By Robin Jones
Written by Zack Whedon
Art by George Jeanty
I’m not the biggest fan of Serenity in the ‘verse, but I’m definitely amongst those who have been hoping for its return. It was a massively underrated TV show, a fantastic sleeper hit 8 years ago and had a wealth of great characters and was something that is sorely lacking in modern cinema, it was ORIGINAL! Step in Zack Whedon and Dark Horse comics. They bring us the long awaited next instalment of Mal Reynolds, Zoe Washburne, River Tam and all the other crew of the Fire-Fly class ship, Serenity: Leaves on the Wind.
Picking up months after the revelations at the end of the film, Serenity LotW most definitely isn’t a jumping on point for those new to the series. Whilst there is some back tracking over previous events, a prior knowledge of the film is needed to get to grips with the meat of this story. After the loss of some of their own in the film, the rag-tag crew are in hiding, beset by problems of single parenting, being accused of lying to start a new galactic civil war and are being hunted by bounty hunters, mercenaries and the authorities over the revelations made at the end of the film. The script, written by Zack Whedon, younger brother of Joss, seems to lack the wit and bite of the TV series and film, with Mal coming across much less the wily, strong character he is in those respectively. Whilst laden with several nice surprises for our crew, a haunting scene involving Zoe’s late husband Hoban (my personal favourite character…) and packing several punches, personally I found it wanting. Perhaps I need to reacquaint myself with the show again to fully appreciate it!
Art wise, George Jeantry’s work is solid, but the characters are often a little ropey, with several scenes where I can’t tell Mal apart from Simon Tam, however the stand out scenes, involving the afore mentioned moment with Hoban etc don’t really make up for this. There really aren’t many stand out scenes for me. Again perhaps this is due to having been separated from the source material for so long, but I wanted so much more from Leaves on the Wind than it actually delivered. It was much less space-western than I desired.
In closing, Serenity: Leaves on the Wind is a must for fans of Mal and the gang as they travel across the ‘verse. It gives new stories, new life and new hope for perhaps a continuing of the series in a live action format. However, for this to happen, it needs to be a stronger effort. I was left disappointed by the lack of punch to the story, the toned down characters and ultimately what was delivered. Here’s hoping we can see these leaves on the wind soar in the future.
I give this 4 out of 10
You can avoid the slight turbulence and not explode by checking out the Serenity series right HERE!
For more comic views and reviews follow Robin on Twitter at @Hulksmash1985
Posted on January 31st, 2014
Category: PULP FRICTION, REVIEWS
Tags: Comic Blog, Comic Reviews, Dark Horse Comics, George Jeanty, Robin Jones, Serenity, Serenity Leaves on the Wind #1 Review, Zack Whedon