The odds of success only get worse.
Creative Staff:
Story: Marc Guggenheim
Art: David Messina
Colors: Alex Sinclair
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna
What They Say:
THE HEIST IS ON! HAN, CHEWIE and GREEDO have to pull off an impossible heist for JABBA THE HUTT! But who can Han trust? SPOILER: Han breaks into his target’s safe, but you won’t believe what’s inside!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Though I still have some wariness about filling in some of the stories from this era with characters like this, the opening installment worked better than I expected. Marc Guggenheim may not have cracked the code but he has loosened it up significantly where there’s a good feel to this that comes across as pre-ANH Han Solo. Here, he’s joined by David Messina on the art duties and we get a solid piece that captures the Star Wars design and aesthetic and is trying to bring in some of that youthful Solo that predates Ford’s ANH period. He was leading man material then but was over a decade older than the other two main leads. Trying to find that balance isn’t easy but I think Messina has captured it, and that really is half the battle here.
The mission that Han took up for Jabba the last time around is the main focus here and it’s easy enough to slide into this installment and run with the events at hand. We do get a bit on Tatooine as the Marshall is continuing to look for him and dealing with Bib Fortuna for a bit of this, which plays out decently for the brief time that it’s included. It helps to set up that track well enough when it crosses over. Where things want to focus with Han at the start here, however, is in dealing with his “father.” It’s pretty clear that unless there’s some huge twist in the mix that this is pretty likely his father as the man seems to know enough that wouldn’t be easy to duplicate. But there’s a decent dance that goes on between the two men at first and Han is intending to at least use him where he needs to in order to pull off this job. There’s a decent flashback to Han’s childhood that again reinforces why getting off Corellia was so important and it’s thankfully done without hammering us on the head with it.
The job itself is certainly more complicated now after Han’s sneaking in but it is part of his kind of larger loose plan to get things done here. Greedo’s not pleased about it but Han’s put together a method to get in through deception with security uniforms and taking advantage of their target being off-world. It’s pretty simple in its basics here as they go through the job only to discover that the urn that they’re after isn’t there. It’s not a surprise as there’s places still yet to go but it takes a more comically dangerous turn because Greedo lives up to his name by swiping something else, which in turn draws the attention of security. This is where it sets up for things to go into some good classic action in the Star Wars sense where there’s a lightness to it even though there’s danger and it works well because there’s still that inferred charm that comes from it being the way we can envision it through a Harrison Ford performance.
In Summary:
The second installment of this plays out pretty well all things told as it has a simple and straightforward adventure with the kinds of minor twists that you’d expect. There’s the mild uncertainty as to the truthiness of the father and I’m fine with that as long as it’s resolved one way or another by the end. This is a solid little caper playing out that lets Greedo get a little more life – since we did pretty much start knowing him as dead after all – and I’m enjoying it for its simplicity in a way. The script works well, the dialogue fits the characters, and the artwork captures the kind of look that you’d want for Corellia. It’s enjoyable and a solid addition to the larger mythos so far.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Marvel Comics
Release Date: May 18th, 2022
MSRP: 4.99
