Joss Whedon's 'Firefly' takes off again in new comic series

WASHINGTON (Circa) — It seems no power in the ‘verse really can keep Joss Whedon’s “Firefly” grounded.

Boom! Studios announced Monday it has obtained the license to public comic books and graphic novels based on the short-lived sci-fi western series about a crew of outlaws aboard the spaceship Serenity, desperately trying to keep flying, stay alive, and evade capture by sinister government forces. The publisher will begin releasing new material set in the show’s world in November.

“Firefly,” starring Nathan Fillion as Captain Mal Reynolds and Gina Torres as second-in-command Zoe, along with Alan Tudyk, Morena Baccarin, and Summer Glau, ran briefly on Fox in 2002.

For a show that only aired about a dozen episodes 15 years ago, “Firefly” has maintained an unusually loyal fan base. Years after its cancellation, Whedon brought the characters back on the big screen in “Serenity” in 2005, tying up some loose ends and creating new ones.

Much like his “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Angel” properties, the “Firefly” story then continued in comics with several miniseries taking place before and after the events that occurred on screen. The previous stories, originally published by Dark Horse Comics, will be collected in a new “legacy edition” alongside the new series.

“Firefly,” written by Greg Pak and drawn by Dan McDaid, with Whedon consulting, will revisit the universal civil war that loomed in the backgrounds of key characters throughout the series, often discussed but rarely seen.

“It’s high time we got to see the full story of Mal and Zoe’s meeting and mission in the War of Unification—the good and bad that the pressure of war brings out in them, and the unforeseeable consequences,” Whedon said in a statement. “Greg Pak and Dan McDaid are bringing a unique voice to the world of Firefly. It’s an important story for any dedicated browncoat to read, but more importantly, it’s a big gorram adventure.”

According to Boom, the series will tell the “definitive” story of the War of Unification as Mal and Zoe are targeted by the Unificators, a group of mercenaries hunting war criminals, forcing them to choose between fixing the past and fighting for the future.

“Our story will reveal key experiences for Mal and Zoe during the Unification War that you’ve never seen before,” Pak told Entertainment Weekly. “And we’ll introduce entirely new corners of the star system with characters, organizations, and subcultures that are absolutely true to all the world-building you know but absolutely brand-new at the same time.”

The first issue of “Firefly” is set for release on November 14, with covers by Lee Garbett, Jock, J.G. Jones, Bill Sienkiewicz, and others.