In one of the first of many subsequent really bad decisions made by Sci Fi Channel, the hit series Farscape was “not renewed” for a 5th season in 2002 (even though they had a contract) because it was “too expensive” to produce. As undaunted as John Crichton facing a Shadow Depository, Brian Henson (son of Jim Henson who now runs The Jim Henson Company along with his sister Lisa and other siblings), Rockne S. O’Bannon, and David Kemper found a way to wrap up the cliffhanger Season 4 ending by condensing the storyline and producing the four-hour miniseries The Peacekeeper Wars in 2004. While many of the plot threads were wrapped up in the miniseries, lots of other questions still remain. For those of you who, along with me, have been wondering what happened next for the crew of Moya, BOOM! Studios has three current offerings to satisfy your Farscape cravings while waiting for the in-production web series to be released.
I get my comics from a little shop called B & D Sports Cards & Comics. The shop owner Jenny diligently attempts to get all of the Farscape comics in for me, but due to the huge demand I’ve had to wait for second printings on many issues. Perhaps BOOM! should take that into consideration and print more issues? Anyway, she makes sure they are sleeved, boarded and waiting for me as soon as she can get them in. It was really hard to not crack open issue two while I waited for issue one to get reprinted but somehow I managed to resist temptation. Finally, I’ve been able to complete the first miniseries and get all currently printed issues of the second and third series. Each story is told in four issues and has different covers available, if you can get your hands on them. I’ve seen them selling for as much as $100 each on some websites! As much as I adore Farscape, I think I’ll stick with my $3.99 cover price for now and maybe, eventually, when the prices come down, I might pick up the cover variants on eBay.
The first series, titled Farscape, is written by series creator Rockne O’Bannon and drawn by artist Tommy Patterson. The story picks up right where The Peacekeeper Wars ends and fills us in on the events occurring right after the treaty was signed. Without giving away too much of the storyline, it focuses on how John and Aeryn deal with parenthood, how Chiana and Jothee deal with D’Argo’s death, and how Rygel deals with trying to get his throne back. Noranti is Noranti. The story is straightforward. It has the slightly rushed feel that was in The Peacekeeper Wars, like there’s so much to say and not the time to say it in, but they do well to lay down a foundation for a continuing storyline. There are elements of the dialogue that remind me of early parts of Season 1, like Rockne was still trying to find the characters’ voices again. The artwork is okay but doesn’t really capture the characters. The proportions are off and lots of digital elements are used that seem to distract from the overall visual appeal for me, but I’m finicky about my digital art. Okay, maybe I’m nitpicking, but I noticed little things like Aeryn’s eye color and John’s posture are wrong, and the busy backgrounds draw the eye away from what you should be seeing. Overall, though, it’s an enjoyable read and it feels good to get back in touch with old friends and find out what they’ve been up to.
The second series offered is called D’Argo’s Lament. It was written by Keith R.A. Decandido and illustrated by Neil Edwards. From the title, I was expecting it to focus on D’Argo’s death (or narrow escape from death since I have this theory that he’s actually being held captive by Grayza and will show up when least expected and most needed). However, it actually takes place sometime during Season 4. The story focuses on D’Argo and Jool as they get tangled up in a nefarious plot while trying to get a special lubricant to protect Moya’s hull. D’Argo was the first of Moya’s crew to accept Jool and D’Argo’s Lament further develops their friendship. The artwork isn’t extremely detailed but it is good. The artist got the proportions correct and has good basic characterizations of both Jool and D’Argo. As of now, the final two issues have not arrived yet so I am still waiting to see what happens next. The story would work well as an episode subplot and I can easily see it having been an old script that was scrapped due to time or budget constraints.
The third series is called Strange Detractors. It was written by Rockne O’Bannon and illustrated by Will Sliney. I am finding this truly enjoyable. Strange Detractors picks up some time after the first Farscape story ends. It begins with one of John’s famous altered reality dreams in which he deals with his anxiety over doing what’s right for his family. He has all these plans for their future, but you know how John’s plans tend to go. When visiting a commerce planet, things suddenly go very wrong. O’Bannon has captured the characters in dialogue and actions just as surely as Sliney has captured their images. Sliney has great characterizations; even with minimal detail he captures them well. He’s nailed their expressions, body language and proportions. His backgrounds are balanced and don’t seem too full, noisy or blank. The final issue of Strange Detractors isn’t out yet but I am eagerly awaiting it, as well as the next series titled Gone and Back.
With the announcement of a ten-part web series made almost two years ago, hopefully BOOM! will continue to churn out comics that build excitement about the continuation and expansion of the Farscape universe. The short form of four issues per comic series kind of feels like watching the episodes, so you can have a full storyline in just a few issues but with plot and villains that can continue from one issue to the other the way Scorpius and Craise popped up in the television series. Overall, I’m thrilled to be immersed in Farscape again. I think that Farscape is one of the best science fiction television series ever produced and I’ve really missed the rich and colorful characters and well-told stories. The comics are a great way to fill in the gaps and pave the way for future offerings of Farscape, in whatever form we can get.