SERENITY gets a sequel in Dark Horse comics – what fans can expect

SERENITY gets a sequel in Dark Horse comics – what fans can expect

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Last Friday (September 20) marked the eleventh anniversary of the premiere of Joss Whedon’s FIREFLY on FOX. You know the story from there: FOX ran the episodes out of order, had a horrible marketing campaign, and canceled the show halfway through its debut season. The show found a fervent, loud fanbase, Universal released the film spinoff SERENITY, which underperformed in theaters but sold a freighter-full of DVDs and Blu-Rays.

The aforementioned fanbase continues to clamor for more adventures from Malcolm Reynolds and the crew of Serenity, but the actors are all pretty busy, and the show’s creator has the entire Marvel cinematic universe to oversee. “That’s fine,” said the fans. “Give us an animated series, radio dramas, anything. We know you have more stories to tell.”

So, when Dark Horse Comics published a couple of teaser images to its Twitter feed on August 23 with the hashtag #WheresSerenity, Browncoats sussed what was coming: the long-rumored continuation of the FIREFLY storyline, post-SERENITY. This was confirmed last Friday when ComicBookResources.com published an interview with artist Georges Jeanty confirming the series, without a proper timeline or press release from Dark Horse. The synopsis of the plot, from the CBR article:

As the series begins, Mal and the crew are recouping from their recent strike against the sinister interplanetary government, The Alliance, in which they exposed government agencies as those responsible for the creation of the Reavers — the scourge of the universe. With River Tam in the co-pilot chair and a very pregnant Zoe reeling from the death of her husband, Wash, Mal is finding himself and his ship in greater danger than ever.

The two pages posted along with the interview are a tantalizing glimpse at the new story arc, which shows the Alliance coping with fallout from the events in SERENITY. Jeanty says his art will draw from sources other than the show’s Western-meets-grunge-sci-fi aesthetic:

Mobius is a big inspiration, along with Geof Darrow. Walt Simonson on ‘Alien’ is a good thing to keep handy. Also, movies like ‘Blade Runner,’ ‘Outland,’ ‘Alien’ — anything with a rustic futuristic feel. I have a very small window to master these characters, and I’ll probably be finished with the series before I get there!

Meanwhile, Dark Horse is remaining tight-lipped as to the writers on the series, its length or its scope. With the wild success of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER Seasons Eight and Nine, Dark Horse knows that the market exists for a long-form continuation of the FIREFLY storyline. Whedon’s involvement to BUFFY was crucial to the characters’ evolution, but – as previously mentioned – he’s busy keeping Clark Gregg employed. Other writers who were involved in contributing scripts for BUFFY (speaking under condition of anonymity) say they haven’t been approached. Whomever is writing this series, Dark Horse is keeping their identity close to the chest, for now.

(Cover art from Joss Whedon’s previous Dark Horse SERENITY mini-series, BETTER DAYS, with artwork by the great Adam Hughes.)

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America's Sweetheart. Pixel monkey; media whore; recovering film critic; baseball fanatic; husband; Texan; human.