‘Firefly’ side trips: ‘Bad Company,’ ‘Boss Moon’ and ‘The Outlaw Ma Reynolds’ (2019-20)

As comic companies are wont to do, Boom! Studios has accompanied its regular “Firefly” series with a handful of one-shots throughout the early part of the run, focusing on specific characters and their backstories. Here’s a look at three such books, from 2019-20:

“Bad Company” (March 2019)

Writer Josh Lee Gordon delivers a thoroughly engaging and surprising origin story for fiery-haired Saffron (a.k.a. Bridget, a.k.a. Yolanda), so deliciously played by Christina Hendricks on TV. He’s helped by three artists who each tackle a period of her life (kid, teen, adult) – Francesco Mortarino (Vincenzo Federici provides inks), Giuseppe Cafaro and Moy R.

In the double-length “Bad Company,” adult Saffron narrates the events, which naturally make us like and relate to her, and this impression is enhanced by her brutal lot in life.

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Yes, she’s a thieving street urchin, but she steals to get money for medicine to heal her deathly ill father. He eventually dies, having simply needed medicine that wealthy people can easily acquire – a nice snapshot of the cruelty of the Alliance’s socio-economics.

The middle section is especially good as Saffron works in a Companion’s Guild trainee house. The more advanced trainees are oblivious to their servant’s toughness and street smarts, making it especially fun to watch Saffron work behind their backs to serve her own ends, while also learning further life lessons.

The closing section is simply a conversation between Saffron and Boss Moon, who is trying to recruit her to capture Mal, as per “The Unification War” (Issues 1-12 of the ongoing title).

But Gordon does offer up quite a surprise: Saffron declines Moon’s offer on moral grounds. “Reynolds never did me wrong. Nothing I didn’t have coming to me, anyway,” she explains with surprising self-awareness and lack of ego.

The graphic novel “The Sting” would later supply a different – and more expected – portrayal of Saffron’s value system, and maybe that creates a narrative contradiction. But read on its own, “Bad Company” is an excellent and seemingly definitive portrayal of one of the most popular “Firefly” supporting characters.

4.5 stars

“Boss Moon: Birth of a Unificator” (Free Comic Book Day, May 2019)

Here we get the backstory of Boss Moon, the villain of “The Unifciation War” who softens up toward Mal as that story goes along. Being a FCBD story, it’s the length of half a regular issue. In the abstract, it’s nice to learn the reason for Moon becoming a Unificator (someone who works for the Alliance hunting down former Browncoats as “war criminals”).

But writer Greg Pak – the helmer of the main title – does little more than affirm what we already know: Moon is driven by her specific experiences, just as Mal is driven by his. She happens to encounter some bad Browncoats in this yarn, and extrapolates that to her view of everyone who fought on the side of the Independents.

3 stars

“The Outlaw Ma Reynolds” (January 2020)

Picking up after Issue 12, this double issue is again penned by Pak. The Alliance gives Mal the unenviable choice between 20 years in prison or his assistance in acquiring his outlaw mother, Maude. He chooses the latter on the understanding that Boss Moon and Inara will use their influence to give Maude a relatively light sentence.

This is a step down from “Bad Company” in terms of giving the backstory of an important supporting character. Granted, we do come away with a good understanding of Maude, who uses tough love in raising her son as a single mother on Shadow, as we see in flashbacks.

For example, the sheriff charges the mischievous Mal with six days in prison or a 100 platinum fine. Since he has only 15 platinum, his mom says “See you in a week.”

On the other hand, we see where Mal gets his fighting spirit, as Maude – angry over bandits’ murder of her husband and destruction of their ranch — refuses a mandatory Alliance buyout of her ranch on Shadow, on which the terraforming has apparently gone haywire. This seems to contradict the novel “Big Damn Hero,” where there is no mention of this situation. Mal’s childhood friends from that book are likewise absent here.

Mal and Boss Moon also get closer here, further setting up a love triangle with Inara for future issues of the regular series. In the category of housekeeping, the introductory text notes that the second Unification War is something that “nearly broke out” (thus somewhat explaining the title of Issues 1-12 being “The Unification War,” although it’s still a terrible title).

The similarities and differences between Maude and Mal are well taken: Both are tough, but Maude is more self-centered. Mal has become more well-rounded thanks to spending time with his makeshift family on Serenity. But since this is such a big event – our first up-close look at who Ma Reynolds is – it’s a rather flat experience.

3.5 stars

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