Cloning Gets Clunky In Aftershock's Replica

by Vince Brusio

If you were a cop, and you needed to find ways to cut corners to better do your job, what would you do? You would probably start by asking how you can be in three places at once. Which is possible if you cloned yourself. Which is something Trevor Carter did. But there’s an old adage that goes something like this: just because you can doesn’t mean you should. Carter should have thought about the ramifications of what he was doing before he did it, because now his clone solution has become his clone problem in the new Aftershock Comics debut of Replica #1 (OCT151049) from writer Paul Jenkins and artist Andy Clarke. In this PREVIEWSworld Exclusive interview, Paul Jenkins explains Trevor Carter’s problem can only get worse as he didn’t account for his work environment when he came up with his clone equation. It’s hard to tell the new guy on the job what to do when everyone plays by their own set of rules. How does one enforce the law when there’s a million different planetary laws to navigate?

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PREVIEWSworld: What can you tell us about the storyline for Replica? Where did you get an idea to make 49 clones of a man? Was Michael Keaton’s Multiplicity a movie that someone forced you to watch 49 times on a dare?

Paul Jenkins: Think of Replica as “Multiplicity meets Babylon 5 in a Hell’s Angels bar in Pittsburgh.” That pretty much describes it, I think.

I loved the concept of Multiplicity, and while our story is different in many respects I would take that comparison any day.  In our version, it’s not so much that our main character’s clones are not quite perfect; his problem is that they all want to be individuals.  So each of the clones has decided to follow some aspect of our hero – Trevor Churchill’s – personality. One of them is a nerd. One of them is a better detective than he is. Another is gay, something that Trevor is very indignant about even though it has to be an aspect of him. 

So at the beginning of the story, Trevor is frustrated that he has to deal with a bunch of aliens as his fellow detectives: they each play by the rules of their home world, no matter what Trevor does to prevent it. He makes a very bad decision to clone himself one time, and unfortunately ends up with fifty clones by accident. All this, in the middle of a murder investigation that might set off an interstellar war!

PREVIEWSworld: How will we be introduced to the man at the center of Replica? Will we like him? Hate him? Want to be him? Decide there’s too many of him in the world already, and that’s why western civilization is crumbling?

Paul Jenkins: I think people will definitely love Trevor. I think we’ll all relate to the fact that he keeps trying to do the right thing but his mistakes keep compounding. No matter what the universe throws at him – and usually it smells – he will keep on trying. His clones? Not so much.

PREVIEWSworld: What do you like about this story? It’s an open door to vent some demons? Explore an idea far too long dormant? An opportunity to create havoc unheard of, and blame it all on 13 drinks?

Paul Jenkins: Like all of my work it’s autobiographical.

Seriously, it probably is, a bit: I am working on so many different things these days – heading up a studio here in Georgia, just finished my first novel, teaching at Kennesaw State University…yeah. I think sometimes I need a few clones. That probably crept in somewhere.

Plus, I have always had an affinity for dark humor, and this definitely fits the bill.

PREVIEWSworld: How would you explain a story like this at a Comic Con panel? What would “sell it” to the curious?

Paul Jenkins: First of all, the covers are awesome! We decided to take the notion of Number One, Number Two, etc., and really roll with it. So each issue (and each cover) revolves around the clone pertaining to its issue number. Those covers are really funny, and I think they’ll make the book stand out.

Secondly, I know the subject matter has been pretty popular over time: people trying to manage relationships with aliens, and so on. But we’ve given it a twist: on the Transfer, where Trevor lives, there are a million different species all of whom can conduct themselves according to their own planetary laws. As you can imagine, this is a spectacularly bad idea. So I think a strong premise like that lays the foundation for some cool stories.

And finally, if that doesn’t convince you, our first issue involves an axe murder carried out by a jellyfish with no arms or legs.

PREVIEWSworld: Will you be at any shows to promote this book? Or will you be doing any other sort of promotions for it online?

Paul Jenkins: Ask Aftershock. They own my liver and kidneys and will only agree to return them if I do their nefarious bidding.