Dark Horse Comics 2016
Written by Chris Roberson
Penciled by Georges Jeanty
Inked by Karl Story
Coloured by Wes Dzioba
Lettered by Michael Heisler
Now, Mal has taken the crew to the moon Burnet in the Outer Rim after a distress call from Iris. Bea Quiang has been imprisoned by the Alliance and an Operative is on the way to collect her. There is little time to gather intel for a rescue, but they’ve started by looking for Bea’s contact, someone named “Mericourt.”
I like that Chris has been taking the crew through a story that encompasses their history so far. From Mal taking a group with Iris to go find this Mericourt we see how their past experiences have shaped their current mind sets and I like that Doc continues to see things through his rose coloured glasses. The characterisation is spot on to who the characters are, have been and will be.
Of course finding Mericourt doesn’t turn out to be as hard as one would have originally thought. I do think how the situation was upon meeting then escalated and immediately diffused was handled extremely well. I also really appreciate that this is only part of the real underlying story. The whole concept of what Mericourt does is fantastic and while seemingly altruistic to keeping the outer rim safe from those who rule them with an iron fist the difference of opinion it creates is kind of delicious.
I really like the interior artwork here. While it may not be exact likenesses to the actors Georges does some great stuff with them as being recognisable. The use of page layouts with angles and perspective are well utilised and then there’s the use of backgrounds that are spectacularly done. The attention to detail in the work is amazing to see and it really does help to tell the story visually.
Chris does an excellent job here weaving in the little things that happen and continue them on. That little bit with Jayne for example was so cute and it really does kind of go with last issue and how he feels about the baby. The way this issue ends is really the beginning of the ongoing story where the arc gets it’s name from and that wasn’t something I was prepared for. So that that and what’s happening with Mericourt all kind of compound together keep it feeling like the crew have the worst luck in the ‘Verse.
This may not what people want, compared to another tv show or movie, but I gotta tell you this is so incredibly true to the show that it’s great. You really feel like this a natural extension of the series and it fit’s in so darn well. I love the writing, characterisation, story development because it does make me think Chris is a huge fan of the franchise. With an insanely good and complex story wrapped between some great pages of artwork the Serenity crew is back and better than ever!