I should really be watching this show.

I’ve not seen Orphan Black yet, allow me to be upfront about that.  I know that show has quite a rabid following, and it’s on my list, I swear, right after I catch up with Luther, Black Mirror, and about a thousand anime episodes . . . Anyway . . . yes, I’m reviewing a property I have no firsthand knowledge of, but there may be folks just like me out there who want to give the book a shot.

We open with a bang: a lot of mystery and very few, if any, clues as to what’s going on.  Unfortunately for me, it seems the familiarity with this character from the series means we don’t get a whole lot of backstory, though the important things tend to come through very quickly.  I feel a little lost here, like there’s a slew of jump cuts and lots happening between the panels that I just don’t see, but the characters are strong and interesting.  The three-headed writing giant here has a solid grasp on getting our interest piqued, and the format seems to inform me as to the style of the show.

The artwork is restrained but taut, much like I expect the tone of many a BBC series, and there’s a really subtle interplay going on stylistically while Sarah is figuring out what exactly is going on.  Can’t really explain much more than that without spoiling, but it’s a fun, point-for-point game that really fills you in.

I like what I’m seeing here. It definitely makes me more interested in checking out the show (I’ll bump a few things down the list . . . ) and seems to stand well enough on its own, even with a bit of early on confusion.  It’ll be fun to see where it goes from here.

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