SERENITY #1 REVIEW

[Brian Wilkinson]

<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/dh/0705/SEREN-1-MAL.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/dh/0705/SEREN-1-MAL_t.jpg" hspace=10 align=left alt="Serenity #1 Mal Cover by John Cassaday"></a>Reviewer: Brian Wilkinson, bewilkinson@yahoo.ca
Story Title: Those Left Behind

Thankfully, not all good things come to an end as Joss Whedon's Firefly gets a second shot at flying high.

Story by: Joss Whedon & Brett Matthews
Script by: Brett Matthews
Art by: Will Conrad
Colors by: Laura Martin
Covers by: JG Jones (Inara), Bryan Hitch (Jayne), John Cassaday (Mal)
Assistant Editors: Matt Dryer & Dave Marshall
Editor: Scott Allie
Designer: Heidi Fainza
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics

Serenity the comic is based on Serenity the movie, as well as uber-creator Joss Whedon's failed television series, Firefly.

In the case of both the movie and this comic book prequel, neither should exist.

The former because Firefly was one of the most exciting and interesting shows to debut on television at the time. Only 11 of the 14 episodes produced at the time aired, and even then it was out of sequence, in different time slots each week, and often pre-empted.

To say that the Fox network didn't do well at backing the show before unceremoniously dumping it is an understatement. Suffice to say, I felt then as I do now that Firefly was the best I'd seen from Whedon, even trumping his other long-running creations Buffy, the Vampire Slayer and Angel (also dumped before its time).

Serenity is the name of the ship-for-hire and its crew of misfits. Captain Malcolm Reynolds and his first mate, Zoe, were on the losing side of a galactic civil war. Afterwards, they've done their best to survive by transporting people and goods (not always legally) to keep their ship in the air. Often funny, sometimes violent, but always with a lot of heart, Serenity already has a decent sized fanbase and is sure to capture more wandering spirits left in the void from the completion (at the moment) of George Lucas' Star Wars saga and the cancellation of Star Trek: Enterprise.

This, however, is not a review of Firefly or Serenity (for the movie, you'll have to wait until tomorrow when I give an advance review of the film as I caught an advance screening in Toronto on June 23rd).

Serenity, the comic book, should also not exist. The reasons for this are outlined above, but if the 'verse was good and fair, gorramit, this book would have been covered nicely in what would now be the fourth season of the show. Written by Joss Whedon and Brett Matthews (who also had a hand in penning some of the episodes) are paired up with Will Conrad and Laura Martin for this three-issue prequel to the film.

<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/dh/0705/SEREN-1-INARA.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/dh/0705/SEREN-1-INARA_t.jpg" hspace=10 align=right alt="Serenity #1 Inara Cover by J.G. Jones preview"></a>The idea here is to give long-time fans something to tide them over until the film's official release in September (you poor, poor souls for having to wait), as well as yet another step in Whedon's word-of-mouth marketing campaign to grab hold of the unitiated.

How well does the book hold up on its own with the crutch of having seen the show or being familiar with the subjects? Well, let's see.

After finishing, the book had a sort of bitter-sweet feeling to it, much like the end of Firefly. The title alone, "Those Left Behind," gives you an dication of the kind of stories that are going to be recounted here (and picked up in the film, I might add), but doesn't make it any easier to bear.

I'm happy to say that the translation from film to page has been done quite nicely. The language and dialogue have transferred nicely, and the art doesn't deviate much from what was revealed of the universe on the small screen. I also appreciated that while Conrad capture the look of each character, that he didn't go overboard in attempting to recreate the actor's faces themselves. That kind of approach can detract from the impact of the story, not to mention look kind of silly.

The first thing that struck me was how well artist Will Conrad capture the sci-fi western look of the show. On the one hand, it looks like the old west, but the inclusion of spaceships in the foreground is an amazing contrast. Right from the start, it's apparent that this is something different than what most are accustomed to seeing.

The story itself is simple. The group use Shepherd Book as a bit of a distraction while they compete with another gang to rob the city. The gang wins out, takes off, and lays the blame on Mal. Nothing too unsual there, and the hijinks as they dig themselves out of it are both amusing and exciting.

<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/dh/0705/SEREN-1-MAL.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/dh/0705/SEREN-1-MAL_t.jpg" hspace=10 align=left alt="Serenity #1 Mal Cover by John Cassaday preview"></a>There are a few solid character moments here involving Book, Inara, Zoe, and Kaylee. It's especially important for a few of these characters to be fleshed out here, as a deeper understanding and explanation of the path they choose to take is necessary in order to really dig into Serenity in the fall.

No worries if you chose to pass on this book, or haven't seen the show itself for that matter, as Serenity is mostly adapted well for an audience seeing it cold.

At the end, the mysterious Blue Sun group show up "two by two... hands of blue" and all. What the game is remains to be seen, but I loved seeing them back in action as they are some of the creepiest villains I've ever come across.

Serenity (the comic) delivers everything you could hope for and expect. It's not the show or the movie, but it's the next best thing (and the only thing) for fans to devour at the moment. It could be worse, though, as this stuff rightly shouldn't exist in the real world. The credit for its return belongs to fans who bought the DVDs, campaigned against networks, and even bought an ad in Variety to keep it going.

For those of you who haven't tried out anything related to the 'verse before, then I think this would be a good introduction. Mal comes across as snarly and self-absorbed (though in an oblivious way), and Jayne's bad attitude works perfectly here. A few of the action scenes come across a tad clunky, but I get the feeling most fans won't care as Conrad compensates for the quieter moments.

<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/dh/0705/SEREN-1-JAYNE.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/dh/0705/SEREN-1-JAYNE_t.jpg" hspace=10 align=right alt="Serenity #1 Jayne Cover by Bryan Hitch preview"></a>The writing here is seamless between Whedon and Matthews as each seem to take their cues from the other. Where one begins and the other ends is hard to see, and feels more like a leftover script from the show than a stone cold attempt to understand this complicated world.

All in all, it's worth your time and your dollars. If you spend enough, we might even get a shiny sequel from Whedon and co. To quote He-Man... or to at least paraphrase He-Man... "We... have... the POWER!!"

Or at least our dollars do.

The cover by John Cassaday resonated the most with me in the store, so that's the one I picked up. Not only does it feature Nathan Fillion's Captain Malcolm Reynolds, but it also bears a striking resemblance to art I've seen in the pages of Stephen King's The Dark Tower: Wolves of the Calla. I'm a huge fan of that series, so I'm hoping this was an intentional nod. Either way, it's a striking cover.

It's the shiniest thing in the 'verse, so pick it up today!

ART:


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'Buy this issue online now from X-WORLD and save!’

[makey0urselfsick]

uhh..you gave the story "2 1/2 +1" ?? i think you messed up there.

just pointing that out. good review.

[Toga]

oh do i need me a firefly fix!!!!!

[Clay Olsen]

oh i how i needed this... I saw the movie back in May... and i've been waiting for the 6-9 month gap between show and movie to be filled... and i finally got my gorram fix! but now i neeed more... I want it now! Dong Ma? NOW!


seriously... i wasn't expecting the Blue Sun guys... That was one of the things i've been waiting on answers for... But I'm also hoping for an intro to Mr. Universe... and hopefully a little appearance from Mrs. Renyolds...

[Paul Shinn]

After picking up the Firefly dvd from word-of-mouth on various boards here, I couldn't wait to get this series, and boy was it everything I'd hoped. It was just like reading a storyboard for the television show.

Oh, and I went for the Cassaday cover too! Anyone know who's drawing future covers?

[Martin Dudek]

Great issue. I was especially surprised by the art, I haven't heard of Conrad before this, but it was great.

[dman988]

Yeah this was some good comic stuff, can't wait for issue 2, though I won't like the covers probably, they have: Brook, Zoe, and Kaylee
Ugh! But anyway I picked up the Jayne cover it's cool

[Clay Olsen]

By the time I got to my store... the Jayne cover was all sold out... stolen by the mooks who can't wait for the savers to be done and just take the ones out of the pile while my shops doing savers... so i got stuck with Mal... not that i'm complaining.. he's just my second choice for cover... by the time i got to the store though a good sign was that there was only one issue left on the stands... and it was the last Inara cover... One guy actually tried to get me to trade my Mal for Inara... Like thats going to happen...
as for next issue... I can't decide between them... probably gonna end up with Book...

[Jesse Baer]

I was very pleased with the issue, think they did a really good job translating the characters from the TV show to the comic series, they really picked up where the show left off quite well.


As for the review, I'm really starting to hate all you lucky bastards who have seen the movie already
Joss really needs to come show the film early in St. Louis.

[Clay Olsen]

If i remember correctly St. Louis was one of the locations of the June 23rd sneaks... and i think in the round I went to as well (May 26th)... They are easy to miss... especially with people hacking Fandango to buy the tickets before they go on sale... i lucked out buying the tickets for here in Sacramento... sold out in under 20 min for the show i went to... the show before that it sold out even faster from what i hear...

[Jon Hancock]

meh. didn't turn me on to wheddon still. He's above average, but nothing too special.

[Clay Olsen]

For those interested...
there's a brand stinking new trailer up tonight for the Big Damn Movie...

http://www.cantstopthesignal.co.uk/trailer/

Waaaay better at breaking down what the movie is about than the last one too... without giving away the secrets either

[Gary Miller]

Better than I thought it'd be--some dead-on character moments, and the art was especially faithful to the spirit of the show. Wish I could've found the Inara cover around here, but it sold out before I could grab one, so I settled for Mal.

Shiniest licensed property-cum-comic I've seen in a long time.

~G.