Cancelled ‘Terra Nova’ to Receive Motion Comic

It has been months since FOX announced the demise of its high-budget, Spielberg produced dino-drama Terra Nova. The series had a loyal fanbase but simply was not able to attract enough viewers to warrant a second season. FOX’s decision to cancel Terra Nova (along with two more freshman dramas: Alcatraz and The Finder) left fans of the science fiction series disappointed and quickly clamoring for someone (anyone) to save their show. Most notable of the campaigns to save the show entailed sending plastic dinosaurs to FOX’s main offices but alas the efforts were all for naught. There was talk of Netflix saving the series as part of its plan to break into the internet-television broadcast world but the deal inevitably fell through. A fan motion to get a feature film to wrap up loose ends also went nowhere, effectively ending all hope and speculation that the series would return to screen.

Just when all hope for a plot resolution seemed lost, word is now breaking that there is a motion comic slated for release this autumn. No definite date has been announced. The comic will wrap up the plotlines that were introduced throughout Terra Nova‘s first season. When we last left the characters, Commander Nathaniel Taylor (portrayed on the show by Avatar‘s Stephen Lang) and time-travelling Chicago police officer Jim Shannon (Jason O’Mara) had uncovered the wooden bow of a 17th-century sailing ship. This gave rise to many questions and theories on the part of viewers. Why was there a 17th century sailing ship left in prehistoric times? What would become of the fledgling utopia known as Terra Nova now that they were cut off from the future? Who could be trusted?

It seems that the answers will finally be revealed! Information is still very limited at the moment but the motion comic was announced alongside the DVD release date. The DVD will be released in North American markets on September 11, 2012. European markets will be able to purchase the complete season DVD set starting September 24, with October 24 set as the release date in Australia and South America.

So what will become of the Shannon family? Personally, I feel that the ship’s bow indicates a ‘back door.’ Clearly the citizens of 2149 were not the first people to discover time-travel to this prehistoric ‘paradise.’ And with the people cut off from their lifeline in the future, finding this alternate escape route will be of the utmost importance. Naturally, the Phoenix Group villains that made their appearance in the series finale will also be searching for this way out. As for character development, we can probably expect Jim Shannon to step up as second-in-command of the colony now that former aide-de-camp Wash (Simone Kessel) was killed off. It’s also pretty safe to assume that the romantic saga of genius Maddy (Naomi Scott) and valiant soldier Mark Reynolds (Dean Geyer) will continue uninterrupted. The real wildcard is the character of Skye (Allison Miller). When we last saw her, she had betrayed her friends and given  up information about Terra Nova to its enemies in a desperate bid to save her ailing mother. Now that the main ordeal is over, what will become of her? Will the colonists welcome her back and forgive her past mistakes? Or will they ostracize her or even try to throw her out of the ruins of their settlement? Hopefully all of this and more will be addressed when the comic finally does debut.

What do you guys think? What questions do you want answered through this wrap-up? What do you hope will change? Any speculation on what that ship’s bow might mean? Leave your theories in the comments! More information can be found at www.terranovastory.com but keep in mind that, for now, you will need a DVD code to access the page. The motion comic will be posted on that site, I’ll try to keep you updated on when it gets published.