I first found out about Garen Ewing’s The Rainbow Orchid years ago, because he posted the first few chapters online as a webcomic. It’s an adventure story in the Tintin mold, set in the 1920s and drawn in the same “ligne claire” (clear line) style that is so popular with European creators. The graphic novel reads a bit like a caper movie, with a colorful cast of characters chasing after a mythical flower, the rainbow orchid of the title. It’s a great all-ages title, the sort of thing that both children and adults find entertaining, and it’s a great read for any fan of Tintin and other adventure comics.
Until last year, however, the book was only available in print form in the UK, which made it tough to find; now you can get it on Amazon but it looks like it’s still an import, so it’s not something you’re likely to find in your local bookstore.
So I was delighted when an e-mail arrived in my in-box today to tell me that The Rainbow Orchid is now available via the Sequential iPad app. It’s priced right, too, at $5.99 per volume or $13.99 for the complete three-volume set.
The book has won plenty of critical acclaim—creator Bryan Talbot (Grandville) called it “easily one of the best graphic novels of the year”—and it has been shortlisted for the Young People’s Comic Award in the British Comic Awards, which will be announced this Saturday.
A former book editor and newspaper reporter, Brigid Alverson started MangaBlog to keep track of her daughters¹ reading habits and now covers comics and graphic novels for Comic Book Resources , School Library Journal, Publishers Weekly Comics World, Robot 6, and MTV Geek. She also edits the Good Comics for Kids blog at School Library Journal. Brigid was a judge for the 2012 Eisner Awards. Send her an email to wordballoons@gmail.com
