Weekly Review - Serenity #1

Perhaps I should just rename this site "Joss Whedon love fest" or something. I never got into the Dark Horse Buffy/Angel comics, mostly because I was late to the Buffy thing in general (I didn't start viewing until the fifth season). And - as said before, I have never been a fan of anything with "X" in title and published by Marvel, so I have missed the Whedon revolution over in the X-titles.

But beyond that, I think Joss Whedon is a genius. Politically I can't agree with much of his reflexively "Hollywood" liberal politics, but the man is a gifted storyteller and a top notch writer. Thus, I was saddened when FOX stayed true to form and cancelled his sci-fi/western series Firefly. It was a great series, marred only by a few early week episodes (episodes Joss was forced to write at the behest of the network - which should be a red flag. TNT made JMS do the same for Crusade, and that didn't last either).

Luckily, Serenity is coming. A big(ger) budget version of the TV show with the same cast, it looks to be a promising flick. This comic series is plotted (but not written) by Whedon and bridges the gap between the TV series and the Movie.

This first issue does well. Unlike the IDW Angel series, this comic does not spend large chucks of time helping "those of you who came in late" catch up. But rather than assuming that the reader is familiar with the characters, it nicely balances the middle road of telling a tale in a new, accessible way that uses, but does not require knowledge of, the rich backstory. Even if you have never seen the TV series (and if you haven't - repent now and buy the series on DVD!), you should pick this comic up. It uses all the main characters and operates as a nice action tale.

The writer, Brett Matthews, has Whedon's style down pat, but manages not to sound like a copycat, and the artists give spot on renditions of the characters and illustrate the action so well, I almost felt like I was watching TV.

One disappointment: I'm not up on spoilers for the upcoming movie, but this issue hints that Shepard Book (my favorite character) is dissatisfied with the crew and is gearing up to leave. This suggests to me that he will have a small part in the movie. Shame. Ron Glass is a great actor and he brings a lot of humanity and intrigue to the role. Perhaps if this movie does well, he'll have larger parts in later sequels. I can only hope. More sci-fi shows need sympathetic religious characters.