Review by Ian Keogh

Brand New ‘Verse takes a leap of somewhere around fifteen years into the future from the more extensive Boom Studios! Firefly material written by Greg Pak. Zoe Washburne is the only familiar face on Firefly, but her now teenage daughter Emma has inherited her father’s instinctive piloting skills and her mother’s combative personality, meaning clashes are inevitable and frequent. The crew is rounded out by mechanic Lu, and Salo who’s an all round troubleshooter who chills by meditating.

Screenwriter Josh Gordon’s plot adheres a little too much to formula, beginning with a raid on a Blue Sky cargo ship retrieving valuable human cargo and setting in motion the inevitable desperate avoidance of a far greater power. You’ll find other parts strangely familiar, but that would dip into spoiler territory. On the other hand, ask a Firefly fan what they want from a visit to the continuity’s future and the likely response would be a fast-paced adventure, some surprises and a check-up on how the lives of the core Firefly cast have progressed. Gordon ticks all boxes, although with one notable absentee only mentioned in passing.

The connections between the primary cast are well stitched, and they don’t deviate from behaviour established early. Emma is the star turn, this being her coming of age story defining her capabilities, and although she’s headstrong, her frustrations are easily understood, and she’s generally likeable.

TV cast likenesses don’t seem to have been on the agenda, so Fabiana Mascoso delivers approximations, but there’s no mistaking who people are. Hers is a loose style showing space travel and wreckage with some delicacy, but her people can be a little awkward over the early pages. That settles, and the colours of Lucia Di Giammarino are bold and vibrant, making a dingy future look better than it would be to experience.

Gordon leaves the door open for a sequel, and the guess is that it would be welcomed by Firefly fans.