Serenity: Leaves on the Wind, written by Zack Whedon and illustrated by Georges Jeanty, is coming to a local comic book store near you on January 29, 2014.
The ship has finally landed. Well not yet but in three short months we will all finally be able to enjoy another piece of the Serenity story.
It has been ten long years since we last visited a new part of this universe. And from the looks of it Serenity is in good hands with the younger brother of creator Joss Whedon.
The Whedon's are a family of writers going all the way back to their grandfather screenwriter John Whedon. John wrote for Leave it to Beaver, The Andy Griffith Show, and The Dick Van Dyke Show as well as others. The father Tom Whedon worked with Jim Henson and wrote for The Golden Girls, The Electric Company, and Alice among many other televisions shows. We all know the many credits of Joss Whedon, Avengers, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and of course Serenity etc. Jed Whedon is a screenwriter and musician who has worked alongside both of his brothers on Southland and the Avengers respectfully. And Zack Whedon has racked up some television credits to go along with his comic book writing work.
You may know from Zack's writing on Terminator and Star Wars comics, he's no stranger to visiting and contributing to established universes. Besides the already mentioned comics he also has writing credits working on Fringe, Deadwood, and Southland. All popular shows with cult followings and high standards.
As for the pressure, Whedon seems ready to tackle the writing like a seasoned linebacker, noting that “the challenge is to create something that feels of a piece with the existing franchise… but the Serenity/Firefly world is where I feel most confident.” He added, “beyond that, the challenge is to make something good, something that feels like it is building on what is already there rather than just mimicking it.” Serenity: Leaves on the Wind allows Whedon to “plow forward into the future of these characters and tell new stories which has been a lot of fun.” Don’t worry, though, he’s cognizant of the degree to which fans have been craving more Firefly in their life: ”I know fans have been starving for story, so I don’t hold back in that regard.”
In terms of Joss Whedon's influence Zack said that comic books are “one medium where you can reduce the number of cooks in the kitchen, and I love that.” The pair had a general conversation before Zack got started to talk about “stories they were thinking about doing if the series had gone forward and such.” Since that conversation though, Joss has left him alone, partly due to the immense amount on his plate, and has given Zack a chance to make the story his own. Ever humble, Zack also noted, “Hopefully he’ll enjoy what I did… Yikes.”
Dark Horse has been teasing us all for month's on social media with the hashtag #WheresSerenity and now we get to see some teaser images for the much anticipated mini-series.
From the sounds and looks of it the Serenity franchise is in good familiar hands. Only time will tell but I'm willing to bet that Zack Whedon and Georges Jeanty are going to do a great job. I expect that they will exceed my high expectations.