RAINBOW RISING
First published on Comic World News: Monday, March 27
An interview with Rainbow Orchid creator Garen Ewing
Garen Ewing is a British illustrator and designer working in both digital and print media whose award-winning comic strip, Rainbow Orchid has earned this talented creator high praise and a huge following world-wide - last October, the web site netted an incredible 60,000 hits in the just two days.
John Freeman caught up with this busy creator to find out more about the strip and his plans for its future...
John: You're currently taking time out from RAINBOW ORCHID to concentrate on the writing of the strip... how's that coming and can you explain what you mean by that?
Garen: I've only just paused to do this, but it's going very well. The story synopsis is all there - including the rather exciting ending! - but there are a few plot points I want to make sure are as water-tight as I can make them, and now, just coming up to the half-way point, is the time to make sure everything is going to line up properly. It's a bit like a chess game I've started. I know the end will be checkmate, and even the exact position that checkmate will take. I now need to work out all the rest of the moves so I end up with right pieces on the right squares at the end. I have quite a few plot strands, and don't want to leave any unintentionally dangling. It's mostly worked out.
What's harder, the writing or the drawing?
ABOUT 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 Hergˇ, the creator of Tin Tin, then you'll want to read The Rainbow Orchid. Set in the 1920s, the strip, first published in 1997, 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? |
Although I often give myself some pretty difficult scenes to draw, I think the writing is harder for me. The story is something I really sweat over, and the storytelling is the most important aspect, but that involves the drawing and the script coming together to do the same job. I think the writing part involves more ingredients - scene, character, dialogue and all that. By the time I get to drawing it on paper, it's more of a mere technical challenge. Not that that's a breeze, exactly!
Rainbow Orchid has taken many forms -- print and now online. Do you think your storytelling will change to reflect the medium it's appearing in?
The only version I'm really working on is the final book. The online version is more an interim for those who had bought part one and were waiting for part two. I knew it was going to be a while so put it online, plus part one had sold out, so without reprinting, which I didn't want to do, it was the only way new readers could find out what went before. The other reason to put it online was to give myself regular deadlines, as I no longer had the quarterly incentive of an anthology (BAM!), where part one had been serialised.
How did the Rainbow Orchid come about? Obviously, you're a fan of Herge's Adventures of Tintin but are there other influences on the strip?
I'd spent a couple of years doing a comic strip adaptation of Shakespeare's The Tempest, and after finishing that I really wanted to do a story that was my own, with characters that were my own, and perhaps something that could go on for a series, if successful. Also, doing a comic strip is so labour intensive that I wanted to do a story that at least I would enjoy - anyone else would be a bonus! So I thought about the elements I really liked in a story and juggled between a science fiction or a lost world tale, the latter winning out. Tintin is certainly an influence, but actually more the whole European clear-line school, especially the work of Edgar P. Jacobs and Yves Chaland, the whole album format, including Asterix , Trondheim (in French), Stanislas, Tardi (in French) etc. The straightforward storytelling part is very important, and the ligne-clair school suits it perfectly, I think.
How do you create a strip -- what's the process?
In each episode (six to eight pages) I'll know I want a certain set of things to happen, certain bits of the plot to use up, if you like. I'll give each scene a particular number of pages, and decide what I have to get across within that scene. I'll then script this out, panel descriptions and dialogue, usually sketching thumbnails to help work out the flow and make sure it all fits. It's then a case of pencilling and inking, scanning the artwork into the computer, a bit of tidying up and 'white ink' on the bitmap, then colouring and lettering it, also on computer.
Do you do a lot of fine-tuning before you're happy enough with the material and publish?
A fair amount. When it comes to scripting from my plot notes, I tend to get rid of a good few ideas that just won't fit in, which I'm sure is beneficial for the story as a whole, in the end. I try not to let the quest for impossible perfection go on too much, as I know I'll never get there, but often go back over the artwork if something continually sticks out every time I see it. Even now I am changing little bits of dialogue back in earlier pages. While it's on the web, and not burnt onto paper, it's still live and changeable as far as I'm concerned, even up to going back and changing a character's name if I think it's necessary!
Do you have favourite characters?
I really like Lily and am looking forward to seeing her develop within the adventure. William Pickle is also pretty interesting, quite a few shades of grey there I think. Julius Chancer, the main character, is the emptiest vessel at the moment. Heroes are always like that! I'm struggling a bit to mould him more definitely, but a few stronger challenges for him will help. I'm very happy with the stunt pilot, Tayaut (which means 'tally-ho!' in French) and his twin daughters... a good spin-off adventure or two there, I think!
What's coming up that you can actually reveal at this time?
I guard my plot quite jealously, you know! Knowing what to reveal and when is something I struggle with, but it's got to come out at some point, and I don't want all the answers rushed in at the end.
Sir Alfred is going to end up in India, along with another character we've already met. Julius, Lily and Nat will travel up the Indus Valley and make some new discoveries at the ruined city of Mohenjo-Daro and also at Multan, where something unexpected awaits them. Two big motivating factors will be revealed more fully fairly soon, those of Urkaz Grope and also of the Empire Survey Branch.
Has there been any interest in a printed album of the stories?
There has been some very nice interest quite recently. This has led to me getting an agent to represent the comic, A. P. Watt in London who deals with literary, film and television rights. I feel very lucky to have such a prestigious company as they represent people like Philip Pullman, Zadie Smith, Quentin Blake, Richard E, Grant... loads, including the estates of people such as Rudyard Kipling and H. G. Wells. I hope something eventually comes of it, but there's no hurry just yet. However, I do feel as though The Rainbow Orchid potentially could have quite a big audience, and it seems others agree, which is a nice confidence-booster.
I gather you considered self publishing the strip as an album yourself at one point?
I self-published part one to see what reaction would be like, and was rather blown-away by the support it received, it was wonderful. If a publisher cannot be found for any reason, then I'm not averse to publishing it myself, but it should be in colour, which will cost money.
Which comics creators would you say most influence your work?
I've already mentioned the more traditional clear-line comics prevalent in France and Belgium. I'd single out Asterix especially for the sense of environment and location it has. I always wanted to live in those straw-roofed huts and explore the Gaulish forests, they looked so inviting! Miyazaki's Nausicaa books have had an influence, and I especially want to get some of that feeling into what I have planned for part three of Rainbow Orchid. I suppose anything I really like must seep in as influence somewhere along the line, from Alan Moore and Bryan Talbot to (DC Thomson's cartoon strip) Oor Wullie and Posy Simmonds. Richard Corben was an enormous influence in my late teens and some of the storytelling from silent films is quite a big influence on me, too.
Comics are just one aspect of your creative output, but are they the thing you most like to create?
Definitely. I love storytelling, and I love the graphic and visual aspect, so it's perfect.
If you have advice for would be creators just starting out, what is it?
Do something at least you'll enjoy, because making a comic strip is a lot of work!
The Rainbow Orchid is also being translated into French -- can you speak French and how do you feel about having such a worldwide fan base?
I don't speak French, though my wife does. I was contacted by a group of readers from the Forum Ligne-Clair about translating the comic, initially for others in their group, and they have been excellent in doing so, I'm really grateful for their marvellous efforts.
One of the great things about putting the comic on the web is being able to use the stats to see where regular readers are coming from. Canada, China, France, Greece, Germany, Australia, Japan... all over. It's quite amazing.
What other projects are you working on at the moment - or would you like to do?
Nothing else in comics, just Rainbow Orchid. I have given up contributing to other magazines and anthologies because if I'm drawing a strip it should be what I'm working on, my main project, I can't justify doing anything else. Whenever I think of a new story idea I immediately start thinking of it as a comic strip, but Rainbow Orchid has to be my priority.
Vague ideas for a story set in the second Anglo-Afghan war, the history of karate, or an adaptation of a robot story my mother wrote will have to wait a few years, I think!
If there was one existing strip you were offered the chance to draw, what would it be?
When I was a kid I dreamed of drawing Judge Dredd, but that doesn't interest me now, really. Despite not really being heavily into football, I enjoyed doing a bit of work for DC Thomson's 'Football Picture Monthly' and would happily do a couple more of those, but I'd like to write them too! Perhaps the old Commando digests would be more my thing, plenty of good research required.
An episode of Trondheim's 'Donjon' (in
French) would be fun, and maybe a month or two doing Oor
Wullie. They'd
look good on my CV!
Web Links
Rainbow
Orchid
The Rainbow Orchid is represented by A. P. Watt, the
longest-established literary agency in the world.
Herge's
Adventures of Tintin
Oor Wullie Fan
Site
Oor Wullie is currently written by Tom Morton and
drawn by Peter
Davidson -- but that's not all he does.
ABOUT GAREN
EWING
Garen Ewing is an illustrator and designer who has been
writing and drawing comics for many years. He started King Rat Press in
1988 with the anthology Cosmorama, which included contributors such as
Steve Pugh, David Wyatt, Warren Ellis, Paul H. Birch and Sara Russell.
In 1994 his adaptation of Shakespeare's The Tempest was
published. Since then he has worked for many companies in the areas of illustration,
design, web design and multimedia.
Garen Ewing's site:
www.garenewing.co.uk