Once more unto the breach!
Creative Staff:
Story: Jason Aaron
Art: Salvador Larroca
Colors: Edgar Delgado
Letters: VC’s Clayton Cowles
What They Say:
Scar Squadron is back…with their deadliest attack yet!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Jason Aaron’s run on the Star Wars series comes to a close with this issue after thirty-seven solidly fun and engaging installments and some little crossovers that were a delight. While I think there was some stumbling out of the gate to get a handle on the property and the path forward with it there were a lot of very bright spots along the way, including Kenobi’s journal material. This issue focuses on one of the original creations that Aaron got to add to the Star Wars universe with the Scar Squadron, which I understand the appeal of even if it doesn’t click for me and I don’t find this group to be particularly compelling in general. So it’s a kind of weak ending for me in that regard.
What I do like is seeing some of what’s going on with the squadron, notably as the leader has taken to the lightsaber as a way to fight against some of those that use bladed weapons – and the fact that Luke is out there. We see his training to try and get better but there’s only so much he can do with the weapon, especially knowing the kind of bond that exists between wielder and Jedi. Vader’s dialogue about it with Kreel is pretty good as Kreel is a true believer to be sure and believes in being a Stormtrooper above all else. Vader’s badass nature is played well here as he puts the screws to Kreel about recent failures and is ensuring that things go his way, but the best moment is how Kreel essentially turns into a fangirl when he suddenly realizes the Emperor has walked in. Never mind that Vader shifts to obedient dog mode here, it’s Kreel’s performance that really steals the show.
The rest of the issue has the Scar Squadron heading to the Horox system where they think the Rebels may be setting up next. That has them dealing with the locals to curry favor since they’re not exactly in the loop on things and it’s a kind of bullies taking down a bully to replace him and get what they want. Larroca makes it fun even if the little creatures remind me of Ewoks in a way through their personality but it leads to a decent fight sequence when the Squadron takes on the Rebel base there and makes inroads, something that allows them to deal with the “red shirts” of the Rebellion. It’s a nice piece for Aaron to do to give the Scar Squadron a good sendoff until he gets the chance to possibly write them again and I like that he does end the main story with a reconnect to the principal characters from the film as they arrive to see what happened. It shows once again that Aaron does get the characters and Larroca has some fun in giving us something very moody here thanks to Delgado’s color work.
In Summary:
This issue also gives us a small backup story with one more Kenobi tale that’s focused more on the Tusken Raiders with Dash Aaron also writing with Andrea Sorrentino on the art. It’s a charming little story that humanizes the group a bit more, which we’ve seen previously.and gives Aaron one more Kenobi tale to tell. Overall, Aaron’s run on this series got things where ti needed to be and worked well in crossing over with the previous Darth Vader series and exploring some fun events after A New Hope. There’s been a lot of ground covered here before but under the new and tighter continuity things are connecting in other ways, especially as the film universe itself grows and the novels are connecting as well. I liked what Aaron did as a whole and I have hope that he’ll swing back again someday with a limited series to do something elsewhere in this sprawling galaxy far, far, away.
Grade: B
Age Rating: All Ages
Released By: Marvel Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: October 4th, 2017
MSRP: $3.99
