Premiering in 2016 on Fox, The Orville saw a newly promoted Captain Mercer (MacFarlane) take command of the titular space ship, on a mission to explore space 400 years into the future. The story of The Orville features an initial conflict that sees Mercer’s first officer be his ex-wife Kelly Grayson (Adrianne Palicki).
The Orville was hugely successful, being renewed for a second season right away, and now on to its third season, premiering in 2020. So much so that the series is even getting its own comic book series from Dark Horse Comics.
So here are 6 things that we know so far about The Orville Comic Series.
The Orville From Screen To Panels
Following in the science fiction footsteps of its inspiration, The Orville isn’t the first TV series to get their own comic book. Star Trek comics have long crossed over into the realm of comic books since the late ’60s. Many storylines from all brands of Star Trek TV shows have either continued in or even bridged the gap between films and seasons of TV through comic book storylines.
Similarly, The Orville seems to be following in Star Trek’s footsteps with their own comic book series. It’s further proof of MacFarlane’s love for all things Star Trek, to see his own series go the same route and cross mediums in such a way.
From The Mind Of The Orville Showrunner
The Orville comic series from the same person who is showrunner and Executive Producer on the TV series, David A. Goodman.
Goodman has been Executive Producer on both seasons of The Orville, and has even written three episodes of the show, ‘The Road Not Taken’, ‘Deflectors’ and ‘Krill’. Goodman has been working with MacFarlane from his first show on Fox, Family Guy, all the way through to American Dad!, as well as Futurama.
While this is Goodman’s first attempt at a comic book, his familiarity with MacFarlane’s content, as well as his Star Trek Pedigree, having been Consulting Producer on Star Trek: Enterprise, makes him perfectly suited to tell more stories about The Orville and its crew in comic book form.
The Orville will have art by newcomer David Cabeza and colors by Michael Atiyeh.
The Crew Of The Orville
Seeing that The Orville comic book will be based on the television series, the like-ness of the characters will be that of the actors portrayed on the show.
As is customary with actors’ contracts, the likenesses of all the actors on the Fox TV show, The Orville, will be duplicated for the comic book. So Ed Mercer in the comic will definitely look like Seth MacFarlane. While may seem unusual, it’s actually a pretty standard deal.
The similarity in the characters will allow audiences to see the comic series as a true companion to the TV show.
Riding On A Dark Horse
The comic book version of The Orville will be published by Dark Horse comic publishers.
Dark Horse isn’t new to publishing comic versions of popular TV shows and movies. The publishing house is known for having comics books based on the licenses highly successful TV shows and movies such as Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Star Wars, Aliens and Predator.
The Orville being published by Dark Horse comics seems very much in the brand for the publisher and a mutually beneficial relationship for all involved.
The How and When
The Orville comic series will be set in-between Season 1 and 2 of the show.
Season 1 of The Orville dealt with many theological, sociological and ethical discussions of morality and society; all the while having the new cast and characters learn about one another. The dynamic between Mercer and Grayson, their failed personal relationship and new professional one, also played a major story arc for the season.
Season 2 saw new characters join the crew, along with newer adventures that had a more continuing impact more through the season than one-off episodes.
The Orville comic book will be set between the two seasons. With only four-issues, the storylines will be broken up into 2 two-issue arcs. The first storyline is titled ‘New Beginnings’, focusing on Mercer going away on a conference, to be interrupted by a Union ship distress call, while Grayson deals with internal matters on the Orville.
The second storyline will be called ‘The World Of Avis’, beginning in Issue No. 3, which sees a more mysterious adventure involving the Krill.
Release Date
The first issue of The Orville releases on July 17th, with new issues coming out monthly.
The third season of The Orville will premiere on Fox on January 2020.
