Saturday, June 26, 2010

No need to be wary, Serenity: Float Out! lives up to licensed property


Licensed comics based on TV shows and movies can be a bit of a mixed bag. Sometimes they provide a great way for beloved characters to live on in another medium, giving fans a chance to experience further adventures of their favorites. Unfortunately, sometimes fans must be wary because tie-in comics can be a ridiculous, lame excuse to part fans from their cash while despoiling the likenesses of once great characters. Luckily, for Joss Whedon fans, Mr. Whedon seems to keep a pretty close eye on what is done with his creations in comics. Some excellent books have been created featuring Buffy, Doctor Horrible, and Firefly/Serenity. Serenity: Float Out is one such book!

Serenity: Float Out deals with the aftermath of the death of pilot Hoban "Wash" Washburne in the movie Serenity. (I'm not worried about spoilers at this point. If you haven't seen the 5 year old movie by now, you probably aren't going to!) Three of his former comrades are christening a new ship, the Jetwash, in his honor. Each tells a tale of Wash's amazing prowess as a pilot, and his unusual quirks as a friend. As it does deal with the death of an important character, this is a somber book, but it does also have some moments of humor and hope.

This Dark Horse book is written by actor/comedian/comics fan Patton Oswalt with art from Patric Reynolds. Oswalt does a great job with the script, capturing the feel and voice of the characters and telling us the kind of story that would be hard to make work in a movie or TV episode. Reynolds art does a nice job of capturing likenesses without making it look like he just traced publicity shots of the actors. I've seen enough licensed comics where that happens to be glad it isn't the case here!

If you are a fan of Firefly/Serenity, you know you can't miss this book! If you aren't a fan and just want a nifty sci-fi tale about ships flying around and shooting at each other (and there seriously aren't enough of those nowadays!), then you should give this one a chance. Either way, Serenity: Float Out is guaranteed all week at Four Color Fantasies, so you've got nothing to lose by zipping through the old asteroid field and buying this comic. (Bottle of christening champaigne not inlcuded.)

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