A challenging time for any young warrior.
Creative Staff:
Story: Greg Pak
Art: Chris Sprouse, Scott Koblish, Stefano Landini, Karl Story, Marc Deering
Colors: Tamra Bonvillain
Letterer: VC’s Travis Lanham
What They Say:
THE FIRST TEMPTATION OF LUKE SKYWALKER! After learning the true identity of his father, LUKE continues his training and prepares for the inevitable showdown, determined never to follow the path of VADER. But when a rebel general’s mistakes lead to disaster and Luke must seize command, the DARK SIDE tempts him as never before. Featuring the eerie influence of THE EMPEROR!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The last of the Age of Rebellion books brings us to Luke Skywalker and it’s probably one of the more mixed bag installments of the run so far. Greg Pak has been doing a solid job with the stories and this one is pretty decent if a bit rough around the edges. The problem is more than there are three illustrators and two inkers on it, which leads to an inconsistent book that just doesn’t look good in general. For those that read the mainline books and are used to better artists that are consistent, these one-shots have been mixed in general with some good and some mediocre. But this is one that just feels rushed and without the right team on it. You do expect with a one-shot to be able to have a single artist unless there are two distinct stories unfolding. It’s a big mark against this one.
That said, the premise is pretty good. Taking place sometime after Empire but before Jedi, the Rebels have captured a mining facility and are excited to raid it for its materials that will supply the fleet for quite some time. The mining platform is unmanned but there are a ton of droids on it – which are amusingly worse than what the Separatists used – which means it’ll be a challenge to deal with before the Empire shows up. What helps is that Luke shows up in his X-Wing to assist on board and his reputation is definitely out there at this point in time. What he’s able to do is to make his way through the platform with a good group but he ends up doing almost all of the work with his lightsaber. For some, that only brings to mind Darth Vader as in the twenty or so years since the end of the Clone Wars, the Jedi are almost simply a myth at this point for many – something they were for a lot even during the Clone Wars.
Suffice to say, there’s distrust from the Major that’s running the operation because of that and Luke is being manipulated from afar by the Emperor as he tries to sow doubt into his mind to sway him to either abandoning the cause or just becoming more vulnerable. It’s an interesting angle to pursue but I would have liked to have seen a lot more on how Luke is viewed by the Rebels at this point since he’s unlike everyone else. We know he becomes a “general” during this period and rises in accomplishments while looking for Han but there’s a lot to delve into as his presence brings the reality of the Jedi back into view and that has to be something for him to really struggle with, especially after his encounter with Vader and the losses he suffered there combined with what he learned.
In Summary:
There’s a lot of potential to explore with the character of Luke that hasn’t been delved into in the current comics run since the vast majority of it is pre-Empire. This gives us a little taste of the complexity and issues and I like it for the idea of what it can explore. Greg Pak does handle some decent material here with what’s going on but it’s brought down a fair bit by weak artwork from artists that I usually see a whole lot better from. The inconsistent art teams within a single one-shot are one of the most frustrating things about this otherwise really engaging run of additional stories set within my favorite place to explore.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Marvel Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: June 5th, 2019
MSRP: $3.99
