Review: Serenity: Those Left Behind
It's been years and Firefly is still great. There isn't a single wasted episode and it seems like every minute means something. Each character has an important part to play and it had its own style that was not only Joss Whedon but added in the flavor of the actors as well, something few shows can do so quickly and many are never able to do at all.
Having gotten a movie from a TV series that lasted such a short time is impressive and it was one of the best science fiction movies of all time. If it had one flaw it was that it jumped past a fair amount of story. There were characters who were no longer on the ship, and other side characters, especially villains, that the movie just didn't have time to deal with. "Serenity: Those Left Behind" bridges the gap between the movies and the TV series perfectly. It answers nearly all, if not all the questions one would have after watching everything that has been put to video.
The first thing that you will see when picking up "Serenity: Those Left Behind" is the art. As is typical with comic books based on live action properties the art is quite realistic. The characters in general look exactly like the actors playing them. Only Mal ever looks off but even then only a little.
The story feels very much like an episode of Firefly. It even starts with the same story of how earth was used up that preceded every episode, though I truly missed the theme song and was tempted to find a copy and play it before I began to read. From there you find that they are on yet another planet robbing them, this time having Sheppard Book give a sermon as a distraction for the robbery, but there is another crew trying to steal the same money and they get the drop on Mal, Zoe and Jane.
Mal is willing to give up the money, but when the robbers ask for his gun the fight begins. This is not only fun but it sets up a good reason why Mal wouldn't want Jane to bring any grenades with him on a mission as he nearly gets them all killed. It also sets up one of the many great quotable lines in this book. "This gun got me through the war, it's one of only two things I can recall that did, and stuck with me afterwords" putting the second half over Zoe's face just in case you don't know.
From the introduction from Nathan Fillion at the beginning to the back cover art there is no doubt that this comic book is a work of love, but more than anything else what it really does is make me want them to make more Firefly.
