Don’t let herding nerfs be the last thing you remember before you die.
Creative Staff:
Story: Jason Aaron
Art: Leinil Francis Yu, Gerry Alanguilan
Colors: Sunny Gho, Java Tartaglia
Letters: Chris Eliopoulos
What They Say:
Will Leia be able to save a prison full of Imperial forces? Or will the mastermind of the takeover strike back against the Empire? Find out as “Rebel Jail” concludes!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The Rebel Prison storyline has been a pretty good one overall because of the cast that was used. Yes, I enjoyed the Han & Luke subplot that had them herding nerfs and then coming to the rescue only to be knocked out and captured themselves. That it has luke near the end here being so proud that he got to fly the Falcon and sounding utterly like a child in saying it was so beautiful that I can’t express it properly. As much as I like the group dynamic and the breakouts that we get with smaller pairings, these two had a lot of fun this time around and it lead to a great grouping with Leia off with Sana and Aphra, something that the comics are able to do better than most other mediums outside of novels in order to make some engaging new characters work in the long term.
The bulk of the focus of the concluding chapter is on the confrontation between the mysterious mastermind and Leia and her group. It’s a bit more dialogue focused than past installments but it’s something that Yu and Alanguilan really nail well with the mood and intensity, made all the more so by some striking color work done to highlight the fall of the man in the mask. The book thankfully doesn’t take long to pull back the mask to reveal that it’s Eneb Ray, which may take some a bit of time to remember his critical role in the annual last year that was a strong look at events on Coruscant with his time as a spy. Bringing him into this was a smart move, one that was a proper surprise, as it highlights the connected nature of the books in the right way but also works here without having read that issue as well because enough is brought to the surface to make it connect.
The essence of what Eneb is doing is misguided yet smart as he knows that Leia is the one that will be taking on a stronger and more central role in the Rebellion as it goes on. But with all that happened to him he’s not convinced she can do the hard things necessary in order to win. It’s understandable to a degree, but the truth is he wants her to be cold and hard by killing Aphra in front of him to prove it. Never mind that she was part of the team that worked to destroy the Death Star and the large numbers killed in that. It’s a sequence filled with a lot of gray areas in a sense but Aaron brings it together well, making it so you utterly understand where Eneb is coming from and why Leia is pushing back as she does. Thankfully, we get some lightness brought into it with the way Sana is ready to do the deed, much to Aphra’s dismay, and it makes for some appropriate humor in the heat of the moment that adds instead of detracting.
In Summary:
Bringing the arc to a close, the creative team here has delivered another solidly enjoyable and fun story with some good moral areas tackled as well as they can be within the constraints of the franchise itself. This arc did some good stuff in exploring what they do with prisoners, showcased some great design work for the station and its environment, and delivered a fantastic running series of events for Leia, Sana, and Aphra to be involved in. When you separate out a character from the rest of the usual cast and work them with series-original characters there can be some weird dynamics that simply don’t work. But here, Aaron is able to find the right balance between them all to make it feel right, adding a layer of richness to all of them so that they all feel like they fully inhabit this grand universe.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: All Ages
Released By: Marvel Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: May 25th, 2016
MSRP: $3.99
