Teases of what’s to come – maybe.
Creative Staff:
Story: Marc Guggenheim
Art: Various
Colors: Various
Letterer: VC’s Ariana Maher
What They Say:
The can’t-miss star wars issue of the year! After WAR OF THE BOUNTY HUNTERS came CRIMSON REIGN…now in the midst of HIDDEN EMPIRE, Qi’ra has shaken the galactic landscape to its core! But what lies beyond for the Rebellion? For the Empire? What role do the bounty hunters play? And what is happening to Doctor Aphra? Witness the next step in the legacy of heroes and scoundrels in the galaxy far, far away as Marc Guggenheim (Han Solo & Chewbacca) is joined by a ragtag team of artists to bring you an explosive tale you won’t soon forget! The path to the future of STAR WARS starts here!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
This Revelations special reminds me of the original Marvel run of Star Wars in the 80s where the ongoing series had to pivot as it had a new moving coming up and that either wiped away things that had happened between films or that they had to adapt to what was now happening. Marc Guggenheim looks to try and set up some of what’s coming next in a post-ROTJ galaxy in a very light way but while still dealing with what happens before that. The book has a pretty solid range of artists working on it, though some areas don’t fare so well in their designs for me and kind of undercuts the story a bit. But what this book largely serves as is a look at what’s going on across a number of Star Wars books and how they tie together and some of the combined forces that they’re all facing.
The framing for this is on Vader as he’s summoned to the Eye of Webbish Bog where the creature is trying to pass on not looks at the future but possible versions of it and the larger looming threat that’s coming. With it happening on Mustafar, we get some decent visuals for it and of Fortress Vader while also showing one of the rare attacks by the locals as they use this event as a way to try and eliminate him. Not that it’s successful, of course, but it shows the way he rules this world. What we see through Vader with this is that he’s disinterested in what’s supposedly coming for the most part, and frustrated by the Eye with how it keeps calling him Anakin Skywalker, but he can’t not listen to it because there’s enough of a kernel of truth in there as well. And the Emperor is aware of things going on as well which is what will drive some of this upcoming Hidden Empire storyline.
The main thrust that we get from it is that Qi’ra has gained possession of the Fermata Cage which can basically pluck people from different points in time and bring them into the now. We’ve seen similar in Rebels before and while it worked there I’m not a fan of it, so I’m wary of this storyline in general. Through the revelations we basically touch base with all of the ongoing books, showing a potential for Sabe, hints of the Inferno Squad showing up to hunt down Valance, and some of what’s going on with Aphra. But we also get the background story of an organic/droid war from hundreds of years ago that ended with the droids losing but their leader having his “soul” survive and transported around and hidden ever since then. That ties into Luke and the others finding him on a world where he massacred a lot of beings and that sets up some dark material too. I’m amused that Ajax has a kind of Grievous feeling about him and Luke getting his own version of that feels appropriate.
In Summary:
Star Wars: Revelations isn’t a bad project but it’s one that provides for a lot of what-if teases to some degree. If it’s basically saying here’s what’s coming in 2023, well, there’s good and bad coming when you get down to it. I’m already frustrated by the current Aphra storyline, a bigger tie to the past with Luke and the gang feels like it’s a big misguided for what that series should be about, and what we glimpse of Sabe and her future doesn’t look all that enjoyable. There are some interesting ideas in there but I’m also just super wary because of the whole Eye of Webbish Blog thing is just bad Star Wars to me and there’s so much going on that it’s all feeling cramped at this point. The upcoming material with Qi’ra is the potential bright spot for me but it’s also being done at a time when I’ve just had such an itch scratched with Andor that knowing I’m not getting anything else like it from anywhere in the comics side is leaving me more frustrated.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Marvel Comics
Release Date: November 23rd, 2022
MSRP: $5.99
