Orphan Black (comic book)

Orphan Black is a limited series of comic books based on the television series Orphan Black, which airs on BBC America in the United States and Space in Canada. The series is written by show creators John Fawcett and Graeme Manson, with Jody Houser serving as co-writer; Szymon Kudranski provides the artwork for issues #1 and #2, while Cat Staggs and Alan Quah share art duties for issues #3-#5.^[1][2] The comic books were part of a limited series consisting of five issues, each focusing on the past and present life of a different clone.^[1][3]

The second limited series entitled Orphan Black: Helsinki began release in November 2015 and is also set to contain five issues. It is written by Fawcett and Manson alongside Heli Kennedy. Each issue offers a regular cover, a subscription variant, and a retailer incentive variant. It follows the character Veera Suominen, a Finnish clone who survived Topside's attempted kill order on a group of self-aware clones located in Helsinki.

Publication history

The first issue of the series was released on February 25, 2015.^[1][2][4] A new issue was released monthly, or bi-monthly, until August 12, 2015, when the final of the five contracted issues was released.^[1] The issues in order feature Sarah, Helena, Alison, Cosima, and Rachel.

The second miniseries, Orphan Black: Helsinki began publication on November 18, 2015. The five contracted issues for the series will be released monthly until March 2016. All issues have been released through IDW Publishing.

Plot

Series 01: The Clone Club

Issue #1: Sarah

The plot of the first issue closely follows the storyline established in the television series' pilot episode and similarly focuses on Sarah Manning and her discovery of her numerous genetic identicals. Scenes from the episode are recounted in the comic book, intermixed with new scenes and flashbacks.^[1][2] The new material specific to the comic books includes flashback sequences to Sarah's childhood, additions to and extensions of scenes in the present storyline, and insight into Sarah's thoughts and feelings as she takes over the life of a dead woman who shares her exact external appearance.^[1][5]

Issue #2: Helena

The second issue of the series, released in March 2015, focuses on Helena's childhood as well as her adult actions and motivations that are presented in the first season of the television series.^[4]

Issue #3: Alison

Released May 2015. Alison Hendrix is a typical soccer mom with a typical husband and two adopted children. But she also happens to be a clone in pursuit of the nature of her origins. ^[6]

Issue #4: Cosima

Released June 24, 2015. A scientist with a mysterious illness, Cosima must use every ounce of her her bravery and intellect to save her clone sisters and herself.^[7]

Issue #5: Rachel

Released August 12, 2015. Rachel is ruthless corporate efficiency personified. She’s a clone raised self-aware of her genetic identity, occupying an elite position with the Dyad group of companies.^[8]

Series 02: Helsinki

Spoken in hushed tones, the word means almost certain death for the clones of Project Leda. Learn the dark secrets of this codename in this special event miniseries by co-creators John Fawcett and Graeme Manson. Like the previous comic series, it will have five issues, focused on the Helsinki clones. It will be released monthly.

Issue #1: The Chaos Strategy

Released November 18, 2015. Finnish orphan Veera Suominen awoke from her nightmare only to find her reality turned upside down. Her caretaker has been monitoring her with cameras as well as drawing blood as she sleeps for reasons unknown. Veera soon discovers that her "uncle" has a list of other girls her age, and she fells her home to warn them.

Issue #2: Clone Duplication

Released December 30, 2015. Finnish orphan Veera Suominen awoke from her nightmare only to find her reality turned upside down. Her caretaker has been monitoring her with cameras as well as drawing blood as she sleeps for reasons unknown. Veera soon discovers that her "uncle" has a list of other girls her age, and she fells her home to warn them. Veera's first stop is Helsinki, where she just made contact with Niki, who appears to be her exact double.

Issue #3: Fail-Safe Redundancy

Released January 27, 2016. Titled The Mystery of the Killer Clone on the subscription variant. Finnish orphan Veera Suominen awoke from a nightmare only to her reality turned upside down. Her caretaker had been monitoring her with cameras as well as drawing blood as she slept for reasons unknown. Veera discovered that her "Uncle Matt" has a list of other girls her age, and she fled her home to warn them. Veera's first stop was Helsinki, where she met Niki, who appears to be her exact double. After escaping Matti again, Veera - along with Niki and her boyfriend Aleks - soon fled to Gdansk, Poland, where they discover six more clones.

Issue #4: False Positive Error

Released February 24, 2016. Finnish orphan Veera Suominen awoke from a nightmare only to her reality turned upside down. Her caretaker had been monitoring her with cameras as well as drawing blood as she slept for reasons unknown. Veera discovered that her "Uncle Matt" has a list of other girls her age, and she fled her home to warn them. Veera's first stop was Helsinki, where she met Niki, who appears to be her exact double. After escaping Matti again, Veera - along with Niki and her boyfriend Aleks - soon fled to Gdansk, Poland, where they discover six more clones. After one of the clones was murdered, the group split up, but the remaining clones were more determined than ever to find the truth. Veera began researching Dr. Dmitri Volkov, only to be confronted by him and abducted!

Issue #5: Kill Switch

Released May 25, 2016. Finnish orphan Veera Suominen awoke from a nightmare only to have her reality turned upside down. Her caretaker had been monitoring her with cameras as well as drawing blood as she slept for reasons unknown. Veera discovered that her "Uncle Matt" has a list of other girls her age, and she fled her home to warn them. Veera's first stop was Helsinki, where she met Niki, who appears to be her exact double. After escaping Matti again, Veera - along with Niki and her boyfriend Aleks - soon fled to Gdansk, Poland, where they discover six more clones! The clones have since been picked off one by one and their plan to expose DYAD was undermined by the Sept. 11 terror attacks on the United States.

Characters

The characters presented in the first issue of the comic book series are the first season's prominent regular and recurring characters. Orphan Black #1 presents four clones- Sarah Manning, Elizabeth Childs, Katja Obinger, and Helena- in addition to non-clone characters such as Siobhan Sadler, Kira Manning, Felix Dawkins, Paul Dierden, Detective Arthur "Art" Bell, Lieutenant Gavin Hardcastle, and Amelia.

Tie-ins to the television series

The comic book miniseries was conceived as a way to convey information about the clones' pasts and childhoods without interrupting the fast pace of the television series. It is presented as an expanded universe that offers off-screen events not shown in the episodes.^[1][9] The comic books tie directly into the events of the show's first season in order to ground the comics into the already-established universe.^[9] The miniseries presents the audience with the opportunity to better understand the emotions, thoughts, and feelings that underlie the characters of the television series.^[5][9]

References