1899 is the new hit mystery series from Netflix that follows a group of migrants on a ship to New York, who are met with unexplainable events. Unfortunately, one artist is claiming the streaming giant stole her work.

Brazilian comic book artist Mary Cagnin has spoken out on social media, claiming that Netflix has plagiarised several ideas from her comic book Black Silence, which she published back in 2016. 

“I’m in shock,” tweeted Cagnin. “I discovered that the 1899 series is simply identical to my comic Black Silence, which was published in 2016.”

“It’s all there: The Black Pyramid. The deaths in the ship. The multinational crew. The seemingly strange and inexplicable things. The eye icons and when they appear. The voices that call them. Subtle plot details, like the personal dramas of the characters, including the mysterious deaths.”

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“You have to ask yourself: How is this possible? Well, in 2017 I was invited by the Embassy of Brazil to attend the Gothenburg Book Fair, a very famous and influential international fair in Europe.”

“I’ve been on discussion boards and distributed the Black Silence comic to countless publishers and people in the industry. It’s not hard to image my work reaching them.”

“I not only delivered the physical comic but also provided the translated version in English.”

The similarities between Cagnin’s work and images from the Netflix series are undeniably similar. This has left her devastated, emphasising her ambition to be recognised on an international scale. 

“I cried a lot. It’s always been my dream to be recognised nationally and internationally for my work. And seeing something like that really breaks my heart.”

“We know that in Brazil we have few opportunities to show our work and be recognised for it.”

“I had the opportunity that many comic artists never had: to be able to show my work to an international audience. I had given lectures. Talked about the plot. I introduced it to influential people in the area.”

“Obviously, Black Silence is a short work, almost a short story. It’s very easy to dilute all those ‘references’ in 12 hours of projection of the show, but the essence of what I’ve created is there.”

“We can’t believe that just because we’re Brazilian, we should accept that kind of contempt and indifference.”

Neither Netflix or the series creators have yet responded to the claims.

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