Posts Tagged ‘comics’

ComicMix talked to Joss at Comic-Con – did anyone not talk to Joss at Comic-Con? Did the man ever sleep? – and he revealed a bit more about the upcoming Serenity comic:

COMICMIX: With The Shepherd's Tale, why is Shepherd Book the first character from Firefly to get a solo story?

JOSS WHEDON: I've done a breakdown of the story. I think Jim Krueger is going to write the actual script. The biggest mystery of what we never got to tell is Shepherd's backstory. Everybody knew there was something more than just being Shepherd in there. And poor Ron [Glass] came to me during the strike and said, "I'm going to another convention. You've got to give me something." It's been a number of years and they always ask [about Shepherd]. I said, "You know what, it has been long enough and this isn't something I'm going to save for the sequel that may never happen, so we'll make a comic book out of it."

Because it's an interesting story, really. It's the single most-asked question: "What's up with Book?" And now we're going to answer that.

The interview has more about the current best-selling Buffy and Angel comics, so go check it out.

Disney hass announced that their new imprint, Kingdom Comics, will revamp existing Disney products in the hopes of bringing them to new readers. The happy folks at RevolutionSF helpfully compiled a list of suggestions, and damn if I wouldn't read every one of these…

Bedknobs and Broomsticks
Neil Gaiman, writer / Bernie Wrightson, artist

It is 1940, and war has come to the sleepy village of Pepperinge Eye!

Ms. Eglentine Price, an apprentice witch still learning the mystic forces, assisted by Prof. Emelius Browne, a flim-flam man and three orphan East-End gutter snipes, must seek out and discover the secret to Substitutiary Locomotion to combat Hitler's Third Reich.

From the smoggy streets of London, to the mythical island nation of Namboombu within the Realm of Dream, they travel to find the fabled Star of Astaroth, the only force able to combat Heinrich Himmler and his supernatural army of Ubermenschen, marching on England behind the Spear of Destiny.

With the words Trecuna mecoides antrecorum satis dei, war will begin, greater even than the war engulfing Europe; a war which threatens to unravel the very fabric of our world.

Includes "The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes" by Grant Morrison and Ted McKeever, "Freaky Friday" by Terry Moore, the hilariously newly violent "The Apple Dumpling Gang" by Joe Lansdale and Tim Truman, and more.

Dark Horse Comics is really cool. They are unbelievably cool. They are, in fact, so unbelievably cool that they've joined forces with the California Browncoats to make a variant Serenity comic to sell at the San Diego Comic-Con, just to benefit Kids Need to Read.

Which is pretty cool, you gotta admit.

The California Browncoats will be selling the comics at SDCC. It will be a variant edition of "Serenity: Better Days #1" with the Will Conrad wraparound cover art they used for their special DH 100 version, only this will display Will's pencils instead. 32 pages, all the stuff from the first one, but with a cardstock cover for extra specialness. Only 5,000 will ever be available and they'll be $10 each, a good portion of which goes to Kids Need to Read, the children's literacy program founded by Nathan Fillion and author PJ Haarsma.

These will only be available at Comic-Con 2008, but even if you can't go the California Browncoats are there for you. Specifically, on eBay, where on all five days of the con they'll be selling copies of the DH-California Browncoats SDCC edition of Serenity. Again, all proceeds will go to Kids Need to Read. Bookmark their eBay page and be ready (I'll give you a heads up when it gets close).

Major thanks to Dark Horse and to the Cali Browncoats sponsors Gabriel Stempinski, Margaret Weis Productions, Creation Entertainment, Poplollies.com, The Powers Team – Marsia and Eugene, Dwight Bragdon, Done The Impossible , SaveHiatus.com and Quantum Mechanix, who helped make this possible.

This is a great collectible and a great cause (funny how so many Whedon-based projects combine the two). Check out the California Browncoats site for more details.

TFAW has Dark Horse's latest Serenity items available for preorder at 20% off retail:

Serenity: Better Days trade paperback, just $7.96 (retail $9.95). Ships Oct. 29.

Serenity laser-etched lucite ornament, just $13.59 (retail $16.99). Ships Oct. 8.

You're gonna get 'em anyway, why not save a few credits?

From Dark Horse:

Joss Whedon (W), Brett Matthews (W), Will Conrad (P), Michelle Madsen (C), and Jo Chen (Cover)

On sale Oct 29
FC, 80 pages
$9.95
TPB, 6" x 9"

Serenity: Better Days follows everyone’s favorite space cowboys in a thrilling, action-packed adventure, where Mal and his crew take on a heist that promises a big payoff. But when one of Serenity’s crew is taken captive and tortured, the gang must put their enduring differences aside and work together to save one of their own, even if it may mean losing the cash prize of a lifetime.
Joss Whedon returns to the world of his blockbuster film Serenity, reuniting with Brett Matthews and Will Conrad, his collaborators on the bestselling 2005 series Those Left Behind.

- Collects Serenity: Better Days #1-3.

No cover yet, I'll keep you posted. Preorder it from TFAW for 20% off!

Like the art from the new Serenity mini-series, "Serenity: Better Days" by Will Conrad?

Wanna own some?

He's auctioning off pages at eBay, with some pretty reasonable Buy It Now prices.

100 retailers won the Dark Horse 100 contest and received 10 each of this ultra-rare version of "Serenity: Better Days" #1 with a wrap-around cover by artist Will Conrad. That means only 1000 of these were made, and you know you want one. How can that happen?

First, check the list of winners to see if your local comic store was one of the lucky ones, and then head over there and start your begging. You're a known browncoat there, right? Friendly and helpful and one of the regulars? Depending on the store, maybe you'll get lucky.

If not, head to eBay, where they're already popping up for sale. Prices are varying wildly, so try different combinations of search terms to see if you can nab one that maybe not everyone is seeing.

Good luck, travelers, and if you find any good sources please post 'em in the comments.

The first issue of "Serenity: Better Days" came out yesterday, one of the three.

I'll avoid spoilers, but it takes place before the movie (and before the last comic). Everyone's alive, everyone's on the ship, and it reads more like a Firefly episode than the last one. Written by Joss Whedon and Brett Matthews, drawn by Will Conrad.

You can check out some sample pages here.

While you were enjoying the first issue of Serenity: Better Days – and damn, was that fun – did you notice the little mention in the back of the letters page from Dark Horse's Scott Allie?

As for more series — yes. Definitely. Joss and Ron Glass have announced a Shepherd Book series, which we hope to get off the ground by the end of the year.

That is, I believe the first company confirmation of a Book story, and now we know it's a series and not a one-shot. Woo hoo!

It's here! Go hit your local comics store and pick up Serenity: Better Days #1, the first of a new three-part Serenity comic by Joss Whedon, Brett Matthews, Will Conrad, and Michelle Madsen, with the first of a triptych cover set by Adam Hughes.

Better Days revisits everyone's favorite space cowboys in this thrilling, action-packed adventure, with Mal and his crew on a heist that promises a big payoff–what's surprising is that this heist just might make good on that promise.

This takes place after the show, but before the movie and before the first comic book miniseries "Those Left Behind." If you want to try before you buy you can see some sample pages. (If you want to peek aghead, sample pages from #2 are over here.)

You can also order it from TFAW.com here. 
#2 will be out Apr. 9 (Preorder it here!).
And the 3rd will be out May 14 (Preorder it here!)