Review: Firefly #26
[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]
Writer: Greg Pak
Artist: Pius Bak
Colorist: Marcelo Costa
Letterer: Jim Campbell
Reviewer: Tony Farina
Summary
New Characters! New Enemies! A Brand New Era continues… with a shocking return? Zoe, her daughter Emma and the new crew of Serenity are faced with an impossible choice thanks to the shocking arrival of the last person anyone expected. But first Zoe needs to escape the Alliance’s latest trap. And it means turning to the one person she ever wanted to see again… Mal Reynolds.
Positives
Firefly #26 flies by in a flash. It is not because nothing happens, but because it is so perfectly paced, that readers can’t even blink. There are a handful of pages where Pak turns the story telling over to Bak and we are all rewarded. After Zoe and RoboWash escape, there are some incredibly moving albeit tense moments where there is no speaking. In a book that leans heavily into the verbal jabs and quips, that is a testament to how well Bak captures it all. Of course, there is a the reveal when we learn it is RoboWash as well. That is pretty great. Check it out below.
Greg Pak continues to do some reshuffling of the mythology while giving us some things we love. I can’t help but thing what would have happened had this been the start of this series in the first place. I think telling the story out of order would be interesting and fun. He is doing a bit of that here now and it is really working. We know what came before in the OG show and in his first 24 issues. Somehow, they are all coming together and he is slowly unveiling it. He manages to slow burn the story while making each issue crackle with energy. It is a great balancing act.
Negatives
Firefly #26 cleaned up the mess the previous issue made pretty well. However, there are some huge holes in the story still. Sure, we don’t want it all to be packed in there all at once, but sometimes it feels like it is being made up on the fly. The Washbot resolution is a bit hazy. Why did it lure her in only to free her? Seems like a convoluted way to go about things.
Verdict
Firefly #26 was pretty damn good. I have just decided to quit pretending I want it to be anything else. This new version of Old Firefly and New Firefly is pretty interesting. Pak teaches a masterclass on how to write dialogue and create tension. I mean, each issue is a HUGE cliffhanger. I am ready to get back out in the black.
