Tuesday 30 March 2010

"That ain't a Shepherd."

I'm a Browncoat. I have been for over 5 years now. For the uninitiated, Browncoats are fans of Joss Whedon's spectacular sci-fi series Firefly, and its subsequent film, Serenity. I am vocal and passionate about both. In my opinion the 14 episode run of Firefly is one of the most perfect shows ever to grace a television screen and its tragically premature cancellation causes me an almost physical pain.


The power of the Browncoat fanbase is not to be underestimated. 4 years after the series was cancelled, the ongoing love and support was such that the fans succeeded in getting a film made, one which in turn gained more fans and acclaim for the original series, and from which a series of graphic novels have sprung. The newest one has just been announced, and i made an embarrassingly excited and hopefully unrepeatable sound when i found out what it was about.


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.

The new book focuses on Shepherd Book's very mysterious past. Nothing is really known about him in either the show or the film, but there are plenty of hints that he is not what he seems. One of my greatest frustrations upon the cancellation fo the show was that i didn't get to find out what was going on with him. But now i do!

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=25183

My favourite part of the article is part i've heard before, that "Shepherd Book killed a man and took his name, is best known for his biggest failure, has a part of himself that is artificial and ultimately found God in a bowl of soup."


Up until now, thats all we've had to go on as far as a back-story. I have my own theories, but i won't share them now. Needless to say, i'm very, very, very excited.

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