Is It Good? Serenity Leaves on the Wind #5

After another great cliffhanger last month (along with me incorrectly labeling this issue as the final one in the series), Mal & Co. face off against the Alliance and a very dangerous little girl. Is it good?

Serenity: Leaves on the Wind #5 (Dark Horse)

While The Operative fights outside, the crew of Serenity are in the lab and getting their asses handed to them by the evil version of River. Mal gets knifed and knocked out, leading us to a very cool/heartbreaking flashback where we get to see:

• A great call back to the classic Firefly episode ‘Out of Gas.’
• How the red button from that episode was now going to help save them.

“I got your miracle right here!”
• LMal raising a new Browncoat army…

…which zerg rushes the Alliance forces and defeats them despite sustaining heavy losses. We also get to see The Operative chop someone’s head in half, which is always fun.

Back inside the lab, River takes out the psycho girl, who they take captive along with a head Alliance military officer. While the crew works on healing the girl, the officer goes full Dr. Light on them, revealing a truly masterfully plan to decimate the new resistance that he’d already set in motion and executed.

Unfortunately for him, this pushes Captain Reynolds pass the point of ‘reluctant anti-hero’ into ‘Big Damn Hero’ territory…and this time he’s got a psychic onboard who can pick away at the officer’s brain.

Is It Good?

If you’ve been reading my reviews of this series, then you already know that I love it more than bacon. Seriously, I keep waiting to have my expectations exceed what’s delivered, but every issue is even better than I’d hoped.

The story keeps finding a perfect balance of moving things forward while organically calling back to the past. These aren’t just ‘easter eggs’, either; they are key plot elements that tie in beautifully with the overall tale.

The only part that didn’t sit well with me was Mal’s willingness to send so many people to their death for a plan revolving around one person (Zoe), but the man is willing to do anything for those he loves…including that.

…and he got punched in the face really hard. That will make anybody take desperate measures for revenge/escape.

And by the way, curse you Zack Whedon for pulling on my heart strings like that with the Wash flashback in ‘Out of Gas.’ I mean that in a good way, but still…curse you.