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Firefly Lives - New Comics in 2008
gambit3 writes "'Serenity: Better Days' will be released as a 3 part comic in early 2008. The series is a step back in time to the early years of the Firefly crew, and the fledgling gang's turbulent attempts to cope with success after they pull off their first successful heist. It features the same creative team as Those Left Behind, with the story by Joss Whedon and Brett Matthews, art by Will Conrad, and Adam Hughes providing all three covers this time." Ironic, considering today's brand-new poll.
Please stop misusing "ironic."
A coincidence is not ironic. An airplane pilot who's afraid of heights is ironic.
I seem to be the minority, but I didn't find this series particularly engaging. In that context, I'm not surprised that they decided to go with a format that certainly costs less than a movie or a series, yet will still bring diehard fans in to buy it.
If firefighters fight fire, and crimefighters fight crime, what do freedom fighters fight? - George Carlin
An electric bugaloo... is that like a cattle pod with more interesting options?
I wish with all my heart they had made "Better Days" as a movie and "Serenity" as the comic. Firefly was the very best SF show ever on TV. To have short-circuited its comeback as they did with making the movie so very harsh was IMHO a wasted chance at a relaunch. Fot those of you that haven't yet gotten what all of the fuss is about, hey, Christmas is coming, get the DVD as a present to someone else and give it one more try. Firefly is the American Western mythos of the past presented in a Space-Age future. We need to remember the vibes it resonates on now more than ever.
Always much harder to kill a zombie show. If that stupid show had just stayed on the air for a good 2-3 seasons, it would have been over. but No they had to kill it before it even started. They were just asking for the zomibification. bastards!
You only caught it on TV, right? When some episodes were dropped and played out of order? Go rent the series and watch it for real. I think you'll be surprised at what you missed.
I liked Buffy, I loved Firefly. I like comics. I make comics (okay not for a living thank gawd but that's not the point). The Buffy comics, in my opinion, are nowhere nearly as good as the series was. Could be pacing, could be the layouts (they don't help), could be the fact that one issue of the comic seems to cover a bizzaro combination of a quarter of an episode and half a season. Whatever it is, it's lacking.
So, meh. I don't want an artist's attempt at facsimiles of Mal and Jayne - I want more Nathan Fillion and Adam Baldwin. With shows like BTVS and Firefly, my enjoyment doesn't come from the script. The script is corn. My enjoyment comes from the actor's execution of that script. In comics, you don't have an actor giving a performance - you have a penciller (and then an inker, then a colorist) executing their impression of what they think the writer is trying to convey.
I hobby in comics, I've done bit parts in short films and web serials, I've made my own shorts - a great - or even a good - actor can make a passable pulp script a cult phenomenon. Anthony Stewart Head and Nathan Fillion are great examples of this. You cut down the creative team (as opposed to scale UP the creative team), and something gets lost in the process.
It's one thing to turn a comic book into a TV series or a movie - going the other way has always felt like a giant step backwards - not only do you lose the acting, you lose the cinematography and the editing, And even if all of that wasn't an issue, there's the fact that individual comic issues are as saturated with ads as a nuclear reaction chamber is with radiation - and with comics, the shift in visual style between comic content and ad content is even more jarring than it is with television ads or movie previews.
So, it might be good but as far as I'm concerned it won't actually be Firefly. If I'm lucky it'll be available in trade paperback by the time I'm finished with my reading list of comics that only exist as comics (currently plugging through The Invisibles as the spare change permits).
I'm of the same opinion as the gpp and did watch the entire series and the movie (I was sorta bored).
My theory is that most fans just really like Whedon's characters, cliches and style of dialogue. If you don't know what that is, you can see it repeated exactly in Angel, Buffy and Alien:Resurrection. Examples: no one can say anything straight, it's all got to be "witty". Martial arts are for some reason the greatest power in the universe. Every character is "bad" but would do all sorts of heroics to save a kitten (while cursing reluctantly of course... because they are bad!!), etc.
Basically, there's nothing particularly wrong with Firefly. It just lacks any sort of brilliance. The series ends up coalescing into a bland, insipid whole.
There was only 1 episode out of order, and I happen to think The Train Job made a better first episode than episode 1. The "dropped" episodes weren't dropped from the middle of anything... they're the ones that never aired because the show was canceled.
I agree-- buy the DVDs. Best DVD set evar, and great commentary (I love that they brought the costume designer in for a couple of them). But still, don't oversell its presentation of the storyline. It's pretty much the same as you saw on TV (right down to the resolution, since FOX didn't do full HD back then, only widescreen 480p), with a couple extra episodes.
E pluribus unum
I don't know. I loved most of Buffy and Angel, and I was completely bored by Firefly.
But I am also a big fan of the Aaron Sorkin years of West Wing, so I guess that fits into your witty dialog theory.
LOAD "SIG",8,1
Weird, I'm not much of one for Buffy and think I watched one episode of Angel, but I loved Firefly.
Funny - I loved Firefly. Started watching Angel and bought the entire series, loved it. Went back to Buffy, bought the first 3 seasons, got bored mid-season 3 and quit watching. I would catch Buffy every once in a while when it was on the air, but it didn't catch my attention then either.
I loved FF as much as the next sci-fi fan. I watched the entire series several times. But, IMO, prequels are the last vestige of the marketing department. That one last chance to generate some revenue. Just let it go guys so I can grieve and get some closure.
I judt got a nre Kinesis keybiartf so please excusr ant egregiou typos.
(Wikipedia provides the air dates here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Firefly_episodes)
By putting episodes in the right order, the DVD set improved things considerably.
Also, the director commentary (Joss) for many of the episodes is great to listen to. I enjoyed 'Objects in Space' *more* after watching some of the hows and whys coming from Joss as the episode played along. It was really quite engaging.
/appreciate/ until you realize there were no cuts, no different cameras ... all one take. It was so subtle and well done that I hadn't realized what Joss was doing (had done) until he mentioned it in the commentary.
You can see the basis for the long opening continuous shot in 'Serenity' at the end of this episode - something you don't
Firefly, canceled before finishing a full season. Does that seem right to you?
Firefly was the very best SF show ever on TV.
Reading this, it was obvious to me that you've never seen Babylon 5 or Blake's 7. But then I began to wonder. Even the original Startrek was better than Firefly, which isn't really SF at all, just a cowboy series plus a spaceship.
Perhaps I'm being unfair. Maybe you've seen Startrek Voyager, and are comparing it with that, in which case we just have a difference of taste concerning which reasonable people may disagree.
Um, if you weren't aware, there was a firefly comic book already released years ago after the show but before the movie, that dealt with the timeline between the two.
The characters were drawn as the actors, and it was very well done, with a forward by Nathan Fillion.
Obviously not as good as the return of the show, but so long as the series makes profit off the air there is a chance it will return in some form or fashion.
Check it out
"I only speak the truth"
Karma: null(Mostly affected by an unassigned variable)
>Firefly, canceled before finishing a full season. Does that seem right to you? Best comment evar!
Most slashdotters are probably aware that Morena Baccarin showed up on Stargate SG1, and that Jewel Staite is the new doctor on Stargate Atlantis, and some might even be aware that Summer Glau did a stint on CBS's The Unit, but the one who really caught my eye was Christina Hendricks, as the ne'er do well called "Saffron":
http://www.entil2001.com/series/firefly/season1dvd/ff1-6p2.jpg
So if you liked her work on Firefly, then you might be interested to learn that she's now got a gig as "Joan Holloway", the head of the secretarial pool, on AMC's "Mad Men":
http://weblogs.variety.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/08/31/joan.jpg
Let's just say that she's everything you remember from Firefly and then some.
Hubba. Hubba.
Yeah, count me another one who never saw the series until the DVD, saw them in order, whatever. I found it hackneyed and corny. Space-guns that make laser sounds, but look exactly like period Western firearms? Every space hooker has a heart of gold, particularly if they work at the Heart of Gold in an episode called "Heart of Gold"? And what the hell was with that assassin dude in the last episode? ("Am I a lion"? What? I was as confused as the doctor guy. Who the hell wrote that shit?)
Space/western fusion could be cool, and is, but Whedon seemed to only combine the parts of space opera and westerns that were lame and didn't make any sense outside of their genre. And also - yes, we've all seen Gina Davis in "The Long Kiss Goodnight" and watched "Dark Angel." We know that crazy amnesiac chicks who escape from government facilities have always been trained as assassins. Was there anybody in the entire world who didn't guess everything about River's back story after the second episode? That person is an idiot, if so.
Hackneyed, predictable, cliched, generic. There was nothing about Firefly that ever deserved its praise, which is why it had one season and BSG's coming back for a fourth. Cowboy Bebop is still the best space western show out there.
I never have frustrations, the reason is, to wit:
If at first I don't succeed, I quit!
Kaylee: Luh-suh?
Simon: Sorry?
Kaylee: Serenity ain't luh-suh.
Simon: No, I.. I didn't mean...
Kaylee: Yeah, you did. You meant everything you just said.
Simon: Well, no. Uh, actually I was being ironic... so in-in the strictest sense...
Kaylee: You were being mean... is what. And if that's what you think of this life... then you can't think much of them that choose it... can you?
Bender: Pretty annoying, huh Leela?
Leela: (shouting) What? Are you talking? Oh God I'm deaf!
Bender: Oops. I'm so so sorry Leela. I just wanted to annoy you.
Leela: (shouting) What? Oh this is horrible. I won't be able to hear Fry's opera. [She starts to cry. The Robot Devil stands at the end of the corridor watching them.] Robot Devil: Ah how delightfully ironic.
Bender: It's not ironic, it's just mean. Take this! [He blows the airhorn weakly.]
Robot Devil: Ooh! Out of aerosol? Also ironic!
Bender: Oh yeah? Well bite my shiny metal - [He points at where his crotchplate used to be. No ass left to bite.] (shouting) Oh nooo!
TO START
PRESS ANY KEY
Where's the 'ANY' key? I see Esk, Kitarl, and Pig-Up...
... and I really hate comic books and "graphic novels".
Not sure if this is a step forward or back, but it's for sure "the least we could hope for".
Interesting characters like this was the entire point of Firefly for me. If you wanted a western, I can perhaps see why you were disappointed; I've never liked westerns.
It's a little pointed out fact that The Firefly series is almost a 1 on 1 copy of Cowboy Bebop. Whedon gets too much credit for his work in some circles. I find Firefly and Serenity still entertaining though.
What the hell is a "laser sound"? And I serious doubt that *you* knew River's back story by the second episode. I think that *you* are the idiot.
I mean, c'mon, every other fan favorite TV series has had a line of traditional novels. When will there be a Firefly series??
"A government is a body of people, usually notably ungoverned." - Shepard Book Quoting Malcolm Reynolds
I know this is just responding to trolling spam (what do you do that warrants having NO life?) but the moderation system at /. is one of the most effective on the internet, with the sole exception that things labeled as offtopic or troll are never fully removed. Keep complaining dude, but you are really preaching to the choir.
You might want to try something productive, like a REAL hobby...
>Space/western fusion could be cool, and is, ...
No. It isnt, never was and never will be. It is utterly ridiculous bullshit. Being assimilated by the Borg would be a better concept for future than cowboys in space. 'One cant eat as as much as it makes you want to vomit' or something like that...
>There was nothing about Firefly that ever deserved its praise,
Agreed.
Hendricks has also done a couple episodes of NBC's new show Life. She's playing Damian Lewis' soon to be trophy wife stepmom.
Taco Meat,
You're going to continue to be modded down by posting the same thing over and over. I know this account was not intended to be a trolling account for you. I remember your early posts. You ended up being modded down for a couple of benign posts a while back, I don't even remember them now. We *ALL* have had problems with moderation at some point and I'm no exception.
I even had negative karma for a while. It happens to the best of us. I also don't rely on moderation when I'm reading Slashdot, I use friends and friends of friends to change moderation ratings. I watch for people I like to hear. I "foe" people I get sick of reading. It really works well and I don't rely on others to determine what I'm going to read. What I've done really cuts down on the noise. I may like a person, but if they post too much noise I remove them from by friends list because my purpose here is to learn and gain insight efficiently.
Once you've spent some time tweaking Slashdot, it really can be a nice forum with good information and good comments to read. The trick is to learn how to filter effectively. Personally I set friends to +6, I set friends of friends to +3 and I set my threshold to 4. I always see what friends have to say and I see what friends of friends have to say if they have good karma.
Karma doesn't matter at that point. Slashdot then becomes a utility for learning. Who cares if you're popular or not. With what I'm doing it becomes more serious and enjoyable because I don't see all the noise makers, teenagers, trolls, karma whores and popularity mongers. I forget they even exist.
Just some thoughts for you. Stop worrying about it and move on. Use the tools here to make it useful. Only post when you have something to say and karma (if you're still concerned about it) will take care of itself.
Good luck!
Fresh horses and more whiskey for my men.
Funny you should mention that. Gene Roddenberry pitched Star Trek to Desilu & NBC by basically calling it 'Wagon Train in Space'. At the time, westerns were big bucks on tv.
Understanding the scope of the problem is the first step on the path to true panic.
Ok, this one I take issue with. Did you not see the gunfights?
And River is not a weapon because she's good at martial arts. She's a weapon because she can read minds, even unconsciously -- her martial arts (and gunplay, when she has a gun) are impossibly perfect.
So the rest of your points, I could debate for quite awhile, but it's really more a matter of opinion. (Example: Everyone does not always have to say it "witty", they do because that's what real people do. Quite frequently, they say it straight: "You turn on any of my crew, you turn on me. You did it to me, Jayne.")
But the bit about martial arts is pure bullshit.
Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
Most prequels suck, I think, because there's really no reason for them. They've run out of things to do in sequels, and they're looking for another direction to expand that universe, but it doesn't work, because it kind of ruins the originals. (Example: Star Wars. It's kind of hard to watch the originals after watching the prequels, and kind of hard to watch the prequels, period.)
But think about it -- the first few minutes of Serenity were a prequel, after all. And there actually is a ton of story there, maybe written out, maybe not.
Example: What did Book do before he was a Shephard, and why does the Alliance like him so much? Where else can you find out, except in a prequel or a flashback?
How did Mal come to side with the Independents, anyhow? Why did Inara leave House Madrassa? Why was the Alliance formed?
I'd much rather have a sequel, but unlike you, I'm not ready to kill it off. I want more Firefly, because I'm convinced the show was good enough that it wouldn't jump the shark. Think about it -- would Firefly really suck as much as Star Trek did after 7 seasons?
Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
I have to say that I completely disagree- like battlestar and farscape firefly was a show that relied on atmosphere and characters rather than the good guys going after bad guys routine and did an incredible job of it- also on a more nerdly front one thing that I love is that firefly was one of the few shows that had no sound effects in space- which actually added to the atmosphere and suspense.
That was one of my favorite seens in the show. Those few minutes showed more about their characters than most shows display in a season.
there's not one thing in his entire post that contributes anything of value to the discussion, it's just him attacking the parent post above him. That post was THREE FREAKING WEEKS AGO AND HE IS STILL POSTING ABOUT IT. He's made so many commonts about this one post that I can't even find the rest of anything he says...
if he's till reading this, my advice is to move on you get good and bad mods, everyone does but not all of us spend our entire free time bitching about them. we keep posting and hopefully the worse mods leave us alone.
Nice to see Firefly in the headlines again. I liked the series, got it after hearing people on slashdot continuously talking about it ;) It is something totally different for a sci fi series, not that the cowboy part of it appeals to me. It's different because it's the first (that I've seen) that bothers about the little guy, the white trash, the petty crooks and FINALLY the deal with weapons in space making sound.
And there's something surreal about the way the way the ship moves, the shots of it are amazing, if you've grown up on generic Trek you'll be blown away by the way space flight is shown here. Easily it's greatest strength.
The one thing that doesn't appeal to me is the occasional crappy dialogue, the chinese swear words are inspired and great, it's the english bullshit that's weird. There's no way to explain it but as "geek humor" in a bad sense.
It's not intelligently obscure, it's unnecessary, sounds stupid and it just damn well derails a good moment. Luckily that sort of "You would do my honour a great honour by engaging me m'lady" crap is completely overshadowed by the good parts of the series. If they fixed that, Firefly would be perfect. Well, that and the overt renaissance fair style sex talk.
And yeah, comics suck. Here's to a tv series.
Ditto, hated Angel, meh for Buffy (girls in mini skirts is always eye-catching), but Firefly was almost British humour. I was impressed, and found the stories to be reasonably entertaining as well.
Semi-automatic amateur armchair Australian philosopher; conjecture ready at any moment...
Who's Mal a copy of? Spike? Don't make me laugh -- I like Mal, but that's an insult... to Spike.
How about Inara? Are you seriously going to argue that she's Faye?
Let's try the other way... Who's Ed? Are you claiming she's River? Are you fucking serious?
Bebop doesn't have a doctor. Firefly doesn't have a dog. Bebop doesn't have Companions. Firefly doesn't have hackers. Bebop doesn't have Jayne, and no, Jet doesn't count -- he has much more depth than Jayne, and Jayne is a lot funnier. Neither is just a giant hunk of muscle; in fact, they are about as different as two giant hunks of muscle can be.
I'm going to stop here, because I'm now convinced you are just trolling, and that you didn't bother to read my post.
Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
I know...Joss has copped a bad hiding from the TV studios - he's consistently produced brilliant shows, all for nought. Lucas can provide a shitty script for any of the new Star Wars shows and they sell like hotcakes, Joss produces very well written scripts, thoughtful direction, excellent acting from his cast, on a shoestring budget and gets screwed over.
In my eyes, Joss is the best talent in Hollywood, he just is so imaginative and doesn't conform to what Hollywood wants that this gets in the way of him becoming 'successful'.
Dave
Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. --Martin Luther King Jr.
Firefly is about Love. In point of fact. It's about people who do for each other, and ain't always looking for the advantage. If you can't see that, all you'll see is cowboys in space. You think that's a commentary on you?
Firefly is about Love.
Love is a timeless, universal theme. If Joss Whedon wanted to have a show about love, he could have set it in Los Angeles. If he wanted to tell a story about love than that's what he should have done, not obscured the story with bad choices that failed the genres he tried to draw upon.
I never have frustrations, the reason is, to wit:
If at first I don't succeed, I quit!
What the hell is a "laser sound"?
Pchiw! Pchiw! You've never watched sci-fi TV? Yeah, I guess if that's true, you'd think "Firefly" was pretty good.
And I serious doubt that *you* knew River's back story by the second episode.
Bullshit. The second the character was introduced, I turned to my wife and said "I bet she's a trained assassin escaped from a shadowy government program, probably with psychic powers or something." Hand to God that's what I said.
And, hey, I was exactly right, because it was telegraphed from the get-go. If you didn't pick up on it you need to pay more attention when you watch TV.
I never have frustrations, the reason is, to wit:
If at first I don't succeed, I quit!
He DID tell a story about love. It's just not about sex. It's a story about a Doctor who sacrifices every earthly possession to go rescue his sister. It's about family. It's about trusting others with your life; it's about living at the corner of no and where, and yet be rich for what you have with each other. Sorry if it was burried too deep for you to notice.
It's a story about a Doctor who sacrifices every earthly possession to go rescue his sister.
Again, that story could have happened anywhere. When Whedon cribbed parts of it from The Painted Veil it happened in China. And it would have been a better story without the inclusion of distractingly lame elements like laser popguns that look like peacemakers, etc.
Look, you're a fanboy. I get it. A brownshirt- oops, excuse me, browncoat. It's not going to be possible for you to genuinely grapple with any criticism of the show because your head is too far up Joss Whedon's ass. But when you finally pull it out you'll find that there's been an awful lot of good story-telling on TV that didn't rely on a hackneyed premise and generic characters.
I never have frustrations, the reason is, to wit:
If at first I don't succeed, I quit!
I'd agree with you except for the first episode. It's the one place I agree with FOX... the original episode 1 was too heavy-handed, slow and obvious. Episode #2 introduced a lot of the concepts in a more entertaining way, and I think developed the characters much more quickly.
When I introduce Firefly to new folks from Episode 1, I almost feel like I have to apologize for how slow and disjoint the episode seems. Episode 2 is fun and flies along.
E pluribus unum
...to this:
Never did I claim that Joss was original, or that he came up with a single original idea. And I'm sure there's some debate in that, but I think I pretty much debunked the claim that it is a "copy" of Bebop -- or that even a single character in Firefly is a "copy" of a single character in Bebop.
In fact, if I take you at your word, comparing it to Bebop would be an insult to Bebop. (Not that I do.)
As for the debate you seem to be so desperate to prove...
Yes, this, we've seen before.
Never saw it in scifi, nor have I seen the "companion" concept. (Hint: She's not just a hooker.)
Actually, I'm fairly sure it's intentional. And he's funnier than just about any similar character I can think of.
Find me 409 more, then.
I can't think if I've ever seen that before. Person with a mysterious past, yes. Preacher with a dark past, yes. Preacher with a dark, mysterious past, most probably a special agent? Nope.
Again, no, never saw that. Rogue assassin escaped from Govm't Program, yes, but not a psychic. And never done so well.
Not even worth responding to.
Still never seen Sheltered Engineer #1-229. Engineers are generally the least sheltered in any show I've seen. Think about any of the Star Trek engineers...
"Easy" is not the word you're looking for. Try "horny."
She behaves exactly like a horny, sheltered boy would, and that hasn't been done. There are easy girls, but not easy girls who behave like easy boys.
There's more to it, actually: Her relationship with Simon is, thus, the exact opposite of the way that kind of relationship usually goes -- Simon is the frigid, proper, upper-class prick, and Kaylee is the down-to-earth country boy^Wgirl who's the most unlikely match for him.
I have a challenge for you: Find a single show that I can't pick to shreds in exactly the same way.
There's no such thing as true originality -- every idea comes from somewhere. It's a shame you're so determined not to like that show.
But let me repeat, before you forget: this is not the debate I was having. I was debating that Firefly is a direct ripoff of Cowboy Bebop, which it is not. In fact, I've never seen a direct ripoff of Cowboy Bebop. It'd be hard to do.
Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it