Things are looking bleak in ‘Serenity: Leaves on the Wind’ right now. With Zoe in Alliance custody, bounty hunter Jubal Early tracking down Serenity, and the crew running on fumes from lack of supplies, Captain Malcolm Reynolds is left in a tough spot and has to make some incredibly out of the box decisions. But River is determined to help her friends by diving into her memories and try to uncover more secrets that the Alliance may be hiding so that the crew will have some leverage when they attempt to retrieve their friend.
The second issue opens deep inside River’s thoughts where she picks up on something that may help the crew in their fight against the Alliance. However, Jubal Early has found himself on the ship and begins his systematic takeover of the vessel, just like he did the first time their paths crossed. But unlike last time, he makes a fatal error by overlooking someone that happens to be more than meets the eye.
Just as Early says to the crew while he has them tied up, everyone has had a tough couple of years since they last met. That’s probably one of the reasons why Kaylee was able to pull off the badassery that she does in this issue that creates one of the best moments in this series so far. It’s so great to see the tables turn when it comes to the lovable mechanic and the verbose bounty hunter. In fact, as she’s reiterating the words that Early uttered during their first meeting, we sort of see a whole new and kinda scary part of Kaylee… And it’s so great! This whole scene was one of those moments that made me sad that it wasn’t playing out onscreen.
But as great as it was to see Jubal Early get what was coming to him, the highlight of the issue had to be the final two pages. When Mal realizes that he needs another experienced lieutenant before proceeding with River’s plan, I had no idea who came to his mind. I started thinking about some of his old allies like Monty, Saffron, Badger, or even Niska. But when the reveal came, it was something so unexpected and awesome that I was incredibly stoked to lay eyes on that last panel. I may or may not have yelled, “NO WAY!” and startled my mom into thinking that something was wrong while I was reading this issue. What a great turn of events.
Basically, Zack Whedon and Georges Jeanty put together another awesome issue of ‘Serenity: Leaves on the Wind’. Everything that happens here stays true to the spirit of the show that spawned this series and I look forward to the next time this delightful comic appears in my file at my local comic book store. Every fan of ‘Firefly’ needs to be reading this book right now because it’s just so good. I might even go so far as to say that it’s one of my most favorite books on my pull list right now. If you’re not up to date, catch up and keep an eye out for the next issue. It will be well worth your time.
Final Score:
SERENITY: LEAVES ON THE WIND #3
Written by Zack Whedon
Art by Georges Jeanty, Karl Story, & Laura Martin
Cover by Dan Dos Santos
