shiny! Just Gorgeous, can't wait to have the issues in my hand.

okay now I needed to update the comment.
Wow, they actually made them speak in chinese in the comic book. It's even inappropriate trying to translate what Jayne's says in the third preview page.

Besides how beauitiful it looks, i'm really curious about how this is going to complement the movie.

[ edited by Numfar PTB on 2005-05-17 10:26 ]

Numfar PTB | May 17, 12:22 CET

I'm blown away by this. The art and dialogue are amazing. In my mind I can hear Mal, Jayne and Zoe saying what Joss and Brett have written.

Simon | May 17, 12:23 CET

Great drawings, I particularly love Jayne's cover

Pat | May 17, 12:27 CET

Just to confirm, is it Out of Gas, or Objects in Space?

NickSeng | May 17, 13:07 CET

Can anyone translate the passage in chinese on page 3?

All I got was "one big something big something"

NickSeng | May 17, 13:12 CET

NickSeng my bad, it is set after Objects in Space.

Simon | May 17, 14:26 CET

One thing I'm a little apprehensive of that on the third page of the preview there are two very strange looking characters, in fact I think it's fairly certain that they aren't human. So far in Firefly there have been no unusual life forms like aliens or anything from the Buffy-verse like vampires or demons, so I was hoping this would continue to make the Firefly-verse completely different from the Buffy-verse.

The Reavers are unusual, but are basically humans driven mad so they are more animalistic, but they are still human. So I hope that whatever those are in the comics are still human and that any deviations from this are kept to a minimum. The lack of aliens and focus on humans is one of the things that seperates Firefly from Star Wars or Star Trek, and makes it a little more realistic.

Razor | May 17, 14:43 CET

I'm blown away too. They totally look like our BDHs! Outstanding. I can totally hear their voices. "Well, now...this is a situation." That's so Mal.

I figured the Chinese characters was swearing. I like that touch. Man, this is shiny! I'm really anticipating the comics now. I was going to wait for the graphic novel, but I might need something to tide me over before Serenity is released.

Gorram shiny, cap'n!

electricspacegirl | May 17, 15:09 CET

This is odd, it's the first time I've ever been excited with a comic book before. But this one I really want! The thing is just that I have no clue how I'm supposed to acquire it. I mean, I live in Sweden and I'm fairly sure that this comic won't be available at my local supermarket... And I've never even heard of any online store that sell comics worldwide.

Djungelurban | May 17, 15:19 CET

Want it!

Passion | May 17, 15:24 CET

Djungelurban: This site ships wordwide and it's the store Dark Horse Comics uses when someone want to buy one of their comics.

Simon | May 17, 15:26 CET

Well I am VERY excited about this, I've ordered my 'Jayne' cover (because I agree with you Pat, it is a pretty one). I love that we are going to get this extra story.
Oh, I just had a thought, all my friends who have gotten into the 'Firefly' DVDs will want to read my comic book, they will mess up my comic book (I know my brother has no concept of reading one without wear and tear). I guess I need to go back to TFAW and order a bunch more (LOL).

embers | May 17, 15:27 CET

I already said that translating it would be inapropriate , but thanks for the magic of html I'm gonna put it in invisible text, for the ones who would like to know.

Jayne says: very big shit. It's actually uncommon to use the adjective "big" like that in the a phrase, but I guess that languages structures could have changed in the future.

[ edited by Numfar PTB on 2005-05-17 14:00 ]

Numfar PTB | May 17, 15:57 CET

I have to say, I've been sort of dreading this 'cause I rarely find comics well drawn enough for me to want them but wow, I'm blown away. I will actually go and get this one.

Darn that Joss Whedon for making me read comics for the first time in my life at this age!!

rockgoddes | May 17, 16:24 CET

Darn that Joss Whedon for making me read comics for the first time in my life at this age!!

right there with you Rockgoddes - I have already put in an order for the Angel The Curse comic, I was thinking about getting the William & Cecily one, and then this beautiful mini series is planned.! Just going to have to put in another order at the local comic book shop. And the Mal cover is just fantastic.

The Do That Girl | May 17, 16:39 CET

Woohoo, that is shiny in the goram extreme. I don't think I've ever been as excited by a preview before. As everyone has noted, I can just hear the actors/characters "speaking" the dialogue. I didn't think anything could ease the pain of having to wait so long for Serenity but this might just do it.

Paul_Rocks | May 17, 17:04 CET

I can just see Jayne fidgeting as he waits to pull the trigger...

Craig Oxbrow | May 17, 17:10 CET

It's actually uncommon to use the adjective "big" like that in the a phrase, but I guess that languages structures could have changed in the future.

I guess I'll just explain it away with Jayne not having the received the most thorough of educations. But then, I think FF already had it's share of awkward expressions, so if we produce weird things like that even with advisors and whatnot, well... Reminds me of a certain wannabe gangsta kiddie, reading the word "thugs" in some lyrics, thinking it's "cool kiddie speak" for "sucks" and looking like a fool everytime he's writing it. In short: today quite a few people try to swear in english with only a mediocre grasp of it, 500 years from now they might do the same in chinese ,)

And now off to that site that ships internationally *rubbing hands*

Trienco | May 17, 17:11 CET

Angel Comics - June
Serenity Comics - July
Spike Comic - August

Woohoo! In addition to amassing my first ever comic book collection, I hope to get a bunch to donate to some sort of non-profit organization that works with teens. If you have any suggestions for a group that might benefit from such a donation you can check my profile to send me an email. Thanks!

killinj | May 17, 17:48 CET

I saw the action figures at the comic book shop the other day because the owner had a sample. They were AWESOME and I told him a bit about them because he always asks me Serenity questions before ordering. Think I'm one of two flanatics in town that shop there alot.

The graphics are awesomely awesome! Best ever! I can totally hear them speaking! wooo hooooo!

pre-ordered. (Action figures too.)

PS Mal's face doesn't look like Mal but it's the moment he's losing his faith, looking up at the sky. Told him it might be a good selling point.

April | May 17, 18:17 CET

I'm really excited about this miniseries. :) I'll bet Joss has picked up a lot from working on the Astonishing X-men. It'll be great to see our BDH's infiltrating the comic genre.

Lunakitty | May 17, 18:23 CET

I'll be emailing you, killinj, because I know an non-profit organization that helps at-risk youth in my city. That's some awesome charity work you're doing there, I just have to say. I'll write you soon.

electricspacegirl | May 17, 20:23 CET

Wow... the art is superb! Really, really real-looking lol and *so* much like the actors themselves. I'm really really impessed!

I have only one complaint: Mal's eyes are BLUE not brown!

polo | May 17, 20:46 CET

I'm kinda surprised at killinj and others who will make 'Serenity' their first comic book; I already have 'Fray', 'Tales of the Slayer', 'Tales of the Vampire', 'The Astonishing X-men', and even a few of the BtVS comics even though they weren't written by Joss. I even had to buy protective sleaves to keep my comic book collection in good condition (I am such a geek).
My very favorite one is 'Tales of the Slayer' because both Amber Benson and Joss Whedon signed it and personalized it to me.

[ edited by embers on 2005-05-17 21:10 ]

embers | May 17, 21:19 CET

Love the comic and 2 of the covers, but I HATE the Inara cover. It makes her look really dopey and ridiculous imho. Love the Jayne one.

Mort | May 17, 21:39 CET

I, too, am reading comics for the first time in years. I have all the comics mentioned by embers. I really enjoyed "Fray" and would love to see a series based on her character. I picked up the latest X-Men on Saturday and finally read the first ones of the series - I had to wait for my comic shop to order the bound copy of the first six. I went in to the shop with a list of all Joss-related upcoming comics, then said, "...and anything to do with Joss Whedon." Between the comics and graphic novels and all the books I have that have been written about Buffy, Angel and Firefly, I have (another) overflowing bookshelf.

samatwitch | May 17, 22:53 CET

I am sooooooooo looking forward to this title,I hope after the 3 ish there will be a movie adaptation,and more mini's or regular after(a man can dream.....)god,please send me more money so I can spend it on my lord and master-JOSS.

nakedandarticulate | May 17, 22:57 CET

Actually, I'll be starting my comic book collection with Angel since it comes out first, although I may get my hands on Fray and a few others even sooner. I've never been a comic book reader and until I joined the online fandom two years ago I had no idea there were conventions, action figures, comics, etc. I've since attended 3 Cons with plans to attend a couple more this year, got me a Spike doll, and will be joining the masses of comic book geeks. So, I'm making up for lost time. ;)

killinj | May 17, 23:05 CET

I only have Tales of the Slayers so far, but I intend to get Fray, Tales of the Vampires, the new Spike comic, and the Serenity comic. I'm not big into comics and I've found that a lot of the Buffy/Angel ones are quite poor, in that the characters bear little resemblance to the actors, and that the stories just don't fit in with the shows. I made an exception for Tales of the Slayers, and anything directly produced by Joss or any of the other writers is good enough for me.

What do people think about the unhuman looking characters though? I'm just worried that Firefly might loose some of its realistic edge.

Razor | May 18, 00:51 CET

I have Fray, Tales of the Slayers...oops, no I don't. my brother lost it. Grr! I have Tales of the Vampires up to the last issue, and I have double copies of the second to last issue. Don't ask. I have a few Buffy graphic novels. Origin, Slayer Interrupted, and Stake to the Heart, which is the only one I was disappointed with.

I love Fray the best, and Tales of the Vampires is very good too. My favorite TotV story was "Stacy", written by none other than Joss. (I loved that story so much that I based an RPG character on Stacy, renamed her Tracy, and put her in a post-Chosen Cleveland with Faith, Andrew, Spike, and a bunch of newbie slayers.)

I'm not new to comics, so much. I was fairly new to superhero comics before Buffy. I used to read comics like Bitchy Bitch, and I love that kind. But growing up, superhero comics were "just for boys" and although I never snubbed my nose at them, I never had an interest. I'm sure I would have loved a female superhero comic, but I wasn't exposed to any.

That changed when I became a Buffy fan and realized that Buffy is a superhero, and now I've totally come into my own as a true geek. Always was a geek, deep inside, I just never had the right outlet. I sure could have used Buffy when I was in highschool.

I'm still not that interested in testosterone loaded superhero comics, but I am interested in ones that tell good stories, and that have strongly written and realistic female heroes. I bought The X-Men: Gifted not too long ago. Still haven't finished it. I guess I'm confused about who these characters are. I didn't understand when Kitty Pride found Peter. Who's Peter? Did he die? So that's where I am in that story. I plan to finish it, and read it again, and even go to my local comic book store to get some info on the history of the X-Men. I had forgotten how tough it can be to jump into a story after layers of mythos has been building for years. I forgot about the frustration. But I'm dedicated. If Joss wrote it, I want to *get* it.

Back to the Serenity comics. Still looking shiny! I made an LJ icon out of it. I wanted to use some chinese text, but couldn't find the right font. But I like it better without text.

"Well...this is a situation."

Making icons out of comics is pretty easy. The art's all there. I've made icons from TotV, and random Buffy comics, and tons from Fray. It's fun. And it's free advertisement. I plan on making lots of icons out of the Serenity comics this summer, and pimping them on the Firefly communities in LJ. A good way to pass the time while waiting for that Big Damn Movie!

electricspacegirl | May 18, 00:56 CET

I think you make a good point, Razor. Still, from where I'm sitting, those figures you speak of look humanoid-enough; perhaps they were exposed to some kind of mutation or toxicity, or . . . well, any number of things really. The thing is, I think they're probably at least formerly human.

Beyond that, I can't conceive of Joss giving his blessing to aliens in the comic book, when he has spoken so often and clearly (for example) about his vision for Firefly/Serenity excluding other forms of sentient life.

(ETA) esg: "Stacey" is the one about the teen girl, sort of Dan Clowes-style artwork, yes? That's my favorite one in ToTV too.

SoddingNancyTribe | May 18, 00:57 CET

electricspacegirl: Keep reading X-Men. I had the same questions as you, but I found that I picked up things as I went farther and what really helped me was reading the "letters to the editors" in the next few editions of the comic books. Some of the letter-writers actually explained some of the mythology as they commented on it and then I went back and went "Oh, so that's what that was about."

samatwitch | May 18, 01:22 CET

Re: The dis-colored baddies

Sometimes the colorist just gets a bit creative with skin tones. The only sort of weird character I can see that looks questionably normal is the shorter, lanky one with the ashen skin. They may've gone for a gray tone to imply that he's some kind of unique mixed-nationality, or perhaps what SNT said, exposed to pollution (very likely if the planet he was born/grew up on wasn't terra-formed too well). Maybe a mix of not getting enough sun and being exposed to pollution and/or malnourished. Sure, we'll go with that. You can fan-wank away many kinds of inconsistencies. Happened with Buffy and Angel once in a while, despite both shows having pretty tight continuity and usually doing fairly well in the explanation/reasoning department.

Kris | May 18, 02:41 CET

I loved Stacey best before I even realized the Man himself wrote it. It was so different from the others, I checked after a few pages, and sure enough. I hear his words from miles away.
If you haven't tried Fray yet, ask yourself where your loyalties really lie! lol, j/k. How could a Jossfan not love it???
Joss comics rule.

April | May 18, 02:48 CET

I've got Fray and Tales of the Vampires and a couple others but I'm not a big comic book fan. I'm buying this series but it is for the story.While the long shots of Jayne, Mal and Zoe were good,the "closeup " of Mal was horrible, I thought. The cover that features Inara makes her look inane. I recognize that as a non comic book person, I am no doubt missing something, but I want these characters to look like themselves.

Lioness | May 18, 05:59 CET

Actually, the grey guy looks like the Lurks in Fray. And you know, I believe Fray takes place in the same century, am I wrong? Maybe there are vampires in the Firefly 'verse. ;)

Stacy is the hip and snarky nerd-girl ala Ghost World in the TotV. She's the one that's obsessed with LotR. I love how that story ended. I need to go and read it again. Right now!

electricspacegirl | May 18, 06:03 CET

electricspacegirl, I share your love of TotV, particularly the 2 Jane Espenson-penned stories, "Father" from issue 3, "Dustbowl" from issue 4. If you can score another copy of the TotS graphic novel, you'll love the 2nd story, "Righteous", a fascinating rhyming tale from Joss - also great to see Melaka Fray show up at the end of the book even though, when TotS was published, her own 8-part series was still ongoing (between issues 5 and 6, I think).

gorramit | May 18, 07:32 CET

gorramit, I have read Tales of the Slayers, twice, before I loaned it to my brother and then he lost it. I'm still angry about that.

I am too poor to replace it right now. I still want to get Tales of the Vampires graphic novel, because I still have not read the final issue. I don't know when I'll ever get around to buying all these neat comics. Maybe I'll put them on my Christmas list. Oh, my conservative parents will just *love* that.

[ edited by electricspacegirl on 2005-05-18 07:08 ]

electricspacegirl | May 18, 09:06 CET