Serenity: Better Days by Joss Whedon, Brett Matthews and Will Conrad

Normally, the Serenity's crew leads a hardscrabble existence, one step ahead of bankruptcy, with barely enough cash to cover the operating expenses of the ship. But they all have dreams of what they will do if they ever become rich- far away as those dreams often seem to be.

But when Serenity's latest heist, or art objects from a museum, nets them little more than a new variety of security bot, which chased them right into their own ship before they were able to neutralize it. The dealer offers them a sort of deferred payment. He knows where a big operator secreted a bunch of money, and in exchange for the 'bot, he'll tell them where they can find the money. They can even take the brains of the 'bot with them and not send them to the dealer until after they find the money.

It sounds interesting, so Mal accepts the "payment", which is secreted beneath a stone Buddha in a buddhist temple. But the dealer actually underestimated the amount of money there. Instead of thousands, there are millions of credits. The crew has actually managed to become rich!

Flush with their newfound cash, they leave for the pleasure planet Pelorum, where they rent a suite that costs 1,000 credits a night, and share their visions of how their lives would change with unlimited money. Jayne fantasizes an entire world of his own, filled with women cooing over him, Wash sees himself and Zoe settling down to raise a family, Kaylee to opening a garage that can service any kind of vehicle, and so on.

But one of Inara's clients (who she dreamed to be Mal) is also a top enforcer in the Alliance, and while he normally chases dissidents called "Dust Devils", is sent out after Mal and the others to get back the 'bot's logic center from Mal and the others, and to track down one of the Dust Devils who is in Mal's crew. They think it's Mal, but in actuality, it's Zoe, and this leads to a showdown with the enforcer, and the loss of all the money they had gained.

But Mal never told everyone his own fantasy, and after they lose the money, Inara confronts him with his attitude towards losing the money. But is she right about him? And can Mal and the others drive off the alliance forces, and the 'bot's building, who is planning to pull Mal's teeth out, one by one?

This book is the compilation of a three-issue limited series put out by Dark Horse Comics only last year. It's not quite clear when it falls within the chronology of the series, but starts with all 9 characters on the ship and on the show.

I loved it, though, as it shows us facets of Mal's character (and that of all the characters, really) with the revelation of why Zoe became a Dust Devils, and what all the character would do with unlimited money. Jayne's is funny and over the top, River's is just plain weird, and even Shepherd Book manages to make you laugh. On the other hand, some parts of the book were funny and slightly squicky at the same time, like where Jayne tries to get Simon to help him understand how to deal with a Companion like Inara "And then you stick it in them?"

True to the series, the dialogue has a minor component of Mandarin, which isn't translated into English, but left untranslated in Kanji. And unlike the first series, the reproduced covers of the comics show three characters on each, presenting a much more cohesive image and theme.

I never saw these in a comic store when they came out originally, but I love the comics now, and as graphic novels go, they are damn good. The story is top-notch, the art is wonderful, and everything combines to just scream "Firefly" at you. Highly recommended to those who can't get enough Joss Whedon Firefly.