“A Fractured Alliance”
Creative Staff:
Story: Charles Soule
Art: Madibek Musabekov
Colors: Rachelle Rosenberg
Letterer: VC’s Clayton Cowles
What They Say:
THE BROKEN SABER OF SKYWALKER! LUKE SKYWALKER searches for one of the rarest substances in the galaxy…KYBER – the living crystal that powers LIGHTSABERS! Does it hold the answer to the unpredictable thing the Force has become (see HIDDEN EMPIRE #5!)? What long-lost secret is he about to uncover?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The recent No-Space wasn’t my thing overall even though it fell into some standard space opera concepts and was well-executed. The story itself didn’t do much for me but I was delighted by having more time with Holdo in this period and getting to see an interesting romance bloom for a bit there. With the series moving onto its next storyline, Charles Soule does a solid job as always but it’s definitely interesting going into this after watching the first half of Andor and wanting to feel more of that kind of property than the kind of lighter touch here. This issue has Madibek Musabekov on board for the artwork again, and his presence overall works well with it. There’s usually some solid consistency in the Star Wars artists overall for the “house” style that we get and.Genolet gets that easily while still keeping their own particular take on things mixed into it, giving it an appealing look overall.
This issue manages to hit a sweet spot for me that I rather like and it feels (but isn’t) like how I felt when I first saw the cover to Splinter of the Mind’s Eye as a kid in the early 80s. The focus here is on Luke as he’s dealing with the way the Force is feeling odd combined with how his lightsaber, which was never really his, doesn’t feel right and is on the fritz since it’s cracked. He’s been spending his time reading the book he has to figure out how to get a new crystal for it but the book is designed around a very different time. With some amusing nods within, he figures out the best place to go since Ilum is pretty much under an Imperial lockdown. And Leia’s not giving him too much grief about it, though she makes it clear that his piloting skills are what they need in the rebellion less than his laser sword ability. But Luke has that sense that he’ll be facing Vader again sooner than later and has to be prepared and up to snuff in order to deal with it.
The journey takes him and R2 to Christophsis, which we saw a good bit of during the Clone Wars era. We get a pretty good story setup here with Luke trying to find a prospector that might have a crystal he can use to rebuild his lightsaber and that makes for some good old west style stuff at the start, which turns violent since the whole place is an elaborate yet simple trap for anyone who shows up doing the same for the Empire. What helps is that he’s saved by a woman named Gretta with an intriguing past to Jedha who views Luke as the one who got the justice and revenge she wanted for her world and people when he destroyed the Death Star. She’s intent on helping him in her own way and he’s wary about it but with little in the way of other choices. We don’t get too far with it but Gretta comes across as pretty compelling quickly and Musabekov’s design for them definitely hits a sweet spot where you wan to see more of them already.
In Summary:
We get more story material here that helps to pave the way to Return of the Jedi and it definitely works well. I like getting an adventure with just Luke and R2 and introducing an interesting new character while visiting a world that we have a connection with through the Clone Wars side. And seeing how Luke is struggling with how little he was really taught about being a Jedi since Yoda and Ben were just more focused on him being able to handle himself against his father. It’s a complicated piece that doesn’t hold up too well in the grand scope of looking at things, but it’s an area we accept. So I like seeing him trying to struggle with all of this to some degree and to find his own path while pulling together the things that he needs to face the future.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 9+
Released By: Marvel Comics
Release Date: May 3rd, 2023
MSRP: $3.99
