The Originals: The Essential Edition - Hardcover

Dave Gibbons has drawn and written for most comics publishers on both sides of the Atlantic. His work has encompassed DR WHO, SUPERMAN, BATMAN, GREEN LANTERN, CAPTAIN AMERICA, DR STRANGE, THE HULK, PREDATOR, and ALIENS.

WATCHMEN, his collaboration with writer Alan Moore, is the best-selling graphic novel ever published and became a major motion picture.

His autobiographical graphic novel THE ORIGINALS won an Eisner Award in 2005. His recent work has included KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE, with Mark Millar, now also a major motion picture. He co-created GIVE ME LIBERTY and MARTHA WASHINGTON GOES TO WAR with writer Frank Miller.

He was appointed "Comics Laureate" of the UK in 2014, with the brief to develop the use of comics in education. The University of Dundee awarded him an Honorary Doctorate in Comic Arts in 2015.

Starred Review. Gibbons's masterful skills as writer and artist energize this coming-of-age story set in a slightly skewed world full of familiar frustrations and temptations. Young teen Lel doesn't see anything desirable in what mainstream society offers; he just wants flashier clothes, his own Hover to ride and membership in an elite gang. So he and his buddy Bok join the Originals, a gang with whom they engage in small-scale violence against rival gangs and bask in the acceptance of their peers. Alas, this doesn't last. Lel and Bok begin drifting apart once Lel starts spending time with a girl named Viv and selling drugs for a high-ranking Original. But when another needy gang wannabe carries the violence too far, Lel is faced with making adult decisions. Lel isn't a vicious sociopath, doomed to make selfish choices; he is, however, immature and still wrapped up in his fantasies. Although the story sounds familiar, it feels fresh. Gibbons, who's probably best known as the Watchmen artist, presents an outstanding example of art and layout with this work. The double-page spreads that put readers in the middle of a teen party or a gang rumble are particular standouts. Gibbons deftly captures Lel's world, as Lel experiences the excitement of the unknown and the emptiness that comes with violence.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.