“In The Clutches Of Dr. Cuata”
Creative Staff:
Story: Charles Soule
Art: Madibek Musabekov
Colors: Rachelle Rosenberg
Letterer: VC’s Clayton Cowles
What They Say:
LUKE SKYWALKER…IN THE CLUTCHES OF DR. CUATA! The would-be JEDI’S LIGHTSABER is all but destroyed! Enter KYBER CRYSTAL expert DR. CUATA! Only he can repair it…but at what price? Luke’s life will hang in the balance…and only ANOTHER JEDI can save him!
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. With the series moving through its next storyline, Charles Soule does a solid job as always but it’s definitely interesting going into this after rewatching 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.
With Gretta having brought Luke to someone who may give him answers, we get to meet Dr. Cuata. They’re an odd fellow to be sure but someone who has spent so much time with Kyber crystals that they hear them more than anything else. It’s an interesting if familiar approach and it works well as they almost but not quite speak in riddles. Through Cuata, we see how they know a lot in a general sense but some very specific things as well. Cuata’s giving personalities to the crystals and shows how Luke’s has fractured, which is why it’s trying to serve him but struggling. We also see how Luke has been kind of hobbled from the start as he never put together his own saber and had his own proper connection, instead of kind of riding on the back of others. Even if his first was his father’s, it’s still not the same. Cuata’s willing to help with this by repairing the yellow crystal Luke has but only if he’ll perform a task or two along the way.
Which Luke is wary of because of the ebb and flow of the Force, but he has little choice. We get Gretta explaining how her people would bleed a red crystal to try and heal it, which has Luke connecting with it and dealing with the dark personalities swirling inside that’s quite intriguing. A glimpse of his father as Vader doesn’t help either. But Cuata also gets him to work with a rare clear crystal and that connects him with Yoda for a while, allowing him to grouse over the lack of help he’s gotten from him and the quiet between them. It’s something that Luke believes is a figment of his imagination but we see later Yoda talking to Obi-Wan about it and that clarifies a few things in small ways. For Luke, this gives him his own crystal – one that turns green – and puts him on the path to building his own saber. But it also allows him to continue to use the one from the old Temple that he has as it seemingly wants to keep serving him as well.
In Summary:
There are a lot of things going on in this installment and while sometimes Luke looks a lot younger than he should, the bulk of it is fantastic. I know most people would just roll their eyes at spending time explaining why Luke’s lightsaber in Return of the Jedi is green but these are small story points I’m glad to explore. Using it as a way to show how Luke has learned more about the Jedi Order itself through it, and leading him to learn more about the crystals, goes a long way toward showing how he’s progressed since first ending up in Obi-Wan’s home. And how he’ll try to do what he saw the Order do only to fail himself for so many reasons. Gretta was a great character add here and Cuata is intriguing, especially since it reminded me of some old Barry Winders-Smith style designs. An intriguing and slow-paced piece that focuses on dialogue and engagement over action, making me quite happy.
Grade: A-
Age Rating: 9+
Released By: Marvel Comics
Release Date: June 7th, 2023
MSRP: $3.99
