Joss Whedon gave the world something special with Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along-Blog, his Writer’s Strike circumventing Internet Supervillian Musical Mini Series, and now he’s giving you a little more with the release of the companion book.
Titan Books have gone to town with this tie-in which is essential reading for budding evil geniuses everywhere as you not only get the complete script with a load of production stills but you also get the sheet music for the songs. I can see a million uploads hitting Youtube thanks to this book, and I’m sure Joss Whedon would be pleased at the geekery he has inspired.
If you’ve seen Dr. Horrible (and really, you should – it’s silly, subversive and full of Whedonesque charm), or were a fan of the season six episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Once More With Feeling, then you’ll eat this up and burp tunefully for days afterwards.
The book also features contributions from the main cast with Nathan Fillion and Neil Patrick Harris providing Fore and Afterwords with Felicia Day also penning a love letter to her time on the project. The script is published in full, with annotations, original ideas scribbled onto piece of actual paper – just the thing for fans to hoover up and dance dizzyingly until tiredness or concerned relatives take them.
There are transcripts from the Comic Con panel which is more fun than it sounds, photos of the slightly worrying fandom which has sprung up, as is the destiny of all Whedon’s projects, and best of all is the roundtable reminiscence of the project from the three Whedon brothers and co-writer Maurissa Tancharoen which charts the inception, production and reaction to the web series.
As a companion piece the book serves its purpose, and if you want to sing/play along to the show and then upload your Horribleness to the world then this is your ticket. For fans of Whedon or the series you’ll already be looking for places to buy the book, if you’ve not seen Dr. Horrible then the DVD/Blu-ray is your first port of call, then come back and give this book a go. It’s the least evil thing to do.
[Rating:4/5]
