Serenity: Better Days Graphic Novel is Solid Read

Fans of the TV show “Firefly,” which prematurely bit the dust a few years ago, are no doubt aware that show creator Joss Whedon has migrated the story of the crew of the spaceship Serenity to another medium—comic books.

To date, Dark Horse Comics has published a handful of mini-series featuring the continued adventures of the characters in this entertaining, quasi-futuristic space opera/western. The most recent three-issue, mini-series, “Serenity: Better Days,” was recently collected and released as a graphic novel.

With script by Whedon and Brett Matthews and art by Will Conrad, Better Days nicely captures the camaraderie and fun of the original series (as well as a subsequent movie entitled “Serenity”). Conrad’s art is solid and he does a competent job of depicting the main characters as well as the action. While the faces sometimes aren’t exactly photo-realistic, Conrad does a good job of conveying the proper emotions.

The story isn’t knock-your-socks-off brilliant, partly because not much actually happens, but Whedon and Matthews clearly like these characters and have fun. This would have made a fine, middle-quality episode of the “Firefly” series. As with all Dark Horse collections, the print quality is excellent and the pricing is affordable at $9.95.—RFM

3.5/5