So, you’ve seen some of the artwork showing a few of the characters you’ll be joining on the journey that is Clockwork Watch – but who are they? Well, you’ll be finding out soon enough in The Arrival, however there’s no harm in introducing some of the people whose lives will dramatically change before you over the next 12 months…

Janav Ranbir

Janav and his mother

At eight years old, Janav is our doe-eyed gateway into the world of Clockwork Watch, and our touchstone to this strange new and rapidly changing society. He’s headstrong, inquisitive and has a streak of rebelliousness about him, all traits that prove to be hugely important in the events that follow his arrival into England.

Yomi’s original script showed Janav to have a curiosity about many aspects of his new life, which is something Jen captures perfectly in her artwork. Janav’s wide-eyed expressions manage a wonderful sense of naivety and innocence which is something I wanted to explore visually early on in the story. Some sequences I adapted play up this element of childishness to create a sense of comedy, others work to present just how big, strange and scary it is to be taken from your home into a new country, especially one going through a Steampunk revolution.

Early Janav Sketch

Janav is a far more complex character than initially appears, and there are a lot of elements in Yomi’s original script that all push towards showing fringes of darkness that rests within this little boy. It’s something I was keen on exploring and emphasising from a dramatic point of view, which leads to some important shifts in narrative the closer we get to Janav. When you read The Arrival, see if you can spot the significant changes that mark Janav’s growth – which have huge consequences on the Ranbir family…