Review by Frank Plowright

This volume repackages the first half of Dark Horse’s sporadic Serenity run between 2005 and 2017, supplying three longer stories accompanied by several shorts.

At first things seem to taking a similar path to the comic continuations of Joss Whedon’s other triumph Buffy the Vampire Slayer in ticking boxes without hitting the heights of the TV show, but that only applies to what originally saw print as Those Left Behind. It bridges the gap between the Firefly TV show and the Serenity film, but Whedon, TV writer Brett Matthews and Will Conrad never do more than give a ghostly hint of filmed triumphs.

The same creators are on far better form for the continuity implant of ‘Better Days’, slightly shorter and toying with the idea of the Firefly crew actually hitting the jackpot. It’s a charming character study as they discuss how they’re going to spend their money and an enjoyable action thriller supplying a great role for Zoe. Conrad’s tighter on the cast and better than before on the action (sample art).

The Shepherd’s Tale addresses the one mystery remaining from the TV show: just who is Shepherd Book? Zack Whedon fleshes out his brother’s plot in stunning fashion over a story that keeps heading back, each further stopover in the past informing what’s come before. Superbly drawn by Chris Samnee it’s a stunner living up to any hope fans might have had for the eventual revelation, and clever to boot.

The same creative team also supply the eight page ‘Downtime’, good, but diminished for following Jim Krueger and Conrad’s lesser exploiting of the same theme.

The final two stories both occur after the events of the Serenity film. Patton Oswalt writes a wake for Wash as former colleagues remember his piloting skills, giving Patric Reynolds the opportunity to draw the hell out of some fine manoeuvring in space. He’s good with likenesses as well. So is Fábio Moon, despite turning in cartoon art for a Zack Whedon plotted incident that could so easily escalate into a major misunderstanding.

Stick with this collection, because there’s considerable improvement after a first story that’s feeling the way, with greater thought to the threats and better character moments. A second Legacy Edition collects two longer stories.