Firefly: The Unification War Vol. 1

This is a study in sepia. Eager to revisit the much-lamented Firefly universe, I was lamentably disappointed. In the gloomy body of this volume, it is often possible to recognize known characters only because of context. The overall effect is of darkness, though sound effects in yellow or white are limned hugely (and unimaginatively) across major parts of many panels, and the dialogue is tiny. Panel placement and sizing are erratic and disconcerting; however, panel manipulation and sizing are often used effectively. Here, it seems as though those elements were employed to make following the storyline difficult. The combination of dark and difficult made this a slow read for me, despite, or perhaps because of, it being sequential art.

This is hardbound, and the quality of the binding is excellent. That may explain the price tag.

In an afterword section at the back of the book, there are a couple of dozen full-page character depictions. Those are full of color, and most are engagingly detailed. And in the initial pages there were some panels that showed perspective quite nicely.