The Universe of Firefly & Serenity

The firefly crew was a group that portrayed the various survival qualities that might be needed in a new 'verse. They were all independent, strong individuals linked by loyalty to their captain, Mal Reynolds - a former sergeant in the Independence Army who fought against the Alliance and survived the "Battle of Serenity Valley". These characters fight criminals and schemers, Alliance security forces, the utterly psychotic and brutal Reavers, and the mysterious men with "hands of blue" - operatives of a secret agency inside one of the mega-corporations running the Alliance. It is referred to in the DVD commentary as The Blue Sun Corporation.

The crew is driven by the need to secure cash-flow. They need to keep their ship operational and balance this against their need to keep a low profile to avoid their adversaries. The situation they find themselves in is complicated by the conflicting motivations of the individuals on board Serenity. The show's brief run did not allow full elucidation of all the complex interrelationships of the cast and their external contacts.

One of the emotional signatures used by the shows creators was the "Sad Violin". It was used at the end of the Battle of serenity Valley, but also helped set up the joke for when Mal tells Simon that Kaylee is dead in the episode "Serenity". The most memorable use of the "Sad Violin" is at the end of "The Message" when the crew is mourning the death of Tracey, a former Independence Army colleague. Ironically, this was also the last scene of the last episode shot by the actors and it was seen by them as Firefly's farewell. To denote impending danger, "Peril" was used, which is "a low pulse, like a heartbeat, with deep chimes and low strings."

As for character signatures, the criminal Niska embodied an Eastern Bloc Mafioso. This was signified by Eastern European or Middle Eastern melodies over a low drone. Simon and River's signature theme was a piano played sparingly with a violin in the background. This is in contrast to the portable instruments of "Serenity" as the piano is an instrument that cannot be easily moved. It invokes images of "the distant house and family they both long to return to."

These signatures were established almost in their entirety in the pilot episode, "Serenity", helping to augment the narrative quality of the series. "In every episode, the musical score intensified my experience of this intelligent, remarkable show. Using and combining all these signatures, Greg Edmonson brought out aspects of Firefly's story and characters that were never explicitly revealed in the other elements of the series." (Anon)

Following the motion picture release of serenity and its subsequent novelization, a book series of original stories based on firefly / serenity were planned and contracted for by Pocket Books , who also published the serenity novelization. However, while Pocket commissioned several proposals by a variety of authors (among them Keith R.A. DeCandido , Jamie Chambers & Margaret Weis , and Steven Brust ), those proposals were never acted upon, and after over a year of waiting, Pocket cancelled the contract.

After the series was "canned", Joss Whedon and Brett Matthews wrote a series of graphic novels, illustrated by Will Conrad and Laura Martin, and published by Dark Horse Comics. These gave Dark Horse its biggest hit for 2006. They are now available in a special-edition hardcover. Joss Whedon, through these graphic novels, managed to bridged the gap between his cult-hit firefly TV series which ended with "Objects in Space" and his major motion picture "Serenity", with this three-issue miniseries.

Each issue featured three different covers, portraying one of the nine main characters. In turn, each version had a different illustrator. Illustrators included Joe Quesada, Bryan Hitch, Tim Bradstreet, John Cassaday and Jo Chen. The first issue was published in July 2005 with the final one appearing in September of 2005. The story focuses on the crew of Serenity taking a salvage job from Badger after botching robbery on a backwater planet, and the pursuit of River by the ominous blue-gloved men. The comics quickly sold out on release and both the first and second issues went to second printings. A compilation trade paperback was released in January 2006.

For now, this is the end of the Firefly and Serenity 'verse.

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