Review: Firefly #27
[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]
Publisher: BOOM! Studios
Writer:Â Greg Pak
Artist: Ethan Young
Colorist: Joana Lafuente
Letterer: Jim Campbell
Reviewer:Â Tony Farina
Summary
New Characters! New Enemies! A Brand New Era continues… but what happened to Mal Reynolds?
Mal Reynolds has left everyone and everything behind after the deaths of Wash and Book.
But one call from Zoe will change his life – will he return to Serenity, or has the sky been taken from him forever?
Positives
Firefly #27 reads like it is written with the fast speed on. It was over before I knew it and while, that could seem like a bad thing, I promise it is not. Greg Pak’s strength for the past few years has been cracking dialogue. Where the dialogue happens, between Inara and Kaylee, it feels real. He projects the voices of the actors we know and love. They speak to each other the way we expect them to. It is a delight.
Yet, somehow, in this issue, when he has hardly any words, he manages to make this his strongest entry. It must be hard for a writer to simply turn his story over to his artist, but Pak trusted his new team and readers are rewarded.
Speaking of that new art team, issue 27 brings Ethan Young and Joana La Fuenta into the fold. They are spectacular. Because this book is light on words, they have to do all the heavy and boy have they been taking their vitamins. Each panel is poster worthy. The colors pop off the page. We understand that the old, grizzled Mal Reynolds has been through the wringer without having to hear him tell us. It is visual storytelling at it’s finest.
Negatives
This issue is honestly the strongest book in the series in a long time. I read it twice trying to find something to say here. I couldn’t find anything.
Verdict
Firefly #27 is strong. Light on words, sure. Fast and over too fast, sure. Still, it is an excellent look at what could be. I was nervous about the mixture of the past two years of Boom’s new lore and the Dark Horse run, but this seems to fit perfectly. The new art team is amazing. That final page is epic. I don’t want to give too much away, but don’t worry about the pooch. Mal wouldn’t let anything bad happen. Things are looking shiny.
