I don’t know about you, but ever since I found out that ‘Serenity’ would continue at Dark Horse comics I’ve been dying for more news. I know all of us have secretly cried a little about the fact that the series was over, but at least in comic form it will carry on. Last we heard the official name of the series would be ‘Serenity: Leaves on the Wind‘and we got some great pieces of promo art to check out for it. If you’re still eager for more on this 6 issue mini-series that will hopefully kick off a new ongoing story, Zach Whedon has finally had a chance to sit down and give us a few more details on what we can expect from the comics.

With the events of ‘Serenity’ behind them, it looks as if nine months have passed and the results of the movie have taken a strain on the crew:

“It has been around nine months since the conclusion of “Serenity.” A lot has changed and a lot has stayed the same. The discovery that Mal and his crew shared with the ‘verse — that the inhabitants of the planet Miranda were killed or driven mad by an Alliance experiment — has opened some eyes and created some new allies, but it hasn’t deterred any of their pursuers. If anything, it has made them more relentless. Serenity is hiding out in lesser-known corners of the ‘verse, trying to keep a low profile. As you will see early on, that’s easier said than done. Mal and his crew will be forced to face their enemies head on — some familiar, some new.”

With the name clearly being a reference to Wash’s final words in the series. we’re going to see some of the fallout of his death. How will that concern his wife and mother of his unborn child? Well…

“Zoe is grieving; she is definitely feeling his absence. Nothing about life on board Serenity is easy at the moment and it is made even harder for Zoe by the fact that she doesn’t have Wash by her side. Also, she has gotten fatter — in the belly area — big, big belly with a baby inside. The prospect of being a parent is not something she was prepared for, especially the idea of doing it without Wash.”

While Zoe is clearly feeling it every day, the rest of the crew isn’t going to be quite as shaken up over it when the comic premieres:

“The grief they are all feeling isn’t fresh, it has been several months, so they aren’t consumed by it as I imagine they were directly following his death. There is a sense that something has been lost though, the dynamic of the crew — the unique blend of people that somehow worked well together. The cohesion isn’t there. I think Mal is a bit more worn down than we’ve seen him. The loss of Wash has taken a serious toll, but it has also hammered home for him what is really important: This group of disparate personalities aboard Serenity.”

With River coming into her own in the film and finally having a sense of sanity about her, has that progressed? Will we see something new coming from her or will she have slipped back into her old ways?

“River is doing well. The truth about Miranda was eating away at her mind, and now that she’s gotten it out in the open, she is much more together, psychologically speaking. She’s still an odd duck, but she has been stable and no one on board wants to compromise that stability in any way.”

How is the rest of the crew handling River these days?

“There is always the sense with River that she could become unstable, and that sense is well-founded. Her brain is delicate; there are a lot of traumatic memories stored away that, if she accesses them, could tip her off-balance. At the start of the series, she is in a good place, psychologically, having uncovered the truth about Miranda, but she can very easily drift into an unhealthy mental space and no one wants to see that happen, especially given that she is now the pilot of the ship.”

I think questioning her sanity on a good way would have been a good idea. It’s shocking that a few of them would agree to let her pilot the ship but as we all know just about anything Mal says is law, so that makes sense. Speaking of Mal and his views, Whedon reveal is there were consequences to Mal’s actions and if it caused ny kind of uprising akin to his Browncoats?

“The revelation about Miranda is spun in every way and to every political end. There are those who have been inspired by it and have formed the New Resistance, a grassroots movement filled with young, idealistic, political activists. The Alliance is spinning it their own way to deflect and limit their exposure, and, as with any massive political entity, they are very good at that. In some ways, I think it will be surprising to readers how deftly The Alliance has navigated the controversy.”

Wait, the giant controlling government find a way to get out of the mess from a conspiracy blown wide open? Say it ain’t so! While that’s not too surprising, I am glad it at least sparked off a New Resistance and am curious how Mal will end up involved with it, if at all. Where does that leave the crew of our favorite ship?

“The biggest challenge is that this is a new day on Serenity. There’s no Wash, no Book and at the outset of our story, there’s no Jayne either. The dynamic is different, the ship is less bustling. Things took a dark turn, and now they are living in the wake of all of that, trying to put things back together. That challenge is also what makes it exciting to write. We are taking these characters into the future, seeing a new chapter of their lives — something that every fan, myself included, has wanted to see for years. As we charge ahead in the stories, I hope that I can get the crew back to the kind of adventures you would expect to see if the show had never ended.”

No Jayne and his hat at the outset? At least that implies he’ll be back. So it looks like we’re inbetween the ship of old and where the series wants to go with the characters.

“It is a period of transition in many ways. The life they were leading in the series — taking odd jobs, doing some smuggling here and there — is not one they are able to lead now in the wake of their big throw down with the Alliance. So everything is a bit off balance. I think part of my goal with this series is to get them back to some kind of equilibrium, where you could imagine their lives getting back on track, even if that track is an illegal, itinerant one.”

That makes me wonder if Whedon is only signed on for 6 issues and if so, how they will push forward past that? Clearly there is a story here we’ll want to read, but I’m wondering if they will end it leaving things wide open with no one taking up the reigns to continue forward past that. At least there isn’t just one mind behind this as he’s working with Georges Jeanty whose done a quite a bit in the world of Whedon before so he’ll have some input on what’s going on with things.

“Georges is a great storyteller and I’m seeing that with every piece he sends me. He takes the script to another level. He’s really done a nice job of recreating the tone of the show on the page and, though his work is stunning, it doesn’t draw attention to itself with any obtrusive stylistic elements, so you really can get lost in the flow of the story and hear the voices of the actors as you’re reading. I couldn’t be happier with it. We didn’t really discuss tone because we both wanted essentially the tone of the show to end up on the page and it has. We both went back and did the full “Firefly”/”Serenity” immersion before we started. It helps me with getting the characters’ voices down, and I know Georges was very intent on getting all of the visual details right. He’s done an amazing job.”

While I’m a little iffy on how this book might close as it’s a transition period, I’m still excited to see more of Mal and his crew. What do you fellow fans of ‘Firefly’ think? Are we going to be happy with where this goes? Will it lead to an ongoing series? Or are we going to all be once again cringing as it comes to an end as we’re reminded there won’t be any new Mal stories on the big screen?

Source: Comic Book Resources