Serenity: No Power in the ‘Verse #1 Review

For those who continue living their lives in a perpetual state of of anger/bitterness over Firefly being canceled decades ago (like me), today offers a glimmer of light. Dark Horse, the same company behind the incredible Leaves on the Wind miniseries, has begun another potentially great story featuring the crew of the Serenity.

Is it good?

Serenity: No Power in the ‘Verse #1 (Dark Horse Comics)

Observations

• Good to see Mal & Co. smuggling again.
• Kind of weird seeing River being trusted with an infant, though.
• Huh. Hadn’t thought about why Inara left in a long time.
• I take back what I said about River. She’s an awesome babysitter. Jayne, on the other hand…
• Love that we’re connecting back to Leaves on the Wind, but even the baby could sniff out that this is a trap.
• Yep, it’s a trap.

Is It Good?

While this doesn’t get off to as fantastic a start as Leaves on the Wind Did, No Power in the ‘Verse is still a very solid opening chapter.

Just like last time, Georges Jeanty’s art is superb. He manages to capture all the character’s likenesses while also retaining a distinct style of his own.

Story-wise, there’s not a whole lot of narrative momentum until the very end—which leaves us with a predictable and poorly explained cliffhanger. Before that, though, writer Chris Roberson hits all the right notes. He not only brings back the comfortable character interactions Firefly fans know and love, but also believably examines how their relationships have changed in the last few years.

Another mark in Roberson’s favor is his ability to add backstory canon that still feels organic. Instead of shoehorning in some unknown event in Browncoast history, we learn that much like in real life battles, the Unification War did not end with a clean break. This is a great chance to explore another pocket of the Firefly universe along with seeing how Mal reacts to people even more grudgingly idealistic than him.

Do I wish the story driving things forward was a little better formed so far? Sure. But just like the television show, No Power in the ‘Verse looks like it gets the most important part of any Firefly story: The characters.