A whole herd of nerfs!
Creative Staff:
Story: Jason Aaron
Art: Leinil Francis Yu, Gerry Alanguilan
Colors: Sunny Gho
What They Say:
Han takes Luke out to fly the Falcon with him! Meanwhile…Leia and a few of her “friends” have troubles of their own. The rebel prison base is under siege!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Star Wars delved into some interesting material the last time around as it got this Rebel Jail storyline underway as it explored an area that was never really covered in the films and I don’t believe much in the Clone Wars series. And not in Rebels either. Just what does the Rebellion do with those they capture, since they aren’t like the Empire and kill indiscriminantly. They do kill as we see regularly in regards to their actions and battles, but that’s war as an insurgency. When enemies are captured, the jail that we got here certainly is an intriguing piece that reminded me a whole lot of the film Sunshine in certain ways. Bringing Aphra into the mix allowed for a natural entry point and exploration of these ideals, especially with Sana as a counter to Leia’s idealistic mindset.
Things went to hell pretty quickly, however, and it wasn’t actually Aphra’s doing – though you know she was just getting a little rest before making her own escape. With the jail now in utter chaos, we get to see that it was all a distraction for the mastermind behind it that has a bigger plan. Leia’s original believe that they were just trying to free someone may still be true, but their opponent is intent on putting a real moral question to Leia by unlocking prisoners and attempting to force her to kill them. With Sana as the devil on her shoulder, things are definitely tough. Yu does some great artwork throughout this aspect of the book, the dominant aspect in fact, as there’s a dark and oppressive closed in element to it that makes it tense. A lot of it reminded me of some of the old Star Wars books Marvel did years ago in what it’s exploring and how it strikes away from some of the more “comfortable” areas we get in film and TV.
The smaller part of this book is really doing its best to take over as my favorite. And that means overcoming the trio of Leia, Sana, and Aphra together getting ready to kick ass. Han and Luke’s Excellent Adventure in smuggling has Luke riffing on Han’s routine to get them something to transport and the results are utterly hilarious. The point of this storyline isn’t exactly strong, but that’s not what it’s trying to do – at least not yet. Partially it feels like a nod to Rebels in the kinds of things they do there to help out various worlds being crushed by the yoke of the Empire. But having Luke board a herd of Nerfs for transport in the Falcon? C’mon. How can you not love that, Han’s dialogue during it, and just the way Yu brings all that material together with both the Nerfs and how Han looks so disgusted with it all.
In Summary:
The ongoing Star Wars series has been a whole lot of fun in general but it took some time to really find its stride. I do almost think it’d work better as an anthology of standalone tales in some ways, especially those Obi-Wan tales, but this Rebel Jail arc is doing some good stuff in how it’s utilizing the Aphra element and exploring how the Rebellion itself works. Aaaron continues to nail the voices and movements of these characters well, expanding what we know and fleshing them out in fun ways, and Leinil Yu definitely gives this a more “mature” feeling in a way, especially with the coloring work that Sunny Gho brings to it with the blacks and reds in the prison sequences. There’s a whole lot to like here and I’m excited to see what’s next.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: All Ages
Released By: Marvel Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: March 23rd, 2016
MSRP: $3.99
