Serenity: Leaves on the Wind #6 (SPOILERS!)

POSTED BY: MUTT999
UPDATED: Wednesday, July 16, 2014 01:19
VIEWED: 12737
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MUTT999

Thursday, June 26, 2014 7:49 PM

Have to say, probably my favorite issue of the six. Nonstop action that pretty much tied up a lot of loose ends. And when you add in the Millennium Falcon and a bare butt Kaylee, you can't really go wrong!

Not sure how I felt about Mal shaking the hand of the Operative, but I assume Zoe took care of that whole issue with their little "meeting".

And I had a feeling we hadn't seen the last of Jubal, must have landed on something fairly soft after all.

The last panel reads "THE END", Let's hope it turns out "TO BE CONTINUED".
And soon, sooner would be better!

SECOND

Thursday, June 26, 2014 11:05 PM

I am priming the pump here by transferring the one comment from reddit www.reddit.com/r/firefly/comments/293qyi/spoilers_serenity_leaves_on_t
he_wind_issue_6/

Quote:
by lunchbox_tragedy 1 point 14 hours ago

I reread the whole set today in anticipation of the ending. The final issue seemed more like a denouement than a climax, but I still liked the resolution (especially since it sets up a promise of more).

Some observations:

Since MalXInara and KayleeXSimon have been fully requited at this point, we need a new romance; seems like Jayne has a thing for Bea, but it was only hinted at in the early issues.

The "disciples" of the black haired woman mentioned in issue 1 must be other Operatives, like the now-deceased Denon. I'm guessing the black-haired woman, who Mal's Operative was actually afraid of, is "Kalista", whom the former said Denon should've brought before he realized she was there. I guess she's our new main villain.

The alternate "resource" discussed by Denon and Kalista in issue 1 must refer to the other mind-altered girls like River, who were described as precious at that time and later when Mal et al broke into the facility. I thought the way Iris was cured from her mindless rage state went a little too smoothly and maybe should've been left partially unresolved for the future, but the fight scene with her in issue 5 was fantastic and I think one of the highlights of the series.

Given how important the Operative was to the rescue efforts in the series, I thought the face-off between him and Zoe (presumably ending in his death) was kind of stupid. I think she should've realized that Wash was killed because the crew decided to use Reavers as a tool just as much as he was by the Operative, and found it in her heart to form a truce with him. I wanted to see him come back and redeem himself more, although I guess his fate is technically unresolved...

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

SECOND

Friday, June 27, 2014 7:10 PM

I still can't comment because I haven't read #6, but others have.

http://fronttowardsgamer.com/2014/06/23/serenity-leaves-on-the-wind-6-
review-comics/

Quote:
So many of the story’s twists and turns feel very immaterial . . . For instance the entire diversion to the planet of River Tams, the point of which was to kidnap a discount River Tam so as to trade for Zoe ended up having exactly 0 impact on the plot as a whole and could’ve been cut completely with almost nothing lost at all. It’s not even like Mal’s development in that issue into actually caring about the new revolution he started carries over as this comic just ends with the status quo pretty much back to 0 for the Firefly universe

Oh! That stung! To take away the pain, here is Kaylee!
http://atlantiss505.deviantart.com/art/Pretty-Pretty-462183100

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

MUTT999

Friday, June 27, 2014 7:51 PM

Some more reviews here, mostly good.

http://comicbookroundup.com/comic-books/reviews/dark-horse-comics/sere
nity-leaves-on-the-wind/6

Also.

Can anyone make out the Stephen King novel Zoe's cellmate is reading?

SECOND

Friday, June 27, 2014 8:13 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by MUTT999:
Some more reviews here, mostly good.

http://comicbookroundup.com/comic-books/reviews/dark-horse-comics/sere
nity-leaves-on-the-wind/6

#6 was rated good by "Front Toward Gamer" reviewer. A 7 if you need a number
http://fronttowardsgamer.com/2014/06/23/serenity-leaves-on-the-wind-6-
review-comics/

But #1 was rated great (or 8.5 for those preferring precision).
http://fronttowardsgamer.com/2014/01/27/serenity-leaves-on-the-wind-1-
review-comic/

The reviewer pointed to the return to zero at the end of #6, which indicates to me that Dark Horse Comics will place Firefly on a long hiatus before the next issue. I hope a writer exists somewhere in our universe with a long story that can span 24 or 36 issues.

I'm optimistic as Kaylee. Sorry to the editors at Dark Horse Comics if I'm unrealistic about the comic-book business.
http://scarecrowmax.deviantart.com/art/Kaylee-Wallpaper-463505315

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

STEAMER

Saturday, June 28, 2014 4:45 AM

As with the rest of LOTW, I have mixed feelings. Glad to see the BDHs mostly in one piece, Serenity also fully intact, and River NOT paired off with Jayne (naturally). Not sure how I feel about Bea and this "Iris" chick staying on board (and how the heck did Simon bring Iris around that quickly anyway??). But the open-endedness of it - especially as regards the Operative and Jubal - that I'm definitely not crazy for. Sure, it opens up the door to plenty of future comics, but can they possibly find something to do with my poor little River besides chase, hound, and torture her near into oblivion??? Honestly.

I'd also add my nitpicks about the artwork in this issue especially, but I know I'll just get flamed for them, so what the hell. Better get back to finishing my own fanfic series before Zacky-boy usurps any of the other ideas I had for it. :lol:

GWEK

Saturday, June 28, 2014 7:39 AM

I've been fairly vocal in past threads about not being a fan of this story arc. I wish I could say that the finale changed by mind, but it was really just the nail in the coffin.

In the middle of the series, I started to get a little excited -- Mal and the Operative fighting side by side, Mal with a whole shipful of New Browncoats, the potential of another River (but perhaps darker and more damaged) -- but in the end, it was all so... lightweight. So much of the good stuff was thrown to the side.

I suspect that Zack (I can't call him Whedon; that's an affront to his brother's talent) was trying to tell too many stories at the same time, so they ALL fell flat.

Just addressing what we see here, roughly chronologically in the issue:

1) On one hand, I like Zoe's certainty that Mal will come for her... but it seems to fly in the face of the pragmatic Zoe that we've come to know and love. Her goal here is simply to survive until Mal gets to her. I don't buy that. She would be doing more.

(By the way, the book appears to be "The Long Walk," which is a Bachmann book.)

2) Like the use of River to brain-scan Rodgers. I will give Zack credit for that. They've taken the telepath route away and made her more clearer a "reader" of surface thoughts only, which is good.

3) In the scene with the Tams, Kaylee, and Iris, I like the initial decisiveness with which Simon acts, shooting Iris without hesitation (even though it's only a sedative). Here, we actually see some character development -- Mal has been rubbing off on him.

Unfortunately, the depiction of River is so woefully rooted in bad fanfic (quoting dialogue from a scene from the show that she wasn't even there fore), that it ruins the scene as a whole.

4) Mal's plan that he and The Operative will go in alone: I get that he doesn't want to be responsible for other lives, throughout this story arc, his guiding light has been that he's been willing to do ANYTHING to get Zoe back... so why so standoffish all of a sudden?

The Mal we've come to know SHOULD be in a cargo hold giving a spirited speech to all the New Browncoats, telling them that he can't ask them to lay down their lives for a woman they've never met, but that he's going and he'll owe a debt to any willing to join him.

But of course, he can't really give that speech because WHERE IS EVERYBODY?!? Based on the pictures we saw in the last episode, there should be battered, smelly people filling up every part of the ship, but, nope. Not any to be seen. Which is weird, because Bea specifically mentions them, and we DO see them in the background later.

So why is Mal willing to bring Bea with him but none of the others? Why knows, except apparently the plot doesn't call for more than the mule can carry. Which is pretty disappointing.

At this point, I have to take a sidestep and discuss what I thought we MIGHT see in this issue: a) Knowing that there was a lot to resolve and not a ton of time, I suspected that Mal might go in armed for bear, ready to find a war, leading an army -- only to find that Zoe had already basically led a prison revolt. Now, moving forward, we've got a potentially interesting dynamic with Mal and the crew at the head of an army of mixed idealists (Bea's New Resistance) and ruthless criminals (those freed by Zoe, with nowhere else to go). What crazy stuff might go down next?

But, no. Instead, Zoe has pretty much done nothing to help herself. And Mal is fully intent on a plan that should certainly fail.

5) An now, let's get to Mal's brilliant plan. Admittedly, he's not the tactical genius that Bea wants him to be, but this is the guy who pitted the Alliance and the Reavers against one another and lived to tell the tale.

What do we get as his follow up:

Three people speeding TOWARD a prison in a mule -- which should probably be driven by Bea, not The Operative, given that she's the least-experienced combatant. And the plan is, what, HOPE

STEAMER

Saturday, June 28, 2014 10:19 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Tyr:
You're not the only one who had an issue with the art. There were some mistakes that were so obvious they pulled me out of the story.

And I'm not complaining "this character doesn't look like the actor!" I'm complaining "Jeantys couldn't even line up the pupils of characters on multiple panels, and this is supposed to be a serious scene but all I can fixate on is how wall-eyed and un-emotive everyone looks."

Bam.

One wonders if this is how they get out of paying royalties to the actors or somesuch.

BYTEMITE

Saturday, June 28, 2014 10:46 AM

But Firefly is supposed to end back at a status quo. That's what Firefly is, it's them always taking a step forward and two steps back.

Although I could tell the raid on the Academy wasn't going to amount to a hill of beans when River first suggested it. But it's actually nice that they've countered River's potential to be a Mary Sue by making her likely to outsmart herself. Plus, I've always felt that River's "help" should always be a little bit risky and inclined to go any way, makes any story involving her unpredictable.

Yeah, Zack was trying to write too many plot lines. At least the ones he had in mind were cool concepts, even if they were a bit thrown together, maybe we can get back to stories focusing on one concept or theme at a time now.

GWEK:

Quote:
And let's not forget the prison guards. I understand that maybe they're not top of the line, since they're "just" prison guards, but they're utterly useless.

In fairness, one of the big features of the prison is that it's supposed to be a place that people are unlikely to find. The guards probably aren't anticipating people trying to break in, and considering the big vast nothing around them, it probably doesn't much matter to them if someone takes a runner. They'd just expect them to die out in the desert, so why would they bother maintaining ships to go after anyone?

And Mal hasn't ever really wanted to be the browncoat new leader. That was only something Bea insisted on and he hasn't vocalized any agreement with her despite the guilt trips she tries on him.

Quote:
Which, by the way, would pretty much be the coolest part of the story arc. If Buffy can have Angel and Faith, why can't Firefly have Bea, and Iris, and Jayne?

That could definitely be cool.

As for the operative, I agree, I hope they haven't killed him off yet, and I'm glad at least it was left ambiguous.

SECOND

Monday, June 30, 2014 11:49 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Steamer:
Quote:
Originally posted by Tyr:
You're not the only one who had an issue with the art. There were some mistakes that were so obvious they pulled me out of the story.

And I'm not complaining "this character doesn't look like the actor!" I'm complaining "Jeantys couldn't even line up the pupils of characters on multiple panels, and this is supposed to be a serious scene but all I can fixate on is how wall-eyed and un-emotive everyone looks."

Bam.

One wonders if this is how they get out of paying royalties to the actors or somesuch.

The artist Georges Jeanty said about his work, "In this case I would have preferred a longer arc only because of the time it took me to get comfortable with drawing the characters. Around Issue 5, I started to get familiar with these guys but by then there was just one issue left. With Buffy I had years to refine my craft, it was all too short lived on Serenity. I look forward to doing more if for nothing else, than I will have a better handle on drawing the characters... Inara and Kaylee, I apologize, I never did you justice... " -- http://slayalive.com/showthread.php/3633-Georges-Jeanty-talks-Serenity

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Serenity: Leaves on the Wind #6 **(SPOILERS!)**

Serenity: Leaves on the Wind #6 (SPOILERS!)