What do you think?
Rate this book
Firefly: Brand New 'Verse
Firefly: Brand New 'Verse
Twenty years after the events of the hit fan-favorite Firefly TV series, the story continues with a brand new crew!
It’s been 20 years since the original crew of the Serenity was busy smuggling contraband, ferrying travelers, and having close calls with the Alliance and they’ve all gone their separate ways. Zoë Washburne and her daughter, Emma find themselves at the helm of the Serenity and they must cobble together a new crew of castaways and misfits to navigate this brand new ‘Verse. But there is a world-shattering discovery beyond the Rim and together they will face new challenges, reunite with old friends, and try to build new relationships and a new future from a troubled past. Writer Josh Lee Gordon (Firefly: Bad Company) and artist Fabiana Mascolo (Yasmeen) introduce a new era filled with an all new cast, bold adventures, and shocking surprises for fans of Firefly! Collects Firefly: Brand New ‘Verse #1-6
It’s been 20 years since the original crew of the Serenity was busy smuggling contraband, ferrying travelers, and having close calls with the Alliance and they’ve all gone their separate ways. Zoë Washburne and her daughter, Emma find themselves at the helm of the Serenity and they must cobble together a new crew of castaways and misfits to navigate this brand new ‘Verse. But there is a world-shattering discovery beyond the Rim and together they will face new challenges, reunite with old friends, and try to build new relationships and a new future from a troubled past. Writer Josh Lee Gordon (Firefly: Bad Company) and artist Fabiana Mascolo (Yasmeen) introduce a new era filled with an all new cast, bold adventures, and shocking surprises for fans of Firefly! Collects Firefly: Brand New ‘Verse #1-6
144 pages, Hardcover
First published February 15, 2022
3 people are currently reading
107 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
September 5, 2021
Gee, despite the promise to 'reunite with old friends' two of the best still living characters are completely absent. Well, that's not exactly correct. Mal appears in one flashback panel as a pathetic drunk and Kaylee named her dog Jayne so she can insult him constantly. No interesting new characters are introduced since the authors were more focused on playing the easy game of PC race/sex yahtzee than doing the hard work of writing. Avoid at all costs.
April 6, 2024
Firefly: The Next Generation
Probably the best BOOM! relaunched Firefly comic yet.
Of course, I mourn the loss of Mal but at least the fresh crew are characters you'd expect from this 'Verse whilst the development of familiar family members feels natural.
Probably the best BOOM! relaunched Firefly comic yet.
Of course, I mourn the loss of Mal but at least the fresh crew are characters you'd expect from this 'Verse whilst the development of familiar family members feels natural.
August 21, 2022
This follows Serenity in the next generation. Zoe is the captain now and the rest of the crew has retired. This mostly follows Emma Washburne (Zoe and Wash's daughter) but we have some other new characters and an appearance from old favorites.
The story is fine, nothing special. The artwork does NOT match the cover and I picture the characters as their respective actors the the mismatched drawings threw me off.
I don't recommend this or not recommend this. Read it if you want or dont
The story is fine, nothing special. The artwork does NOT match the cover and I picture the characters as their respective actors the the mismatched drawings threw me off.
I don't recommend this or not recommend this. Read it if you want or dont
October 18, 2022
TERRIBLE characterization and dialogue. The writing on this is really bad. The idea of continuing the Serenity with a next generation crew isn't the problem at all. The problem lies in the fan servicing that too often plagues these comics. Themes or lines from either the show or movie are beaten like condescending drums (The Leaf on A Wind thing and Kaylee's scene with strawberries is exhausting when constantly invoked, Firefly writers) and no natural evolution of the universe or threats is handled well.
Much of the plot revolves around Raz, a Philip J. Fry knockoff from Earth-That-Was and Madame Klef, a Blue Sun corpo who likes her cappucinos who wants to get her hands on Raz for.... reasons *deep sigh*. As it is, the new characters are cardboard pieces at best, with very little motivation, who merely serve to propel the plot forward. The new Serenity crew *could* have been something. As for the current Serenity crew? Emma Washburne is a petulant teenager, prone to impulse and dumb choices, Lu's interaction with Emma is weak tea and Salo the gentle giant merely exists as two-dimensional Buddhist muscle. No depth to ANY of them.
What the writer does to the old Serenity crew is probably the worst part of this series. No explanation is given as to why the cast is living the lives they are. Inara's priestess role is plausible to the lore but her involvement makes little sense the more you think about it. Kaylee and Simon's life together fits but is riddled with endangered toddlers, a customized Mustang *groan* and cheesy homespun wisdom you see on needlepoint (They've a dog. Named Jayne. So that jokes can be made about how stupid it is).
The worst examples of this however lie with River (who is STILL a disjointed and discursive character, completely antithetical to her catharsis following the Serenity movie) and Mal (who appears in these comics only once, in a single panel, apparently now a burned-out drunk).
This is Firefly The Next Generation, brought to you by the Hallmark Channel. Avoid it.
Much of the plot revolves around Raz, a Philip J. Fry knockoff from Earth-That-Was and Madame Klef, a Blue Sun corpo who likes her cappucinos who wants to get her hands on Raz for.... reasons *deep sigh*. As it is, the new characters are cardboard pieces at best, with very little motivation, who merely serve to propel the plot forward. The new Serenity crew *could* have been something. As for the current Serenity crew? Emma Washburne is a petulant teenager, prone to impulse and dumb choices, Lu's interaction with Emma is weak tea and Salo the gentle giant merely exists as two-dimensional Buddhist muscle. No depth to ANY of them.
What the writer does to the old Serenity crew is probably the worst part of this series. No explanation is given as to why the cast is living the lives they are. Inara's priestess role is plausible to the lore but her involvement makes little sense the more you think about it. Kaylee and Simon's life together fits but is riddled with endangered toddlers, a customized Mustang *groan* and cheesy homespun wisdom you see on needlepoint (They've a dog. Named Jayne. So that jokes can be made about how stupid it is).
The worst examples of this however lie with River (who is STILL a disjointed and discursive character, completely antithetical to her catharsis following the Serenity movie) and Mal (who appears in these comics only once, in a single panel, apparently now a burned-out drunk).
This is Firefly The Next Generation, brought to you by the Hallmark Channel. Avoid it.
May 23, 2022
First off, great artwork cover to cover. You rarely see that in a Firefly graphic novel. Josh Lee Gordon also gives new characters depth as part of a crisp, one-volume story. It's 20-ish years after the last Firefly series (Return to Earth That Was) and Zoe is the new captain of the Firefly with daughter Emma and a few new crew members by her side. Gordon does a good job of exploring the push and pull between Zoe and Emma, particularly as Emma has been promised the captain's seat, but mama bird Zoe is hesitant to let her hot-headed daughter out of the nest.
The rest of the plot is so-so. Brand New 'Verse does much better with character and dialogue and surprise reunions than it does with explaining why Zoe needs to hold so tightly to the human cargo she stole from a Blue Sun ship or why that human cargo is so important. 500 years of cryosleep is involved, so you know the plot is going to get murky. Also murky: River's deal.
Any minuses are nicely overcome by the fact that this is a good, pleasant space adventure with nice people who grow and change over the course of the volume. Quality Firefly.
The rest of the plot is so-so. Brand New 'Verse does much better with character and dialogue and surprise reunions than it does with explaining why Zoe needs to hold so tightly to the human cargo she stole from a Blue Sun ship or why that human cargo is so important. 500 years of cryosleep is involved, so you know the plot is going to get murky. Also murky: River's deal.
Any minuses are nicely overcome by the fact that this is a good, pleasant space adventure with nice people who grow and change over the course of the volume. Quality Firefly.
October 26, 2022
I'm so glad my library has this volume so I don't need to bother spending money on it. It was *ok*, I read it, am not sorry. It follows a basic formula, just 20 years in the future.
New members in the Firefly family, good cover art, interior pages less thrilling for me.
New members in the Firefly family, good cover art, interior pages less thrilling for me.
September 29, 2022
Loved it!! It's so good and the art is so pretty 😍😍
April 13, 2024
Firefly was great because of the characters. Doing a Firefly: The Next Generation story is a fine idea… if you write good characters. Other than Emma, the daughter of Zoe and Wash, I have no idea who these new kids are. Instead of spending time fleshing out the new crew, Gordon wastes pages with fan-service callbacks and weirdly dumb things like Kaylee’s souped-up flying Mustang.
Seriously, a flying 1969 Mustang. With supercharger.
Who thought this was a good idea? Random anachronisms which aren’t germane to the story break immersion.
The plot itself is fine. Nothing Earth-That-Was-shaking, but fine. I just wish we knew who these marionettes acting out the story beats were, other than cardboard cut-outs. Also, the dialogue is hit or miss. “Inconsistent” is the phrase.
Seriously, a flying 1969 Mustang. With supercharger.
Who thought this was a good idea? Random anachronisms which aren’t germane to the story break immersion.
The plot itself is fine. Nothing Earth-That-Was-shaking, but fine. I just wish we knew who these marionettes acting out the story beats were, other than cardboard cut-outs. Also, the dialogue is hit or miss. “Inconsistent” is the phrase.
September 9, 2021
Nice read! Authentic Firefly fibe.
I hope it'll continue and recommend fans of the show to read it.
The art and writing are better than of a lot of Firefly comics... If they get the same team for a continuation I'd definitely buy new issues.
Why not 5 stars? It could be more original and the story more exciting. It's not a classic. However... I have hope new stories could become as classic as the original show.
I hope it'll continue and recommend fans of the show to read it.
The art and writing are better than of a lot of Firefly comics... If they get the same team for a continuation I'd definitely buy new issues.
Why not 5 stars? It could be more original and the story more exciting. It's not a classic. However... I have hope new stories could become as classic as the original show.
June 26, 2024
This was really fun! I always love jumping into the Firefly universe and this was no exception. The art was lovely and the writing and layout were clear. I’m interested in these new characters and storyline, so a win all around!
(And I used this for the prompt of “a book about pirates” because technically the Firefly crew is a group of people who attack and rob ships – which is the definition of a pirate, so… 🤷♀️😂)
(And I used this for the prompt of “a book about pirates” because technically the Firefly crew is a group of people who attack and rob ships – which is the definition of a pirate, so… 🤷♀️😂)
February 15, 2023
I did not expect to love this as much as I did. Maybe it works better to capture the voices of the OG characters if you let them age and change. I liked the new characters too and really felt for Emma and Zoe dealing with the loss of Wash, even though so much time had passed.
It probably hit me harder because Wash was a (fictional) loss I felt quite deeply back in the day.
It probably hit me harder because Wash was a (fictional) loss I felt quite deeply back in the day.
May 5, 2024
This was fun and I enjoyed the art. Quite serviceable. The focus is on the relationship between Zoe and Emma. I thought Josh Lee Gordon nailed the dialogue of the show quite well.
June 3, 2025
I read this to fulfill a category on a library challenge (graphic novel). I suspect that graphic novels and the style or writing will never be my thing.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews