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Firefly #25-36
Firefly: Return to Earth That Was
A new crew of the legendary Serenity face new enemies, reunite with old friends, and travel to the EARTH THAT WAS for the first time in Firefly history!
Firefly jumps forward in time after the battle with the Reavers that left Wash & Book dead. Serenity soars again, with Kaylee captaining a crew including River, Jayne and the bandit Leonard Chang-Benitez. They’ll soon find themselves drawn into a shocking conflict that puts them on an interception course with old friends… and new enemies! In an attempt to evade the Alliance the crew of Serenity find themselves stranded on The-Earth-That-Was, a strange world filled with ancient artifacts, a new civilization and…maybe some semblance of hope. As strangers in a strange land they encounter individual and shared challenges galore! The groundbreaking future of Firefly by New York Times best-selling writer Greg Pak ( Darth Vader ) and an all-star group ofartists including Pius Bak ( The Magicians ), Ethan Young ( The Burning City ), Simona Di Gianfelice ( Power Rangers ), Jordi Perez ( Queen of Bad Dreams ), and Jahnoy Lindsay ( Marvel’s Voices ) is collected for the first time in a special deluxe edition hardcover! Collects Firefly #25-36.
Firefly jumps forward in time after the battle with the Reavers that left Wash & Book dead. Serenity soars again, with Kaylee captaining a crew including River, Jayne and the bandit Leonard Chang-Benitez. They’ll soon find themselves drawn into a shocking conflict that puts them on an interception course with old friends… and new enemies! In an attempt to evade the Alliance the crew of Serenity find themselves stranded on The-Earth-That-Was, a strange world filled with ancient artifacts, a new civilization and…maybe some semblance of hope. As strangers in a strange land they encounter individual and shared challenges galore! The groundbreaking future of Firefly by New York Times best-selling writer Greg Pak ( Darth Vader ) and an all-star group ofartists including Pius Bak ( The Magicians ), Ethan Young ( The Burning City ), Simona Di Gianfelice ( Power Rangers ), Jordi Perez ( Queen of Bad Dreams ), and Jahnoy Lindsay ( Marvel’s Voices ) is collected for the first time in a special deluxe edition hardcover! Collects Firefly #25-36.
448 pages, Hardcover
Published November 8, 2022
65 people want to read
About the author
Greg Pak
1,644 books583 followersGreg 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."
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
May 14, 2024
I like a lot of what Greg Pak did with his time in the series, but these final three volumes just didn’t have the stuff for me. Characterizations felt way off, the plot was flimsy, the stakes were so murky they felt totally inconsequential, and the eventual resolutions we get didn’t feel earned. I don’t dislike where some of the cast end up, it’s just that their journey to reaching that point seems to have all occurred offscreen. It felt like Pak had an ending in mind but none of the time or interest to develop an interesting or affecting way to get there. The final three issues have some nice moments that reflected the earlier high points in the series—and stayed in line with the fundamentals established in the classic TV series and subsequent movie—so I didn’t outright dislike this. But based on how strong the series started and how effectively Pak kept the Firefly story going with new and interesting ideas, characters, and subversions, I expected and wanted more, especially since this final story arc starts with such a compelling idea.
At least the art wasn’t that bad. Simona Di Gianfelice and Francesco Segala have some attractive spreads and visuals. Segala’s colors are the highlight, as they bring a warm, lively vibe to the personality of Di Gianfelice’s illustrations. Character expressions are also great, and made me wish even more that the emotions drawn on the page were also felt in the writing.
A middling conclusion doesn’t ruin the parts of this that I really liked, and I’ll always appreciate Pak for reminding me why I fell in love with this world and these characters in the first place. After learning about how shitty a person Joss Whedon is, it was nice to have another storyteller take the reins and, for a while, at least, prove that there was and still is value in this particular story. I wish this ending kept that momentum, but hey, you can’t have it all, so I’ll take the good that I got.
At least the art wasn’t that bad. Simona Di Gianfelice and Francesco Segala have some attractive spreads and visuals. Segala’s colors are the highlight, as they bring a warm, lively vibe to the personality of Di Gianfelice’s illustrations. Character expressions are also great, and made me wish even more that the emotions drawn on the page were also felt in the writing.
A middling conclusion doesn’t ruin the parts of this that I really liked, and I’ll always appreciate Pak for reminding me why I fell in love with this world and these characters in the first place. After learning about how shitty a person Joss Whedon is, it was nice to have another storyteller take the reins and, for a while, at least, prove that there was and still is value in this particular story. I wish this ending kept that momentum, but hey, you can’t have it all, so I’ll take the good that I got.
February 28, 2023
This volume wraps up the Greg Pak run, which I really thought was an actual continuation of the series. The characters grew and advanced whereas most other series just tried to regurgitate the same formula as the show but in a different situation.
These last few issues lose a little steam, although they do highlight Kaylee's abilities, offer a little bit of peace for Zoe, and put Mal in a place to actually heal. The central plot is a little bit "big", bringing up an advance in technology which may or may not be too much for this 'verse. It's a mixed bag, a satisfying ending, but I wish the art was better. It was simple and cartoony and contrasted with the gravitas of the story.
Three additional short stories/one-shots: River Run, gives a peak at what Simon went through over the years to rescue River. I enjoyed that, and wished it was a little bit longer. Holiday Special gives a peak at Jayne's background in the form of A Christmas Carol, but it's fairly short on details and could had both more content and deeper. The last short story is sort of an epilogue to Issue #36, giving a peek at Mal's healing, which is satisfying and helps to close off the entire series.
These last few issues lose a little steam, although they do highlight Kaylee's abilities, offer a little bit of peace for Zoe, and put Mal in a place to actually heal. The central plot is a little bit "big", bringing up an advance in technology which may or may not be too much for this 'verse. It's a mixed bag, a satisfying ending, but I wish the art was better. It was simple and cartoony and contrasted with the gravitas of the story.
Three additional short stories/one-shots: River Run, gives a peak at what Simon went through over the years to rescue River. I enjoyed that, and wished it was a little bit longer. Holiday Special gives a peak at Jayne's background in the form of A Christmas Carol, but it's fairly short on details and could had both more content and deeper. The last short story is sort of an epilogue to Issue #36, giving a peek at Mal's healing, which is satisfying and helps to close off the entire series.
May 14, 2024
“Earth-That-Was” is a common phrase/bit of background lore that any Firefly fan will know, referring to “our” Earth prior to humanity moving to the Firefly solar system (“The ‘Verse”). I’ll admit that the idea of “Return to Earth-That-Was” is a bold and intriguing idea for a storyline for Greg Pak to finish his run of Firefly comics on. But truthfully reading this Deluxe Edition felt like a good representation of Pak’s/Boom Studios’ lackluster handling of the IP.
We start in media res, having leapfrogged past “Serenity” and Dark Horse’s original Serenity sequel comics (Pak at least is a bit familiar with them considering the presence of Zoe’s daughter Emma and her refusal to let River be around Emma). Serenity’s crew has splintered with Zoe (and Emma), Inara, and Simon no longer part of Serenity, **Kaylee** is Serenity’s captain, and Mal’s a solitary nomad in the wilderness. We get a few issues of set-up with Pak introducing previously unseen interstellar portals like something out “The Expanse” which takes Serenity to Earth-That-Was, confirming it to be the world teased at the end of last Deluxe Edition.
Honestly their arrival on Mt. Rushmore (because you got to have a famous landmark in a story like this) is when the arc started to fall apart on me. For a planet described as “all used up” Earth-That-Was looked pretty pristine after 500 years, the humans that stayed behind alternate between violent luddites speaking a weird Creole language to fully articulate tech-users, etc. There’s a lot more interesting things Pak could have done with a location that is key to the Firefly mythos but as is I was underwhelmed.
Besides the titular location, the arc’s story was all over the place. Most of the conflict is just the Earth-based luddites sometimes fighting the Serenity crew and mostly fighting Blue Sun mercenaries. It felt less like the usual “space cowboys/libertarians vs a corporate-sponsored police state” like previous Firefly conflicts and more like something from James Cameron’s Avatar (swapping out blue cat aliens though). The Serenity crew’s story likewise is a weird continuation of Pak’s earlier story arcs but with the events of Serenity the movie tacked on and a vague reference to the Dark Horse comics. A good chunk of those storylines just didn’t resonate with me (I still don’t care about Kaylee’s boyfriend who’s not Simon). The pacing is also really weird. There’s a page where they crash on Earth, the next panel is them walking about like they didn’t just have a cataclysmic crash, and the next page they’re already beset upon by angry locals. The final issue is likewise very rushed and anticlimactic.
All that said, there were some parts of this that I did like. Captain Kaylee was an interesting plot choice which doesn’t feel too true to the character as we know her. But it was actually kind of an neat character arc for her, with her being much more assertive than she has been traditionally portrayed while still having her try to look for least violent options whenever possible. Washbot? Washbot’s a thing and considering how much I’ve been opposed to Pak introducing non Firefly-esque sci fi concepts into Firefly, the character’s presence did lead to some surprisingly heartfelt moments with Wash’s widow and daughter. Lastly there’s Mal, who despite being broken down and no longer pushing through the ‘Verse with his “if I’m flying it's enough” attitude, actually had an emotional arc that felt appropriate for someone that’s lost so much.
There’s two other stories included in this Deluxe Edition, “River Run” and “ The Firefly Holiday Special” (really Boom Studios? That’s the Star Wars reference you want to go with?). In comparison to the main arc, these were on par. River Run shows how Simon rescued River, it started fine but then ended with a retcon of the movie scene. The Holiday Special gives some backstory to Jayne but is otherwise just a Firefly themed version of A Christmas Carol.
So just as Pak is done with this run of Firefly comics with this volume, so am I. “Return to Earth-That-Was” was better than the “Blue Sun Rising” volume, but not by much and it ended any more interest I had in seeing what else Boom Studios does with Firefly. And I won’t lie. If Disney (who now owns the rights to Firefly) decides to follow up on Firefly one day and elects to pull a “Star Wars Legends” move and deem these comics non Canon I wouldn’t be too broken up about that decision (if the Dark Horse comics aren’t Canon anymore either, so be it.)
We start in media res, having leapfrogged past “Serenity” and Dark Horse’s original Serenity sequel comics (Pak at least is a bit familiar with them considering the presence of Zoe’s daughter Emma and her refusal to let River be around Emma). Serenity’s crew has splintered with Zoe (and Emma), Inara, and Simon no longer part of Serenity, **Kaylee** is Serenity’s captain, and Mal’s a solitary nomad in the wilderness. We get a few issues of set-up with Pak introducing previously unseen interstellar portals like something out “The Expanse” which takes Serenity to Earth-That-Was, confirming it to be the world teased at the end of last Deluxe Edition.
Honestly their arrival on Mt. Rushmore (because you got to have a famous landmark in a story like this) is when the arc started to fall apart on me. For a planet described as “all used up” Earth-That-Was looked pretty pristine after 500 years, the humans that stayed behind alternate between violent luddites speaking a weird Creole language to fully articulate tech-users, etc. There’s a lot more interesting things Pak could have done with a location that is key to the Firefly mythos but as is I was underwhelmed.
Besides the titular location, the arc’s story was all over the place. Most of the conflict is just the Earth-based luddites sometimes fighting the Serenity crew and mostly fighting Blue Sun mercenaries. It felt less like the usual “space cowboys/libertarians vs a corporate-sponsored police state” like previous Firefly conflicts and more like something from James Cameron’s Avatar (swapping out blue cat aliens though). The Serenity crew’s story likewise is a weird continuation of Pak’s earlier story arcs but with the events of Serenity the movie tacked on and a vague reference to the Dark Horse comics. A good chunk of those storylines just didn’t resonate with me (I still don’t care about Kaylee’s boyfriend who’s not Simon). The pacing is also really weird. There’s a page where they crash on Earth, the next panel is them walking about like they didn’t just have a cataclysmic crash, and the next page they’re already beset upon by angry locals. The final issue is likewise very rushed and anticlimactic.
All that said, there were some parts of this that I did like. Captain Kaylee was an interesting plot choice which doesn’t feel too true to the character as we know her. But it was actually kind of an neat character arc for her, with her being much more assertive than she has been traditionally portrayed while still having her try to look for least violent options whenever possible. Washbot? Washbot’s a thing and considering how much I’ve been opposed to Pak introducing non Firefly-esque sci fi concepts into Firefly, the character’s presence did lead to some surprisingly heartfelt moments with Wash’s widow and daughter. Lastly there’s Mal, who despite being broken down and no longer pushing through the ‘Verse with his “if I’m flying it's enough” attitude, actually had an emotional arc that felt appropriate for someone that’s lost so much.
There’s two other stories included in this Deluxe Edition, “River Run” and “ The Firefly Holiday Special” (really Boom Studios? That’s the Star Wars reference you want to go with?). In comparison to the main arc, these were on par. River Run shows how Simon rescued River, it started fine but then ended with a retcon of the movie scene. The Holiday Special gives some backstory to Jayne but is otherwise just a Firefly themed version of A Christmas Carol.
So just as Pak is done with this run of Firefly comics with this volume, so am I. “Return to Earth-That-Was” was better than the “Blue Sun Rising” volume, but not by much and it ended any more interest I had in seeing what else Boom Studios does with Firefly. And I won’t lie. If Disney (who now owns the rights to Firefly) decides to follow up on Firefly one day and elects to pull a “Star Wars Legends” move and deem these comics non Canon I wouldn’t be too broken up about that decision (if the Dark Horse comics aren’t Canon anymore either, so be it.)
January 1, 2023
Went off the rails
November 5, 2025
In the words of Adelai Niska (crime boss from the TV series):
"...Not so solid." :/
"...Not so solid." :/
June 2, 2025
This volume of Firefly covers the Earth that was story lines. I loved to see the crew reconnect after the last sets of comics. This one sees the return on Wash…. Kind of. But also sees our crews going back to the Earth that people abandoned 500 years ago. The crew finds a way to work with the peoples of Earth, and maybe even a new home. There were some bonus stories at the ending seeing the original crew together and celebrating Christmas in one. I loved this volume and it was good to see the crew all together again.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews