I would have killed to be in the audience of hardcore Browncoats as Wash led the Serenity through a swarm of deadly Reavers and land the ship within an inch of his life only to be impaled and die before our very eyes. I can only imagine the gasps and cries among the women as their favorite character died in a flash. Admittedly the “Firefly/Serenity” graphic novels and one-shots have been mixed. They range from mediocre to just plain abysmal, and leave it to nerd extraordinaire Patton Oswalt to take the reigns of the Whedon Universe and bring it down to its emotional core.
Any self-respecting Browncoat is still feeling the pain of Wash’s death, that one sign from Whedon that showed this was it for the “Firefly” universe once and for all, and “Float Out” is a nice little homage to Wash, the smart assed fighter pilot with a heart of gold who affected the lives of many people before he ever stepped food on Serenity. Three new pirates are about to christen their new ship now called “Jetwash” and feel like they have to savor the moment before them. So to recollect on the meaning of the name, the trio decide to remember their fondest events with Washburne in his days before he entered in to the haul of the Serenity and died saving his friends. Filled with an undertone of sadness and a thick coating of “Firefly” mythos, “Float Out” is probably the strongest of the graphic novels from the Firefly universe.
That’s because its stark imagery depicts Wash as something of a humble hero whose brains and wit always got him out of trouble. It should serve as no surprise to anyone in the know that Patton Oswalt get it. He just does. He is able to write a better mock Whedon than most writers before him and gets kicks out of including subtle humor (“People remember things that rhyme.” “All the time?”) that only Whedon and his crew could have injected. He even gets the ship lingo down to the point where it’s a bit confusing to read at times. But the fact is that Oswalt gets it providing some incredible insight and foreshadowing to Wash’s death with lines like “The thing about Was was, he’d never drop the clown, no matter how things go.
I think he was always worried about who’d hear his last words, and whether or not they’d be clever…” which is sort of Oswalt’s insinuation that Wash knew he was going to die that day on Serenity. His last line “I am a leaf in the wind” was his own comedic way of saying “It was nice knowing you!” The ultimate pay off is in the final pages of the book as the three men looking out on the Jetwash are greeted with a visitor helping them soak in the occasion… with another visitor. It’s one of the best representations of “Firefly” to date with an ending that left me howling and wooting like an imbecile. Hopefully this issue will lead to a new series run about Zoe’s newest development, and what’s going on with Serenity these days, but for what this is, it’s an entertaining issue if you can deal with the fact that it’s mostly a somber affair and bereft of usual “Firefly” fasted paced action and one-liners.
Otherwise, well done, Mr. Oswalt.