Review by Frank Plowright
Julius Chancer and film star Lily Lawrence are on a quest to locate what might be a mythical plant. The rainbow orchid has been mentioned in historical documents, but never seen in the early 20th century, yet locating it may be the only chance of preventing the Lawrence estate falling into the hands of unscrupulous and manipulative businessman Urkaz Grope.
The flower possibly grows in the Himalayas, and Volume One ended with Julius, Lily and her agent Nathaniel Crumpole fortunate to escape Grope’s thugs in France. If Julius is the stand-in for the plucky and knowledgeable Tintin, then Crumpole is the Captain Haddock substitute, useful when it comes to avoiding problems, yet also present for the slapstick, and Garen Ewing sets him up for an unfortunate comedy mishap again and again, each of them masterfully constructed. An incident with an elephant is about the best.
While Julius’ party finds trouble abroad, his employer Sir Alfred Catesby-Grey is moving in the more refined circles of the British establishment, deploring the priorities of his successor at the Empire Survey Branch. Ewing also has the British upper class represented in India, and here extremely helpful.
Ewing not only supplies a cracking adventure story, he does it with immense attention to detail, utterly convincing about any place the cast find themselves. These look slim volumes, but they’re no rapid read because just as Ewing packs the pages with panels, so he packs the panels with detail, and ensures the people inhabiting them are always framed as if caught by a photograph. The leading cast are in natural poses, while people in the background are always occupied. Very much in the classic European adventure comic tradition, Ewing is also dedicated enough to pack panels occupying only a quarter of the page, making them as good as pin-ups, as seen on the sample art.
Despite the word balloons sometimes being as full as the art, Ewing ensures there’s a fast pace, and scenes where the characters travel are used purposefully. One explains Lily’s life path from daughter of British nobility to American film star, which had struck as convenient in Volume One. Given the explanation, though, it’s plausible.
As with Tintin, Julius is a one note character, but it’s enough for him to know right from wrong as Ewing ensures he and his party stumble into circumstances. The make-up of that group changes over the course of the volume, yet every newcomer is fleshed out with a purpose, and visual clues are supplied for younger readers to pick up on. Everything charges forward to one hell of a cliffhanger to be resolved in Volume Three. Or you could pick up the The Complete Rainbow Orchid collection.
