Dark Horse continues its run of ridiculously cheap issue 1 reprints with the release of the comic book version of cult director Joss Whedon’s Serenity. 

The first thing you’ll notice about Serenity is it throws you right into the middle of a heist. There’s no introduction to where you are and when you are, everything is just how it is and the comic is just going to run with it. To a fan this is brilliant because you already know all the characters, you know the sort of planets that populate the Serenity/Firefly universe and the heist is a very familiar situation. In fact it’s a very similar start to the film version of Serenity, which the comic lead up to on its original run. To a non-fan, unfortunately, this situation would be very confusing and there’s not really much in the way of explanation in the first issue. About the only character you’ll learn anything about is Mal and that’s he was a soldier and he’s not your typical bad-ass bad guy, his crew is more important than money.  

Thing is it’s hard to mark Serenity down for being a hard book for non-fans to read because my understanding of the series is it was made for fans of the show who were disappointed with its cancellation on TV and it was an opportunity to continue the shows stories. In that respect the comic does very well as it feels like it operates in the same universe as the TV show. The technology is the same, the mix of Western and Sci-fi genres is there, the crew is all there with their individual personalities intact and it just feels like the next adventure for Mal and his crew. The story also manages to end on a suitable cliffhanger that will have fans craving more but once again non-fans will probably end up more confused than when they began. 

The main way the comic manages to capture the feeling of the show is through the terrific dialogue. Obviously having Whedon onboard has helped the comic to create dialogue that fits with the show and particularly each character. The only downside was Mal’s dialogue, that special kind of noble Western dialogue, at times doesn’t sound as good read off a piece of paper as it does spoken. It’s meant to be read in a certain way otherwise it just sounds stupid.  

The artwork manages to capture the likeness of most of the original cast with the only character looking more generic than specific being Wash, a slight disappointment as he was always my favorite. On the whole Will Conrad’s art is incredibly detailed. If you take the time out to check the backgrounds of the panels there is a lot of detail and there are a couple of stunning pages like the chase scene splash page. Conrad also manages to capture the Western/Sci-fi tone of the show from the first panel. There’s a church with a horse out the front and what looks like a frontier town in the background but also a speeder and a buggy. Seeing the technology mixed in like that is striking yet appears oddly natural. The action was handled adequately although for some reason I never got the sense that the crew were in any real danger.  

Overall, Dark Horse has released another great comic at the ridiculously good price of $1. If there are any Serenity/Firefly fans that haven’t picked up the comics yet then this is the place you need to start at. The comic feels like just another episode of the show and the ending will have you wanting more. To non-fans it’s an attractive price and with a basic understanding of the show it’d be enjoyable but going in completely cold you’ll probably struggle.