Creator of Netflix’s ‘1899’ Slams Comic Book Artist Claiming the Series Copied Her Original Idea – Says She’s ‘Crying Wolf’
Netflix recently released 1899, a series by Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese, who also created Dark. The series follows a group of European immigrants making their way to New York when mysterious incidents begin to plague the ship, the Kerberos. When they stumble upon a missing ship, things go from bad to worse. Earlier this month, a Brazilian comic book artist by the name of Mary Cagnin claimed Friese and Odar stole the idea for 1899 from her comic book series Black Silence. Now, Friese has slammed Cagni’s claims.
[WARNING: This article contains detailed plot spoilers from Netflix’s 1899.]
Comic book artist Mary Cagnin claims Netflix’s ‘1899’ is ‘identical’ to her series ‘Black Silence’
On Nov. 19, 2022, Cagnin tweeted that Netflix’s 1899 copied her original story. The comic book artist said that the television series replicated specific plot points from Black Silence, such as the triangle-shaped pupils in some of the characters and codes used to relay ominous messages to some aboard the ship.
Cagnin’s tweet thread, translated from Portuguese to English using Twitter’s translation service, reads, “I’M IN SHOCK. The day [sic] I found out that the 1899 series is just IDENTICAL to my comic Black Silence, published in 2016.”
She continues in a thread, “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 believes that her appearance at an international book fair set the stage for Bodar and Friese to steal her story. Even though Black Silence is a short story and Netflix’s 1899 hopes to run for three seasons, Cagnin says “the essence of what she created” is there.
Jantje Friese addressed Mary Cagnin’s claims regarding ‘Black Silence’ and ‘1899’
It didn’t take long before Friese, one of the creators of Netflix’s 1899, responded to Cagnin’s claims.
In a now-deleted Instagram post, Friese wrote, “A Brazilian artist has claimed we stole from her graphic novel. To make it clear: we did not! Until yesterday we weren’t even aware of the existence of that graphic novel. Over two years we have put pain, sweat and exhaustion into the creation of 1899. This is an original idea and not based on any source material. Nevertheless we’ve been bombarded with messages – some of them ugly and hurtful. Someone cries wolf and everyone jumps on it, not even checking whether the claims make any sense. Of course should this be a scheme to sell more of of her graphic novels: well played.”
The claims divided fans on Twitter
Fans of 1899 were quick to come to the defense of the show, while others sided with Cagnin. Many believed there weren’t enough similarities to say that Bodar and Friese copied the idea outright.
One person wrote on Twitter, “I have to say, after reading the English translation of this comic it’s not similar enough to 1899 for this to count as plagiarism in my opinion.”
Another user said, “I’m sorry but this is absolutely ridiculous I read the comic and there is nothing similar to 1899 except: 1) a big pyramid (which is quite common in scifi shows) 2) triangles in eyes (which is only really in the marketing posters for 1899 and not important)”
However, many jumped to defend Cagnin in her claims.
“This new series #1899Netflix seems to intentionally use the story and visuals from Mary’s comic book called Black Silence without her authorization,” a commenter wrote.
Netflix hasn’t made a statement regarding the matter as of yet.
