Firefly: Brand New 'Verse #1 Review

by Nick Devonald on March 24, 2021

Writer: Josh Lee Gordon
Artist: Fabiana Mascolo
Colours: Lucia DiGiamarino
Letters: Jim Campbell

Firefly: Brand New ‘Verse makes the bold decision to jump forward in time 20 years from the original Firefly series. As you would imagine a lot has changed since Mal piloted Serenity. This first issue follows Zoe and her now mostly grown up daughter Emma, onboard Serenity. Apart from a brief cameo from a certain companion the rest of the cast is brand new. But while some things change, others don’t. The crew are still taking illegal jobs, the ship is falling apart, and nothing is ever straight forward.

Josh Lee Gordon does a good job of capturing the humour that was prevalent throughout Firefly, but it’s a brave choice to choose Zoe to be the only remaining member of the crew who is familiar to readers. But this is a side of Zoe we’ve never seen before, as she has a grown daughter who yearns for independence but doesn’t quite have the maturity to warrant it yet.

Most of this issue is spent letting the readers get to know Emma and the rest of the crew. It’s far too early to say where the plot will take us, or even whether the characters will come to have a special place in our hearts like the original crew of Serenity did. And while it’s almost inevitable that we’ll get cameo’s from the rest of the crew over the course of the series, this series is really about the next generation within the Firefly ‘Verse. It feels like Boom really want to make the most of the Firefly licence but aren’t completely clear where to go with it. It’ll be interesting to see how this unfolds and whether or not this has been a good choice.

Fabiana Mascolo does a great job with the art. Some of the faces Zoe pulls, raised eyebrows, are spot on and really reminiscent of the TV series. And the locations are expertly brought to life. Serenity looks like it always did. Alliance planets, companions quarters, Mascolo gets it all spot on. There is no doubting that this is set firmly in the Firefly ‘verse. Then the final touch are the colours from Lucia DiGiamarino which look great.

It’s early days in this series, which has made the bold move to jump forward in time by 20 years from its parent series. So far, all the pieces are there, with so much potential on offer, but only time will tell if it lives up to its namesake or not. One of the strengths of Firefly were the crew, and by removing them here are they paving the way for greatness or a disaster? Only time will tell.  Either way the art looks great and really captures the Firefly ‘Verse.

Our Score:

7/10

A Look Inside