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Reviews
Orphan Black, Vol. 1 by Cat Staggs, Szymon Kudranski, Jody Houser, Graeme Manson, John Fawcett
mckinlay's review against another edition
3.0
Basically the first episode of the show, so it was a bit of a let down.
sparklemaia's review against another edition
1.0
(No spoilers in this review.) I had high hopes for this comic because I love the Orphan Black tv series so much, but I was pretty disappointed with this first installment. I know comics have to do a certain amount of recapping for audiences who have not seen the show, while also introducing new material for readers who (like me) have seen the show more times than is publicly acceptable to admit, but I felt like this did not really do a good job of either task. The writing and storyline in the first issue of this comic is choppy, disjointed, and confusing, and had I not seen the show I would have had a very difficult time making sense of it. At the same time, it was almost entirely comprised of scenes and word-for-word dialogue yanked straight from the show, making it a frustratingly stale read for Orphan Black fans hoping for side stories and back stories of the characters we already know so well. Basically all this issue did was take key scenes from the first three or four episodes of Season 1 and overlay them with Sarah's internal dialogue, which just didn't add enough of a new angle or new insights (it was mostly Sarah thinking "shite shite shite" to herself) to make it worth the time to read it. Since the show ALREADY basically revolves around Sarah, retelling the beginning of Season 1 from *her* perspective really didn't add much.
Also, I tend to be fairly forgiving about art style in comic books, but the art in this just didn't really impress me. Many of the panels were basically just drawings of screencaps from the show. The one art detail that actually ticked me off was that the twins' birth mother in the show is Black and in the comic she has fairly light skin and could pretty easily be interpreted as White. Since the Orphan Black world has so few characters of color to begin with, it was annoying that one of the few named women of color in the OB universe was whitewashed in the comic book version of the story.
Not sure I'll be buying future issues, unless the writers ACTUALLY start telling new stories within the Orphan Black world, rather than just retelling the existing show from slightly different angles.
Also, I tend to be fairly forgiving about art style in comic books, but the art in this just didn't really impress me. Many of the panels were basically just drawings of screencaps from the show. The one art detail that actually ticked me off was that the twins' birth mother in the show is Black and in the comic she has fairly light skin and could pretty easily be interpreted as White. Since the Orphan Black world has so few characters of color to begin with, it was annoying that one of the few named women of color in the OB universe was whitewashed in the comic book version of the story.
Not sure I'll be buying future issues, unless the writers ACTUALLY start telling new stories within the Orphan Black world, rather than just retelling the existing show from slightly different angles.
kltemplado's review against another edition
1.0
Pretty disappointed with the first installment. Nothing new for fans of the show.
charlottexclarkson's review against another edition
2.0
A free comic book that I cannot remember much about...must have been truly enthralling.
*Originally rated as a 3 star rating*
*Originally rated as a 3 star rating*
annienigma's review against another edition
1.0
This is like a confusing condensed version of the show. Without knowledge of the first few episodes I would have been really confused as to what was going on.
itsdanixx's review against another edition
1.0
Eh. This did not work IMO. It was vague, rushed and confusing, didn't make a lot of sense and, as someone who hasn't actually watched the tv show, I barely had a f****n' clue what was going on. The lack of detail also made it rather uninteresting. That's all I'll be reading of this series.
amcheri's review against another edition
2.0
So scattered! If someone unfamiliar with the show read it, they'd be completely lost. I kept wondering if the panels were printed out of order. Disappointing.
zoemig's review against another edition
1.0
I loved the Saga graphic novels so much I really wanted to find another series to fall in love with while I wait for another book, so that lead to me trying out Orphan Black #1 by John Fawcett, Graeme Manson, Jody Houser and Szymon Kudranski. I'm a big fan of the two seasons I've watched of the TV series--I plan to finish it, but they took it off Netflix--which is definitely who these books are aimed at.
Orphan Black #1 would not make any sense if you hadn't seen the show and the graphics are nice but it doesn't add anything to the story either. Plus, 30ish pages isn't enough to tell much of a story. Instead, it feels like the authors didn't try and just relied on the fact that fans who like the show would like this. I'm tempted to pick up the next ones just because they are so short--each one focuses on a different clone, with this being Sarah's story--but I know I'm better off saving my time to watch the TV show instead. Never thought I'd write that!
Orphan Black #1 would not make any sense if you hadn't seen the show and the graphics are nice but it doesn't add anything to the story either. Plus, 30ish pages isn't enough to tell much of a story. Instead, it feels like the authors didn't try and just relied on the fact that fans who like the show would like this. I'm tempted to pick up the next ones just because they are so short--each one focuses on a different clone, with this being Sarah's story--but I know I'm better off saving my time to watch the TV show instead. Never thought I'd write that!
renee_pompeii's review against another edition
3.0
Kinda just vignettes from the show, but I liked it.