Firefly #1 Review

Writer: Greg Pak

Artist: Dan McDaid

Colorist: Marcelo Costa

Letterer: Jim Campbell

Publisher: Boom! Studios

Expanding on Joss Whedon’s famously cut-short cult classic television series of the same name, Firefly #1 continues chronicling the voyages of Serenity (a Firefly-class spaceship) and the adventures of her crew.

This issue should stand as a good jumping-off point for curious readers who have never seen the tv series. On the credits page, an adaptation of the opening narration from the show introduces the space-western (heavy on the “western”) universe of Firefly’s 26th Century future. However, it neglects to properly introduce the entire cast of characters that make up Serenity’s crew. Several have roles that can quickly be identified within the pages of Issue #1 (Wash is seen piloting, Kaylee spends most of her time doing maintenance on the ship), but it may require a few minutes of web-searching for newcomers to identify what exactly Jayne’s role is on the ship (hint: it’s not public relations). If this comic is to serve as a starting point for the uninitiated, River and Simon deserved at least their own paragraph in the opener to explain how the respective psychic and surgeon fit into all of this.

In the first few pages, the trademark quips felt a bit forced and I was a little worried that Greg Pak’s script would offer us little more than a mediocre Joss Whedon impersonation. But by the fifth page, the word balloons began to capture the comedic timing of that signature Firefly banter and my doubts were never given reason to return.

This first issue doesn’t push many boundaries or take characters anywhere particularly fresh, but it feels like the first of many new episodes in the long-dormant series. It doesn’t do much more than reintroduce the cast and set the stage, but it captures the crew and the familiar universe of Firefly faithfully and effectively. Because of that focus, it suffers a little from a one-of-everything approach in its twenty pages: Mal and Inara’s begrudging romance comes up a few times without much reason or direction, Reavers get a quick mention, and River gets her savant moment with no real explanation. But the setup promises an exciting chapter to follow, now that introductions have been made.

It appears that this series is beginning a delve into Mal’s past and his time during the war as a soldier. Several flashbacks occur over the course of the issue and, while the tv show focused on war's hopelessness and on Mal’s loss of faith, this comic seems more focused on the horrors of war - with grim panels doused in red and smattered with blood. There’s a danger in this: part of the effectiveness of the scoundrel-with-a-heart-of-gold archetype is that - while killing often comes with the territory - it is usually shown sanitized and bloodless. The viewer is typically allowed to dissociate the fact that our lovable ruffian is whistling while he works (read: kills) when he’s shooting nameless goons (in lines of work not far from those of our crew) who fall away to allow for the thrilling heroics. The more visible the blood drawn on Mal’s hands, the harder it may be for him to wash it all away with a wink and a smile.

I mention that because of a single panel, and because it’s one of the only little details in the whole comic that doesn’t have the satisfying tone of Firefly brimming from its pages. Dan McDaid’s rugged artwork and Marcelo Costa’s chaotic coloring evoke the tv series just as much as Pak’s writing, from the first painterly splash of Serenity in motion. It's engine is in flames, drifting through a clouded blue vision of space - more reminiscent of a terrestrial night sky than the typical cold, black expanse. Character designs can sometimes be inconsistent, but they’re always expressive and fit this seedy, bustling outer-reaches underworld. Also particularly noteworthy in this issue, the page layout is fantastic: characters descend ladders into lower panels, a tier might sway or list with the ship, and borderless flashbacks rise out from beneath or behind the current action. 

Firefly #1 reads like a lost episode of the beloved show. It feels great to be back aboard with these characters and they’re just how you remember them. The comic captures that mixed-western motif and the muddy blend of futuristic tech with dust and grit inside its workings. Comfortable to spend most of its pages reintroducing rather than reinventing, there’s a hint of turbulence as Serenity takes to the sky, but she’s still flying - and flying smoothly - after the first few pages. It’s good to be back in the ‘Verse.