After a great cliff hanger last month, writer Zack Whedon and artist Georges Jeanty continue their love letter to Firefly fandom.
Does issue #4 reveal The Operative to be a changed man? Will Mal finally man up and help lead a new Brown Coat revolution? Is Zoe going to go full Rorschach on her fellow inmates?
How much more awesomeness can be packed into another chapter of this story… and is it good?
Serenity: Leaves on the Wind #4 (Dark Horse Comics)
The crew is not happy about seeing the man who murdered Shepard Book walking around on their ship. Mal isn’t too thrilled about it, either, which finally gives him and Jayne some common ground upon which to begin mending their fences.
As if things weren’t tense enough on Serenity, it appears that Bea as completely lost her faith in Captain Tight Pants. What she does have, however, is a way to help the ship’s crew and The Operative break into the medical facility that once held River.
Their quest to obtain an army of crazy kung fu girls leads to a few very cool moments and startling revelations:
1. The Operative might actually not be a complete dick (anymore, at least).
2. The triumphant return of ‘Vera.’
3. As the good Admiral Ackbar once proclaimed… well… you know…
The final reveal, however, is absolutely horrifying. It’s a scenario that the crew really should have anticipated as a possibility, but the frantic rush to rescue to their friend has led them to a force even deadlier than the Reavers.
In the meantime, two other events unfold underneath the main story:
– Jubal Early is dealt with in a manner that is both brutal and somewhat hilarious (much like him).
– Zoe finds her inner Momma Grizzly and kicks some serious ass.
“…now one of you go get me some Midol!”
Is It Good?
My biggest disappointment about this issue is that it leads us into the last one next month. Does it really have to end?
I wouldn’t expect Zack Whedon to make every arc a blockbuster like this one, but there are so many wonderful things happening here that the peace I made with Firefly going off the air is coming unraveled. Not only had I forgotten just how wonderful this universe was, but I’d vastly underestimated how many great stories it had left to tell.
Zack Whedon has proven himself to be a master at weaving together all the best things from Firely to create new and exciting tales. His ability to give each of these characters’ their distinct voices is spot on. We’ve also begun to see the seeds of the great character arcs that are a hallmark of stories in the Whedonverse. In just one issue, one of the crew’s greatest adversaries turns into someone the reader will actually find themselves rooting for.
A Firefly/Serenity series operating anywhere near this capacity on a monthly basis would be a truly wonderful thing. As it stands now, however, it looks like we get just one more chapter in this superb, beautifully drawn story by Whedon and Jeanty.
This issue did had a few minor issues (like Zoe’s part feeling a bit tacked on), but otherwise, it was another fantastic read. If you miss ‘Firefly’ as much as I do, then this series isn’t just a good fix. It’s exactly what we’ve been waiting for (besides the series continuing on Netflix, obviously).
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