“Out of the Darkness”
Creative Staff:
Story: Alex Segura
Art: Phil Noto
Letterer: VC’s Clayton Cowles
What They Say:
AN EPIC NEW ADVENTURE BEGINS FOR LUKE, LEIA AND HAN IN THE WAKE OF RETURN OF THE JEDI! New York Times best-selling author ALEX SEGURA launches the bold next era of STAR WARS. LUKE SKYWALKER must defend the NEW REPUBLIC from a bloodthirsty gang of mercenaries! HAN SOLO investigates a deadly underworld mystery – and saves a surprising ally! LEIA ORGANA must grapple with a new alliance opposed to the goals of the New Republic!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
With the comics side finally moving past Return of the Jedi, Star Wars gets underway with a new first issue and a new creative team. Alex Segura has written a fair bit of Star Wars recently, and I’ve enjoyed several of their works, but don’t envy them trying to tackle this era and all of its complications so far. He’s joined by Phil Noto on the artwork and color design, which worked out better than I expected. I enjoy a lot of Noto’s work over the years, but have not liked his past Star Wars work, and that was my biggest fear with this series. It does feel like things are a bit better than the Chewbacca series of years pas,t and while it’s certainly not the “house” style for Star Wars, that creative break could be a positive as it progresses, even if capturing likenesses isn’t a strong suit for this particular work.
The opening issue thankfully doesn’t try to cram all the legacy characters in, though obviously our core three are getting time. And that sets up three different storylines that are all already starting to converge by the end of this book. Luke is working with his squadron in the Fenril system chasing down some pirates, but it turns out that they’re operating from a larger perspective than believed because the nebulous “they” have a Star Destroyer. That sets most of the team to head back to Chandrila, but he and Rynn head planetside to deal with a ship that they shot down but didn’t explode. It has them finding the pirate who is seemingly part of something bigger, obviously, and manages to somehow take down Luke after whispering a secret to him. The Fenril system is being set up easily as one of the big early post-Empire flashpoints for the New Republic.
On Chandrila, we get the first stages of the complications that they’re facing when one of the representatives that’s arrived for a trade meeting and more basically calls out the New Republic as weak and ineffective and that they, and the Fenril system they’re a part of, are ceasing trade until a new treaty can be written up. It’s simple complications that a comic can’t get into and it runs up against Leia just wanting to do things and get it done, while Mon Mothma is leaning into the classic Old Republic approach that these things take time. As much as I love Mon, it’s clear based on other events in the period to come that she wasn’t the right choice to lead forward because the New Republic wasn’t able to do the things it needed to in a post-Rebellion era to set itself right and deal with the tragedies of the past.
In Summary:
The opening issue also gives us some time with Han as he’s off on some barren world helping Valance, who called in him to assist on a gang he’s been dealing with. This ties in as well as part of something larger, but it’s definitely interesting to see Valance so early in this period. I like the character, and with him and Han having kind of settled things, it’s fun to see them together. Basically, though, all three stories are connected, and it’s just a waiting game to find out who is really pulling the strings. I would have preferred more time just laying foundations, showing what’s come before,e and how far past the fall of the Empire we are to get a handle on things. It reads well enough and looks good overall, but I’m just incredibly wary about this period since the novel side of things has struggled with it as well. It’s not the easiest period for a space opera property to play in.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Marvel Comics
Release Date: May 7th, 2025
MSRP: $4.99
