Serenity Comic Book Series 192
stoolpigeon writes "CBR News is reporting that Dark Horse will be publishing a 3 comic series to provide material that bridges the gap between the Firefly T.V. show and the Serenity film. From the press release: 'The plot of the comic book series centers on the crew members of the ship known as Serenity, who once again find themselves broke and on the wrong side of a number of very large firearms when a heist goes awry, and some old enemies catch their scent. After facing one failure after another, Malcolm Reynolds becomes the target of a conspiracy between government and mercenary forces, and a tense and divided crew must try to unite behind their compromised leader...'"
Sweet! (Score:2)
Any word of a date or release?
New life? (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:New life? (Score:3, Interesting)
Yet again the interests of business prevail over the interests of the consumers.
Re:New life? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:New life? (Score:3, Interesting)
Purely anecdotal, but I had heard people say that Fox's rights to a TV series expired after a few years, so the plan was to keep doing movies until the TV rights expired, then Universal would help do more TV. This, of course, assumes that the movie does well enough, and they wanted the franchise to return to the small screen.
So, does anyone with facts (hopefully in the form of some kind of link) care to chime in? :)
Re:New life? (Score:2)
Do you know where I can find more info on this?
Re:New life? (Score:1, Interesting)
Oh, for heaven's fucking sake:
What is so difficult about the notion that while you enjoy a TV show, most of the world didn't want to watch it? Can't you people just accept that there weren't enough people out there who share your taste, instead of imagining some Illuminati conspiracy to keep profitable shows off the air for no logical reason?
Look, I'd love to be watching the hockey World Championship, which, if it's av
Re:New life? (Score:3, Interesting)
Did you watch the show and then watch the DVD's? Personally I thought the show sucked big time when it was on TV. A friend loaned me the Firfly DVD's and wow it was a great series.
Fox did mana
Re:New life? (Score:2)
A) it wasnt advertised as much as most other shows on fox
B)it was shown out of order when it was on because:
C) it was pre-empted a lot by fox for sports games
Re:New life? (Score:2)
WEll, its either a conspiracy, or stupidity. I cant think of any other reason that applies to all the facts.
Re:New life? (Score:5, Informative)
Yes, that's right: we imagined all these things.
Re:New life? (Score:3, Funny)
Now look at FoxNews. THIS rediculous show, they put on it's own channel, 24-hours. On that show, the Government are the GOOD guys. (despite ample evidence of the opposite).
Re:New life? (Score:2)
Re:New life? (Score:2)
It's really far more simple. (Score:2)
It;s really very simple. FOX has no understanding of how to handle sci-fi and probably didn't understand the ramifications of showing it out of order. Some suit probably remembered watching a few episodes of Twilight Zone or Outer Limits and thought it was a series of self contained episodes. That' or they were thinking of Star Trek, most of which (DS9 aside) could have been shown in ju
Re:New life? (Score:2)
Who said I have a conspiracy theory? What actually happened is that Fox handled the show badly and then cancelled it. We don't know why they handled it badly: coulda been incompetence, malice, some combination of both, or some other unknown factor.
Good lord! He was joking when he said that. The very next sentence is, "More realistically is that Fox
Re:New life? (Score:2)
I didn't.
Re:New life? (Score:2)
Re:New life? (Score:3, Informative)
-a sequential show was being shown out of order
-a sequential (ie story-arced) show was frequently pre-empted
-an action/sci-fi show was put on friday nights...hardly a normal timespot for it's demographic
-the show was hardly promoted
So it's not surprising that not many people watched it.
Fact is though that the show has sold phenomenally well on DVD (an
Re:New life? (Score:2)
What's so difficult to accept about the notion that enough people DID like it to justify the making of a movie?
Contrary to the evidence provided in the form of Gigli, the studios do not normally make a movie without being fairly convinced they have a good chance of getting a substantial return on their investment. I'd like to imagine that they have access to better statistics about how popular
Re:New life? (Score:2)
Most of the world didn't get a chance to watch it.
However afterwards 9 out of 10 introduced to it end up loving it.
Can't you people just accept that there weren't enough people out there who share your taste,
There is no proof of that, so that would be religion to belive that.
Re:New life? (Score:2)
Re:New life? (Score:2)
Re:New life? (Score:2)
It was all the way up to 19 when the trailer was released, definately not too shabby for a year old show
Re:New life? (Score:5, Insightful)
* 1. The Phantom of the Opera (2-Disc Special Edition)
Which was released on May 3 - 7 days ago
* 6. The Andy Griffith Show - The Complete Second Season
Which isn't released until May 24 - so preorder
* 12. Abs Diet
Which was released on May 3 - 7 days ago
* 13. Gilmore Girls - The Complete Third Season
Which was released on May 3 - 7 days ago
* 25. Quantum Leap - The Complete Third Season
Which is released today
* 33. WWE WrestleMania XXI
Which was released today.
* 38. Star Trek Enterprise - The Complete First Season (doomed, ya already know this, right?)
Which was released May 3 - 7 days ago
* 43. Ocean's Twelve (Widescreen Edition) (what? one week in the theater, was it?)
Which was released April 12 - 28 days ago.
Compared with Firefly which was released on December 9 2003 - 518 days ago.
Can you seriously not see the difference?
Re:New life? (Score:2)
Strangely enough people actually buy things and hence the ranks change. Imagine that.
Re:New life? (Score:2)
yes, but.. (Score:4, Funny)
oh! and what happens on page 23?
Won't Break My Rule (Score:1)
Re:Won't Break My Rule (Score:2)
1 of each for me, and the rest to ebay in five years. Bwahahaha
Because some comics fans are pretentious snobs (Score:2)
They're also one of the reasons why I tend not to bother with most comics message boards. I've found that I enjoy comics much more when I just read them by myself and stay away from all the snobs on the Internet.
To turn the negative sentiment around... (Score:2)
Re:To turn the negative sentiment around... (Score:2)
Yes, you can get creative with a lot of things (especially sci-fi or fantasy -- "Imagine a society where..."), but you still can't arbitrarily invent new (human) psychology without harming the quality of the writing.
Re:To turn the negative sentiment around... (Score:3, Insightful)
I think if you manage to think of her as more than a "whore" -- which is what Mal and other use as a put down -- and instead think of her as the companion she is, you will see that there is precedent in real life in the Geisha [wikipedia.org].
As always in Firefly, western and eastern culture meet somewhere...
Re:To turn the negative sentiment around... (Score:2)
Re:Geisha's are not prostitutes. (Score:2)
I never said they were, you idiot.
Further comments about the "whore" (Score:3, Insightful)
It depends. I may be wrong, but I seem to remember that in some cultures in some eras of our history, whores were considered respectable women. (Examples, anyone?)
Besides, the Companions in Firefly weren't exactly high- or low-class, they were sort of in between. You could always tell that Mal had sort of a love-hate relationship with Inara. He really liked her, but he absolutely hated her profession. Even though many held her in high esteem, you could tell that some did not. Watch the episode "Shin
Re:Further comments about the "whore" (Score:2)
And no, I didn't memorize all of the episodes of Firefly, I cheated.
Oh, come on, it's not that hard - there's only 14 episodes! It's not like Doctor Who fans...
Re:Further comments about the "whore" (Score:2)
Oh, come on, it's not that hard
True, but you have to understand where I'm coming from. When I was in high school, I was a hardcore Star Trek fan, and yes I did memorize all 79 episode titles, along with guest stars, their characters, etc.
As a result of the incredibly hard time I endured for this nerdy obsession, I quickly learned to keep such things to myself. I'm still in that mode of denial today. I am not a nerd, I am not a nerd. If I say it enough times, I might convince myself. Part of that
Re:To turn the negative sentiment around... (Score:3, Informative)
Absolute bollocks: there used to be frigging temple prostitues, who used to be highly respected.
True, that's the classical example, but even up to a couple of decades ago the japanese geisha was a highly respected proffesion (now it's merely respected, if looked on a mite strangely).
And let's not forget old Venice and many other good examples.
Re:To turn the negative sentiment around... (Score:3, Informative)
Read about Courtesans in China and Byzantium, read about Geisha culture in Japan. Then explain how your human psychology studies fail to explain their high class status.
In China. these women were the counsels of rulers and nobility, trained to be artistic, clever, insightful, and cunning conversationalists. They were supposed to be relaxing counsel with no strings attached. Many
Re:To turn the negative sentiment around... (Score:2)
And may I add Pericles [wikipedia.org], one of the greatest leaders of ancient Athens. He was said to be deeply in love with Aspasia [wikipedia.org], one of the greatest "companion" of the time.
Anyways, I'll be in my bunk...
Re:To turn the negative sentiment around... (Score:2)
Is it sci-fi or fantasy? (Score:5, Funny)
Easy. If it's fantasy, there will be dwarfs and men with beards in the cast.
If it's sci-fi, the script will talk about mercenaries a lot. If it calls them "mercs," it's a dead giveaway.
Occult's Razor (Score:3, Funny)
In Science Fiction, the hot chicks are scantily clad for a reason central to the internal logic of the universe.
Remember kids, any sufficiently advanced Science Fiction is indistinguishable from Fantasy.
Re:Is it sci-fi or fantasy? (Score:2)
Re:Is it sci-fi or fantasy? (Score:2)
Yes, this is also a gross overgeneralisation, but I suspect one more reliable than the parent's.
Potent potables (Score:2)
ugh nasty (Score:3, Insightful)
That's sad. It feels like Joss Whedon has sold out, something like the Matrix people did with all their product tie-ins before the final two movies (they even made cartoons for god's sake).
Oh well, money is money.
Re:ugh nasty (Score:2)
Re:ugh nasty (Score:2)
Doubt it (Score:3, Insightful)
I get the feeling that Joss Whedon has a genuine desire to tell his story in it's entirety, since he wasn't able to do that with the TV series.
I don't think he's doing it for any financial incentive... the film industry tends to pay a bit better than the comic book industry, in case you didn't know.
Re:ugh nasty (Score:2)
then I guess you don't want to know that the Matrix creators started a comic publishing company called Burlyman Entertainment.
oops too late.
Oh well, money is money.
Joss is a big fan of comics, having written a good many of them. perhaps he is doing this because, I don't know... he like comics?
Re:ugh nasty (Score:2)
Most likely, it's a case of Joss Whedon going "I can't make this movie continue directly from where the series left off because then it wouldn't be a good stand-alone movie; hey, why don't I make a tie-in comic book to bridge the gap for fans who watched the series?"
It's not all an evil conspiracy.
Release Date (Score:4, Informative)
Issue #1 hits July 06, 2005 at a cost of $2.99.
Bittersweet (Score:2)
That said, I wish it was still a TV show. I would much rather have 22 bite-sized morsels of Firefly a year.
Who knows what kind of legal black hole a future TV show is tied up in. Plus, there is already talk of more movies if this one is successful, and Whedon is supposed to be doing a Wonder Woman movie now.
Will we ever get another Whedon TV show?!?
-prator
Re:Bittersweet (Score:2)
I have to admit that some of the payoffs would have been really awesome if they would have had time to develop through the course of a TV series.
That said, I was lucky enough to get to one of the advanced screenings they had on May 5th, and holy crap, it's good.
I'll have some brief, spoiler-free thoughts on my site [localgod.net] for anyone interested.
Wonder if Joss Whedon watches anime (Score:3, Interesting)
Firefly kind of reminds me of a cross among the two anime series Trigun and Cowboy Bebop (both originally released in Japan in 1998) and old post-Civil War setting westerns. Trigun can be classified as a sci-fi western. Bebop doesn't lean quite as heavily on the western genre, as it's all over the map as far as influences go, but the world as presented seems similar in nature to that of Firefly.
Firefly resembles Cowboy Bebop in that you have a ragtag crew of misfits and folks with questionable intentions travelling in an old beat-up secondhand spaceship going from job to job trying to make money wherever they can, in some cases only enough to keep the ship running. The ship Serenity even kind of reminds me of the Bebop somewhat in how it is designed. Also, Cowboy Bebop's settings involve various terraformed planets, but most of them have a reasonably near-future level of technology apparent. In Firefly, the settings are mostly old Western in nature on the border worlds, like Trigun's world in the apparent far future after human extra-planetary colonization goes horribly wrong. The firearms used are sort of like both, in that both current and antiquated weapon designs are used with a little futuristic flair to jazz things up.
Re:Wonder if Joss Whedon watches anime (Score:2)
Re:Wonder if Joss Whedon watches anime (Score:2)
Re:Wonder if Joss Whedon watches anime (Score:2)
Saves space.
Some reassembly required.
Re:Wonder if Joss Whedon watches anime (Score:2)
Cowboy Bebop is a great show, and I'll go as far as to suggest it to anyone who's liked Firefly and at least doesn't philosophically hate anime...
Besides, it has a great original soundtrack by Yoko Kanno for each of its seasons - these are suggested to pretty much everyone...
Re:Wonder if Joss Whedon watches anime (Score:2)
There's a site dedicated to Kaiketsu Zubat [inetnebr.com], and it has an entry on the IMDB [imdb.com]. Oh, and I'll also add that my favourit
Dunno how I feel about this... (Score:3, Informative)
I learned from 80s Marvel Star Wars comics and 90s Dark Horse Star Wars comics that just because you have the rights doesn't mean you have the capability of producing quality material.
That and they have the same problem DC does with their Vertigo line - extremely high quality covers with interior work that has always, in my professional opinion, had a rushed or unfinished feel to it (work for hire, DH rates, contracts, bills, making a living, etc, etc.).
I'll probably check it out, despite my traditionally itchy experiences with Dark Horse - Whedon's {co}writing it and it's only three issues - it's not like they're pulling a Marvel and hoping to suck us in for a ten year run of recycled crap with new writers, pencillers and inkers every three months.
Re:Dunno how I feel about this... (Score:2)
I don't use analogies on IRC or in board posts often. It would have come out right verbally.
Thanks for the correction.
I don't think I want to see... (Score:3, Funny)
...either the film or the comic book after visiting the web site [serenity.com].
Firefly (Score:2, Informative)
Serenity is the movie sequel, scheduled to come out this fall.
The entire series is centered around an interesting crew of renegade smugglers in the distant future. There are strong elements of the Wild West. It's basicly a space opera, like star wars, but without all the lame acting.
the DVD is well worth the purchase price. If you don't beli
Space Cowboys (Score:3, Funny)
Or... all that in 2 words
Re:Firefly (Score:2, Insightful)
Firefly was cancelled because very few people liked it. Why did few people like it? Fanboys say it's because it aired out-of-order, and I have to admit they have a point. If you saw this show when it aired it would have made no freaking sense at all. The only way to watch it (and like it) is on DVD.
But there's the possibility that the Space Western theme just didn't resonate. I thought it was cool, but I'm willing to believe people would roll their e
Re:Firefly (Score:2)
Re:Firefly (Score:2)
Re:Firefly (Score:2)
Re:I may be out of the loop... (Score:2, Informative)
Re:I may be out of the loop... (Score:2, Informative)
Saying a series is fantastic based on a pilot would be a fallacy.
Re:I may be out of the loop... (Score:2, Informative)
http://www.whatisfirefly.com/ [whatisfirefly.com]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firefly_(television_
Trailer:
http://www.apple.com/trailers/universal/serenity/ [apple.com]
Re:Saw the trailer... (Score:2)
"Wash:this is going to get pretty interesting...
Mal:define interesting...
Wash: oh god, oh god, we're all going to die?"
oh, and DAMN is Jewel Staite cute.
Re:Oh no! (Score:1)
Re:Oh no! (Score:2)
Re:Why? (Score:2)
Re:Because... (Score:4, Funny)
I do
B: Who Cares?
My friends do
C: Who Cares?
My friend's friends do.
D: Who Cares?
Many other nerds reading slashdot do.
E: A comic issuing constitutes as
News for nerds. Stuff that matters.
Frankly, I just don't think you are nerd enough. Please return your nerd membership card and exit this site. (You can keep the toaster)
-Em
Re:Because... (Score:2)
Re:Firefly still sucks (Score:2)
Re:Fox still sucks (Score:2)
-Em
Re:Firefly still sucks (Score:2)
Firefly is cool, though. You're a grump, kettle
Re:Firefly still sucks (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Firefly still sucks (Score:3, Insightful)
try to ignore the goodwill you have towards Joss because of the first 3 seasons of Buffy, and realize that Firefly was pretty lame
Okay...
(Ignoring...)
Yep, Firefly still rocks.
Truth is, I didn't really care that much for Buffy or Angel. They were kinda sorta clever--"better than a lot of stuff on TV," as you put it--but not half as good as Firefly.
It is cowboys in space, for crying out loud! What could be better? It has interesting characters, can be funny and serious at the same time, an inte
Re:Firefly still sucks (Score:2)
Re:Firefly still sucks (Score:2)
From what I have read, Joss Whedon might agree with you:
Something about his script being edited so far he didn't want to be associated with that movie any longer - but that might be rumors.
Although there is one Angel episode where he inserted a little remark:
"I mean, Roger's always had a thing for those disgusting Alien movies... all that slime and teeth... ugh! He just can't get enough of them! Except for t
Re:FF would be good if it had a consistent backsto (Score:5, Funny)
For example, how big is the Firefox universe? Is it a galaxy? A group of star systems? A single system?
The Firefox universe consists of Firefox, Mozilla, Thunderbird, Bugzilla, and Camino...
Re:FF would be good if it had a consistent backsto (Score:2)
Re:FF would be good if it had a consistent backsto (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:FF would be good if it had a consistent backsto (Score:2)
Re:FF would be good if it had a consistent backsto (Score:3, Interesting)
If the blue sun is a main sequence star (and not a supergiant), then it's stellar mass will be around 50 and it's biozone range (the range where liquid water can occur) would be between 500-750 AUs. That's freaking huge. It should be enough to fit in the hundreds of planets that livable range.
However, don't take the science too seriously.
How big? (Score:3, Informative)
Except for the pilot, each episode was prefaced by a video montage to cover for the fact that the pilot hadn't even aired. And the montage had a voiceover:
"Here's how it is -- the Earth got used up, so we moved out, terraformed a whole new galaxy of earths. Some rich and flush with the new technologies, some... not so much. The Central Planets, them as formed the Alliance, waged war to bring everyone under their rule. Few idiots tried to fight it -- among them, myself. I'm Malcolm Reynolds, captain of Se
Re:FF would be good if it had a consistent backsto (Score:2)
Re:FF would be good if it had a consistent backsto (Score:2)
Well, dunno about GGP, but I was looking for a little bit more tech.
I mean, there are many instances throughout the series were troubles could have been avoided by just using some kind of telecommunications device -- which they have, as small two-way radios do appear here and there, even in miniaturized form.
Another thing is about the ship sensors: more often than not, ships only detect each other when they are within a few hundred meters away. Take for example the episode when they ram/dock to a station
Re:FF would be good if it had a consistent backsto (Score:2, Insightful)
thats why the technology is non-consistant - its about telling the story, one which isnt entirely compatible with its setting.
Re:Resurrection ... spoiled brat. (Score:2, Insightful)
For one thing, sparky, it's not a matter of luck. Whedon put in a lot of time writing other scripts, making other series, polishing other people's writing. He has what is known as a "track record.
Re:Resurrection ... spoiled brat. (Score:3, Insightful)
You have been told exactly how you go about achieving your goals.
You go to where the industry is: this is not a matter of luck, this is not a matter of "Gosh darn, that guy was just SO FORTUNATE to have decided to move to LA and sleep in the gutter until he manages to get work." This is How. It. Works. Unless you manage to build a writing career elsewhere that makes them sit up and take notice - and that means makes someone a fair chu
Re:Resurrection ... spoiled brat. (Score:2, Funny)