Serenity: Leaves on the Wind, Issues #5 & #6, by Dark Horse Comics

Okay, first off I want to apologize for the relative lateness of this particular post. Due to the regular internet blackouts I've been suffering, I just plain forgot when the final issue of Leaves on the Wind came out. On top of that due to one thing and another I wasn't able to upload a new post until very recently. Rest assured, dear readers, that the Kalpar is out there fighting the good fight. Just mostly without internet.

Secondly, I want to state that I was rather disappointed with this series as a whole. You may recall that early on I voiced some concerns because it seemed like they were rehashing old ideas that had been utilized in the series rather than introducing new ideas and expanding the 'Verse. Now I can understand a desire to establish a sense of continuity with the series and movie, reusing old ideas, old characters, and old situations, but honestly I don't think it was necessary to make a good comic. You already have the continuity of the characters and the ship from the original series and as readers we want to know what happens to Serenity and her crew. And I think I'd like to see new and exciting adventures for her as well. And going in new directions is probably the real strength for the comics. For example, probably my favorite Serenity comic is Float Out, a one-shot story that shared stories of Wash's past as told by three different people who knew him. Float Out preserved continuity with the character of Wash, but introduced new aspects of his past. Granted, we already knew that Wash was a great pilot and saw that quite a few times, but we get to see how Wash forged his reputation while still being that funny, goofy, pretty nice guy that we know and love. Of course, this isn't guaranteed to work. I don't much care for The Shepherd's Tale (BECAUSE IT MAKES NO SENSE!) But there was at least an attempt to build the 'Verse up.

The biggest problem I have with Leaves on the Wind is that it squanders its potential as a story. In the first issue, you get a feeling of how very big things have become. Mal and company can no longer stay out of the way of the Alliance because their names are on everybody's lips. The New Resistance waxes in strength and the foundation of the Alliance begins to crumble. Personally I was really interested in seeing the aftereffects of the revelation regarding the Reavers and how the Alliance sought to maintain control. But the story....doesn't go there. It may start out big, but it contracts and becomes very, very small, focusing once again on Malcolm and his crew while the Alliance disappears into the background. The story starts with Mal trying to lie low, and ends with him trying to lie low.

Which actually leads to my other frustration is that things don't change terribly much over the course of the comics. Yes, things happen, but they don't really build the 'Verse in a meaningful way. Bea joins Serenity's crew, but Bea received so little development of a character in this miniseries that she could be replaced by a cardboard cutout with no real changes. Mal decides he's going to start fighting back against the Alliance rather than running away. A decision which he had already made (quite dramatically I might add) in the film and apparently forgot in the intervening nine months. Finally we get a new villain who's determined to capture River. This does set up a new conflict for what I'm assuming will be the inevitable next set of comics, but aside from the most basic details of the new villain we don't really know much about them. We don't even get a name. And I get the feeling like we're still stuck story-wise and we can't break out of the larger arc of “River on the run from the Alliance”. Which the movie was supposed to tie up in a nice neat bow. It all feels very frustrating.

As a die-hard Browncoat I'll probably find myself sucked into the next series of comics that come out, but my expectations are going to stay fairly low. It just seems like the comic creators can't really strike out in a new direction with the series, even in its new format. Possibly the new villain will make things a little more interesting, but I'm not optimistic. But here's hoping. Keep 'em flying.

- Kalpar  

Serenity: Leaves on the Wind, Issues #3 & #4, by Dark Horse Comics

This week I'm taking a look at the two latest issues of the miniseries Serenity: Leaves on the Wind. As I mentioned in my previous review, I had some serous concerns regarding this particular series and the direction that it seemed to be going. Particularly with the tendency to rehash and reuse already existing ideas rather than expanding and improving upon the 'Verse. As this project comes closer to an end, being ostensibly only a six-issue miniseries, the initial intentions of this project seem rather audacious in hindsight. Put together, these six issues might have enough material for one, possibly two forty-five minute episodes of the original TV show. All of the questions and potential plot threads that this miniseries raises could be covered with a whole season of a TV show, rather than just a few episodes. The result is the feeling that we will be left with an unsatisfying finish to a story that had already been tied up.

WARNING: Dear and gentle readers, I have once again found it sadly necessary to delve into the spoiler material of this particular work and shall be doing so in the rest of the review. If you are desirous of avoiding spoilers, now is the time to avert your eyes. 

The third issue consists of almost a repeat of the episode "Objects in Space", as Jubal Early takes out the members of the crew one by one, but with the added twist that Jubal (somehow) forgets about Kaylee and she whacks him over the head with a giant wrench. Mal and crew debate what exactly to do next, with River saying they should go break into the Academy and rescue more of the students to they can rescue Zoe from the prison she's been sent to. Of course, they can't do this without help so Mal finds the Operative from  Serenity and they team up.

The fourth issue begins with the Operative coming on board and Serenity's crew dumping a bound Jubal Early as they take off, presumably to his death. (Although I get the feeling that he'll be back again as well.) A little bit of development is given to the prison planet where Zoe's been sent. Much like a Siberian gulag the environment makes escape impossible so there's not much hope. Otherwise we see the gang break into the Academy only to discover: 1. it's a trap, and 2. all the other students at the Academy have been successfully brainwashed which means the crew is now in incredible danger.

I think my biggest frustration is the return of both Jubal Early and the Operative. When the Operative was revealed at the end of issue #3, I was half-expecting Saffron to pop out of a trash can at some point in the next issue as well. In a, let's cram everyone possible into the series sort of thing. Fortunately, that did not happen, but I'm sort of left wondering why we even bothered with Jubal Early. He doesn't seem to do anything to the plot other than (very temporarily) inconvenience the characters. He shows up out of space, tracks them down, gets beaten by Kaylee, and then dumped out the airlock. It's like all the time we spent with him could have been better spent further developing the plot. I get the feeling he was included because the creators think he's this really cool character and want to see more of him, but I was never really a fan. He's just sort of this dangerous, violent sociopath that is less interesting (to me) than Jayne.

My outlook for the next to comics and the theoretical finish to this series is not terribly optimistic. I feel like the creators have spent four issues building bigger and greater challenges for the heroes to overcome and now we're faced with two issues to resolve everything by the end. Maybe they'll be able to pull it off in two issues but my biggest fear is that it'll be so haphazard and rushed that it will fail to give a real sense of closure to this project. I'd also complain about the lack of focus on the larger macro-scale of the sociopolitical structure, but Firefly never was really about that so it's an invalid complaint. Hopefully things will get better, but I'm not exactly sanguine.

- Kalpar

Serenity: Leaves on the Wind, Issues #1 & #2, by Dark Horse

As my fellow Browncoats probably know already, Dark Horse Comics is releasing a miniseries of what my sources tell me shall be six issues called Leaves on the Wind. The miniseries will follow the adventures of the crew of Serenity about eight months after the movie that tied up all the loose ends from the TV series. Well, most of them anyway. The first issue came out in late January this year and the second issue was released this past week. Dark Horse is planning to release the third issue late this March, but I am aware it could be released a few weeks later.

The first issue works on establishing the setting for the miniseries. The grip of the Alliance after the events of Serenity has been weakened and a revival of Browncoat resistance has occurred, but the Alliance is still very strong and working very hard to keep a handle on the rapidly deteriorating condition. Malcolm Reynolds and the diminished crew of Serenity are on the run, hiding out in the middle of nowhere until things settle down, but diminishing supplies mean they may have to come out of hiding sooner than they'd anticipate. We also are introduced to Bea, a new character and a leader of the New Resistance against the Alliance, as well as some antagonists who desperately want River safely contained. While the secret of Miranda may be out, there are plenty more Alliance secrets inside her head.

Issue #2 starts the main conflict as Mal and crew are forced out of hiding and the hammer of the Alliance comes down fairly quickly, forcing them to react. I will admit that I've begun to get a little worried at this point because I get the feeling that the comic is starting to just retread old ground rather than introduce new ideas. With only four issues left I'm hoping we can see that there is still some more potential for the Firefly universe rather than a rehashing of the same old plots. I will admit that while Better Days, one of the previous comics set in the middle of the TV series, was not my favorite, it at least explored some new ground and gave some greater depth to characters we already knew. With Leaves on the Wind, I'm really hoping that we'll see some progress with the overall plot of the 'Verse and maybe get to see the Alliance actually on the run for once, faced with a power they can't contain or control. Hopefully things will improve in the next few issues.

- Kalpar