Those Left Behind (Serenity #1) by Joss Whedon & Brett Matthews

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Although I’ve only watched Firefly twice, I’ve seen Serenity countless times. While Those Left Behind‘s dialogue and personalities match the original show, the story lacks substance and the artwork . . .

Well, the individual comic covers are amazingly representative of the actors’ looks as is the illustration of Shepherd Book in the introduction, but the rest is hit and miss. Mostly miss. Poor Inara looks nothing like the actress who played her. Facial features and expressions are sometimes obscured to the point that I wondered if I was being introduced to another character.

Events seem to take place between the end of the TV series and before the film. The story itself is short. Our beloved space pirates are robbed of their bounty on the way to delivering Inara back to the place she calls home. Desperate for money, the crew take on a risky job only to encounter an old enemy (more of an annoyance)  lying in wait for revenge. Said enemy is in bed with the Alliance who are hoping to recapture River Tam. The closing pages sees the task handed over to a shaded figure with a sword whom I assume is The Operative from the film.

Since I borrowed the second volume Better Days from the library, I’ll probably read it despite my disappointment with Those Left Behind. But then nothing can live up to the enjoyment I found in the show and the film.