Review by Frank Plowright

With the exception of a single short memorial story, Dark Horse’s earlier Serenity output has concentrated on stories set during the Firefly continuity, but Leaves on the Wind catches up with the cast after the events of the Serenity film.

At great personal cost Malcolm Reynolds and the Firefly crew have revealed the truth about an Alliance atrocity. The galaxy now knows a pacifying experiment went disastrously wrong with tens of millions dying on a single planet, and resulted in the threat posed ever since by the fearsome Reavers. However, the results have been mixed. The Alliance has gone into overdrive attempting to discredit the footage everyone’s seen, although there have been protests, and the entire galaxy is looking for Reynolds.

Zack Whedon turned in a classic with The Shepherd’s Tale, and he’s in a crowd-pleasing mood here, indicated by a title fans will recognise, returning Jubal Early from Firefly’s excellent closing episode, and someone else very welcome. There are so many other nice touches to recommend, not least how the remaining crew is reunited, and the use of the now coherent River Song. She’s key to a plot that seems to be heading one way, but smartly swerves in a completely different direction.

Previous Serenity artists have attempted cast likenesses, which Georges Jeanty doesn’t really bother with, supplying versions bearing a superficial resemblance, perhaps in the manner of police artist sketches. In story terms it’s acceptable, especially when Jeanty puts in so much effort elsewhere. A crowded spread early on, and a sequence in River’s mind stand out as especially memorable. He’s not great at drawing a baby, mind.

Leaves on the Wind is a page-turning thriller from start to finish delightfully playing into the themes of loyalty and reluctant heroism. It couldn’t have been done better on TV. No Power in the ‘Verse is next, or they’re both combined as the second Firefly Legacy Edition.

There’s a short bonus story as well, by Whedon and Fábio Moon, who manages great cast likenesses despite cartooning. It’s a simple, but charming story about someone wanting to buy Firefly, and things playing out to an uplifting finale when they could have ended in tragedy.