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.
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.