"The Originals" is unlike any comic book. It has lots of hover scooters, drugs and music. A far cry from "Superman" or the "X-Men", Dave Gibbons has created a truly unique work in this graphic novel.
The story follows Lei and Bok, childhood friends who want excitement and to live the good life. The way to do this, they decide, is by joining the neighborhood hover scooter gang, the Originals. Along the way, however, they experience what it takes to be a part of that group.
Gibbons has had a long comic career since the early 1970s. Working at DC Comics, where he wrote and drew many of its characters, "The Originals" is a real change from the superheroes and complex plots to take over the world like he's accustomed to writing.
"The Originals" is meant as a very adult comic book. People getting blown away by guns, fights between rival gangs. and explicit language demonstrate this well.
However, the book's claim that the story takes place in a futuristic world isn't evident from the drawings. The scooters are the only things that even look futuristic and when you look closer, they don't seem to truly be that way.
"The Originals" is a serious comic, in tone and in nature. It's not meant just for enjoyment. Within the drawings is a story about youth and everything that is associated with it such as toughness and wanting to be in a popular group.
