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‘Firefly: Brand New ‘Verse #1’ – Advance Comic Book Review

Set twenty years since the events of the current Firefly series, “Brand New ‘Verse” is, well, pretty new and different. Zoë is now the captain of the Serenity, though it’s a title that her daughter Emma is jockeying for. Along for the ride are the new ship engineer Lu and muscle Salo. The first issue of this new series does the usual: sets up the new status quo, establishes interpersonal relationships, and, finally, introduces a central conflict. As “pilots” go, it’s a pretty solid first issue.

Josh Lee Gordon (Firefly: “Bad Company”) takes the helm here, and he confidently steers us into a new era of the ‘Verse. The time and change aspect really resonated with me here, seeing just how much can change in just 20 years, even if much of the landscape still seems kind of the same. The crew may be new, but Serenity is still a pirate ship. The tech may be different, but the corporation producing it is still the same major player as before. Trends seem to come and go, but there still seems to be a certain universality of the human experience; parents and their children will butt heads on certain issues, like doing chores, or homework, or on what progress means. It’s why #StoriesMatter. They show us that shared universality helps us to connect with those who came before us, and if we’re wise enough to heed their lessons, they may just make it easier to connect with those that will come after us, too.

Fabiana Mascolo’s artwork is nice and clean with good likenesses. I especially like how her overlapping panels give the impression of a panning camera, so that the pages seem really dynamic. Lucia DiGiamarino’s colors are a fresh breath of air, in this case because they make the ‘Verse look so much more… optimistic? There’s a certain lightness to the proceedings. To be fair, it looks like most of the pages take place on the core planets and not the usual borderlands that have come to dominate so much of the ‘Verse’s landscape. Last, but definitely not least, Jim Campbell seems to make just about any book he letters an easy read. Whether it’s voices over intercoms, tone, volume, or sound effects, Campbell makes it all easy to “hear” the nuances.

Overall, it’s a shiny, new era with lots of shiny things to see, but some threats seem to stay the same. Firefly remains a commentary on corporate greed and capitalism and stays on the side of the have-nots.

Creative Team: Josh Lee Gordon (writer), Fabiana Mascolo (art), Lucia DiGiamarino (colors), Jim Campbell (letterer)
Publisher: BOOM! Studios
Click here to purchase.

Wenxian Tan, Fanbase Press Contributor

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