Zack Whedon

Summary: The untimely cancellation of Firefly left fans with a lot of questions unanswered. Some of these were dealt with in Serenity, but Shepherd Book's origin story remained mysterious. What did he do before becoming a Shepherd? How does he know so much about weaponry and tactics? Why does the Alliance defer to him once they scan his ident card in the episode "Safe"? This short graphic novel attempts to answer all of these questions and more, starting at that fateful day on Haven, and show more working backwards through time, looking at the key events that set Book on his life's path.

Review: I wish I hadn't read this. I am a huge Firefly fan, so I couldn't help myself... but once I had, I wished I hadn't. Not that it was bad. The story itself was solid, and showed believable character growth (or character reduction, since it's moving backwards in time?) that explains how Book got to here from there.

But. There's a but. While I was as curious as anyone about Book's past, I actually liked the fact that it was left mysterious. Whether or not Joss would have revealed which pieces of it if the series had been allowed to continue is a matter of pure speculation at this point. But I thought that the exchange between Mal and Book in the movie Serenity kind of put paid to the issue.

Capt. Malcolm Reynolds: It's of interest to me how much you seem to know about that world.
Shepherd Book: I wasn't born a shepherd, Mal.
Capt. Malcolm Reynolds: You have to tell me about that sometime.
Shepherd Book: [pause] No, I don't.

Some things remain mysterious, and we don't always get our questions answered. And I was okay with that. And the problem I had with this book is that fans have had so long to speculate, that to be provided the answers flat out, in this very short book, felt anticlimactic and not entirely satisfying, relative to the possible answers that I'd imagined. (Plus, either I missed something, or the backstory as given here doesn't really gel with the fact that the Alliance would instantly render help to the point of letting the Serenity go without inspection upon seeing Book's ID, as established in the series.)

The art in this one was kind of a mixed bag. Book himself is really well done, and the backwards aging is nicely handled; even though the art is relatively simple, you can still see aspects of older Book in the younger versions. The other characters don't fare as well; they're only present briefly, but are typically recognizable only by their clothes. 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: For Firefly fans only. And even there, I'd say only for Firefly fans who really want the official answers about Shepherd Book. While it wasn't bad on its own merits, I personally preferred the ambiguity. show less

I can't believe it took me nine years to get my hands on this!!

As a big Firefly fan, for me the most frustrating thing about the show's far-too-short lifespan, was that we never found out anything about Shepherd Book's past.

While it would have been far, far better to have had the late Ron Glass provide us with the answers in another season or four of Firefly, this graphic novel does at least answer some of the questions we'd all been left with. I think it still doesn't quite explain the VIP show more treatment Book got on the Alliance ship when he was injured, but I guess a fake ID of some sort for just such an occasion wouldn't have been entirely out of character...

The jump-backwards format that Zack Whedon chose to tell this story became more interesting and appropriate with each jump. I think a linear-forwards type tale, starting at childhood, wouldn't have had the same impact, and certainly would have been less interesting. as it was, with each new jump, it left me wondering how he had come to be in that situation, which would lead to an "ah!" moment in the next jump, followed by the next question.

I enjoyed it very much. show less

The first real continuation of the storyline following the film (previous comics have either been set between the series and the film, or been single issue stories without much plot development) is truly excellent, and likely the best Serenity comic to date. Zack Whedon is masterful at capturing the character voices and the 'verse particularities of phrasing. The artwork by Jeanty is clear and vivid, though unfortunately the likenesses are often virtually non-existent. He does a great job show more with the close-ups, but in most other panels you need to keep track of what colour clothing each character is wearing to have the faintest idea who is who. That aside, my only beef with this comic is the off-screen super-convenient de-programming of the new character Iris. That was so weird and implausible and devoid of aftereffects that it completely undermines the otherwise very real-feeling plotting of the story as a whole.

But quibbles aside, this is a great story for anyone who wish "Serenity" wasn't the end, which moves the characters around and brings back two old characters in a way that feels cool and organic rather than gimmicky and contrived (as is sadly often the case when spin-off products bring back characters). Not to mention introduces several new ones without them feeling too out of place in the world (though it is of course impossible to ever quite measure up to the beloved cast established on the original show). Warmly recommended. show less

This IS the Serenity comic book you're looking for!

In this sequel to the movie - containing all six issues of "Leaves on the Wind" - we find the crew of Serenity fractured and in hiding, now that they're officially the most wanted criminals in the 'verse. Jayne has left to live with Ma Cobb (seriously!); River is now piloting the ship (she is the ship, duh!); and Zoe is grieving the loss of her husband - whose daughter she's about to give birth to (the sweetest!). Oh, and in a development show more that everyone saw coming, Mal and Inara and Kaylee and Simon are totally doing it.

They're out of food (c'mon, guys, maybe you should conserve some energy?), out of supplies, and just about out of options. Which is the perfect time to strike another blow to the Alliance, yes?

Things I loved about this story arc:

1. Inara wearing practical clothing for a change!

2. Kaylee being a badass, and in a great throwback to Firefly, to boot.

3. Characters old (Jubal Early, The Operative) and new (Bea and Emma).

4. We see Ma Cobb, if only in one panel.

5. A whole army of Rivers!

6. Cliffhanger ending = the perfect opportunity for a sequel.

7. Jayne gets kicked in the nuts.

Maybe it's unfair and judgey of me, but I hate it when the characters in comic books based on tv shows and movies don't look like the actors who play them. And this has been a pretty common complaint across the Serenity comic books. While the likenesses aren't all spot on here, the art is at least consistent enough that I can tell who's who and follow the action. (Yay!)

I can say the same of "It's Never Easy," the single-issue story that follows. It's silly but fun and, while the art is kind of blocky and caricature-y, I rather like it anyway. show less