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