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‘Firefly #8:’ Advance Comic Book Review

Quick recap from the last issue: The gang’s all broken up. Jayne has been arrested, because the sheriff thinks he’s Wash. River and Simon are playing along / egging on that notion. Kaylee and Leonard have gone to join / save them while Wash, Inara, and Book are trying to catch up with Zoe. Meanwhile, Mal and Moon continue their odd couple shtick.

Issue #8 reads like the climax of a particularly tense episode of Firefly. There are many moving pieces, and they’re all spinning at top speed individually which will probably culminate in a pretty explosive end. (Isn’t that typically how it goes with our BDH?) To say that things have spiraled out of control might be a bit of an understatement.

I wasn’t sure if I cared much for filling in the past of the crew, seeing as Dark Horse’s Serenity series had finally moved the narrative forward considerably. That being said, Greg Pak continues to give us some great “lost” Firefly stories. Pak captures the essence of the ‘Verse, giving these characters history and motivations that seamlessly blend with what we already know about them. Most of the characters get some love here, though the Tams are still woefully sidelined, despite being the most wanted fugitives in the ‘Verse.

Pak also nails the occasionally kooky lexicon of the ‘Verse; a favorite of mine in this issue is when Moon says that things have gone “crabfoot.” Speaking of Moon, Pak has created a wonderfully nuanced character here, and each new revelation makes her even more fascinating, whether it’s her history, her relationship with her mother, or even her relationship woes. Her begrudging truce with Mal is a fantastic “two enemies go on a roadtrip” comedy special.

Plotwise, the stakes keep getting higher, and it’s all thanks to individual members of the team making calls without having all of the information. All these good intentions are definitely paving the way for some hell to pay.

Not much more can be said about Dan McDaid’s work on this series that I haven’t already said ad nauseum by now. In short, I dig it. Hard. Vicenzo Federici’s inks and Marcelo Costa’s colors are also pretty awesome. It’s a great-looking book that avoids looking cookie cutter.

Overall: Everything’s going “crabfoot” in the best possible way, entertainment-wise. Things don’t look too great for the team.   

Creative Team: Greg Pak (writer), Dan McDaid (pencils), Vincenzo Federici (inks), Marcelo Costa (colors), Jim Campbell (letterer)
Publisher: BOOM! Studios
Click here to purchase.

Wenxian Tan, Fanbase Press Contributor

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