The Originals is a graphic novel with story and art by the legend that is Dave Gibbons. It seems that I have grown up with Dave for most of my comic reading life. In the late seventies he drew a number of strips for 2000AD including Harlem Heroes and Dan Dare, in the eighties came the seminal Watchmen that he created with Alan Moore and in the nineties there was the various Martha Washington series created with Frank Miller.
The story joins Lel and his friend Bok just as they leave school and facing the future but the biggest ambition in their lives is to join the street gang the Originals. They get their chance when they help the gang track down and beat up a rival gang the Dirt. Lel soon finds himself rising through the hierarchy of the gang and believes his life to be perfect when he meets and starts dating Viv. However, Lel’s life is about to take a turn for the worse when a member of the Dirt is stabbed to death during a fight between the Dirt and the Originals and Lel is mistakenly identified as the perpetrator.
There is no time frame for the story but it seems to be set in an alternate world as the construction of the buildings is futuristic and the transportation is all hover based. There is a strong parallel between the events depicted in this story and the violence between Mods and Rockers in seaside towns in England during the early sixties. The Originals (like the Mods) dress alike in sharp suits and drive scooters whereas the Dirt (like the Rockers) are depicted as dirty bikers. This coming of age story is not really enhanced by the setting – it could just as well have been set in Sixties England – its only advantage I suppose is to create a separation between actual events and the story so that it does not come across as autobiographical. Having said that the setting allows for some gorgeous black and white art and while the story is good the art will have you coming back for more.
First published on RevolutionSF on Monday Feb 14, 2011
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