Review: Firefly #23

The Firefly run by Greg Pak and Lalit Kumar Sharma continues to be a strong run with interesting characters and conflicts. It steadily expands on the mythos and adds layers to new characters. The most interesting of which here is the addition of Malcolm Reynolds outlaw Ma who has a very low opinion of her son.

Mal has major identity issues from all sides as the sinister corporation Blue Sun has created android versions of him, inspired by his role as sheriff of the Georgia Space sector, to enforce corporate order across the galaxy. The crew realizes that issue with destroying the androids is that it would also destroy Blue Sun technology that many innocents depend on.

The issue begins with Boss Moon discovering quickly that the android versions of male are very specific in terms of what legal recourse is they will allow in their sectors. She quickly make short work of the androids were trying to stop her from taking justifiable recourse. Shepard Book invites her to safety with the crew of Serenity.

Mal’s mother warns the crew of Serenity that they ultimately can’t count on Mal. Mal visits Blue Sun headquarters where he tests the weakness and strengths of his android counter points before warning Director Sang of an imminent attack on the androids’ kill switch. This leads Blue Sun agents to head directly to the location of the kill switch allowing the Serenity crew to follow.

Mal joins back up with the crew as Boss Moon reminds Ma of the tight friendships Mal has formed over the years and what that says about the man he has become.

This book has benefited from consistent, clear story-telling and the longer this run goes the more depth there is to the art and characterization. There is still not enough focus on the larger Serenity cast. Wash and Book have their moments but the comic is still largely Malcolm-centered as all the characters seem to only find meaning in how they feel about Mal.

That said the story telling us polished, thoughtful, funny and entertaining. The art by Sharma with additional art by Daniel Bayliss captures the tone of the show with a detailed old west tone mashed up with technology. There is not enough artistic emphasis on Asian culture which was always a great feature of the series, as the shift here is more on corporate structures than revealing more about the culture and language of the future.

The Blue Sun Rising story continues to create a larger enemy for Mal and the crew to focus on. The larger moral complexities of this conflict should play out over the next few issues as they work to attack the kill switch and potential knock out technology which has become vital to the universe around them.

Writing: 4.2 of 5 stars
Art: 4.4 of 5 stars
Colors: 4.6 of 5 stars

[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

Writer: Greg Pak
Art: Lalit Kumar Sharma and Daniel Bayliss
Colors: Marcelo Costa
Publisher: BOOM Studios

Author Profile

M.R. Jafri

M.R. Jafri was born and raised in Niagara Falls New York and now lives with his family in Detroit Michigan. He's a talkative introvert and argumentative geek. His loves include Star Wars, Star Trek, Superheroes, Ninja Turtles, Power Rangers, Transformers, GI Joe, Films, Comics, TV Shows, Action Figures and Twizzlers.