Ghost Pains
I’m a sucker for Firefly. From the moment I heard that country-fied ballad of life as a cowboy in space. The production value, the jokes: everything about it was wonderfully cheesy, normally something I have a hard time swallowing, but it managed to enhance the themes of desolation. The show takes place on the outskirts of civilization, where they have to make due with what they’ve got. Everything looks second hand, as if handed down from a grandparent: mismatched glasses in the bars, crates built from cheap plastic and . Normally, this would make the viewer hyper aware of the show’s low budget, which Firefly had in spades. This all makes sense, considering you have a civilization building from the ground up. But of course new colonies would receive hand-me-downs from more developed planets. All of a sudden, the glaring, plastic look of the show was not so obnoxious, instead adding legitimacy to the lack of resources. Match this with the character’s wit not derived from books but carved from a hard life that will send you belly-up if not for a strong sense of humor, and it all hummed together nicely, like the faulty engine of the ship itself.
Imagine what a disappointment Serenity was to me. The studio tried to wring out all cheesiness and ended up sending the soul down the drain, as well. The characters were just floating faces on a cold-looking ship. Jayne wasn’t inappropriate, Wash wasn’t funny, Book wasn’t wise . . . I could go on. It was a sad thing to witness and I’ve spent quite a bit of energy since trying to pretend like it doesn’t exist.
I approached Whedon’s continuation of the series in comic book form with some trepidation. The first volume was . . . alright. The story wasn’t exciting enough to help ignore the artist’s horrible renditions of the characters I’d come to love. Even when the drawings were spot on, it still didn’t have the actor’s flair for bringing these characters to life. And mostly, the characters looked plastic and awkward, like barbie dolls with the actors torn-off faces miserably glued on. Behold.
But I can’t give up on this story. I picked up Better Days yesterday and gave it a shot. The drawings are still wonky, the transitions still awkward, and of course, the beautiful, not-quite-country-but-reminiscent-of-the-prairie music is still missing. But . . . I liked this story. It was a small rattle from the throat of a show long deceased, a reminder of what could have been had the studio not pulled the plug after one short season. It was enough to keep my heart happy for the day and as I wished for -the appropriately titled- better days, when these beautiful characters could still breathe.
-CMH
June 24th, 2009 at 12:23 pm
um… what just happened. could it be… Mini alive and stealthed, throwing him a mile away?
June 24th, 2009 at 1:38 pm
it looks that way
June 24th, 2009 at 3:27 pm
or maybe shes a banshee now
June 24th, 2009 at 3:27 pm
Either that or Mini is a vengeful spirit.
June 24th, 2009 at 4:13 pm
Ha! So Mini is alive!…maybe. Soo can’t wait for Friday now.
June 24th, 2009 at 6:14 pm
Regarding Firefly.
I tried Firefly and couldn’t stomach the cheesiness, low budget and what seemed to me to be horrible screenwriting. Every Firefly fan I’ve said this to has said “Ah, but have you watched the WHOLE thing?” Of course my reply is no. Why would I?
Christian, this review is phenomenal because you address every weakness laid out by Firefly haters like myself, and wordsmith them into strengths. I’m being horribly cliche, but what you’ve done here is powerful. You got me. I’ll watch the damn thing now. The WHOLE damn thing. god. So annoying. . .
June 24th, 2009 at 6:17 pm
Yay!!!
June 24th, 2009 at 7:40 pm
ima go with mini being a banshee,shes gona kill willow’s “freinds” then begin her search for willow,her only love lolz,retard mage dezerves to be wasted
June 24th, 2009 at 7:41 pm
also what the fudge? i dont care about this retarded book and crummy movie ur yappin ’bout,i only care about rez sick,also,when incompletes gona make a comeback?
June 24th, 2009 at 9:58 pm
@Adrianmad: Could you please take a calmer tone in the comments. The authors are the ones doing the work, and if you’re going to complain about every little thing they do, you might demotivate them to the point where they slow down and inevitably stop writing the bits you’re addicted to.
June 24th, 2009 at 10:00 pm
Khm… Hell, this is nice!
June 25th, 2009 at 3:41 am
I wonder what Mark and Christian WILL do with the “dead” Mini…
June 25th, 2009 at 11:34 am
cant wait till tommarow’s comic,guessing it could be 2 things,willow with ‘lenkins’ ,or mini disposing of that stuped mage
June 25th, 2009 at 2:10 pm
Murky and Haiz don’t seem very concerned about their friend flying through the air at high speed.
June 25th, 2009 at 3:02 pm
maybe they’ll laugh as she squeals when she disappears
June 25th, 2009 at 3:04 pm
haiz is even waving good-bye! XD
June 25th, 2009 at 4:43 pm
Hmm…you think Mini may have cheated death? Or maybe she broke out of her class and Feigned Death(she died before they “divorced” WoW, so it’s a longshot). She could’ve done it to sway Willow towards killing Little Miss Piggy, provided she’s still alive.
Can’t wait to see what happens next. I kinda wish these could be slightly longer that 2-3 panels each update though.
@Leann: Well, the Deadies ARE at war with Humanity, and Murky seems to like Haiz more than the mage.
June 25th, 2009 at 9:02 pm
nub mage.
cant wait friday’ comic
June 27th, 2009 at 5:53 am
Oh wow, that last image on your comment is GORGEOUS. I have not had the pleasure of reading/watching anything in regards to Serenity, but my husband has noted several times that I’d probably love it, just knowing my taste in media. If anything, the graphic novel you mention there certainly is something I need to look into……………. once I start getting a paycheck again ;^^ (it’s hard to be an unemployed geek XD)
June 27th, 2009 at 6:37 pm
Dresden, make sure you watch the series first! You might want to try the library . . . that’ll show that non-existent paycheck.
June 28th, 2009 at 7:04 pm
lol, true. Our library kind of sucks selection-wise, but I do believe they might have at least that much