Broken Frontier

The final issue of the Serenity comic just hit the stands. This story arc was designed to bridge the gap between the cult favorite T.V. series Firefly and the upcoming feature film Serenity, both created by the nearly ubiquitous Joss Whedon.

For those of you who haven’t heard of Firefly, it was a show set in outer space with a cowboy sensibility. A band of misfits sail on a boat in the middle of the black, flying just outside of the reach of the law. Serenity is the feature film that continues the stories of Captain Malcolm Reynolds and the crew of Serenity.

To recap the miniseries, Mal, Zoe and Jayne are searching for some nebulous treasure at the behest of the nefarious Badger. Meanwhile the revenge-minded Agent Dobson (he’s the guy that Mal shot in the face during the pilot to Firefly) and the Blue Hands duo have a plan to make life tough for the Big Damn Heroes.

Brett Matthews’ dialogue captures the voices of our heroes fairly well, though the book feels a bit out of balance. While some secrets are revealed and bridges are burned, I was actually surprised at how little time is spent on the resolution of the stories. I want to know just a bit more about the characters by the end of the book. I fear that the things I want to know will never be addressed.

When it comes to comics based on licensed properties, there’s always the problem of capturing likenesses. In this regard, Will Conrad does a pretty good job, except for Simon, the ship’s doctor. I had to read the book a couple times before the geography made sense. It’s a bit disappointing because on Firefly, the layout of the ship was so well-defined. There’s a bit where the action is a mite obscure, and I found myself confused as to what exactly was going on. Of course, the set-up is all there in the first couple pages, but it didn’t quite jump out at me. The action is a bit muddy, as though this book was drawn in a hurry.

Laura Martin’s colors are really nicely done, capturing the mood of each scene. She’s really spent the time exploring the color design on the T.V. series. Each space is well cast, and shadings carry a bit of the hand-drawn feeling.

This miniseries has left me with a lot of thoughts about the future of Serenity, and the stories left to tell. It’s clear to me that Joss wants to tie up a lot of loose ends that he won’t be able to address in the upcoming film(s). For tried and true Browncoats, this is going to be a necessary purchase, and this issue resolves the miniseries well enough, but it leaves me hungry for more.