The luck of the Force.
Creative Staff:
Story: Jason Aaron
Art: John Cassaday
What They Say:
The greatest space adventure of all time continues! The attack on Cymoon-1 comes crashing to an end! Will the Rebels overcome Vader to strike another blow against the Empire? And is Luke ready to be the Jedi Ben wanted him to be?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
It’s been an interesting couple of months so far this year with three Star Wars books kicking off, rekindling my love of the property that got me into comics in the first place. While I had a lot of fun with the main series, even as I tried to fit certain events into the continuity of the movie, I have to admit I’ve been surprised by the fact that it’s the Darth Vader and Princess Leia series that have won me over. That’s given Jason Aaron quite a challenge here to work with, though he has the advantage of having the cast as a whole to work with whereas those books are a bit more focused. The opening arc for the series has been decent, and comes to a solid conclusion here, but it feels like things really need to gel in a different way in order for it to really excel.
With the attack on the Cymoon-1 weapons factory having gone so badly awry, even for this group of plucky Rebels, the fun has been in seeing Han and Leia working the AT-AT and getting around causing trouble while trying to reconnect with the Falcon to get the hell off that moon. It’s bad enough with all the weapons there and the general amount of troops, but having Vader show up there just adds to the overall complications. Particularly when we see him hacking his way through the legs of the AT-AT in order to topple it. It’s definitely a fun move in comparison to the echo to the future that we know of Luke taking down one of the beasts. The book plays heavily to action here, which is where the character material comes through as well, and for the most part it’s survival quips and fears that helps to keep it moving right along.
One of the more interesting areas here, and the one I’m having the harder time connecting with, is that of Luke and Vader’s back and forth. Vader gets another shot in chasing after Luke this time around, likely still feeling the burn of the Death Star chase, and his cold intensity works well, especially in comparison to Luke trying to take out the reactor even at the potential cost of his own life. He’s so quick to throw away his life that it feels like a really big character flaw writ large, which works, but it’s so blunt in some ways that you just want to smack him. But as Leia says later, he’s pulled it off twice now and she realizes that this is part of what makes a great Jedi just that. He’s not it yet, but the potential is there. And seeing Vader realize that this is what Obi-Wan was hiding all this time delights him as he sees Luke as a weapon he can use for his own goals. There’s some interesting potential there with what can be explored from the side, but also with the new tease that shows up back on Tattooine at Kenobi’s place. Even more so because you have to wonder if it’ll tie into the new features as well.
In Summary:
Overall, the mainline series is definitely achieving what it’s setting out to do by being fun. And it is definitely fun. The core players are here in the post-ANH world to work with and there’s a lot of the basic camaraderie that’s coming into play well, but also the truth that this group has not been together long and there’s plenty of room for growth and expansion on them that will figure into the Empire Strikes Back personalities that we know. But it’s also interesting that I find myself more drawn to the other series that Marvel is putting out because of the different focus, using characters that have gotten their due but shining a new light on them and potentially exploring some really good stuff. As a whole, the works are spot on and the mainline series out to delight just about any Star Wars fan.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: All Ages
Released By: Marvel Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: March 11th, 2015
MSRP: $3.99
