This is topic Ever wonder where Shepherd Book came from? (firefly) in forum Books, Films, Food and Culture at Hatrack River Forum.


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Posted by Tinros (Member # 8328) on :
 
Apparently, we're about to find out.

On one hand, I'm particularly excited. More things Firefly is generally good. On the other hand, this could end up turning out... really poorly. The thing with a character with a mysterious past is that we get to make up our own stories about him, and in our own minds he is the way he is for certain reasons that may not be what Whedon intended. We'll have to see what happens.
 
Posted by Raymond Arnold (Member # 11712) on :
 
Yay!
 
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
 
w00t
 
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Tinros:
Apparently, we're about to find out.

On one hand, I'm particularly excited. More things Firefly is generally good. On the other hand, this could end up turning out... really poorly. The thing with a character with a mysterious past is that we get to make up our own stories about him, and in our own minds he is the way he is for certain reasons that may not be what Whedon intended. We'll have to see what happens.

I don't know about anyone else, but I think we were led to believe that he was an Operative, much like Chiwetel Ejiofor's character in Serenity.

Knowing Joss, that means it's 99% likely that he was NOT an Operative.
 
Posted by Dan_Frank (Member # 8488) on :
 
Isn't the Escapist a semi-professional publication? I mean, they pay their employees, right? Do they pay a proofreader? That article was hideously illegible by professional standards. I count at least three, arguably four, significant typos. And it's like three paragraphs long.

The comic sounds cool, though.
 
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
 
Sweet!
 
Posted by Alcon (Member # 6645) on :
 
Wait, but Joss told us we would never find out! I'm suspicious. And... I hate to be the naysayer. But the Serenity comics sucked. They were nothing like the show. The pacing was completely different. With out the limitations of what could be done on TV Joss did some ridiculous things. And the reveal/solution of the Hands of Blue was deeply unsatisfying. If Shepard Book's back story is to be revealed, it needs to be in Joss's best medium: TV. Not comic form.

Although, that said, the fact that this is going to be a hardcover graphic novel rather than a series of short comics makes me a little more hopeful. Maybe it won't feel so rushed, empty and unsatisfying if they have several hundred pages of comic to work through the story rather than just 50 or 60.
 
Posted by Irish Snake (Member # 6336) on :
 
I'm with Lyrhawn, I had become pretty sure that Book was a former Operative, I recall having read before that his name was actually the name of some one he had killed (though I don't recall the source), which to me really pointed to a nameless Operative scenario.
 
Posted by AchillesHeel (Member # 11736) on :
 
But... November is so far... why tell us if all we can do is wait? you are indeed cruel.
 
Posted by Carrie (Member # 394) on :
 
Once upon a time, when Mommy Book and Daddy Book were very much in love...

Nope. Never wondered about that. [Wink]
 
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
 
I avoid comic book supplemental material like the plague. I'll get the cliffs notes from someone later.
 
Posted by Lalo (Member # 3772) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Lyrhawn:
quote:
Originally posted by Tinros:
Apparently, we're about to find out.

On one hand, I'm particularly excited. More things Firefly is generally good. On the other hand, this could end up turning out... really poorly. The thing with a character with a mysterious past is that we get to make up our own stories about him, and in our own minds he is the way he is for certain reasons that may not be what Whedon intended. We'll have to see what happens.

I don't know about anyone else, but I think we were led to believe that he was an Operative, much like Chiwetel Ejiofor's character in Serenity.

Knowing Joss, that means it's 99% likely that he was NOT an Operative.

I forget where I saw this graphic novel announced, but one of the comments guessed that Shepherd Book was the general on the other side of the Serenity Valley battle. That's why he stopped to consider the ship in the first episode, and that's why he never discussed his past with Mal.

I'm hoping for that outcome. It's too vanilla for him to have been just another operative, even if the Serenity battle hypothesis is a little too predestined-I-am-your-father-ish.
 
Posted by The White Whale (Member # 6594) on :
 
Lalo, it feels like that would be too much of a stretch. Over the course of six years, could Book transform from a General in a major battle to a Shepard in an Abbey, who is leaving because it is time for him to get back "in the world?"
 


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