There Is A Firefly Comic Book That Continues The Joss Whedon Story
Fans of Joss Whedon’s all-too-short sci-fi series Firefly campaigned for more adventures from Mal and the rest pretty much from the moment Fox canceled the damn thing.
And all that Firefly attention did work in a way: we got Serenity, a big-screen bit of closure that was both awesome and characteristically heartbreaking for some of our favorite characters.
But the Browncoats still didn’t want to accept that their favorite show was dead, and over the years, there were countless rumors about how Firefly might return as another movie, or a new show on Netflix, and so on.
One medium where Firefly has enjoyed an extended life has been on the comics page, and in 2014, the story continued thanks to Dark Horse Comics.
Dark Horse Comics has published numerous Firefly/Serenity comics in the past, including mini-series, one-shots, and short stories.
Serenity: Leaves on the Wind is a 6-issue comic book miniseries published by Dark Horse Comics in 2014. It marked a major continuation of the Firefly/Serenity story, picking up the narrative around 9 months after the events of the 2005 Serenity film.
The Firefly series Serenity: Leaves on the Wind was written by Zack Whedon, brother of Firefly creator Joss Whedon, and illustrated by Georges Jeanty. It followed the crew of Serenity as they faced new challenges and threats from the sinister Alliance government.
A major plot point involved the revelation that there were other survivors from the tragedy on Miranda, leading the crew to make a dangerous alliance.
The comic also explored the aftermath of the Miranda broadcast, with the Alliance desperately trying to contain the spread of the truth while dealing with civil unrest and rebellion across many worlds.
The concept of a continuing, in-canon comic series picking up where a completed/canceled TV series left off has major precedent when it comes to Joss Whedon’s creations.
In 2007, Whedon and Dark Horse launched Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season Eight, which continued where the show left off and featured writing from Whedon as well as show veterans such as Drew Goddard, Jane Espensen, Doug Petrie, Drew Z. Greenberg, and Steven S. DeKnight.
Echoing the TV format, Season Eight wrapped up in 2011, then transitioned into Season 9, which is still ongoing. Angel got the same treatment, first at IDW Comics and then moving over to Dark Horse. Whedon’s Dollhouse has also been expanded in comic form courtesy of Dark Horse.
