There are two ways tie-in fiction can go wrong: It either mimics the original show too closely and seems fake, or it goes hog-wild with plotting and seems like something the creator wouldn’t do. Boom! Studios’ lead “Firefly” writer Greg Pak figures it’s better to err on the side of the latter in “New Sheriff in the ‘Verse” (Issues 13-20, 2020, collected in Parts One and Two).
The funny thing is that I actually grew to like the arc by the end of its eight issues. The story is initially padded for the sake of selling a maximum number of issues (and we can see by the galleries in the collected volumes that there’s a remarkable number of alternate covers, too). Springing from the events of the “Outlaw Ma Reynolds” one-shot, Mal has agreed to take an Alliance job as a sector sheriff rather than be imprisoned.
The fact that this is out of character is the point. Although Pak lacks the Whedonian ability to write witty one-liners for the Serenity crew, “New Sheriff in the ‘Verse” is a worthy examination of what might happen if someone who doesn’t blindly respect the law (except as a threat to his well-being) ends up having legal power.
“Firefly: New Sheriff in the ‘Verse” (2020)
Issues 13-20, Boom! Studios
Writer: Greg Pak
Artists: Lalit Kumar Sharma, Ramon Bachs, Daniel Bayliss
Colorists: Francesco Segala, Joana Lafuente
Mal ends up being a libertarian sheriff. He pardons all non-violent crimes and focuses on going after a mass murderer in the sector. It turns out this murderer is all tied up in Blue Sun, a heretofore mysterious organization that is now clearly defined as the biggest corporation that has ever existed.
Pak explores many parallels to 2020s Earth. Blue Sun has significant behind-the-scenes control over the Alliance itself. But as a de facto stand-in for the government, Blue Sun itself suffers from bloat. Divisions within the corporation are unaware of the very existence of other divisions.
More metadata in the ’Verse
In a more pointed modern parallel, Blue Sun gives out new super-powerful communicators (the equivalent of cellphones) to the citizenry. It’s worth it to them because the devices give them even more metadata, which – long story short – gives them more power.
It’s interesting to find Mal going up against Kaylee, Jayne and Leonard Chang-Benitez, who are picking off Blue Sun shipments. Mal has no choice but to try to arrest this trio, which is headquartered on Serenity. Inara is on the yarn’s periphery, trying to help Mal via her good reputation with a powerful Blue Sun woman.
There’s some repetition to the rivalry between Mal and his old friends. But Pak digs deeply into Blue Sun business and legal maneuvering — which consists of liquidating human assets – and says something about unchecked power.
As a sheriff operating in the open, Mal might appear to be autocratically abusing his power, but the things the uber-powerful Blue Sun does in secret are more dangerous to liberty. The author comes up with a clever plot to close out the arc. Mal walks a tightrope in scamming Blue Sun and the Alliance but in a delicate enough way to get out of the noose; it helps that the preceding “Unification War” arc established that the Alliance has stretched itself thin.
I admit I didn’t see Mal’s scheme coming. A tip of the hat goes to Pak’s presentation of Mal’s trickery, and the way Jim Campbell adjusts his lettering as a way to show the trick. You’ll know what I mean when you read it.
Searching for a new rebel base
In the arc’s final issue, we catch up with Zoe’s quintet, who are off searching for a safe haven not only for themselves but for other veterans of the Second Unification War (as chronicled in “The Unification War”). I’ve said before that Pak’s plotting reminds me of the early Marvel “Star Wars” comics, and this thread reminds me of the search for a Rebel base after the escape from Hoth.
There is a certain coldness to “New Sheriff in the ‘Verse.” Pak doesn’t write witty repartee like Whedon and his writers did, although there’s one amusing sequence where Inara describes Mal to her Blue Sun friend – insulting Mal but actually helping him by doing so.
Everyone is in character in terms of their actions – although Kaylee serving as the pilot in Wash’s absence is a new aspect (thankfully piloting and engineering don’t need to be done simultaneously here) – but it’s not quite the same as having the entire crew together. Non-TV show character Leonard – the leader in Mal’s absence – is underused, especially if she’s supposed to be Kaylee’s boyfriend, something that could theoretically be interesting if Simon found out. However, Pak is more interested in plotting and action than romances.
The art remains rougher than the Dark Horse days, sometimes not even featuring an inker. This does give it a Western vibe, admittedly, and I never have trouble telling the characters apart. This is partly because lead illustrator Lalit Kumar Sharma and colorist Francesco Segala dress the characters in outfits “Firefly” fans know from production stills (Kaylee’s vest with a pink long-sleeved shirt, for instance). And it’s partly because “New Sheriff in the ‘Verse” splits the crew into manageable halves.
While not the crispest “Firefly” story ever told, “New Sheriff in the ‘Verse” ends up being smart and relatively entertaining, with art that’s good enough to get by.