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Shepherd Book is one of
the greatest male characters of the Whedonverse, one
who is bound by his strict sense of morality and
religious beliefs, but one who isn't at all
overbearing. He uses his religion as an instrument
to help and guide folks, he never uses it as a means
of clubbing non-believers over the head. When we see
him in the first episode of "Firefly" he meets a
band of wicked sinners and criminals, but he never
judges. He lives and lets live and that's likely why
he's become such a beloved fixture of the "Firefly"
universe for such a long time. He's not only the
heart of the crew, but he's also the wise father
everyone on the ship needs. By the time we reach
"Serenity" and the crew are on their last options
against the operative, even Mal has realized that
Book is the man he needs in times of great stress
who can offer wisdom, knowledge, and strategy where
everyone clearly lacks it.
And Book is most
obliging. "The Shepherd's Tale" is another Firefly
graphic novel that completely hit it out of the park
in regards to capturing the emotion and wit of the
series. Patton Oswalt offered up his own masterful
last tribute to dearly departed Wash, and Zack
Whedon is allowed to provide us with one final word
on the dearly departed Shepherd Book. For years,
Browncoats have offered up their own theories on who
and what the Shepherd was. Though he claims he was
in a monastery for years, this is a man who upon
being mortally wounded, is able to get on to an
Alliance ship with a pass that lets him be treated
like one of the officials. Since then his mysterious
know how involving military strategy, tactics, and
firearms has been a peculiarity that has folks
wondering if he was at one time an Operative, or a
high ranking official of the Alliance. |
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With
fantastic art work that displays the atmosphere
and tone of the series, "The Shepherd's Tale" is
a biography of the Shepherd that jumps back and
forth from his final moments in "Serenity" where
managed to take down an alliance ship single
handedly shortly before Firefly landed to be
discovered by Mal, to his tortured life as an
inner-city youth who was brutally abused by his
father. The origin of the Shepherd is not what
you may think but it surely is surprising and
offers up many explanations for his knowledge of
the military and combat, while also declaring
he's led an interesting life of crime, murder,
and the like. Whedon's script bounces back and
forth from various periods of Book's life
symbolizing Book's own journey through life
which had him bouncing back and forth between
careers both legal and illegal and it's
fascinating. We watch him endure the antics of
the Firefly crew, his career in the military,
his work as a mole, and his life as a freelance
petty thug, all of which led him in to his
journey as a holy man intent on using the
religion as a means of controlling his own life
and finding some focus and direction. Much like
Patton Oswalt's tribute to Wash, there aren't
many scenes of Book with the Firefly crew (River
only makes one appearance in a single panel).
Whedon expresses his love for writing Jayne in
scenes, so obviously he has the most instances
bouncing dialogue off of the Shepherd, but this
is primarily Book's back story, and one I think
many Browncoats will enjoy for its heart, soul,
and emotional exploration of a truly underrated
character of Whedon's character gallery made
immortal by the brilliant Ron Glass.
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