Firefly: The Fall Guys #1 – Boom! Studios

Creative Team: Sam Humphries, Jordi Pérez, Francesco Segala, & Jim Campbell (Color Assists By: Gloria Martnielli & Cover By: Francesco Francavilla

Welcome to another New Comic Book Day review from the N.I. Bullpen!

If you were a fan of the show Firefly, then like me you were heartbroken when the show was canceled. Fortunately for us fans, the folks at Boom! Studios have helped to keep the franchise alive in comic book form! From old characters you know and love, to brand new fresh faces you’ll come to know in the future, the Firefly franchise continues to captivate old and new fans alike. 

Let’s take a look at the latest new storyline in Firefly: The Fall Guys #1 from Boom! Studios!

**POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD**

Hoodwinked Into A Meeting

The issue opens up with the Serenity having just landed. Soldier Zoe Washburne and newly instated captain of the Serenity Kaylee Faye are off to meet a potential client about a mission. Zoe expresses trepidation, but Kaylee reiterates that they can’t be picky about jobs right now since they really need money.  

They enter a tavern or the meeting, only to be met with guns drawn as they enter. It turns out that one of the people there, Amber Archambeau, actually tricked the Serenity crew with the promise of a paying job. The two groups have a history and as Zoe and Amber trade threats back and forth, a bandit in the bar named Leonard Chang-Benitz, steps in and evens up the numbers for our protagonists.

Just as Amber laughs and says she still likes the odds, the bartender, Inara Serra, who also happens to be a member of the Serenity crew reveals that she has actually been serving Amber poison in her drinks for the past 2 hours. Inara is the only one with an antidote.

At the same time, another of Amber’s crew reveals that they have the former captain of the Serenity, Malcolm Reynolds, held captive. She thinks he is asleep on the piano, but he had set up a decoy and was actually INSIDE the piano. The numbers are now firmly in the Serenity crew’s favor.

The Job

After all the craziness of the standoff, it turns out that Amber really does have a job for Kaylee and her crew. She wants them to steal a mine. No not something like a landmine that you could carry, she means an actual mine, the Yellow Shale Mines further up the mountain near town.

Rather than literally stealing the physical mine itself, they are instructed to steal a safe from the land office in town that contains the deeds to the mine in question. If the crew of the Serenity can steal the proof of ownership, then Amber and The Alliance can move in without any trouble to take over the mining operation.

Rather than just stealing the one land deed, Amber needs them to steal the entire safe, so as not to raise suspicion. On top of that, since these two particular crews hate each other, no one would believe that they teamed up to pull off the heist. In Amber’s words, “Easy gig for easy money.”

Complications Already

Just as they are about to agree to the job, an Alliance security officer bursts through the door, ordering everyone to leave. They head outside and see that Alliance officers are everywhere, evidently there is a dignitary in town. With all the extra security around town, the “easy gig” just became much more complicated.

As the crew discuss how they are going to pull off this job, they notice a ship, and not just any ship. The “fancy dignitary” they had heard was in town was not just any official. The ship belongs to the Prime Minister of the Universal Alliance.

With such a high profile person around, the added security is going to be intense. The crew at first starts to think they are going to have to call off the job. Kaylee has other ideas. She reasons that with the security forces so focused on the Prime Minister, then no one will be paying attention to them.  The crew is convinced.

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The Land Office

The crew’s plan is put into motion. Malcolm and Inara distract a guard outside the land office and Leonard knocks him out. The trio rush upstairs to the office and begin to pick the lock on the door. 

Meanwhile, Zoe and Kaylee are talking through the situation. Zoe is embarrassed that she had to rope the crew into a job in order to help her feed her daughter. Kaylee reassures Zoe that everyone in the crew looks out for each other. They also go into who Prime Minister Hamner is and how she became the head of The Alliance.  

The pair get their signal that the rest of the crew is ready for help with the safe. As they work out how to go about getting the safe out of the land office without being seen, Zoe draws Malcolms attention to the window. The street is lined with guards on both sides. They figure that this must be Prime Minister Hamner’s route she is going to take through town, which presents the crew with a rare opportunity. 

Zoe and Malcolm begin to toy with the idea of assassinating the Prime Minister. They have the perfect vantage point for an ambush. They are even close enough to the street that they would be able to take her out with a shotgun or pistol. This would bring the Alliance to its knees.

Just then, Leonard gets fed up with the safe and decides to blow it open.

Yellow Shale

Rather than land deeds and paperwork, the safe is actually full of Yellow Shale, enough of it to make the crew exceedingly rich. The plan was “to be moderately underpaid” and now they are presented with a literal fortune.

As the crew debate on what is going on they come to a realization. They are on a job given to them from a rival crew, they are in the perfect position and vantage point to assassinate the Prime Minister, and they have a safe full of Yellow Shale they can’t move. They are in the process of being set up. Amber and her crew plan to shoot the Prime Minister and make it look like the Serenity crew did it.

Amber’s crew member Blue Jean Baby is on the floor directly beneath the Serenity crew. She has her rifle’s laser sight set on the Prime Minister’s head as she is driven through town. The Serenity crew knows they are about to framed for the crime of the century, and there is nothing they can do to stop it from happening.

The final scene is the laser dot on Prime Minister Hamner’s head, we see a “BANG” and that is how issue 1 comes to a close.

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Story Review

Humphries is keeping the Firefly franchise going strong with this first issue of a brand new storyline. The story and characters feel new, yet familiar as our favorite crew of space pirates embark on yet another adventure. 

The stakes are high for the crew of the Serenity in this first issue. Like usual the crew is flat broke and in need of income and they happen to get a job right when they need it. It’s not an ordinary heist job though as things escalate quickly into a scenario with universe wide repercussions.

There is also a subplot going on with Zoe as she struggles with taking care of her daughter amidst pirating and being a fugitive from justice. She feels like a bad mother, but Kaylee reassures that the crew is family and family looks out for each other. It will be interesting to see how Zoe manages the epic scale of events while simultaneously trying to maintain her family.

This is shaping up to be an incredible run so far and personally, I can’t wait to see how the crew is going to handle this situation moving forward.

Artwork Overview

Pérez and Segala do an amazing job with the artwork in this issue. The world of Firefly has always been a little gritty and dirty feeling. This is no exception, and the “old west” vibes are HEAVY in this series. 

The color pallets are dim and neutral, which in many cases could make for uninteresting panels, but that is not the case with this book. The fact that none of the colors really “pop” actually works to keep you focused on the story. It also makes you really want to examine the environments, since nothing truly stands out or distracts, it gives the reader an excuse to slow down and examine each panel closely for the full details.

Overall Score: 8 OUT OF 10 – “Must Pull”

Firefly fans have been deprived of content for a long time up until a few years ago. After the show was canceled and the Serenity film was released, many of us fans were left wanting so much more from the franchise.  

Luckily for us, Boom! Studios is here keeping the fire burning for Firefly fans both new and old. We may not be getting any new episodes any time soon, but we can rest easy knowing that there is still a massive amount of content for us to consume in comic book form.

So, if you are a Firefly fan and are looking for new content and stories in the franchise, then I highly recommend picking up Firefly: The Fall Guys #1 from Boom! Studios this week on new comic book day!

As always everyone Be Safe, Be Kind, and Take It Easy!

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