - a temporary state that comes and goes in waves - so am finding work a bit of a struggle at the moment, but this will pass and I'll be surfing high again pretty soon. I am excited to see the whole thing completed... I think it's good.
PHB: There has been a generally positive, if not at times ecstatic, reaction to the series since it debuted - And I'm talking about its small press anthology origins not just as a series of internationally distributed books. Has this series surprised you, if so how have you come to terms with it? Has it affected the way you've continued the saga; ie. have you altered anything to react to a faithful readerships' presumed reactions, or have you followed your own intended course etc?
GE: I am constantly surprised by the positive reaction. I can't believe these comments are directed at my book and wonder if they're writing to the right person!
More seriously, sometimes all you can see in your work is the mistakes, so it's all too easy to think people are just being nice with their praise. On the other hand, I enjoy the story - that was my starting point, a book purely for my own enjoyment, and if I like it, then hopefully there are others out there with similar tastes who are going to like it too. I am much better at accepting praise for my work now, and also at accepting there are some people for who it is just not their thing - that's fine too.
The readership hasn't had a huge impact on the shape or direction of the story - I'm a great believer in the idea that trying to please an imagined audience or demographic dilutes the essence - you end up compromising your ideas, watering them down, and pleasing no one.
Of course I do take comments on board, from readers and editors alike, but in the end it has to fulfil my own critical criteria. I got an agent and a publisher doing it that way, so why change?
PHB: Have you found, on rereading the series yourself, that the characters have taken on a life of their own, developing their personalities on the actual page in ways you hadn't initially considered or intended, a synergistic experience if you will?
GE: The characters are very real to me and each does have their own unique voice in my head, which I'm sure you'd agree is true of most writers. Maybe they're a little stereotypical in some respects, so that makes it quite clearly defined, but it works out okay!
You're right, though, that rereading them with a little distance shows up recurring traits or attitudes and I take advantage of these later on. For instance, Julius Chancer is a tad indecisive, maybe to hide the fact that he's not as brave as he thinks others view him. On a more obvious note, Nathaniel Crumpole's repeated encounters with animals was something I didn't notice at first, but has become a theme now I'm aware of it.
A lot of readers find William Pickle one of the most interesting characters in the book, something I hadn't intended (Glenn Dakin asked if I'd had him imprisoned in the story so as not to upstage Julius, which got me wondering if he had a point!). The other popular character is Evelyn Crow, and she's the most enigmatic, even to me at the moment - I don't yet have a background story for her.
PHB: Do you feel you've learned from the experience of doing the series, grown as a creator and a person?
GE: Yes, there's no doubt about that. I've improved as an artist - that is very obvious, I think, from comparing Volume One with Volume Two and then again with Volume Three. I've learned a lot about myself, my attitudes, limitations, and what I like and don't like. I've become more and more obsessive about research as I've gone on. The Rainbow Orchid started being published in a small press anthology, was then self-published, then had a stint as a webcomic, and finally as mainstream published book and I've learned a lot about all of those areas.
Doing The Rainbow Orchid has totally shaped my creative outlook in a way that nothing else ever has, even to the extent that nearly all the work I did before it seems to be by a different person altogether.
PHB: Will the final album in The Rainbow Orchid series bring to a conclusion the adventures of Julius and his companions or can we expect more tales?
GE: No, there will definitely be more. Apart from one long-time self-promised project, I feel no desire to do anything else, actually!
I want to develop Julius Chancer and his world and I have the next story plotted out - it's more of a detective mystery that focuses on Julius to a greater degree than in The Rainbow Orchid, which is rather more of an ensemble adventure.
PHB: So is comics a full-time career for you now?
GE: Once Volume Three is out I will be working with Egmont on a collected edition, which is the main thing for me with The Rainbow Orchid - it was always intended as a single book. There are also two volumes still to come out in the Netherlands (De Regenboog Orchidee).
I will return Julius Chancer to a new but, shorter webcomic adventure some time this year, and will also start the next book. I won't look any further than that for now! I wouldn't call my comics work a full time career - I'm not fast enough for that to be viable.
The workload itself has been pretty much full time, but it's meant very little money coming in - commercial illustration remains my bread and butter. From a financial point of view, with the amount of time and work I put into The Rainbow Orchid, it's mad to do it, but I'm so lucky to have the opportunity, the platform, to have my story and drawing out there in bookshops - I never forget that.
PHB: Many thanks, Garen!
