The Forbidden Planet International Blog

The Complete Rainbow Orchid

By Garen Ewing

Egmont

Okay, here we are, finally, the three parts of The Rainbow Orchid are collected together, as we always wanted them to be, in one very lovely, very affordable collection.

In here, you’ll be journeying with Garen Ewing’s wonderfully stereotyped collection of characters populating an idealised world gone by, as they search for the mysterious, and frankly rather mythical Rainbow Orchid. Leading the chase is young adventuring historical research assistant Julian Chancer, his job is to venture forth, explore mysterious lands, find and bring home the Rainbow Orchid (if it exists), save the estate of an English nobleman, defeat the bad-guys, and maybe win the girl.

Come on, that still sounds like a wonderfully fun and entertaining slice of old-fashioned adventure, doesn’t it? You get action, adventure, a little romance, a little comedy, a cast of great characters, and all of it just neatly slots together, delivering something very, very satisfying indeed.

This really isn’t a review though, more an extended recap, since I’ve already told you three times, with each single volume of The Rainbow Orchid to be released by Egmont just how much fun there is to be had from Garen Ewing’s Euro-style adventure series. Here’s a little of what I said:

Volume 1:

“But Rainbow Orchid isn’t just something very pretty to look at – it’s also that very rare thing – a really solidly constructed, fun for all ages adventure story. Again, the comparison with Tintin and Blake & Mortimer is valid here. Rainbow Orchid has that same sense of adventure, that wonder at the world, the sense of the exotic that every Tintin album evoked when you first read it. One of Ewing’s great strengths is his research and it shows everywhere in The Rainbow Orchid; everything in the book looks just delightfully authentic.”

Volume 2:

“I think we can just consider Ewing’s second volume having a slower, more thought out pace than volume 1 as a natural function of this type of story and reviewing Rainbow Orchid Volume 2 as a unique, stand alone experience is about as much use as walking into a three act play as act two begins and walking out again as the curtain rises on act three.“

Volume 3:

“There are daring escapes, underground kingdoms, mysterious lost cultures with mystical tech, and a sense of a real, old fashioned, thoroughly entertaining rollicking adventure all the way through. I had bemoaned a little with Volume 2 that the pace seemed a little off, but having read all three volumes together I’m happy to report that it works as a great story, everything coming together so perfectly at the climax.”

“….. as Chance races into the  British Empire Exhibition to confront Grope, we’re looking at a climax worthy of Phileas Fogg at his very best. Ewing takes everything so wonderfully exciting and entertaining in all of these influences and delivers a trilogy of graphic novels that really entertains.“

This is the edition many of us had been really waiting for, and I know Ewing has always said that this is the way to read The Rainbow Orchid, complete, in one glorious slab of old fashioned adventuring. Having it altogether this way does more than unify the books, it lets the story be told the definitive way, with that second volume’s slower pace part of the overall story rather than a dip, freed from the feeling of wanting beginning, middle, and end times 3, it all comes together quite marvellously.

Garen was kind enough to send over some interior artwork scans detailing some of the 17 extra pages of supplemental material contained within the collection, rounding it all out, adding that director’s cut element to the work.

But that’s not it for The Rainbow orchid, as Garen is talking of new adventures for Julius Chancer sometime in the future, and he’s going to be releasing the Rainbow Orchid Supplement at this years Thought Bubble convention. Over to Garen:

“The main part of this features complete annotations for the entire story, as well as extra sketches, artwork, and some interviews. It’s not quite finalised yet, but I’ll post more news when it is. The book doesn’t repeat any of the extras from The Complete Rainbow Orchid. I’m publishing the supplement myself, so numbers will be limited, and I’m hoping it will be available late September from this site, but if not it will definitely be available for Thought Bubble in November.”

The Complete Rainbow Orchid, plus the Rainbow Orchid Supplement – a great combo.