A fast rise continues as Thrawn and Vanto face new challenges.
Creative Staff:
Story: Jody Houser
Art: Luke Ross
Colors: Nolan Woodward
Letterer: VC’s Clayton Cowles
What They Say:
“THE RISE OF THE GRAND ADMIRAL” CONTINUES! Thrawn’s rise in the Imperial Empire continues at a trajectory one can only dream of. Meanwhile, Eli Vanto is still stuck in the same position as when he graduated – Thrawn’s aide. But will Thrawn’s obsession and pursuit of the mysterious crimelord “Nightswan” lead both Imperials to success in the Emperor’s eyes? Help comes from mysterious places in the Empire…
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The recent realization that I had, missing the note in the opening page, that this was adapting a novel that I then started reading not long afterward has made for an interesting experience. Jody Houser is doing a solid job in exploring this adaptation which worked very well in the first three issues but is starting to show the strain here as key details aren’t quite making it over clearly. This is the kind of series that needed to be twice as long to really capture it all, especially Pryce’s story, as we get a montage page here showing a range of events going on that take up a good chunk of space in the book. That’s no slight on Houser in the slightest as she and Luke Ross are delivering a strong and engaging read. I just see details that I would have wanted to have kept but would understand that it’d be near impossible to mix into the structure of this as six issues.
A good chunk of this book is dedicated to Thrawn’s run as the captain of the Thunder Wasp in dealing with the world of Cyphar where there’s a land dispute going on. It’s a simple problem overall where a human settlement and a native one with the Afe are running into problems that’s a he said/she said result. The humans expect a quick judgment from Thrawn – as Imperial officers tend to do just that – but he focuses on really learning the situation (and the artwork of the natives) in order to deal with it right. But it’s also something that allows him to explore his interest in Nightswan as he’s seeing that nefarious opponent under every rock. Vanto often tries to tamp things down a bit but even he’s really come to understand that something bigger is going on here with Nightswan’s activities and influence spreading in unexpected places.
The big change that comes here (from events related to Pryce that aren’t covered clearly enough) is that Thrawn is promoted to commodore with an ISD command while Vanto finally moves up from ensign. Pryce’s machinations are fascinating but hard to bring into this easily. What this sets in motion is the montage page of things that Thrawn first dealt with in his new role with slave trading that went on before the remainder of the installment moves into a new mission involving a greater portion of the fleet going after some loosely connected insurgents before they really connect. This is where we see Thrawn again running into the institutional hubris of those in charge – those that survived the change in power and pledged loyalty to the Emperor – combined with the distrust of an alien like Thrawn. The situation is expansive but it’s kept small with its focus on Thrawn and his analytical skills that shows him new avenue to explore to get the real win in the next couple of issues.
In Summary:
The Thrawn series worked pretty well in the first three issues with what it was covering, knowing that slices of Pryce’s story were shortened or cut entirely for space and flow. Her rise is key to what happens in this issue though and the lack of that in full definitely weakens their relationship, which becomes quite important down the line in the Rebels series. That said, Houser covers a lot of key events here well and keeps it all moving forward with some great artwork from Luke Ross and a beautiful montage page of events that I wish got explored more. I do wish this had been given a double-length run to be explored more fully but it’s working well and just getting time with the Afe aliens this time was worth it alone.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Marvel Comics via ComiXology/
Release Date: May 9th, 2018
MSRP: $4.99
