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Underground > Comic Books >

Dave Gibbons announces THE ORIGINALS

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18:49 / 31.05.02

Just in at Newsarama:

Dave (WATCHMEN) Gibbons will be drawing and writing a 160-page black-and-white OGN for Vertigo.

“If I was going to spend a year or more on a single project, it was going to have to be something I had a real emotional investment in, something that related to the real world I’ve lived in. Not a science fiction story, although The Originals is not set in mundane reality. Not a tedious real-life autobiography or a thinly disguised philosophical treatise, but a piece that communicated aspects of life that had been overpoweringly important to me when I was growing up.”

In The Originals, DC Comics says Gibbons creates a culture that is as “convincing and tangible as the one we live in, but dramatically skewed and surreal. The attention to detail that characterizes his work are being brought to bear on both story and art, as are his storytelling and design skills.”

This pic is huge, and it's stealing bandwidth, yeah, but I just can't help myself--I have to share this...

[picture broken]

So.

Black and white.
Original graphic novel--no serial run beforehand.
Non-genre.

Is this the Vertigo we once knew?

20:30 / 31.05.02

That looks terribly exciting. I'm convinced that a number of the projects coming out of Vertigo these days are going to spur a brief renaissance for the imprint. But this is absolutely the sort of thing they need to do, get away from serialization and get big names to put out big books.

And damn, that looks exciting. Did I already say that?

Zoom.

Our Lady of The Two Towers

14:20 / 01.06.02

Back right- That's either Rorsharch or Ali G.

16:23 / 01.06.02

Or a QUADROPHENIA style Mod with an anorak and... a steel porkpie hat? Kind of a ska Oddjob?

Huge weird swinging 60s vibes off this.

13:31 / 02.06.02

From Jack's topic abstract: and what the details say about a change in Vertigo's market strategy.

Well, the cynic in me wants to think that they wised up and realized they didn't need a writer and an artist (not to mention the colorists, inkers, etc.); that they could have just one guy wearing all the different hats.

Moreover, it's not like Gibbons is some Johnny-come-lately with no track record to speak of. Feel free to prove me wrong, but he's holding the trump cards as far as I can tell. The characters are creator-owned, he's doing everything himself and (if need be) he can shop it around to Marvel or something like Jeff Smith's Cartoon Books or America's Best Comics.

Whatever the case may be, this won't be out until next year and it looks gorgeous. And at the end of the day, that's the biggest complaint of them all.

18:12 / 02.06.02

"Black and white.
Original graphic novel--no serial run beforehand.
Non-genre.

Is this the Vertigo we once knew?"

Since when? That sounds more like Pirahna Press to me.

I never could understand the claims that Vertigo has gone downhill. I'd say that the last few years have been better then beforehand in terms of diversification. I'll admit that I don't read that many Vertigo titles, but I think that's what's so great about it. Instead of centering on two genres (superhero revivals and fantasy), the current Vertigo line-up has a wide range of genres. So, unlike the old days where a few people would pick up and enjoy almost all that Vertigo had to offer, today more people will be picking up just those one or two titles that appeal to them.

16:21 / 03.06.02

[namedrop] i was up until the small hours this morning swapping rude jokes with dave gibbons. he's a groovy gent with a brilliant sense of humour, an amazing amount of poise and a charming nature. top bloke. [/namedrop]

this is looking supercool. can't wait!

00:23 / 08.07.02

Small story about Gibbons here & link to buy Gibbons' artwork.

02:50 / 22.03.04

Anyone know what's going on with this book? I've been wanting it since seeing the preview in Vertigo X, and then haven't heard anything in months. What's the deal?

00:19 / 02.06.04

For any wondering, Newsarama has an update on the project, with final art on four or five pages and some miniscule description from Gibbons, who has apprently shipped off all of the final art to DC.

Still no word on a release date, but I'm really looking forward to this one.

XXII:X:II = XXX

06:48 / 02.06.04

I've been hearing August. I guess we'll know when the June PREVIEWS comes out.

/+,

Dan Fish - @Fish1k

07:15 / 02.06.04

There were ashcans flying round the bar at Bristol, I think the date on the back was October.

It looks REALLY nice. I know someone who knows someone that still does the mod thing, there is an active scene still. I'm going to see if they can spread the word about the book.

yawn - thing's buddy

07:25 / 02.06.04

are people looking forward to the art or the writing?

cos try as he might, the (funky)gibbon cannae write.

(tho I do lovim)

23:08 / 02.06.04

I take it DG is writing this as well as drawing. A bit of a shame cos as the above poster says he's no better than average at writing. If he wasn't a top artist then I doubt anyine would buy his script purely on their own merit.

13:28 / 03.06.04

Gibbons is a decent writer -- and since this is autobiographical, he just might shine with this one. You never know. I'll be picking up at least the first issue to check it out.

20:39 / 03.06.04

More on Dave Gibbons, The Originals, and DC.

Dave Gibbons - DC Comics

22:55 / 03.06.04

FinderWolf - What has he ever written that you really rate? Cos I've only ever read very average stuff from him.

lonely as a cloud...

07:42 / 04.06.04

Read the ashcan...it looks interesting, but doesn't grab me enough to fork out for a hardcover book. I do like the concept...futuristic version of mod culture...hope it doesn't go too close to Quadrophenia. Might post some excerpts from Gibbons' intro to the ashcan, if anyone's interested?

14:06 / 18.09.04

After long delay, The Originals has been solicited to ship October 6th.

Looks like Dave has redesigned the characters quite a bit. Not sure I look the new look...

14:07 / 18.09.04

That should be like the new look, obviously...

21:33 / 18.09.04

That should be like the new look, obviously...

Ha, i didn't even notice when i read it the first time. I saw a few pages of this a while back and think it looks cool, cheers for letting us know it's about to be released, and for reminding me that i should check the DC site from time to time.

miss wonderstarr

22:58 / 20.09.04

Dave Gibbons (co-creator and artist of WATCHMEN and Give Me Liberty) arrives at VERTIGO to deliver an original hardcover graphic novel he's been waiting his entire life to write and draw.

Lel and Bok — two best friends — want nothing more than to join the Originals, the top gang on the streets. Through them, they'll meet the high-speed world of hover scooters, all-night clubs, and, for Lel, the girl of his dreams. But with the fast life comes tough foes, and tribal loyalty will teach them the unforgettable meaning of unforgivable loss.

Neither a science-fiction story nor set in a mundane reality, THE ORIGINALS takes place in a world both familiar and strange, where the young are angry, loyal and fight for what they believe in. And the only thing more important than who your friends are is who your friends hate.

This sounds like a 1980s gritty kids' serial for ITV... Byker Grove in the futuristic year !2004! Every sentence up there is recycled pulp with the mythic ring of cardboard.

What frigging nonsense -- none of that boring "mundane reality", O no! not the stuff we all live and breathe every day, which provides enough meat and blood for every human being on this earth and also forms the basis for just about every worthwhile novel of the 20th century. Christ what a shame Joyce decided to use "mundane reality" in Ulysses, when he could have written an unforgettable tale of unbelievable loss among street gangs with a dark, edgy difference... their skateboards come with hover packs and these aren't your usual kneepads... they're silver with neon piping. Plus "Jem" the hero and "Mak" his second-in-command speak in a wild, knife-edge slang hey Gekk off, Mak, you nearly hit a PoliceDrone you Simp!

Dave Gibbons, the one who was told what to draw in Watchmen, spins out the last of his second-hand fame twenty years after the ultimate graphic novel was first published, with a story that would have been a pleasant surprise in 2000AD's Sci-Fi Summer Special 1987.

yawn - thing's buddy

12:48 / 21.09.04

this is going to be embarrassingly shit.

i love gibbon's artwork.

i hate his writing.

so much in fact, that when he writes and illustrates his own scripts i end up hating the art too.

shame.

and anyway.....

no top gang would evah be called 'the originals'.

pah.

fact: this is the project the funky gibbon has wanted to do all his life. it will mine english pop culture of the late '50s and '60s and represent it within a futuristic context.

oh no!

18:28 / 27.09.04

I have to admit I'm kinda psyched for this, but not sure I want to pony up for the hardcover right off the bat.

11:54 / 28.10.04

*Bump*

13:37 / 28.10.04

This is out soon, right? I saw a post on Newsarama saying it was delayed a week on the West Coast or something.

16:02 / 03.12.04

Anyone else read this yet?

I really liked it, the art was great, and had some really interesting pages, like the page where they take the drugs and the dance pages. And the art wasn't just well drawn, the production design was great. The world had a really consistent look, and I loved the quasi-50s style. The use of black and white was top notch.

The story was pretty simple, but well told, and I liked the characters well enough. Gibbons might have put a little too much emphasis on Warren. It was pretty obvious he was going to come back at some point, and figure in the end of the story.

But, I think the book is an example of what comics should be doing. It's an original story, well told, in a single volume. You could give this to someone and they could read it without ever having read a comic before and enjoy it, and that's something the medium could use more of.

20:05 / 03.12.04

I hear a lot of negative/lukewarm reviews of this, but I really want to read it and I really want to like it. I'll get it when it comes out in paperback. Glad to see a positive review. Even if it's not amazing, I have a feeling I'll dig it somehow.

08:53 / 06.12.04

I quite liked it. But it had sci-fi mods in steel pork pie hats in it, so that isnt really too surprising... The story veered into clunkyness and inanity in more than a few places, but the artwork, design and detailed consistancy of the world the characters inhabited overcame that for me. There were some great visual set peices, such as the bit where they do a load of pills and the club becomes a weird 2 tone op art landscape. And I loved the way he expressed the feel of post-war england and the grimy kitchen sink drama, and related it through a sci-fi lens. Definitely worth a look, even though writing isnt exactly the authors strength, it's such a well designed and nicely drawn book that I enjoyed it anyway.

Porn Star Justice

13:10 / 12.01.05

I'm about half way through the story. I am a fan of sci-fi and mod culture and Dave Gibbons, so I am enjoying it. However, it's not the greatest thing I've ever read.

Nothing that's really blown my mind, and I can totally see where the story is going. It's worth having and reading, but not at the price for the hardcover. Man, am I glad I put this on my Amazon wishlist and got it for Christmas.

16:56 / 04.11.05

Came out in paperback this week, picked it up...solid art, but a pretty lackluster story. Classic gang story - guy wants to be in cool gang, gets in, meets hot babe, sells drugs, beats up on the rival gang, rival gang strikes back, gang violence escalates until someone gets killed, relationship destroyed in the process, etc. etc. ......West Side Story kind of stuff.

But slickly put together, and the usual great art by Gibbons.

09:14 / 05.11.05

What was the point of the hover bikes? Why not just have wheeled bikes?
I liked Gibbon's art, but the writing was bland.

13:51 / 05.11.05

I think the hover bikes were just there for Gibbons to say 'this is really about my mod youth, but I want this to have a loosely futuristic sci-fi feel about it, so guess what, the mod cycles I drove are now hover-bikes! Isn't that cool?'

19:13 / 05.11.05

I guess the hover bikes are also to stop it actually being Quadrophenia. To make it, uh, original.

Keith, like a scientist

01:57 / 17.11.05

Well, I loved it, for being such a simple story done well. Apart from being terribly gorgeous, it was just a solidly told and executed story. Nothing earth-shattering, we all know, but satisfying to no end.

Oh, and Hovers rule. Dirt sucks ass.

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