Leaves on the Wind #4 Discussion (Spoilers)

POSTED BY: MUTT999
UPDATED: Thursday, May 8, 2014 20:49
VIEWED: 5682
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SECOND

Sunday, May 4, 2014 10:20 PM

Serenity comics needs more planning ahead. I may be imagining it, but a season of Buffy, Angel & Faith comics seem to have generalized outlines of two years of episodes roughed out before the first episodes are written. The 25 episodes in a season of Buffy or Faith build on one another. That is not happening for Serenity comics.

Presumably the difference is that Buffy and Faith are growing and making more mature decisions, while Mal is still a big kid with a gun who goes from crisis to crisis. He does not do much thinking of his future, so why should his comic?

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

MIKER

Monday, May 5, 2014 2:48 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by second:
Serenity comics needs more planning ahead. I may be imagining it, but a season of Buffy, Angel & Faith comics seem to have generalized outlines of two years of episodes roughed out before the first episodes are written. The 25 episodes in a season of Buffy or Faith build on one another. That is not happening for Serenity comics.

Presumably the difference is that Buffy and Faith are growing and making more mature decisions, while Mal is still a big kid with a gun who goes from crisis to crisis. He does not do much thinking of his future, so why should his comic?

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

SECOND or anyone, what is the next one after those left behind and better days?

MOOSE

Monday, May 5, 2014 1:59 PM

Here's a list and synopsis of each of them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serenity_comics

M52NICKERSON

Tuesday, May 6, 2014 2:18 AM

Seems like the Alliance is pants shittingly stupid.

For one they place Zoe, a prisoner of value, in a prison with no walls and little order were she can easily get killed.

They leave a very important secret project in the same place it was found once, and can be gotten two by going through the door and shooting down a wall.

Oh, and since when does Vera blow up walls?

I do not fear God, I fear the ignorance of man.

MIKER

Tuesday, May 6, 2014 2:20 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Moose:
Here's a list and synopsis of each of them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serenity_comics

Thank you that get's it done.

MIKER

Tuesday, May 6, 2014 2:27 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by m52nickerson:
Seems like the Alliance is pants shittingly stupid.

For one they place Zoe, a prisoner of value, in a prison with no walls and little order were she can easily get killed.

They leave a very important secret project in the same place it was found once, and can be gotten two by going through the door and shooting down a wall.

Oh, and since when does Vera blow up walls?

I do not fear God, I fear the ignorance of man.

In the movie Serenity Joss cut the" gag " hand grenade seen when Mal and Inara were fleeing the I forget (training) house, after Mal confronted the operative because he said it made the alliance look stupid. Therefore it diminished our understanding of Mal's capabilities to take them on.

Are you suggesting you too feel it is stupid to write them that incompetent?

M52NICKERSON

Tuesday, May 6, 2014 3:11 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by MIKER:
Quote:
Originally posted by m52nickerson:
Seems like the Alliance is pants shittingly stupid.

For one they place Zoe, a prisoner of value, in a prison with no walls and little order were she can easily get killed.

They leave a very important secret project in the same place it was found once, and can be gotten two by going through the door and shooting down a wall.

Oh, and since when does Vera blow up walls?

I do not fear God, I fear the ignorance of man.

In the movie Serenity Joss cut the" gag " hand grenade seen when Mal and Inara were fleeing the I forget (training) house, after Mal confronted the operative because he said it made the alliance look stupid. Therefore it diminished our understanding of Mal's capabilities to take them on.

Are you suggesting you too feel it is stupid to write them that incompetent?

Yes. It takes away from the Alliance being a scary threat. The scariest villains are the smart ones.

I do not fear God, I fear the ignorance of man.

MIKER

Tuesday, May 6, 2014 4:02 AM

I agree.

BYTEMITE

Thursday, May 8, 2014 6:01 PM

Personally, even though I still like it, I think that this series doesn't have ENOUGH filler and fluff. Look at a typical Firefly episode, it's loaded with little character moments and crew interactions and subplots that all add to the overall theme of the episode. These have a lot of scenes with Mal and Inara, I'll give you that, and we have some great moments where Bea snarks at Jayne, Jayne asks for forgiveness, and Inara clearly tries to fulfill Zoe's usual calming exposition role on the ship, but we don't really have a whole lot of other tangential character moments. Simon and Kaylee are still a couple, but we haven't even seen them have a couple conversation. Bea has developed as a character and lost her hero worship of Mal, but we don't get more than a few scenes and one or two lines establishing this. Lots of other moments we should be getting too.

The whole Jubal early thing could've been stretched out to a 50 page "episode" all on its on, and so could Emma's birth and Zoe's capture. Rather like how both Better Days and Those Left Behind took some simple plot concepts and a couple of end goals. As a result those two comics feel a lot more focused, a lot more like an episode.

Meanwhile, finding the operative, then going to rescue the academy kids and then going to save Zoe should be like the myth arc of an entire season. With dedicated episodes to both finding the operative ( and his backstory, introducing also the guy he's about to fight). There's a third of a season. Then the next third of the myth arc is gearing up to break into the academy and learning more about it and the people involved. Then a climactic episode with the students. Finding Zoe is then the falling action of the narrative arc for the season. Big season finale when they finally find her again and she's reunited with Emma.

Throw in a couple crime job filler episodes of them earning enough money to support the free students and Zoe operation, 2 or 3 episodes where one of the couples has to get out of some trouble (gotta feed the fans), an episode or two where they encounter an unrelated problem, and a few spotlight episodes for characters who haven't had much spotlight, and you have the makings for a strong season. 22 overall episodes, 8-10 episodes that could be considered filler just for more juicy crew interaction and insights and breather episodes with unrelated plots.

But this series moves along at a fairly blistering pace, it's very dense feeling because of that.

As for Zoe... I'm actually okay they stuck her in the prison they did. It reinforces that in the grand scheme of things, despite Miranda, the crew of Serenity just really isn't that important, whatever impressions that the first comic in the series might have left.

Zoe's treatment is basically like if the US ever got their hands on some Al Qaeda leadership responsible for 9-11, combined with parallels to Eric Snowden. They're PISSED about the losses of Alliance ships, civilians, and personnel, the crew probably has a death toll of a few thousand from siccing the Reavers on them. But have Al Qaeda or the crew really managed to destablize either government all that much? And now that it's clear that the Alliance has OTHER psychic supersoldiers besides River, even River is not that important. So yeah, while the Alliance might want them, it totally makes sense that they'd just toss Zoe into some Gitmo/Abu Ghraib analog.

Kaylee's reaction to Mal and Inara makes me wonder if the crew really didn't know about them.

I'm also wondering if Zoe will manage to escape the prison on her own. We're running out of time until the end of this series, there's a lot more to pack in here. And it'd be kinda entertainingly anti-climactic, feel kinda like a Firefly episode.

GWEK

Thursday, May 8, 2014 8:37 PM

Respectfully, I say that I think you're mis-definining "filler and fluff."

I both story and character development, and even just character showcasing moments, have substance and carry weight. Filler and fluff does not. I'm talking here about stuff that adds to the page count without adding to the story.

I would argue that, with one or two exceptions, the entire first episode is just filler. Consider:

Pages 1-3 (of 24): Establish that nine months have passed (which will be equally well-established by Zoe giving birth). Establish the details of Miranda (which are not really necessary to the story being told), and establish that there's a new rebellion that looks to Mal. THAT will be repeated later in this issue, and isn't even needed there.

Pages 3-6 showcase the Alliance. What do we learn here? 1) The Alliance is still after the Crew. 2) The Crew has disappeared. 3) River knows other secrets. 4) There are other Operatives. 1 & 2 are intuitive and will be reiterated by the Crew later. #3 is something River herself repeats in a more compelling way later. #4... on one hand, it's NICE to foreshadow that Denon is an Operative, but it's pretty clear what he's all about when he shows up in Issue 4.

Pages 7-9 (I'll say this... so far, the issue follows the 8-act "mini-movie" structure, with 24 pages being broken into 3-page chunks) introduces Bea and shows us that the new resistance is kind of rabble. The fact that the new resistance is somewhat disorganized is INTERESTING -- but not necessarily interesting enough to merit a full page. It also seems at odds with the resources they later demonstrate. The 2-page part here with Jayne's cousin is of no substance. It's useless connective tissue that simply spoils the fact that Bea is looking for someone who can help her find Mal.

So, 3/8 of the way through the issue: We haven't seen the Crew yet. There's no really conflict, and most of the information we've gained either does not move the story forward or is repeated in a more compelling/character-centric way later.

Pages 10-11 break from the previous 3-page scenes to finally introduce the Crew. There are a few decent lines (the casual "You guys fight a lot" is my personal favorite), but this is mostly exposition to catch us up on what the crew has been up to -- and exposition of the worst kind, where characters tell each other things they already know just for the benefit of the audience. Frankly, it's just terrible writing. And for what? "We're hiding in the middle of nowhere." Honestly, given how poorly the scene is written, I would prefer just THAT. Okay, also, Inara's no longer a Companion.

Pages 12-13 are more of the same, but do give us our first moment of substance: Mal and Inara are a couple now. Also, Simon and Kalyee are still a couple. When we add River smuggling with pregnant Zoe, basically, everyone has spent the last nine months in bed.

pages 14-15 give us a nice Zoe moment with Wash's memory, but are quickly followed by 2 pages of absolute filler (16-17) as Zoe goes into labor.

Pages 18-19 introduce us to Emma, FINALLY introduce legitimate conflict (the Crew should be lying low, but Zoe needs medical attention), and Mal takes action. Also note that Simon reiterates almost everything we learned about the Crew's general state since page 10 with "I know we're supposed to by laying low... Mal?"

Pages 20-21 give us a ridiculous introduction of Jubal Early. I SUPPOSE it makes sense to introduce the character for people who might not know him, but 1) so far, he seems shoehorned into the story to begin with, and 2) this introducion is so riddled with writing flaws that I've already wasted too much time on it.

The issue wraps up with a similarly useless introduction of Jayne (pages 22-24), ending with the very surprising character revelation that he's greedy.

One thing that I think becomes abundantly clear in a close read is that, unlike brother Joss, Za

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