Tense like a caged beast.
Creative Staff:
Story: Kieron Gillen
Art: Angel Unzueta
Colors: Guru e-FX
Letters: VC’s Clayton Cowles
What They Say:
“THE ESCAPE” – PART 3! Is there romance in the air for Luke and Tula? Is there romance in the air for HAN AND LEIA?! Is there romance in the air between a bunch of stranded rebels and enormous ravenous monsters? No. This last one is no.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
We’ve had some awkward moments with this arc just in setting up everything but there’s been a lot to like with what Kieron Gillen is doing here. Putting our trio into a forced bit of downtime and seeing how they react is fun as their base personalities shine in their own ways. And it’s a chance to explore a mostly cut off society that’s essentially in hiding and simply getting along, which can last for only so long. Angel Unzueta puts in another solid issue here where I’m coming around more to their style as I like the action sequences with the creatures but also just the character designs themselves, which have a pretty good feeling about them while not going totally photorealistic.
For Luke, he’s definitely struggling with this place as he wants to be out in the galaxy making a difference. He grew up with this kind of lifestyle and doesn’t want to go back to it at this point, so when there are some beasts rampaging around it’s a good chance to do something and even show off a bit for Tula. He’s training elsewhere as well so he’s keeping in practice and trying new things while also thinking of how to apply it all. There’s a neat little subplot with Tula that I like where yes, it’s hinting at potential romance, but it seems like his interest is more in that her grandmother was a Jedi who left the order for love a long time ago. The dynamic between Luke and Tula is fun to watch as he really is that kind of simple naive farmboy here.
When it comes to Han and Leia, things are a bit more complicated. Luke is struggling to understand her desire to take more time here until she’s ready and that’s going to end things badly. For Han, he’s enjoying the chance to kind of slow-woo Leia a bit, being all relaxed and even talking about his past a bit as the Solo movie is nicely referenced. They’re not exactly on romcom mode here but she’s getting to know him better and he’s got his guard down a bit more with how relaxed he is. It’s an amusing contrast with what Leia is doing as she does pepper him with some questions and teases but she’s also working a bigger plan for when they get out of here in the background, unseen by anyone. Which makes the reveal all the more fun though pretty much a given considering her personality and position.
In Summary:
The Escape storyline has a solid third installment here as we get to see how the core three are handling their basic standstill period right now. They’re all acting pretty much how you’d expect and it’s fun to see them pushing against the restrictions in their own way. There are some nice moments of history that come into it through Tula, some good training for Luke, and a decent little bit of showy action that made me laugh. Leia steals the show and has me really intrigued to see what her true plan is here as it begins to be revealed and has me hopeful for a strong execution of revenge that will hit some high marks sooner rather than later.
Grade: B
Age Rating: All Ages
Released By: Marvel Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: December 5th, 2018
MSRP: $3.99
