An All-New Beginning, A Familiar Feeling: Reviewing ‘All-New Firefly’ #1

Taking a page from the long-running comic book series found at other publishers, Boom! Studios Firefly series came to an end this year but has quickly been relaunched as the shiny All-New Firefly #1.

While the title is befitting of new creative team members that have come on board, the title is also fitting of a new direction for the book that was born out of a long-ago short-lived television series. Well, to be clear there are many new elements to be found and many plot points carried over from the last series, but overall the book is a return to form or familiarity for the characters and world. This is not a bad thing at all, as we’re back to seeing the crew in situations that are familiar and fit their overall situation/goals.

Writer David M. Booher picks up the baton easily and jumps right into not only handling these characters quite well (hitting on their voices pretty spot-on) and in picking up what was left by previous writer Greg Pak, but also at choosing to go an unexpected direction. That direction would be the one that centers itself on the gun-happy would stab you in the back for a bit of coin mercenary known as Jayne Cobb.

Through most of the previous stories and even on the show, Jayne was the antagonistic loud-mouthed member of the crew that was a wild card more often than not. Outside of a mention of family and the episode where it was found out he was seen as a folk hero of a town (which makes a tragic return here in this issue by way of reference) there wasn’t a lot explored with Jayne. That changes big time in this issue as we really get to start seeing that the young Jayne Cobb was similar but also very different in many respects.

Jordi Pérez has a very smooth and detailed style that comes with just the perfect amount of ‘roughness’ to it that is befitting of a Firefly series. This is not their first go-around at the crew of the Serenity as Pérez previously handled the art for an issue of the last series. There is a very great mix of heavily detailed and less detailed/washed out bits in the artwork that works well to focus on what is important at the moment and not on what should or could be just background or extraneous moments. As one would expect there are some brutal fight-type moments, and Perez captures the action very well to the point that it feels like they could just walk off the page any moment.

Francesco Segala, assisted by Gloria Martinelli, and Jim Campbell, who work on colors and letters respectively, are also not newcomers to the series as they worked on the previous iteration as well. Segala and Martinelli bring a somewhat more muted color palette to this series which matches the tone that is needed for this return to being a western-caper sort of series opposed to the adventure one it had become when exploring Earth that Was (beautiful smooth colors fitting the gorgeous nature of that world).

The way they handled the flashbacks was a really nice touch, pulling back the colors not only because it’s in the past but because the moment in question took place in a colder dimmer winter moment in time. A blue sort of filter covers the panels and adds to the cold and distant feeling that one should get from these scenes.

Campbell is one of those masters of lettering and it shows in all the stuff he does, as it not only flows around smoothly and naturally through the panels/pages but has a very tangible energy to it all. Emphasizers in the right spot, but also little flairs of color strokes or bigger fonts for exciting moments or smaller fonts for quieter adds to the mood. It makes it all feel more real and powerful in many respects. Just like the big bold SFX that are colorful and right there in the moment, tied tightly to the action they are meant to represent.

All-New Firefly #1 is now on sale in print and digital from BOOM! Studios.