Firefly: Blue Sun Rising Vol. 1

Firefly (Collected Editions) #6

by Greg Pak, Dan McDaid (Illustrator)

The first-ever comic book event in the world of Joss Whedon’s Firefly begins here as Mal must reunite the crew of the Serenity for one last impossible job to save the ‘Verse from the Blue Sun Corporation.

THE FIRST-EVER FIREFLY COMIC BOOK EVENT! Sheriff Mal Reynolds has a new partner—a law enforcing robot from the Blue Sun corporation, who doesn't care about motives, about mercy, about anything other than enforcing the law—no matter the cost. The Blue Sun Corporation has helped to run the ‘Verse from the shadows for years, but they’re ready to step into the light and take over. If Mal wants to keep his job and protect his sector, the smart move would be to play by their rulebook. But for Mal, there’s really one choice —reunite the crew of the Serenity for one last impossible job to save the ‘Verse. New York Times best-selling writer Greg Pak (Darth Vader) and acclaimed artist Dan McDaid (Judge Dredd: Mega-City Zero) launch Mal & the crew of Serenity into their biggest war yet, officially continuing Joss Whedon’s acclaimed series.

Collects Firefly Blue Sun Rising #0, and Firefly #21-22.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Science Fiction, Fiction, Comic Book, Adult, Graphic Novels Comics

128 pages, Hardcover

First published March 30, 2021

About the author

Greg Pak is an award-winning Korean American comic book writer and filmmaker currently writing "Lawful" for BOOM and "Sam Wilson: Captain America" (with Evan Narcisse) for Marvel. Pak wrote the "Princess Who Saved Herself" children's book and the “Code Monkey Save World” graphic novel based on the songs of Jonathan Coulton and co-wrote (with Fred Van Lente) the acclaimed “Make Comics Like the Pros” how-to book. Pak's other work includes "Planet Hulk," "Darth Vader," "Mech Cadet Yu," "Ronin Island," "Action Comics," and "Magneto Testament."

Reviews

[Ashley (gotbookcitement) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full Review To Come

BOOKCITEMENT LEVEL 3/5

I am so confused about the timeline in this. What is happening? Who is this character? Maybe I should have started from the beginning beginning, but in fairness, this did have a Volume 1 on it. It's a head scratcher.
What time period in the canon story does this take place in? People are alive that shouldn't be alive. There's a new character running around that I've never heard of. Mal is a sheriff working for Blue Sun, and I'm not entirely sure how that happened.
I love these characters, but this comic series kind of seems like a redo. They want everybody alive and well because they want the ability to tell more stories with everybody's favorites, while pretending that the Serenity movie didn't happen. Am I being too critical?
The story was fine, once I got over my initial confusion. I won't say that the story screamed Firefly, it felt like they could have been any characters. There was nothing about it that really made it Firefly special.
I feel like in these comics, I always complain about the art, so I'm going to do a little complaining about the art. It's not that the art is bad, it just doesn't do a good job of staying true and capturing the characters. When you're adapting something from a fan favorite show, you better make Mal look like Mal. Sometimes he looked like Mal, but most of the time he really didn't. Inara was mostly a sad attempt. River, they didn't even try. I feel like I'm being mean, but it's the truth! And the style of the art kept changing, it was strange.
I did like the little story/sneak peek of Wash with his dad at the end. That looked like a good one.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sheriff Mal's got a new partner - a Blue Sun robot that's programmed to enforce the strictest form of the law. Naturally, Mal's not too fond of his new partner. Blue Sun Rising has plenty of fun at the expense of the new robocops, but the pacing is all off. Robocop v.1 is quickly replaced by robocop v.2, which is just as quickly replaced by robocop v.3 (and this third version looks like Mal, which is really weird - wouldn't this make Mal the most famous man in the 'verse??).

All this in three issues. The cliffhanger, of course, features Mal determined to do something drastic about these robocops. The rest of the Serenity crew plays a fairly secondary role. And any hints at Blue Sun infighting are mostly forgotten. Blue Sun Rising is, as usual, filled with fun dialogue, but marred by scratchy art, improper pacing, and an abrupt cliffhanger conclusion. The short story about Wash's dinosaurs is touching, though.

[Robert · Rating 2 out of 5]

The downhill slide speeds up as a storyline ripped off from countless better works takes center stage.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great Graphic Novel in the Firefly 'verse! This time Mal finally begins to figure out that Blue Sun corporation is merely using him and that the powers that be do not take Mal seriously as sheriff and expect him to play be their rules. Things really hit the fan when Blue Sun's new security robots start learning and adapting to human behavior and then Blue Sun's newest line of bots all have Mal's face.

[Joey Nardinelli · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not really sure what to say about this one. Little to no character development. Blue Sun feels deeply faceless. Adding robots to an sf franchise that historically hasn’t ever had them feels out of place at this stage of the game. Really struggled with the preview for Watch How I Soar, which I put on hold for the preorder at the library — this has the same bad smell as some of the worst nostalgia bait for things like Solo, in that NO ONE has ever asked HOW Wash ended up with his toy dinosaurs. And to use it to create meta-commentary about the character’s arc just felt intensely forced. I’m still amazed Greg Pak can have me run so hot or cold issue to issue or series to series.

[Mário Barbosa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very strong 3*, such that it felt short to go for that number.
Very light read with a pint of humor here and there, well placed, not forced.
Love the variety of characters and how they don't sound all the same.
Pak did a good job serving very entertaining work with no single special thing about the plot.
Well done.

[Sohrab Rezvan · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Firefly series, unfortunately, continues to get worse. The series started strong, but the plot is getting really silly and the dialogue has lost charm that makes Firefly unique. I'm still not a fan of the art.

[Milan Pohl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gregu Pakovi se nedá upřít jedno, a sice že má vizi, kam příběh Firefly vést, a nebojí se přitom vstupovat na neprobádanou půdu. Už proto si jeho komiksové příběhy Firefly zaslouží vaši pozornost. Potíž je v tom, že scenárista se příliš neohlíží na jiné příběhy ze světa Firefly/Serenity, a komiksová série od BOOM! Studios tak chvílemi nepříjemně koliduje nejen se staršími komiksy od Dark Horse, ale i s původním seriálem a filmem.

(Třecími plochami jsou mj. okolnosti odchodu Inary a Booka z posádky, situace s Havenem, postava pistolníka Leonarda, rychlost cestování mezi planetami. A kam se poděl Niska, zatímco Mal Reynolds dělal šerifa v téže soustavě včetně planety Ezra?)

Komiksovou sérii - byť zdařile napsanou, odvážnou, skvěle nakreslenou - je tak čím dál těžší vnímat jako součást oficiální kontinuity. Stále se o to pokouším, ale pro klid duše by snad bylo lepší chápat boomovské komiksy jako separátní univerzum - nebo jako "vyprávění uvnitř vyprávění", tedy příběh, který si vyprávějí obyvatelé onoho světa a který nemusí být úplně ve všem pravdivý.

[Cherie · Rating 5 out of 5]

While Mal’s been playing sheriff, Blue Sun has been doing what it does best and making tech. Now Mal’s latest job is to train the new AI bots that will likely be his replacement. He begrudgingly takes on the job, but is soon horrified to learn that version two of the bots are made in his image. In a not-so-surprising twist. The Mal-bots are wreaking havoc and undoing all the good that Mal set out to do. But Mal (and Ma Reynolds) and crew aren’t going to take things lying down.

This volume ends with a sneak preview of “Watch How I Soar” in which we see a young Wash flying about the ‘verse with his dad and learning about dinosaurs for the first time. It’s so wholesome and heartwarming.

[Sean · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a buffoonish Robocop ripoff with absolutely no heart, soul, or intrigue. The crew of the Serenity is done dirty here as they are completely afterthoughts in Greg Pak's (who I normally like) terrible plot. Blue Sun, think evil Amazon, are up to no good but its hard to take anything serious because the creators themselves think the book is a joke, as opposed to an action space western with great comedic timing. The art was bad, just unpleasant. I'm disappointed that I didn't give up on this book and maybe series. Overall, a disservice to a great franchise.

[iamjacsmusings · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short but not too shiny. This latest run of Firefly continues to underwhelm. In my head canon this is an Elsewhere What If...? style story rather than a direct continuation. At least the crew are back together now, so we'll see if this is a hard burn for the better. I hope so...

Three issues in a "collection" is a bit of a cheat too.

[Joey Meyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would give this 5 stars if not for the price. Boom keeps publishing Firefly in hardback volumes, which keep getting shorter and shorter. Most graphic novels have 5-6 issues, whereas this encompasses 2 issues and a special.
It’s good story but Boom keeps up the cash grab

[Jenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the plot felt a bit familiar, I enjoyed the eeriness of the new robot characters and their twisted version of Mal's honorable, roguish ways. Drawing style fluctuated drastically issue by issue.

[Kelly Knickerbocker · Rating 4 out of 5]

While the Blue Sun Rising #0 & Firefly #21-22 were good my favorite part of this collection was the sneak preview at the end: Watch How I Soar The Land featuring young Hoban Washburn Jr. that everyone calls Wash.

[C2015 · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was OK. The best part was meeting Wash’s dad… Some of their conversation was a little too on the nose. I don’t know if the pandemic is making me cynical or realistic but there’s some real eye roly stuff in the world these days and this has a bit of it

[Mosley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This Firefly graphic novel took a little bit longer to catch my interest but as soon as it started really catching my interest it was over. I will be interested in reading volume 2 but I think the story could use a little bit of work. I really did enjoy seeing Mal's mom in this volume.

[Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is about as small of a collection as you can get. Two issues and a bonus one shot? Damn. You're also stuck knowing how things will 'end' for the characters. How much character growth do you want or need when you know your characters are finite and, to an extent, doomed?

Good try. I wouldn't go out of my way to collect it, though.

[Jon Garthwaite · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was already a Firefly fan, but this volume may have me chasing the comics now. The writing is tight and true to the characters as they were developed. The art is just stripped down enough to suit the rustic futuristic setting. Highly recommend.

[Paul Harmon · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Firefly comics have gotten worse and worse to the point now where they are barely readable and bear no resemblance to the characters and property we love. Im gonna finish part 2 and then Im done. So sad.

[Across the Stars · Rating 1 out of 5]

Underwhelming. Contains little of the humor and heart you would expect from a Firefly story. The dialogue rarely seemed in character for those who were speaking and the art style didn't reflect the world or characters with much depth.

[Benji Glaab · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5🌟 the most recent volumes have taken a dip in entertainment quality. Not sure if there is enough for me here to continue.

[Eye-ra · Rating 4 out of 5]

The “wash” prelude was a great little touch to a good first volume.

[Lorraine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Semi interesting story about our intrepid crew and Mal as the long arm of the law. Not sure what to make of the appearance by his Ma as an outlaw...

[Lynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5

[Sidsel Sander · Rating 3 out of 5]

PLottet er okay, og jeg er vild med personerne, men det er en lidt kort samling.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mal is taken advantage of and he tries to make it right.

[Thia Reads A Lot]

Firefly: Blue Sun Rising Vol. 1 - Greg Pak, Dan McDaid (Illustrator), Lalit Kumar Sharma (Illustrator), Daniel Bayliss (Illustrator), and others
Rating: ★★★½
I don't know how I feel about robots in the Firefly universe... It fits this story but...

Summary: Mal is still playing Sheriff. Blue Sun makes him a robot deputy. After a while, it gets replaced with a new generation, based on Mal with his face and all. In a very short time, they undo the good Mal did (by applying the law exactly as written, no leeway). Mal gets help from Agent [Manahata], who works for Blue Sun. They are getting ready to disable the robots by [hacking their processor].
Also, Zoë has found Haven, so this is before Serenity.

I skipped the preview of Watch How I Soar, I'll read it in full when I get to it, which I guess I'm supposed to read next?

Reading Journal Index: 2023-165

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plotline is interesting, but the quality of the art varies significantly between chapters.