Serenity Volume 2: Better Days Review

When it comes to comics, Marvel and DC are not the only big dogs in town. Dark Horse also has a fantastic selection of reads that are both entertaining and highly stylistic. Serenity happens to fall under both the immensely entertaining, and highly eye pleasing. Even better, that wonderful paper comic now finds a new electronic form in iOS devices.

Those of you who may have never watched the TV series Firefly, enjoyed the movie Serenity, or feasted your eyes on the paper comics; this is a combination of science fiction blended nicely with an old west feel. The story focuses around a band of unlikely friends who keep taking jobs in order to keep their spaceship flying and food on the table. The plot thickens with an evil government who performs experiments on children of genius. One of their highly coveted experiments happens to be repossessed by their brother, and ultimately ends up becoming part of the Serenity crew. This digital comic focuses on a small portion of that story line.

The comic itself is very easy to navigate. Tapping on the left side of the screen will take you back a page. While tapping on the right will advance you along. You can also double tap in the middle and drag a slider to any of the 80 pages. Even better is that almost the entire book is set to portrait orientation. This fact means you will not be getting your exercise in by constantly having to rotate between landscape and portrait orientations like some other comics. This may seem like a small advantage, but it goes miles in keeping you in the story and not fighting a device.

The iOS devices make for a great reading experience. Not only is the text crisp and easy to read, but there is no need for a flashlight to read the comics while hidden under the covers. The artwork does a great job in blending space blasters, hovercrafts, and technology into a western setting. The colors throughout the comic are subdued and dark. I did bust out my Serenity comics and can even say the visuals are equal, if not a little better, than their printed counter parts.

Serenity Volume 2 is a wonderful addition to any iOS comic collection. It is easy to navigate, reading is a pleasure, and it is wonderful to have anywhere you go. Be sure you grab Volume 1 so you can convert those nonbelievers to the greatness that is Serenity. If you liked the movie, are a fan of Joss Whedon, or just like comics, this is well worth the purchase.

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