How Does Amazon Prime Video's ‘Paper Girls’ Differ from the Original Comics?

Adapting TV shows from comics or movies has become the order of the day for many creators. This benefits both the original writers and adapter; the reconstructed story turns out to be more captivating due to the difference in time, trends, and seasons. 

The most recent achievement in the list is Amazon Prime Video's Paper Girls, a modification of Cliff Chiang and Brian K. Vaughan's comic novel series of the same title.

The eight-part drama series launched on July 29th, starring (Fina Strazza) KJ Brandman of A Christmas Melody, (Sofia Rosisnsky) Mac Coyle of Fast Layne, (Riley L. Nenet) Erin Tieng of Altered Carbon, and (Camryn Jones) Tiffany Quilcin of Cherish the Day. 

Other characters include Ali Wong, a comedian impersonating Erin's adult version, Adina Porter of American Horror Story portraying Prioress, and Nate Corddry of For All Mankind representing Larry. Besides writing, Vaughan and Chiang also co-produce Paper Girls along with Christopher C. Roger.

The series tells the story of a crew of girls working at a paper delivery route in 1988 and are finally caught amidst a disagreement between time-travelers. The young ladies sail through self-discovery and time as they strive to rescue the world. 

To survive, Paper Girls must figure out how to get back home- a journey that will bring them one-on-one with their grown-up versions. Like any other adaptation, several changes were made to the original comics to create the most recent Prime Video's Paper Girls. Let's have a look!

The TV show has Erin rising early enough to perform her first paper route on Hell Day in 1988 when she is intimidated by a racist neighbor in the claims of stealing his paper; Tiffany rescues her. 

The duo later bumped into Mac and ran to assist KJ from being attacked by a gang of teenagers- that's how the quadruplet met. Vaughan and Chiang's comics have Erin as the victim of the teenagers' harassment, with the other three ladies saving her.

KJ's sexuality is one of the theme aspects in both the comics and TV shows, although in a different perception. After facing her future self with her girlfriend on the Fourth of July, KJ discovers that she a lesbian. 

The pair shares a lot of love for other girls, movies, and deep conversations. The comics, on the other side, don't showcase the appearance of KJ's later life.

The series showcases Prioress as the time travel inventor in the future alongside a squad of other scientists in the Quilkin Institute- a discovery made by the younger Tiffany. 

Vaughan and Chiang's book series reveals Doctor Brunsten as the origin of the time traveler.

Mac's tragic death is the same in the TV show and the comics, although the form of cancer that kills her shifts from leukemia to cerebral lymphoma. 

In the book series, Mac finds out about her demise through an anonymous man staying in her childhood, who reveals to her that her loved ones migrated after their child's passing. 

Mac from the Prime Video series roots out her older sibling Dylan, who became a nurse after her sister's death. The pair shares some great moments, chatting about their childhood and setting off firecrackers- events that are entirely not included in the comics.

In the TV show, KJ loses her hockey stick after murdering one of the Old Watch members, who was Prioress' sibling. The Prioress then utilizes the hockey stick as a key to locate the girls. 

In Vaughan and Chiang's comics, the rod stays in KJ's ownership, and the ladies use it to send a message to young and older Erin at the abandoned mall in the future. The news alerts the young Erin not to trust her fellow; it's clear to whom it refers.

Besides the girls shifting from one decade to another with their tracked spaceship, everything else appears quite normal in the Prime Video series. 

If you're unfamiliar with any time travel shows, you might not even realize anything ghostly is happening. On the other hand, the comics showcase weird creatures such as giants, tardigrades, and pterodactyls fighting each other in the future.

How the girls get split up isn't a significant difference since they're separated severally in both the comics and the show. However, the show's ending marks a substantial variation from the book series, where the girls don't visit the Old Watch's Cathedral together. 

They also never shift to different destinations in time in groups of two, as presented in the show. Tiffany and Erin's navigation to the 50s is a different story, while Prime Video's KJ and Mac's fate remains unknown. Hopefully, there will be a season two to tackle these puzzles.