A COMIC fan has released his first book more than 10 years after he started it.

Garen Ewing, has written and illustrated his debut comic book, The Rainbow Orchid, which was released on Tuesday (August 4).

The story is the first in a trilogy, with the second the third volumes being released next year.

He was a self-employed illustrator for other comics for years until he decided he wanted to turn his talent to his own work.

The illustrator started The Rainbow Orchid in 1997 and in 2002 it was serialised in a specialist comic magazine.

The 40-year-old said: "I started to get publisher interest and have signed up with Egmont, the biggest children's publisher in the world. I'm halfway through the second volume. Having taken 10 years with the first one, I've now got 10 months to finish it.

"My website started to get hits from all over the world. That's the nice thing about the internet, you get global interest and there's no travelling."

The Milton Crescent resident said he was influenced by Franco-Belgium comics like Tin-Tin and Asterix, which he read as a child.

The Rainbow Orchid, he said, is child-friendly but aimed at teenagers and older.

"I was in hospital a lot as a kid and comics kept me occupied. It's for a nice range of ages and for males and female readers. It's probably for 12-year-olds but I did it for myself so it's really for 40 -year-olds," he said.

The comic book is about the characters searching for a mythical flower, the Rainbow Orchid and their hunt takes them from 1920s England to France and then onto India.

The story even includes one snap shot of East Grinstead.

The former Imberhorne school student hand draws the comic strip before scanning and colouring it onto the computer.

The Rainbow Orchid is on sale at The Bookshop on the High Street, where buyers could win some original artwork through the internet.

The official launch will be at the Bookshop on August 21 between 7pm and 9pm.