Meet Mal Reynolds' mom in 'Firefly: The Outlaw Ma Reynolds' (preview)

Serenity captain Mal Reynolds visits his mom in the one-shot comic book "The Outlaw Ma Reynolds" from Boom! Studios. (Image credit: Boom! Studios)

Fans of Captain Malcolm Reynolds in the science fiction TV show "Firefly" now have a glimpse of his family history —  in comic form.

Boom! Studios and 20th Century Fox co-released "Firefly: The Outlaw Ma Reynolds" Wednesday (Jan. 15), which is intended as a one-shot volume looking at the history of Reynolds' mother.

The comic is a follow-on to "Firefly", the space western television series by Josh Whedon that ran between 2002 and 2003 and still remains popular among its "browncoat" fans at comic conventions and other events. Much of the series dealt with the events following the fictional Unification War, which was fought between the Union of Allied Planets and the Independent Planets from 2506 to 2511, according to the Firefly wiki. The Reynolds family was on the losing side of the battle.

Firefly: The Outlaw Ma Reynolds #1 | $8.99 (Boom! Studios)  

<a href="https://target.georiot.com/Proxy.ashx?tsid=72128&GR_URL=https%3A%2F%2Famazon.com%2FFIREFLY-OUTLAW-REYNOLDS-CVR-YOUNG%2Fdp%2FB083F3YFZD%2F%3Ftag%3Dhawk-future-20%26ascsubtag%3Dhawk-custom-tracking-20" data-link-merchant="Amazon US"" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Firefly: The Outlaw Ma Reynolds #1 | $8.99 (Boom! Studios)  

Boom! Studios takes the crew of the Firefly Serenity home again in "The Outlaw Ma Reynolds," a one-shot available now in stores and online.

"Captain Malcolm Reynolds — thief, smuggler, resistance fighter, and now captain of a crew of outcasts all the way on the farthest reaches of the 'verse — wasn't born an outlaw, but he comes by it honestly," reads a Boom! Studios description. 

"Turns out, his mother, the infamous Maude Reynolds, is at the top of the Alliance's Most Wanted, and if Mal doesn't get to her first, the Alliance will! Kicking off a new year of Firefly, discover the secret history of Mal and his mother, what that will mean for the rest of the ‘verse ... and a new brewing war to end all wars."

The creative team behind the new comic includes write Greg Pak ("Ronin Island"), artists Davide Gianfelice ("Nightwing") and George Kambadais ("The Black Ghost"), colorist Joana Lafuente ("Jim Henson's Labyrinth"), and letterer Jim Campbell ("Abbott", "Coda".)

The main cover is by award-winning artist Ethan Young ("Nanjing: The Burning City") and variant covers by artists Ming Doyle ("The Kitchen") and Michael Walsh ("Black Hammer/Justice League"). You can see a preview without any story spoilers below. 

(Image credit: Boom! Studios)

(Image credit: Boom! Studios)

(Image credit: Boom! Studios)

(Image credit: Boom! Studios)

You can find the new book at your local comics shop (use comicshoplocator.com to find the nearest one) or at the Boom Studios webstore. It's also available digital form, you can pick it up from comiXology, iBooks, Google Play, and Madefire.

 

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Elizabeth Howell
Staff Writer, Spaceflight

Elizabeth Howell (she/her), Ph.D., is a staff writer in the spaceflight channel since 2022 covering diversity, education and gaming as well. She was contributing writer for Space.com for 10 years before joining full-time. Elizabeth's reporting includes multiple exclusives with the White House and Office of the Vice-President of the United States, an exclusive conversation with aspiring space tourist (and NSYNC bassist) Lance Bass, speaking several times with the International Space Station, witnessing five human spaceflight launches on two continents, flying parabolic, working inside a spacesuit, and participating in a simulated Mars mission. Her latest book, "Why Am I Taller?", is co-written with astronaut Dave Williams. Elizabeth holds a Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Space Studies from the University of North Dakota, a Bachelor of Journalism from Canada's Carleton University and a Bachelor of History from Canada's Athabasca University. Elizabeth is also a post-secondary instructor in communications and science at several institutions since 2015; her experience includes developing and teaching an astronomy course at Canada's Algonquin College (with Indigenous content as well) to more than 1,000 students since 2020. Elizabeth first got interested in space after watching the movie Apollo 13 in 1996, and still wants to be an astronaut someday. Mastodon: https://qoto.org/@howellspace