The Originals is a graphic novel

Graphic novel

A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...

 by Dave Gibbons

Dave Gibbons

Dave Gibbons is an English comic book artist, writer and sometime letterer. He is best known for his collaborations with writer Alan Moore, which include the miniseries Watchmen and the Superman story "For the Man Who Has Everything"...

, published in 2004

2004 in comics

-February:*February 6: Marvel Enterprises and Electronic Arts announce a multi-year agreement in which EA will develop a new generation of fighting video games pitting Marvel superheroes against a new, original set of EA heroes....

 by Vertigo Comics.

The story deals with members of youth subculture

Youth subculture

A youth subculture is a youth-based subculture with distinct styles, behaviors, and interests. Youth subcultures offer participants an identity outside of that ascribed by social institutions such as family, work, home and school...

s resembling the Mods and Rockers

Mods and Rockers

The Mods and Rockers were two conflicting British youth subcultures of the early-mid 1960s. Mods and rockers fighting in 1964 sparked a moral panic about British youths, and the two groups were seen as folk devils. The rockers were motorcyclists, wearing clothes such as black leather jackets. The...

 of 1960s England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. However, although the setting is mostly identical to post-World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 England, it is an unspecificed alternate history where the characters ride on hovering

Hovercraft

A hovercraft is a craft capable of traveling over surfaces while supported by a cushion of slow moving, high-pressure air which is ejected against the surface below and contained within a "skirt." Although supported by air, a hovercraft is not considered an aircraft.Hovercraft are used throughout...

 scooter

Scooter (motorcycle)

A scooter is a motorcycle with step-through frame and a platform for the operator's feet. Elements of scooter design have been present in some of the earliest motorcycles, and motorcycles identifiable as scooters have been made from 1914 or earlier...

s and motorcycle

Motorcycle

A motorcycle is a single-track, two-wheeled motor vehicle. Motorcycles vary considerably depending on the task for which they are designed, such as long distance travel, navigating congested urban traffic, cruising, sport and racing, or off-road conditions.Motorcycles are one of the most...

s.

Much of the story focuses on violent conflicts between the Originals and their enemies, a gang of bikers which they call "the Dirt." In particular, the Originals and the Dirt battle one another in circumstances very similar to the Second Battle of Hastings.

Synopsis

Lel and Bok are two friends who have recently finished school. Their greatest aspiration is to become members of The Originals, a smartly-dressed gang who ride on floating scooters, called Hovers. Their greatest enemies are the gangs of leather-clad bikers, which they call "the Dirt."

Lel and Bok become members of the Originals after helping the gang in a fight against the Dirt. Lel starts working as a drug dealer for the gang's leader, and the pair soon have enough money for fashionable clothes and Hovers of their own. However, as the violence between the two gangs escalates and the police ("the Law") begin to crack down on gang activity, Lel begins to realize that being an Original is not all fun and games.