Hast Thou Considered the Shepherd?

God bless Joss Whedon. Though his shows may be dead he lives forever in our hearts and in Dark Horse Comics, where his Buffy: Season 8 and Serenity/Firefly graphic novels are released unto an adoring public.

I, being a die-hard browncoat, picked up The Shepherds Tale on Wednesday. It's the long awaited backstory of Shepherd Book, the enigmatic preacher from the Serenity crew. It does a fantastic job telling the story of his life, right up to the point where he is killed on Haven in the movie. I'm not going to go into a lot of spoilers, but it's a very compelling story.

It's also got some great monologue. Book is very philisophical, and there is a fantastic point where he is talking about soup. It's honestly brilliant.

Book's story is told through vignettes, almost like they're flashing before his eyes as he passes away. They go further and further back in time until his childhood. The entire painful, violent, lonely, and abusive. At the end, Whedon reveals that part of the story is centered around "Hast Thou Considered the Tetrapod?" by The Mountain Goats. For those of you familiar with the song, it explains a lot about the book's tone (no pun intended).

Firefly fans: It's a must-read
Everyone else: you could probably care less, so watch the show and become a Firefly fan.

Hast Thou Considered the Tetrapod- listen to this whilst reading.

Float Out, or ZOMG FIREFLY

I'm going to go ahead and get this out there. I love Firefly. It is a brilliant show with a vibrant universe, powerful writing, and amazing characters. It is witty, moving, and just honest-to-god wonderful. I know it was only one season, but I have watched that season over and over again.

Well, after it got canceled, the insa-, er, devoted fans of Joss Whedon nearly rioted, and so the made a movie, Serenity, which was also awesome. After that they made some pretty good comics, just like Buffy: Season Eight, which were set before the movie, because [spoiler alert]- Wash dies. It's the worst thing ever.

Float Out is a group of new people christening their Firefly and remembering wash, who they all happen to know. They each tell a story about Wash, and then christen their ship. It says it's a one shot, but I kind of have my hopes up for a series.

The art is great, the writing is great, and it's just great period. That is, if you like Firefly as much as I do. If you have never heard of it or never seen it (HEATHEN!) then go watch the show and the movie and then read this. You will be glad you did.

What's great about this comic is that it actually manages to add depth to a character who has been long gone. It's not HOBAN WASHBURN: REBIRTH. It's better than that. It gives a powerful backstory to a character who did not have much of a described one (though who did on that show?) and makes everything all sad yet warm and fuzzy in the life-goes-on way.

In short- People who love Firefly, you will love this. People who have never watched it- go watch it.