A new chapter opens.
Creative Staff:
Story: Kieron Gillen
Art: Salvador Larroca
Colors: Guru e-FX
Letters: VC’s Clayton Cowles
What They Say:
THE ASHES OF JEDHA! The Rebel Alliance turns its attention to the shattered planet of Jedha! But what is there to find on the devastated planet?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
One of things that has worked well for the Star Wars comics, and for things like the Rebels TV series, is that as new theatrical components are added they’re blended into the “past” of the franchise so that it feels more seamless. Kieron Gillen’s done some great work in the Vader storyline he did and over in Doctor Aphra but his taking the reins here is what has me the most excited. Particularly since it’s working with Salvador Larroca, one of my favorite artists working on this particular franchise. The two work very well together and Larroca’s design work really captures the look of the actors but also delivers big time with the look of the settings and ships, which in some ways is even more important.
With Rogue One having come and gone, Star Wars now focuses on dealing with some of the extended fall out of that. This issue has a small team in the Falcon heading to Jedha after all that has happened there to try and connect with the Partisans that are fighting there to see if they can be a part of the greater alliance that Leia knows is needed to take down the Empire. Jedha’s pretty much a hell at this point with it shattered and almost completely broken, floating off into space after what Tarkin did to it with the Death Star, but the Empire is still there looking to mine the kyber crystals. That has a new commanding officer coming in to up production, which reminds me of what happened in the New Dawn novel in some ways, but what I love is that he’s brought the queen from Sho-torun here as an adviser. With her world being an incredibly difficult one to mine she’s an ideal addition and adds a fun kind of classiness to the joint.
While those machinations play in the background a bit the book focuses on Leia and the others trying to connect with the Partisans. This isn’t easy as they have little interest in the greater alliance because they operate more in the shadow of Saw than anything else and that’s definitely there. What helps is that one of them, Ubin, returned here from the Yavin IV recently to try and help out her homeworld and is largely accepted by them. That provides an in but the whole thing is just delicate. Gillen’s movement of this feels a little rough and awkward as it gets underway but once things fall into place more it definitely works better, especially with Leia making it clear to Luke that she’ll handle things unless there’s a Death Star he needs to blow up.
In Summary:
The Star Wars series really feels like it’s moving to a different phase here after the run from Jason Aaron. I enjoyed a lot of what Aaron did with it and I don’t make comparisons between writers, but what Gillen is doing is bringing some of the more serious and “mature” side of things to the main book. I’m sure there’ll be swashbuckling fun at times as we see with the Aphra series, but the opening salvo here is one that brings the Rogue One events into the mainline series and how it all blends together, being a new piece that Leia can talk about and has experience and understanding with now that she’s lost Alderaan as well. With the team in place here and a lot of really interesting areas to mine, I’m excited for what’s next and this issue affirms that excitement in a big way.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: All Ages
Released By: Marvel Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: November 8th, 2017
MSRP: $3.99
