The cover of this graphic novel depicts Wash at the flight
console of
Serenity. Console layout appears to be that seen
in the
Firefly
TV series, not the revamped console seen in the
Serenity movie (beginning in
"Triggered"). None of his
dinosaur toys are present on the console, though he does
hold one in his left hand, a stegosaurid. Another
stegosaurid image appears on the back cover.
The double-page spread of the Contents page features an
image of what is probably a Brachiosaurus.
The graphic novel begins with another quote from Wash, "We
gotta go to the crappy town where I'm a hero." This was
originally said by him in the episode
"Jaynestown", where Jayne was worshipped as a hero in a
small lower-class community.
"Windfall"
Written by Jeff Jensen
Illustrated by Jorge Monlongo
The first (splash)page of this story appears to depict
Wash's grave, with the headstone having been shattered by a
sapling growing up through it. We also get an underground
view of the grave and see that the saplings roots are
growing through Wash's skeleton. But where are the
headstones of the others who were buried next to him in
"Living Weapon" (Shepherd
Book and Mr. Universe)?
The spacesuits worn by Wash and Zoe in this story look like
the same ones seen
worn by the crew on occasion in TV episodes of Firefly.
On page 10, Wash remarks to Zoe
that his "very important role in the great cosmic narrative
of existence" is "supporting the big damn heroes that I love
with jesty wisdom." The phrase "big damn heroes" is
based on an exchange of dialog between Mal and Zoe in the
episode "Safe",
so this moment must have occurred some time after that
episode. Other than that, it is hard to say when in the
chronology this moment takes place. Wash and Zoe appear to
be removing Reaver body parts from the starboard engine of
Serenity while in orbit around a planet. The only
known encounters with Reavers by the crew are in
"Government Goods",
"Bushwhacked",
"A Better World", and
"Living Weapon". But,
"Government Goods" and
"Bushwhacked" take place
before
"Safe" (and it didn't appear that Serenity hit
any Reaver bodies floating in space). And in
"A Better World" and
"Living Weapon", while it's
possible the ship could have hit a Reaver body while passing
through the Reaver "shipyard" in space surrounding Miranda,
the crew had no time to stop and clean the ship before
Wash's death in "Living Weapon".
I suppose we must assume there was an as yet unrecorded
encounter with Reavers sometime between
"Safe" and "A Better World".
Also on page 10, Wash pushes a Reaver head out into space,
saying, "Farewell, poor Reaver Yorick." The name "Yorick" is
a reference to Shakespeare's Hamlet, in which
Yorick is a dead court jester whose skull is exhumed from
his grave.
Wash and Zoe are seen taking a vacation on Windcrest. This
is the first mention of this world in the 'Verse.
On pages 14-15, Wash and Zoe go paragliding using the
hovermule as a tow.
"The Land"
Written and illustrated by Ethan Young
This story takes place on Xallus, an Alliance-controlled
moon of the planet Terok IV. The population is just 2,706.
This is the first mention of this world in the 'Verse.
Many of the names in this story are influenced by the
1993-1999 TV series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,
with characters named Kira and Julian and the planet Terok
IV is a play on the original Cardassian name of the space
station, Terok Nor, re-named by the Federation, Deep Space Nine.
In panel 1 of the story, a business with a name beginning
with "PIGGY" is seen on Xallus. Perhaps it is a play on the
name of the
Piggly Wiggly chain of supermarkets in the southern and
midwestern states of the modern day United States.
Kira calls the small ship owned by
Hoban Washburne, Sr. a "turkey", likely due to its shape and
the orientation of its two pivoting engines when landing.
This is the first mention of such ships in the 'Verse.

Wash's father is also named
Hoban Washburne, making Wash's full name Hoban Washburne,
Jr. We see here that Wash's father
also went by the nickname "Wash".
In the last panel of page 21, Wash, Sr. is seen to wear a
wedding band. He soon pawns it for 200 credits to get his
ship fixed.
Wash, Sr. refers to his son as Junior.
Young Wash visits an attraction called Dino World on Xallus.
Here, the proprietor, Kwan, tells him that Tyrannosaurus
rex was the king of the dinosaurs and that it could
tear through its enemies "like you or I tear through char
sew bao for lunch." The name Tyrannosaurus rex is
Latin for "tyrant lizard king". Char sew bao is a Chinese
dish, a bun filled with barbecue pork.
Just inside the entrance of Dino World are statues of what
appear to be Stegosaurus, Triceratops, and
Apatosaurus.
On page 26, the splash page of life on
Earth-That-Was-in-dinosaur-times appears to depict a
Tyrannosaurus rex confronting a Stegosaurus,
with a Pteranodon flying overhead.
Kwan gives the Washburnes a small crate of toy dinosaurs.
This would seem to be how Wash obtained his famous toys in
the first place.
On page 31, young Wash is playing with two of the dinosaur
toys. The toys appear to be a Stegosaurus and a
Ceratosaurus. Here, Wash begins to tell a story with
the two dinosaurs that has the same setup as the one he will
use decades later near the beginning of
"Serenity".
Wash makes a remark to his father that it's nice when two
people can be together without a shocking twist that tears
them apart. This may indicate some resentment on his part
about whatever it was that seems to have made Wash, Sr. a
single parent.
Wash has an uncle named Jake. It's not clear if this uncle
is related on his father's side or his mother's (or just a
friend of the family he calls uncle).
On the last page of this story, Wash, Sr. takes the two dino
toys from his sleeping son and places them on the top edge
of the ship's flight console.
"Born for the Stars"
Written and illustrated by Jared Cullum
A number of Firefly-class or Firefly-predecessors
are seen throughout this story.
"Take the Sky Away"
Written and illustrated by Jorge Corona
Colored by Fabiana Mascolo
This story reveals that Centipede-class ships
carrying huge loads often have to use external acceleration
rings to break atmosphere. This is the first mention of both
of these technology types in the 'Verse.
"Home"
Written and illustrated by Giannis Milonogiannis
Colored by Giada Marchisio
The bridge of Serenity is not drawn very accurately in this
story.

"The Flight Lesson"
Written by Jeff Jensen
Illustrated by Jordi Perez
Colored by Maxflan Araujo
This is the final story in the volume. It seems to be an
apocryphal tale of Wash as a father to his and Zoe's
daughter Emma when she has become a teenager.
Emma first appeared as a newborn baby in
"Leaves on the Wind"
Part 1.
The dinosaur toys Wash plays with on page 90 appear to be a
Pteranodon and a Velociraptor.
Wash has a big red button (like the one he rigged up in
Serenity in "Out of Gas") on his ship.
In this version of reality, Wash lives, but Mal is dead.
Wash and Emma visit his grave in Serenity Valley on the
planet Hera. The headstone is identical to the ones given to
Wash, Book, and Mr. Universe at the end of
"Living Weapon".
On page 110, Wash mumbles about his daughter, "Curse your
sudden but inevitable betrayal." This is a line we first
heard him utter while playing with his dinosaurs in
"Serenity".
Chinese translations
(Thanks to the
Firefly-Serenity Chinese Pinyinary for the
translations) |
Page # |
Chinese |
English |
21 |
Wash says, "Why's this moon smell like gou
shi?" |
gou shi=shit |
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Episode Studies