Book Review: Serenity: Leaves on the Wind

Serenity: Leaves on the Wind

Zack Whedon, Georges Jeanty, Joss Whedon

In the film��Serenity,��outlaw Malcolm Reynolds and his crew revealed to the entire ‘verse the crimes against humanity undertaken by the sinister government–the Alliance. Here, in the official follow-up to the film, the crew has been in hiding since becoming everyone’s most wanted, and now they are forced to come out. River uncovers more secrets, leading these former Browncoats on a dangerous mission against the Alliance that, with hope, will bring them together again . . .

Television writer Zack Whedon (Deadwood, Southland, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) continues the saga of Joss Whedon’s space cowboys!

Leaves on the Wind is the official follow-up to Serenity, the movie sequel to the Firefly TV series. ��A fair bit has happened since the end of Serenity, so the reader has��to play a little bit of catch-up in this book. ��Most notably, Zoe is pregnant with what I assume is Wash’s child. ��They must have conceived shortly before he died in the movie.

The story was good, but I get the sense that there’s some real trouble brewing. ��This graphic novel sets up what looks to be a very large story arc that will continue on for quite some time.

I rate myself as about a 75% Firefly/Serenity fan. ��I enjoyed the movie and TV shows, but I’m not a browncoat (Serenity’s equivalent to Star Trek’s Trekkies). ��I can’t reference episodes and I don’t remember many of the characters beyond the core cast. ��However, Whedon does a good job of laying out the story so that I can remember bits and pieces and pick up tidbits if I’ve forgotten something.

I had a little difficulty with this story told as a visual medium. ��There are some characters who look similar when drawn (but are much more obviously different from each other when seen on TV), and so a few times I had to look at secondary characteristics to determine who I was looking at. ��(In particular, I had some trouble between River and Kaylee and sometimes Inarra; as well, for secondary characters, I had great trouble telling Jubal Early apart from��“The Operative” from the Serenity movie, whose name escapes me at the moment — but he’s the “bad guy” from the movie.) ��However, by slowing down my reading and really examining the artwork, I could follow along easier.

All in all, a good read. ��I always find, though, that graphic novels are a quick read, especially when it’s a very large story and world like this one.