An epilogue that sets up Kieron Gillen’s final run.
Creative Staff:
Story: Kieron Gillen
Art: Andrea Broccardo
Colors: Guru e-FX
Letters: VC’s Clayton Cowles
What They Say:
“THE ESCAPE” AFTERMATH The great love story of our time as man and spaceship are brought back together in a tearful reunion. Er…HAN gets the FALCON back. It’s not just about the escape—it’s what you leave behind…
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The Escape storyline draws to a close here with… an escape! It’s also something that sets up the next arc which will be Kieron Gillen’s final one as he’s departing with the 67th issue. I’m of mixed mind on that as I think he did some strong stuff early on but it’s felt a bit uncertain in more recent arcs, which has me hopeful that the next arc will bring a lot of these pieces together that he’s laid out when it comes to Trios and Shu-Torin. This installment changes up artists with Andrea Broccardo coming on but it’s pretty solid all around with good character designs and an easy flow to it as we get a lot going on. It’s not the best thing to cap off an arc with a change out like that but it wasn’t a radically different style from before.
The main thrust of all of this is getting reconnected to the Alliance and figuring out the next approach after seeing what survived the disaster and diaspora. The fun early on is watching as the group makes an attack on a local Imperial dockyard where they’re able to secure some ships with the Makona acquiring their own in order to strike out against the Empire. There’s some decent dialogue across this in a general sense about how they do view Luke and the others as being responsible for what happened but not carry the responsibility as it ties back to the way they had settled on that moon knowing what they were involved in before. There’s a wistfulness of what could have been that’s nice to see but it puts the Makona on their own path, one that I suspect we might cross again sooner rather than later. Plus, it’s fun to watch them outside of their little zone shaking things up with the Imperials directly.
While there’s some amusing bits when it comes to Han getting to touch the Falcon again or grousing toward Sana over her own lack of love for her ship, the intriguing parts come more toward the end. Leia’s time with Ackbar has her setting the stage on how to deal a strong blow to the Empire with minimal resource outlay, which is critical considering the drubbing they’ve taken. I like that Ackbar calls her out on it potentially being a revenge plot until she makes her plan clearer, something she worked on a lot while stranded on Hubin. The problem is that no plan goes off without a hitch and this one hits one before it even starts as the Scar Squadron on Hubin has figured out those plans as well, which is going to have them accelerate their escape from here to try and head off the rebel scum.
In Summary:
While I enjoyed aspects of this arc it was one that didn’t feel like it really brought together as much as it needed in order to feel worth it for six installments. I liked the beginning and the uncertainty and there’s a curiosity about how Hubin operated once we got into it. But the stronger part was seeing Leia getting her things together and then the epilogue that sets up the next arc. This issue has some really delightful fun with Threepio negotiating to get the coordinates to meet up with the Alliance and that he gets aggressive is just wonderful since its unrelated and ratches up the tension unintentionally. I’m hopeful for a strong arc coming up since it’ll involve Trios and I really like that character and the needle she’s threading to survive and gain power.
Grade: B
Age Rating: All Ages
Released By: Marvel Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: January 23rd, 2019
MSRP: $3.99
