“Leaves on the Wind” has a lot to cover in one issue, and surely enough we’re fed a lot of information. And to make things better, the first issue flows smoothly without missing a beat. Sure, the story rushes forward after the events of “Serenity,” but it’s also marching to the beat of the original short lived television series. I’m glad the Firefly clan are back, and as always, they’re being dealt a horrible hand by fate. After losing Wash and the Shepherd, Serenity is now adrift in space and the deaths of their comrades seem almost in vain.
After broadcasting the feed about the Alliance and the Reavers, the resistance has begun growing, but there’s heavy doubt about the credibility of the wave that Mal sent across the verse. Now anxiously trying to lay low, problems have arisen for the group. Simon and Kaylee are hot and heavy, and much to the surprise of readers, Mal and Inara are now a bonafide couple sharing a bunk. But sadly Jayne parted ways from the group, River has shut herself down once more, now piloting Serenity, and Zoe has finally begun giving birth to the child she and Wash conceived.
Whedon and co. play with our perceptions of the new storyline with one moment where Zoe envisions Wash talking to her. We think it might be a hologram, but sadly it’s just a horrible memory of his final moments alive that she is cursed with re-living over and over. And if that isn’t enough, after Zoe has given birth to her child, she’s now bleeding internally. Now with the group running low on food, and Zoe possibly dying, Mal and Serenity have to stick their heads out and look for some way to keep going on without being snagged by every criminal in the verse. Did I mention that an old friend from the final episode of the series has returned and is now hunting Mal and River?
“Leaves on the Wind” introduces a slew of new characters while also sticking to what makes the original show so treasured to this day. There’s a new rebel named Bea who is looking for Mal to garner some information, and she has with her a new group that also want to find Mal and talk to him, but we’re not privvy to what they intend to do once they come face to face with him. The first issue of “Leaves on the Wind” is a fantastic return to the Firefly universe, handing the Serenity crew one big helping of problems they have to solve, and what with time running out, there promises to be a lot of action and tension. Especially now that the group is towing a newborn baby.