Serenity: The Shepherd's Tale Author: Joss Whedon | Language: English | ISBN:
B00A7H2F6S | Format: PDF
Serenity: The Shepherd's Tale Description
One of
Serenity's greatest mysteries is finally revealed in
The Shepherd's Tale, filling in the life of one of the show's most beloved characters—Shepherd Book!
Who was Book before meeting Mal and the rest of the
Serenity crew? How did he become one of their most trusted allies? And how did he find God in a bowl of soup? Answers to these and more questions about Book's past are uncovered in this original graphic novel by rising stars Zack Whedon (
Dr. Horrible,
Terminator,
Fringe) and Chris Samnee (
Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps,
Daredevil). A pivotal chapter in the ongoing
Serenity saga,
The Shepherd's Tale is also a rollicking, action-packed epic in its own right!
• "Dark Horse's
Serenity displays the key ingredients of the series in a substantial and entertaining way."—BrokenFrontier.com
- File Size: 32483 KB
- Print Length: 56 pages
- Publisher: Dark Horse Comics (November 3, 2010)
- Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
- Language: English
- ASIN: B00A7H2F6S
- Text-to-Speech: Not enabled
X-Ray:
- Lending: Not Enabled
- Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #26,629 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
- #6
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- #6
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Comics & Graphic Novels > Graphic Novels > Media Tie-In - #14
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Comics & Graphic Novels > Graphic Novels > Science Fiction - #50
in Books > Comics & Graphic Novels > Graphic Novels > Media Tie-In
Others have pointed out the problems with this - big and small - before, but I just read it and I want to vent a little bit.
There is nothing about this comic book that warrants it to be a published comic book where they charge people money. There is no story to speak of (unless you count a screwy plan to turn Shepherd Book into a cyborg double agent....which is actually the climax of the comic) and the artwork literally looks like the storyboards for a movie that were drawn up over coffee just before filming. (The artist might have great talent, I don't know, but it's definitely not in the comic.)
The biggest point of a Shepherd Book comic is obviously to reveal (a) what horrible sins he committed that he was repenting for throughout the series and (b) why the Alliance held him in such high esteem that they overlooked his involvement with a gang of thugs to give him VIP medical care. The comic book does a lousy job of answering the first and doesn't answer the second and, in fact, contradicts the TV show.
The first point was based off of an enigmatic incident in the episode 'Safe'. In that episode, Shepherd Book has been wounded and, hoping for some mercy, the crew takes him to an Alliance spaceship that has medical facilities. The Alliance rejects their plea for help until they look at Shepherd's "ident-card" at which point he's given emergency VIP treatment. Why would the Alliance treat some religious guy with such esteem?
So, you think that maybe Shepherd is maybe some sort of Alliance spy. Or maybe he was an assassin and did a favor for some high-level Alliance politician and that's the sin he's repenting for, too. (This latter notion would also match up with what Shepherd said in the movie, 'Serenity'.
I have huge respect for anyone other than Joss Whedon, even if its his brother, trying to write something on Serenity and make people happy. However this story was off to me for two reasons. The first will be far more relevant to most people.
The number one reason why the story seemed a little off to me is that it was simply FAR to short. You get a brief overview of events without any real detail and then all of the sudden you are back another six years further into the past of Shepherd Book. Although what was in the book was enjoyable I was inevitably disappointed by the lack of material. It was like being able to only look at pictures from someones past when you know there is a movie about it somewhere, it was insufficient.
On the same point, the chronology seems strange. This is not to say it is right, it is just hard to put into context when all that has been written about the universe is confined to a small time period. This is the end of what normally constitutes a review for a book so you can stop here with me saying a nice read but overall somewhat disappointing knowing the amount of depth of the character that could have been explored and the cost of the book.
Now to my second complaint.Please if you are going to read this part read to the end so you understand why I am saying what I am saying, besides my desire to discuss the issue.
The way the book handles race is atrocious. No where do you meet people any people who are not white except when it fits into a modern stereotype. The story is set 500 years into the future, and manages to show women in equal or at least somewhat more equal status, yet it fails to show race progressing past the stereotypical surface point that it now occupies.
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