“Reflections of the Lost”
Creative Staff:
Story: Charles Soule
Art: Ramon Rosanas
Colors: Rachelle Rosenberg
Letterer: VC’s Clayton Cowles
What They Say:
LEIA ORGANA and KES DAMERON share stories of their lost loves! Learn how POE DAMERON’S parents met! Learn the real reason HAN SOLO is so important to THE REBELLION!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Operation Starlight continues with this installment as we get to see more of some of the stories of those serving in the Rebellion. Charles Soule has been really strong in past stories in filling in blanks of things that you never even thought about but does so in a way that works to showcase characters, not the situation itself. This installment is strong with that in a couple of good ways and it provides for some really fun material for Ramon Rosanas to illustrate. We get to do some racing material and go back to Hoth for a while and as wildly different as they are, it all feels properly cohesive both visually and in terms of the story material itself.
With a bit of downtime happening at the moment while everything is moving forward slowly but surely, The initial focus is on Kes as he waits to hear something from Shara and that has him heading to a place to get some quiet and think, which is where Leia as well while thinking of Han. The two have connected well and I do like how Kes talks about coming to this place as a ground-pounder when the starship battles happen as a way to try and feel like he’s offering some support. It also turns to both their pasts nice as we see how Kes and Shara first met seven years prior when he was taking some downtime with a friend to a planet where they did gambling and racing. He ended up winning big on an unknown racer starting to make their name and it’s no surprise that it’s Shara, but it helps to reinforce her own talents that have grown over the years and just some decent time watching the two of them engaging playfully with each other.
The other story focuses on Leia talking about Han after Kes reveals that most everyone knows about them – especially after Lando talked about what happened on Cloud City. Her reaction to that is priceless but it turns into a good story about their time on Hoth and about how much Han hated the cold there and kept waiting to leave. But when there was a chance the whole place could blow up when there were heating issues that was about to force an evacuation, it had him and Chewie working hard to figure out how to save the whole thing. A thing that would basically strand them there for some time until they could get the Falcon up and running again after scavenging parts of it in order to save the base. It’s a good story to highlight various aspects of who Han is as a person but also why Leia fell for him as much as she did over the years.
In Summary:
Though there isn’t anything that really expands in a big way here, and the current story of a stranded Shara is given just a couple of pages, the bulk of this issue is a lot of fun. I really like the stories we get for both of those that Kes and Leia talk about and we see more of their own personalities as well as they talk. Naturally, there’s the nice moment as we see some of Leia’s taking in the picture of a young Poe as well, knowing what’s to come, and getting more of what this long and strange relationship will be between them. Soule nails this easily with a smooth script that doesn’t feel rushed or compressed, which allows Rosanas plenty of space to spread out with both tales and the bridging material so that it’s not cramped or laid out so tightly as to cut itself off. Definitely a good installment.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 9+
Released By: Marvel Comics via | ComiXology | Kindle
Release Date: March 10th, 2021
MSRP: $3.99
