Browncoats rejoice! Captain Mal Reynolds and the crew of the Serenity are back in this brand new comic series from Dark Horse.
Serenity – Leaves on The Wind #1
Writer: Zack Whedon
Artist: George Jeantry
Publisher; Dark Horse
Cover Price: $3.50
Previously in SERENITY: LEAVES ON THE WIND: The crew of the Firefly class ship called Serenity had 14 adventures before they were canceled by Fox. Then they showed up in a big movie and a couple of the crew died. Now, they’re back, and we can finally learn where their stories go after all these years.
TAKE MY LAND, TAKE MY MONEY
Bringing the crew of the Serenity into comics, and continuing their story was always going to be a big deal no matter which publisher did it. It was going to have high expectations placed on it by any fan that loved to hear Joss Whedon’s fast paced dialogue in a western environment. This book was so highly anticipated that it could have imploded on itself. Most writers would have had severe panic attacks when faced with bringing this crew back into comics, and trying to continue a storyline that Joss Whedon didn’t get to finish. So how was the return of Serenity? Let’s just say it was a good thing this book is written by one of the Whedon brothers.
This book picks up several months after the film Serenity, nine months to be exact. (Do you see where this story is going?) Malcolm Reynolds and his crew are on the run after revealing to the universe that the empirical organization called The Alliance created the murderous and frightening humans called The Reavers. They’ve kept a low profile, but that doesn’t mean that people aren’t hunting them. A new revolutionary group and the Alliance want to find Serenity. Plus an old enemy from the TV series makes an appearance and decides to join the hunt as well. So now that everyone in the ‘verse is hunting for them, what is the crew of the Serenity going to do? Have a baby of course!
There’s a lot of talking in this book which is surprising for a Western. I understand that we have to setup the new status quo and bring new readers into the fold, but the opening pages of this issue reminded me of the aggravating and constant TV panels of The Dark Knight Returns. This is where the issue starts to fall apart slightly, and the cracks can be seen. While this issue was enjoyable, I did notice myself not caring for the characters as much as I had in the movies. I understand that this is a completely different medium so it must be judged accordingly. However, the dialogue felt off throughout the issue. Maybe Whedon brother Zack isn’t the writer that Joss is, I’m not sure. Though when the dying phrase of one of the main characters of the film is repeated again and again, it does make a reader question the dialoging abilities of the writer.
THERE’S NO PLACE THAT I CAN BE, ONCE I DRAW SERENITY
George Jeanty does a marvelous job of recreating the look and the feel of Joss Whedon’s space universe. I’ve been a huge fan of him since he penciled Buffy Season 8 and Season 9. He focuses on the emotional look of the characters and not the “every character must look like the screen actors.” Which can sometimes sink an adapted property book.
BOTTOM LINE: YOU CAN TAKE THE SKY FROM ME
As much as I wanted to love this book, something felt off the entire time I was reading it. It could have been that my expectations were way too high. That no matter what the writer did I would never be satisfied, and that certainly could be true. I’m willing to stick with the series for the next couple of issues to see if it captures that gunslinging space cowboy charm that the TV series had. If you are a Browncoat, then this is the perfect book for you. I’m certain you will love every Western minute of it. If you’ve never seen Firefly before than I would stay away. Go buy the series and the movie, watch it, and let those characters’ story end on the silver screen.
Don’t lose your love. Don’t lose your land. Don’t lose the place where you could stand. There will be no place that you can be. If you find Serenity.
