That poor cape!
Creative Staff:
Story: Rodney Barnes
Art: Paolo Villanelli
Colors: Andres Mossa
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna
What They Say:
THE GALAXY’S MOST DEBONAIR ROGUE! Having been freed from BATALLA and his warrior clan, LANDO now faces a host of new obstacles. Will he get past the STORMTROOPERS, find RYTHUS and get the arms to him and his people? Is all of this possible while wearing a cape? Will his mustache start a grooming trend? All will be answered in this issue!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
As we hit the penultimate issue of the miniseries, Lando: Double of Nothing has a good bit of fun as it lays things out clearly with what it is it has to do. The book has been fun overall so far but hasn’t really gelled in a way that made me connect with it since the overall storyline felt somewhat disjointed. Rodney Barnes has definitely captured the voice of this Lando, which isn’t quite the same as the older Lando that we’re more familiar with, and the dynamic with Ellthree continues to be amusing to watch play out. Paolo Villanelli also has grown well into the book with some really fun layouts to be had here and a great sense of composition in putting it all together so that it flows well and has a lot of really good little details to it that make you grin.
With the weapons that Kistiss needs, Lando has to come up with the cunning plan to get down to the surface and deliver them. Though it’s not the easiest thing to showcase in illustrated form, dealing with the TIE fighters is a good bit of fun as we see here as is the banter that Ellthree brings to the table to remind Lando that she’s definitely critical to his success. It’s a fun sequence that segues well into Lando using the sewer system to sneak into the place and to connect up with Kistiss and her father. The bugs down there aren’t much of a real threat but it adds a little challenge and color to the place and it forces Lando to strip off the cape. I’ll admit, I love a good cape and wish they were in style, but Lando looks damn fine just in his regular outfit, especially with the color design that Andres Mossa uses in the book.
What becomes really amusing because it frustrates Lando is that when he does hook up with them and gets them on the same page, they reveal that their people aren’t exactly fighters by nature. Rythus isn’t exactly able to lead them or motivate them because of how they are as a people and the hope is that Lando can inspire them. It’s totally in his wheelhouse even if he won’t admit it because it’s basically just playing to a bigger con here in order to achieve his goal of making money. While he does worry about not being paid in the end there’s that theatrical side of him that’s getting its itch scratched and seeing him get more and more into it, caught up in the situation and his role within it, is simply delightful.
In Summary:
Lando: Double or Nothing continues to be a fun romp that has me hopeful that we’ll be getting more stories of him and Ellthree in our future to showcase more of him from this era. I really dug the previous Lando series that was pre-ANH so getting more of his younger years is definitely enticing. What I want is for it to fit more into the larger context, even as I enjoy the discovery of new worlds and people here. It’s not so much that I want it to be super-connected to everything but I want to feel like it really does exist within the larger context that I’m not quite getting here. Coincidences are problematic but touching upon events in the larger universe could give it all a bit more weight and character shaping.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Marvel Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: August 29th, 2018
MSRP: $3.99
