Netflix’s new number one series is being accused of plagiarism
The creator of the 2016 graphic novel Black Silence has spoken out against 1899
Featured Image Credit: Netflix
Topics: Netflix, Film and TV
Daisy Phillipson
Topics: Netflix, Film and TV
Netflix has been called out for its latest number one show after being accused of plagiarism.
Last week, the first season 1899 dropped on the streamer and it didn't take long for the new mystery thriller to creep to top spot.
Proving a hit with audiences worldwide, the show centres around a ship of migrants travelling from London to New York to start a new life for themselves.
However, things take a turn for the bizarre when they make contact with another migrant ship adrift on the open sea, one that had vanished months before.
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Full of twists and turns,1899 has been branded 'another masterpiece' from the creators of thriller series Dark, Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese.
Some fans have compared the show to The Matrix and Inception, but others have taken to social media to suggest it shares striking similarities to the 2016 graphic novel Black Silence.
The synopsis for the comic reads: “In the future, Earth’s days are numbered.
"A team of astronauts is summoned to reconnoiter a planet that may be the only chance for human beings to survive.
"Lucas is a renowned exobiologist who finds himself in a difficult situation and his career is on the line.
"Destiny brings him to Nee, a military woman with quite a reputation, who makes him an offer he can’t refuse.
"What he doesn’t know is that this mission will change everything he once believed to be true."
The creator of Black Silence, Brazilian illustrator Mary Cagnin, has since taken to Twitter to claim that Netflix and the Dark creators stole the idea from her comic.
In a translated thread in which she details the similarities between plot points and visuals, she wrote: "I’M IN SHOCK. The day I found out that the 1899 series is just IDENTICAL to my comic Black Silence, published in 2016."
Sharing side-by-side images comparing various scenes between the two, she continued: "It's all there: The Black Pyramid. The deaths inside the ship/ship. The multinational crew.
"The apparently strange and unexplained things. The symbols in the eyes and when they appear.
"Codes written. The voices calling to them. Subtle plot details, such as the characters’ personal dramas, including their mysterious deaths."
Cagnin then went on to explain how she thinks this happened, writing: "Well, in 2017 I was invited by the Brazilian embassy to participate in the Gothenburg Book Fair, a very famous and influential international fair in Europe.
"I've been on panels and distributed the Black Silence comic to countless publishers and people in the business.
"It's not hard to imagine my work reaching out to them.
"I not only delivered the physical comic but also made the translated version available in English.
"I've cried a lot. My dream has always been to be recognized for my work nationally and internationally. And to see such a thing happen really breaks my heart.
"We know that in Brazil we have few opportunities to show our work and be recognized for it."
The creator went on to urge readers to look at her graphic novel, which you can do so here, and draw your own conclusions.
UNILAD has contacted Netflix for comment.