CulturePulp.

'Serenity Tales': Now on Tumblr

(Above: Mal and Zoe by Bill Mudron.)

Way back in 2006, Bill Mudron and I founded "Serenity Tales," a site hosting “Firefly” fan-comics. For a couple of years, we updated it with stories set in the ‘Verse, written and drawn by friends and fans.

Given all the recent announcements about Dark Horse’s new “Serenity” comics, this seems like a great time to re-post the “Serenity Tales” archive to Tumblr in installments. It starts today, with Bill Mudron’s "The Black":

• Serenity Tales: The Black [ Part 1 ] [ Part 2 ] [ Part 3 ] [ PDF ]
• Serenity Tales on Tumblr

At Emerald City Comicon March 2-3, helping sell this shirt.

I'll be at the Emerald City Comicon on Saturday and Sunday, March 2-3, helping my pals in the PDX Browncoats sell that "Spoiler Alert" t-shirt I designed for them. Sneak peek at the finished garment above; click to enlarge.

I'll be taking sketch requests and signing books* and helping hawk shirts at the PDX Browncoats' ECCC table (#2609) from 2 to 4 p.m. on Saturday, March 2 and Sunday, March 3.

* The PDX Browncoats will also be selling both "Sabertooth Vampire" minicomics and the few remaining "Wash Amuck" prints (pictured at right).

Take My Love, Wear This Shirt

The PDX Browncoats asked me to design the t-shirt for this year's "Can't Stop the Serenity" charity screenings in Portland -- where they'll show Joss Whedon's "Serenity" (or, as I like to call it, "Han Solo: The Movie") plus the "Firefly" episode "Out of Gas" to raise money for Equality Now. I gather the event will also feature a performance by the delightful Doubleclicks.

So here you go. Kinda went for a vague Nostromo crew patch vibe. Lines by me. Colors by the great Bill Mudron.

Can't Stop the Serenity 2012 (PDX Browncoats)

[ Pre-order tickets here ]

Serenity Tales: 'Take My Love'

A "Firefly" webcomic Mark Bourne, Bill Mudron and I made back in 2010 to help Dark Horse promote its new "Serenity" comics. Backstory here. Click images to enlarge.

(You can find more of this sort of thing at www.SerenityTales.com, by the way.)

Take my love, take my face

As featured in the letter column of last year's "Serenity: Float Out."

 

'Serenity' charity screenings this Saturday.

Portland's 5th-annual "Can't Stop the Serenity" charity screenings happen this Saturday (June 26) at the Clinton St. Theater. They're mixing up the programming a bit this year -- adding screenings of "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog" and the apparently not-bad fan-film "Browncoats: Redemption" to the usual showings of Joss Whedon's "Serenity."

Bill Mudron and I contributed a handful of signed-and-numbered prints -- from our "Serenity" comics "Take My Love" and "Augie, The Littlest Reaver" -- to the event's merchandise table and charity raffle.

The prints are pictured at right. You can buy one or both for a song -- and all the money from each sale goes to Equality Now and the Oregon Food Bank.
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Portland's 5th Annual "Can't Stop the Serenity" screenings (PDXBrowncoats.com)

Reavers? A Dark Horse debut.

I drew a couple of tiny backup strips for the letter-column pages of "Serenity: Float Out" -- Dark Horse's new "Firefly"-universe comic book, written by Patton Oswalt and illustrated by Patric Reynolds.

"Float Out" hits stores around June 2. I think fans are really gonna dig how Oswalt and Reynolds tell their story, which celebrates the life of wisecracking pilot Hoban "Wash" Washburne.

The little scamp hastily sketched above may have something to do with my backup comic -- only in the Dark Horse book, there's more color and less singing.

Thanks to Dark Horse editor Scott Allie for the opportunity.
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Serenity: Float Out -- Jo Chen cover (Dark Horse Comics)
Serenity: Float Out -- Frank Stockton cover

'Take My Love,' a bloody little 'Serenity' webcomic.

ComicsAlliance.com has posted "Take My Love" -- a "Serenity" webcomic that Mark Bourne, Bill Mudron and I re-drew for Dark Horse.

(io9 has now posted it, as well).

"Take My Love" was written by Mark Bourne as a tribute to the classic Looney Tunes cartoon "Duck Amuck." It's one of three scripts he submitted a few years back for "Serenity Tales" -- a site collecting fan-made comics about "Firefly" and "Serenity." (Mark adds: "I'd say that in addition to the hat-tip to 'Duck Amuck,' 'Take My Love' was my means of catharsis after Wash's death in the movie, which caught me utterly by surprise -- I felt as though a beloved character had been yanked away from me. So it was my way of giving Wash the last laugh. Nice to see dear ol' Book putting the button on the scene, as well.")

Be sure to check out "Yarn," another story Mark wrote for "Serenity Tales."

I'd launched "Serenity Tales" on a lark in early 2006 -- following a conversation at a party with my dear friend and fellow cartoonist Bill Mudron. We were talking about how impatient we were for more official Joss Whedon "Serenity" stories. We figured we'd make some totally apocryphal, totally unofficial fan comics for free while we waited. Just a fun way to celebrate Whedon's universe, which we both love.

(Bill went hog-wild with his submission, "The Black," which tells the story of a teenage Mal Reynolds and runs for 28 stunning pages.)

Anyway. Flash-forward to a couple of months ago. I get an e-mail from Dark Horse editor Scott Allie, whom I'm known and occasionally worked with for over 15 years. Scott was wondering if I'd be interested in doing a small, spoofy backup strip for the letter-column pages in Dark Horse's "Serenity" comics.

I knew Dark Horse was working on new books about Wash and Shepherd Book -- the two characters who bought the farm in the movie -- so I immediately pitched a full-color redraw of "Take My Love," because Mark's story comments in a funny way on "Serenity"'s rampant carnage.

Scott said he'd consider it. Mark was cool with revisiting the material. And so I recruited Bill Mudron (with whom I work on my comic strip "CulturePulp") to help us get the job done.

I laid out and penciled the first two-and-a-half pages. Bill inked everything. He also drew the big-reveal final panel from scratch in his own more figurative style -- and snuck in a few cool Easter eggs. (You can download a gigantic version of that final panel right here.) Bill also had WAY too much fun coloring all that blood. 

Unfortunately, "Take My Love" ended up being too long for what ended up being the allotted space -- but we're happy to get it online, helping promote the upcoming "Serenity" books. (I've seen a fair bit of both books-in-progress at this point, and they're fantastic. I think fans are going to love them. A lot. They've got a funky/indie feel that really suits the "Firefly" universe.)

Since then, I've also written and drawn another, different backup comic that's much smaller (and nearly as cruel). It's slated to appear in the letters-column pages of "Serenity: Float Out" by Patton Oswalt and Patric Reynolds.

BTW, Bill is currently writing and drawing a graphic novel called "The Nintendo History System." It's awesome.
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'Firefly' Fan Webcomic Takes 'Serenity' Carnage to New Levels (ComicsAlliance.com)

Serenity Webcomic Delivers Laughs and Bloody Revenge (io9.com)

Serenity Tales: 'Take My Love'

A new four-page "Serenity Tale" called "Take My Love" -- script by Mark Bourne, art by yours truly -- is now online.

I would describe this particular story as "surprising."

If you'd be willing to color the comic for us (and can make it look at least as lovely as the teaser image at right), by all means drop us a line.

"Take My Love" just went live along with several other "Firefly"/"Serenity" fan comics -- which are all well worth reading if you're into that sort of thing.
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'Take My Love' (Serenity Tales)
Serenity Tales (main page)

SNEAK PEEK: The next 'Serenity Tale'

The opening panel of the upcoming Serenity Tale "Take My Love" -- words by Mark Bourne, lines by yours truly, colors by Chris Hanel.

The lines are on the page. The story owes a lot to Chuck Jones. And barring disaster, the full-color, four-page comic should be online in the next few weeks.
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Serenity Tales