MTV Splash Page has learned that comedian and all-around geek Patton Oswalt has written a brand new comic book based in the world of Joss Whedon‘s wild science fiction western, Firefly.
This will not be the first time a comic book will be set there; back in 2005, Whedon made a 3-part comic series titled Serenity: Those Left Behind. Then, in 2008, he made yet another 3-part comic, this time called Serenity: Better Days.
Click over for much more, but be warned: the details of the story do include spoilers from Firefly/Serenity, so if you’ve not seen them, go and buy 26 copies of each right this moment and watch them immediately.
This new comic by Oswalt will be a one-time deal that picks up after the 2005 feature film Serenity, and it will be called Serenity: Float Out. The story will revolve around Wash (played by Alan Tudyk on the show) and a group of his friends whom we’ve never met before as they buy a new ship and prepare to christen it. As this group of friends shops for their ship, they will share stories of Wash and set up new storylines for future comics and, gods willing, more movies or episodes. As Oswalt explains his premise, “It’s called a ‘float-out’ when you christen a ship,” hence the title of the new comic.
Oswalt was attracted to the opportunity because he was just as big a fan as most of us are of Firefly, and also just like everyone else, because Wash’s unfortunate curtain call did not sit well with him.
The actor and comedian, who can currently be seen on the Battlestar Galactica spinoff Caprica, talked about how he researched and was able to stay faithful, as well his praise for Whedon’s previous comic book offerings and his thoughts on the show’s early demise.
I talked a little bit to Joss, but I was such a huge fan of the show that I didn’t really need to talk to anybody about it. I kind of just knew it.
[Whedon] was just like a lot of really good comic book writers, like Mike Mignola and people like that. He was really starting to populate a universe, just even in the suggestion of people’s slang and what they would reference, you could tell that there’s a whole world developing here. I loved that he was slowly starting to put that together.
So it was very frustrating to see the show get canceled when a world was starting to come together. I just wish Fox had given it some more time, I guess.
That sums it up pretty nicely. I’ve yelled and screamed and vented off on Fox and their still-not-remedied decision to cancel Firefly many, many times, but as Mr. Oswalt put it, you really just wish they had given it a little more time. Especially knowing now what we didn’t eight years ago.
Serenity: Float Out will be released by Dark Horse comics on June 2, 2010. The artwork was crafted by Patric Reynolds, while the cover was created by Buffy the Vampire Slayer artist Jo Chen.
