He's a former operative. Calling it now.

laryri:
He's a former operative. Calling it now.

I was going to go with former soldier for the Alliance, but same idea.
I don't really see what the big deal is. I find it kind of interesting and realistic that we don't know who he really is. You guys don't know who I am. That just how life works.

Former Operative, yeah I don't see any other way to get round this one. Possibly having him be one of the senate or something...

The real trouble is, I have read several fanfictions about this (of course, fanfic writers love this guy) and no matter how abdly or well written they were, nothing that Joss comes up with could either be new or shocking to me. He needed to do this book sooner.

Do want!

MelasZepheos:
Former Operative, yeah I don't see any other way to get round this one. Possibly having him be one of the senate or something...

The real trouble is, I have read several fanfictions about this (of course, fanfic writers love this guy) and no matter how abdly or well written they were, nothing that Joss comes up with could either be new or shocking to me. He needed to do this book sooner.

Well I haven't read any fan fiction but I know what you're on about. I'm hoping for a curveball of some sort that he wasn't and operative and was a spy or something.

At any rate, it sounds like it'll have to be a lot longer to get a good tale out of this, which is good, the other comics were painfully short and episodic, and particularly in Those left behind the conclusions with the 'Hands of blue' was clearly rushed, and a very weak blend of weaksauce.
Here's hopeing they actually use the comic medium well is what I'm trying to say.

I always figured book as a retired operative or had a high rank in the alliance brass, i can definitely see a curve ball coming though, will definitely buy

never cared much for comic books but this looks interesting

the movie does suggest he was an OPERATOR.
it would be interesting to see what circumstances lead to his change of heart.

Nooo! The mystery associated with Book made the character. If you explain it, then he loses that mystery.

Plus, he's dead, and the series is dead, so who cares?

Stupid. Book is good because he retains his mystery.

Lukeje:
Nooo! The mystery associated with Book made the character. If you explain it, then he loses that mystery.

JLrep:
Stupid. Book is good because he retains his mystery.

I disagree. Basically, what you're saying is that taking that single dimension of mystery around his character and extrapolating it would somehow lessen the character as a whole, but that makes no sense. If his mysteriousness is what defines the character and makes him interesting, then doesn't that mean that he's honestly not a very interesting character to begin with? If the only reason we care about him is because we don't know anything about him, he's more or less expendable anyway.

laryri:
He's a former operative. Calling it now.

That would explain a lot. From everything I've seen he knows a lot about how the Alliance operates and some of the stuff he knew about the Operative in Serenity was very telling.

Can't wait to see whether that theory'll be proven true...even if it means waiting 'till November to find out.

laryri:
He's a former operative. Calling it now.

Haha, yeah I called this back when Serenity came out. Seems fairly obvious to me, there were so many weird parallels between him and The Operative. Especially that by the end of Serenity (spoilers) The Operative had 'lost his faith in his world', which I could see leading to him becoming a man of the cloth as well?

Darth Sea Bass:
Do want!

Do agree!

Seriously, I have been hearing about this at SerenityCon for four years so it is nice to finally see it come out.

Words can not express my joy.

Hmm... well after seeing Serenity's Operative, most everyone was pretty sure just what Book's former occupation was, the tactical skills, combat training, administrative level connections, hell it all fit together really, really smoothly. In fact, I'm almost sure they could've kept quite a Book's past, and his role as a former operative would've still be cannon, he just knows way too damn much about how they work, and Atoner is scrawled all over his grizzled face with a big black permanent marker.

Wait, are people really complaining about more Firefly (even if it is just a comic book)? Egads, what's wrong with the lot of you?

Hopeless Bastard:
Yes, mystery, by default, is more interesting than knowing.

That's subjective and arguable.

Hopeless Bastard:
Mystery can go any direction, knowing is completely linear.

Making things mysteries leaves the viewer to fill in the blanks with their imaginations which may not be quite as vivid as the author's. Basically, what I'm saying is that it's possible the writers could think up something that would be more interesting than anything you or I will ever think up. Still, I guess it's possible that someone else could think up something that's more interesting than the truth.

Hopeless Bastard:
I also though it was pretty obvious he was the same thing as the antagonist from the movie, except suffering a crises of faith.

Again, that's arguable. It's hinted at, but we don't know for sure unless they tell us. Isn't there a possibility that he was part of a completely different organization that wasn't touched upon in the show on account of being canceled? Or maybe he taught himself how to be a badass and met all of his "connections" through being a prominent Shepherd somewhere.

My main point, though, is that I feel that Shepherd Book was a character with more depth than just "he has a mysterious past." Maybe the mysterious past adds to the character, but it doesn't define him; it's just one aspect of who he is. Likewise, if they had decided to make him a white guy, it may have changed the character a little, but it wouldn't completely redefine him because that's not all that he is.

To quote Inara, "It is simply one state of being."

Hopeless Bastard:

commasplice:
-snip-

If they heavily hint at something, then go a completely different direction, they're morons.

And nothing I said was arguable. Only extremely boring people are frustrated by mysteries.

Plenty of what you said was arguable. What is or isn't "interesting" depends on the person you're asking. For example, some people find trigonometry interesting. Personally, I think it's about the most boring thing on the planet most of the time. When did I say anything about being frustrated? I never said I couldn't stand for Book's past to be a secret. All I was saying is that I don't think it detracts from the character to explain who he is and why.

Edit: Oh yeah, and whether or not that would make them morons is also arguable. You seem to think that the only way to get entertainment from a mystery is to have it never be solved, but you don't seem to realize that part of the fun can be in understanding the twists and turns that created it. I think the journey and the destination are both important. Maybe they were hinting at one thing to keep us off the trail of another. Maybe there's a reason things appear to be one way when they're really another. Maybe Book wanted the crew of Serenity to assume he was an operative or some such for some unknown ulterior motive. I really think you're oversimplifying this whole thing.

He was an Operative but became a Shepard due to a crisis of conscience, perhaps from killing 1 too many children.

I'm one of the people who watched Serenity first, then caught up with Firefly after i'd see how awesome Serenity was, and after seeing it from that perspective, I can't see it being anything other than him being an Operative.

The story of how he went from being an Operative to being a Shepard should be good though.

I know that he's killed at least one man before the start of the show and he took his name to use as his own, but that's about it.

I wonder if the book will reveal how he got hold of the Daichi.

Allow me a quick fanboy squeal of glee.

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*ahem*

laryri:
He's a former operative. Calling it now.

I think so, too. Even if we're wrong, though, it'll be nice to take a look at the illustrious Shepherd's shady past.

I thought it was fairly clear that he was an Operative.

This is awesome, I so wish they continued that show!