How big of a fan do you have to be to buy a companion book to a film or TV series? What quality of quantity do you use to answer that first question? In both cases it's hard to say. The important thing to note is that for Dr. Horrible fans there's now another piece of merch for you to buy up to truly proclaim your fandom or complete that Joss Whedon shrine in your closet that has a lock of his increasingly scarce hair (how did you...?). Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog The Book hits stores on March 29th and we just happen to be lucky enough to have a copy to flip through to give you an advance look. The question at hand of course, is it worth it?
Keep in mind, I was as big a fan of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog as anyone when it first hit the next back in 2008, and I remain a pretty avid proponent of the finished product for being what can happen when funny talented people get to make the productions they want to. And, as I guess should be expected with an (extremely) independent feature debuting on the web, extras for Dr. Horrible are taking a little longer to come into existence than they would if this had been produced by Fox. After all, even if the DVD came out later in 2008 it was an Amazon exclusive. It wasn't until six months later that it was available in the average retail outlet, and it took another year after that before it hit Blu-ray. This isn't a complaint, it's just a potential explanation for the release of a reading supplement almost three years later (There's obviously a more cynical second explanation that involves milking sans cows. Let's not think about that one.)
The biggest issue that normally exists with companion books is the very simple question, "Is it necessary?" Short answer: probably not. Optimistic answer: why not?
To help you figure out your own answer, let's take a look at what's inside. Keep in mind that when we give pages, know that they're approximate because while the feature may span that many pages, it's often cropped along with a whole lot of full color photos (usually of the thing that the text refers to).
1) The transcript of a roundtable session with Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon, Zack Whedon, and Maurissa Tancharoen discussing the musical's origins (8 pages)
2) The screenplay for Acts I-III (40 pages)
3) A look at the costumes (4 pages)
4) The fans of Dr. Horrible (2 pages)
5) Dr. Horrible at Comic-Con 2008 (2 pages)
6) Awards Shows (2 pages)
7) Commentary: The Musical! Script (10 pages)
8) The sheet music (64 pages)
Stuck haphazardly between all these features are short little blurbs written Felicia Day (Penny), Nathan Fillion (Captain Hammer), Neil Patrick Harris (Dr. Horrible), and Simon Helberg (Moist). The foreword is written by Captain Hammer, now whether that means Fillion wrote it or Joss Whedon did while channeling Hammer is hard to say. Although Fillion does contribute a haiku later on, so there's that. NPH wrote the afterword wherein he describes Dr. Horrible as the "single best thing" he's ever done. The man has done lots of funny and great things, but it's really hard to argue with him. Even if he might have felt compelled to say nice things considering he was writing the afterword.
In terms of visual content, had this not been a musical, meaning if the best content wasn't auditory in nature, you could almost bypassing watching the three parts completely based on the sheer volume of pictures in this sucker. The screenplay for Dr. Horrible could probably have fit within 20 pages, but with all the photos of corresponding scenes and production shots stuffed in, it stretches to 40 pages. Again, not a complaint, that's just the formula for companion books.
The most valuable assets to be gleaned from this book are small little factoids that just never came up in any other context and the sheet music. For example, I never knew that Fox helped out with costumes, letting them borrow props from their warehouse. Or that everyone save for Felicia Day didn't show up for the first read through at Whedon's house. In addition, the original drafts of all the music appears among the photos and quotes in the liners.
And so, if you're such a fan of the musical that you know all the words but want to have them written down for you to read over and over in horrible fanatical bliss, then the supplementary book is a step above just finding a copy of the script online. This was never aimed at anyone other than the diehard fans, but it makes you wonder if there's enough new material here to give them incentive to buy it.
How much do you love Neil Patrick Harris, Joss Whedon, Nathan Fillion, Felicia Day, or Dr. Horrible?
