The Originals follows two best friends, Lel and Bok, as they join the ultimate in-crowd: a glamorous street gang called The Originals. Through them, they enter an exhilarating world of hover scooters, domeshaped nightclubs and only the best in mind-expanding drugs. For Lel especially, it leads to the girl of his dreams and increasingly brutal conflicts with a rival gang that might mean the end for them all.

Written and stunningly illustrated by the co-creator of Watchmen, The Originals captures rebellious youth in all its rush and fatal consequence, chronicling a time when your priorities are what you wear, what you drive and who you date; when perhaps the only thing more important than who your friends are is who your friends hate.

"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." Publishers Weekly (Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information, Inc.)

"The illustrator for some of comics' best writers...has learned well from such collaborators." Booklist