Hutts. Why did it have to be Hutts.
Creative Staff:
Story: Jason Aaron
Art: Salvador Larroca
Colors: Edgar Delgado
Letters: VC’s Clayton Cowles
What They Say:
Han and Chewie go back to smuggling…for a Hutt?!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Having mostly enjoyed the arcs that we’ve gotten in this series and others within the Star Wars realm I have to admit that I’m enjoying these standalone stories more. The previous Obi-wan stories hit a sweet spot and getting Jason Aaron to do smaller tales and fill in tiny gaps here and there is great. It doesn’t hurt that once again Salvador Larroca turns in a great looking book, though some of the shots of Han are looking a little too photorealistic for my tastes. He’s definitely done a great job in capturing the look of the cast at that point in time and the combination of that with really good backgrounds and some great mechanical elements turns this into a very fun to read book just from a visual perspective.
With this issue things continue the narrow approach as we get to learn more of what Han is up to when not involved with everyone else. The opening scrawl talks of how his missions have helped to continue to fund the Rebellion but this goes in another direction as he’s asked to help smuggle something past Imperial lines. While he’s usually game to do such things as it keeps him on top of things in this area he’s not that interested in this mission as it has him moving Grakkus the Hutt to a new secure facility. With him being liberated by the Rebellion recently there’s a belief that he’ll have some intel worth it if they can manage a good interrogation. Grakkus is a rough character to work with as some use of him in the Clone Wars TV series leaned a little too hard into comedy, and with other Hutts as well, but I love these little bits of long continuity to help tie things together in a good way.
While the setup is solid with Mon Mothma and the larger plan put into play here to achieve the longer goals works out well, there’s a kind of off feeling to how everything flows with it. The banter is fun and Han is definitely amusing as he deals with Grakkus, but the way things work with the Imperials that run across doesn’t connect well and there’s just a sense that it’s all moving too fast in order to hit the beats it needs to before the end. Not that it’s a two-issue story kind of idea but it needs a bit more than it actually gets here. It’s fun seeing familiar elements used here in new ways with the smuggling and the phrases such as tearing arms off but the real win is that Grakkus proved more amusing and interesting in the right ways than I expected him to. I wouldn’t want to revisit this dynamic anytime soon but it was a fun grouping to watch play out.
In Summary:
With a couple more standalone stories ahead before the long form storytelling gets underway again, Jason Aaron has some fun playing with Grakkus here and giving us some creative stuff for Han and Chewie to deal with. It’s the weaker of the stories so far in this standalone arc as the Luke and Leia stuff was pretty thoughtful while the Lando and Sana material was a whole lot of fun with a caper playing out. Here, with it being a bit too on the nose with the artwork, it doesn’t flow as well and there isn’t anything that really sets it apart after the first few pages seeing Han interacting with Mon Mothma. There’s stuff to like here but it’s not the strongest issue in the run to be sure.
Grade: B-
Age Rating: All Ages
Released By: Marvel Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: August 30th, 2017
MSRP: $3.99
