Everything goes according to plan, something that happens often in this universe.
Creative Staff:
Story: Kieron Gillen
Art: Angel Unzueta
Colors: Guru e-FX
Letters: VC’s Clayton Cowles
What They Say:
“THE SCOURGING OF SHU-TORUN” PART 3 LEIA leads her covert team deep into the heart of the royal palace of SHU-TORUN. BENTHIC leads the PARTISANS deep inside the horrific edifice of THE SPIKE. A rebel victory could cripple the Empire for good. A little scourging is one thing…but the death of a planet?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
With this arc part of me is feeling like where has this material been since the opening arc that Kieron Gillen brought to the series. It has the kind of material that we started with as it exploed a post-Rogue One Jedha but we ended up with some less than interesting arcs for a bit until now. With the mission underway we get some solid tension in this installment and the natural twist that was fairly well expected considering the group brought together. Angel Unzueta has probably their best issue to date with great looking layouts, lots of strong backgrounds, and solid character material. All of which is amplified by a great color work employed by Guru e-FX to give it some wonderful intensity, especially as we get far below the surface of Sho-Torun with all of the lava and magma.
With the codes in hand and the retinal scan as well, it’s a delight watching as Leia and Han deal with Tunga in performance mode – applauded regularly by Threepio, no less – as they move onto the next phase of the plan. The intention of shutting down the spike and throwing everything into chaos, safely, moves to the next phase that has Tunga taking on Trios’ appearance and working his way through the royal retreat. Tunga has not been a favorite of mine but he’s definitely enjoying all that he gets to do here and plays it up well, which is amusing to watch in how much it frustrates Leia in particular. But there’s a lot to like as he takes on her role and uses it to gain control to the facility so they can seal off the world at every door in order for the next phase to get underway.
That phase goes pretty well with Luke bringing the Falcon in with the partisans, but it becomes pretty clear that he’s certainly not in control of Bethnic. There’s a lot of disagreement in play how to handle the guards as Bethnic eliminates them after Luke takes them out and that puts him in a real grey area that’s always been problematic in the film series. It’s a delight watching the group make their way in while seeing events unfold elsewhere, especially as the real Trios realizes what’s going on and who is behind it. But there’s also the truth that Bethnic now is in a stage of just wanting to watch the galaxy burn after Jedha and is orchestrating a plan that will go far beyond what Leia wants to do as she’s still in the whole trying to save the galaxy mode.
In Summary:
This arc continues to pick up energy and intensity as it goes along and makes me wish we had more of this in the main ongoing series. Kieron Gillen has a sharp eye for this kind of material but it felt like he lost his way a few times along the way, especially with the special Storm Trooper squadron that he liked to use. This installment shows the plan moving forward and going well in a way that things usually don’t for this group and that makes the expected problems all the more delightful as there’s so much uncertainty as to what will happen and how far reaching the impact will be. Combine that with some fantastic artwork from the team and you’ve got a really strong installment that makes you long for more of it.
Grade: B
Age Rating: All Ages
Released By: Marvel Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: April 3rd, 2019
MSRP: $3.99
