To take on the Alliance, Captain Malcolm Reynolds has made some unlikely allies in the pages of ‘Serenity: Leaves on the Wind’. After teaming with former foe the Operative and taking up arms with the New Resistance, Mal and his crew followed River’s lead and infiltrated the facility where the Alliance was keeping the subjects of the same experiments that they tried to conduct on her. But now their presence has been felt and everyone is caught up in the heat of battle.
In the latest issue of this incredible sequel to Joss Whedon’s 2005 film, the team is in trouble. The Operative has his hands full outside while Mal, Jayne, and River aren’t exactly doing much better. But when reinforcements are called in, the battered and bruised warriors seemingly turn the tide. At least, for a few minutes.
Here’s the bottom line: I do not want this series to end. After this issue, there’s only one left, but it seems like there’s so much more that could go on. Zack Whedon has managed to capture his brother’s characters perfectly and I wish that he could go on writing this as an ongoing title. One could take this as a bias on my part because I’m such a huge ‘Firefly’ fan, but I legitimately consider this to be one of my favorite titles on my pull list. Plus, with everything set up in these five issues so far, there are so many possibilities for more story arcs.
One thing that I definitely wasn’t expecting to see was that flashback from the episode ‘Out of Gas’. With Wash’s fate at the end of ‘Serenity’, it was hard to imagine how he would join the crew in their new adventure, but this was the perfect way to bring him back. He is such a beloved character, so I’m so glad to see him here in this comic. Of course, it’s so sad once it sets in that he’s still dead, but for now, I’ll just keep it open to that page where Wash tells Mal about the big red button.
No matter how rusty his opponent thinks he, the Operative is as badass as ever. And it is so important that they showed that (especially with that incredibly gruesome scene) because it only builds up the mysterious woman that stands before him before the Browncoats arrive. We may not know who she is, but we do know that if the Operative is afraid of her, then she is incredibly dangerous. Excellent storytelling with only a few strategically placed panels. I also have a feeling that she’ll come back in a big way in the last issue.
There’s so much that needs to be wrapped up next month in ‘Serenity: Leaves on the Wind’. It’ll be sad to say goodbye to the crew of Serenity once again, but here’s hoping that we go out on a high note.
Final Score:
SERENITY: LEAVES ON THE WIND #5
Written by Zack Whedon
Art by Georges Jeanty, Karl Story, & Laura Martin
Cover by Dan Dos Santos
