Firefly

Firefly: The Official Companion Volume One
It’s well worth your platinum, mei mei.
176 PAGES £16.99
Publisher : Titan Books
ISBN : 1-84576-314-9
Book Rating: 4/5

If you’re wondering how a series canned mid-season can spawn two companion books (volume two’s due in spring), here’s the answer: lots of scripts.

Don’t be downhearted. When the writers are the likes of Joss Whedon, shooting scripts can be a decent read, especially when there are cut lines to be enjoyed and stage directions crackle (our favourite: a henchman is “as mean and large a tattooed motherfucker as ever stood behind a door”).

Sprinkled throughout are concept sketches for costumes and photos of props. Production stills jostle for space with continuity Polaroids. Further breaking things up are little quotes from the cast, explaining where a prop was bought; how a location was chosen; why Jewel Staite peed on her dress...

So despite the odd dry passage (warning: the interview with a holster maker may induce narcolepsy) this tarted-up script book is uncommonly interesting. The design is pleasingly sympathetic too, with copperplate panels in keeping with the show’s look. But was it necessary to split it in gorram two to prise the maximum amount of cash out of Browncoat fingers? That aside, everything’s shiny.