Wherein Luke makes a dad joke.
Creative Staff:
Story: Jason Aaron
Art: Stuart Immonen, Wade Von Grawbadger
Colors: Justin Ponsor
What They Say:
Luke’s lightsaber has been stolen and he must retrieve it! Meanwhile, the Imperials are closing in on Han and Leia…set upon them by a mysterious woman from Han’s past!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Bringing Luke to the Smuggler’s Moon made a lot of sense with his limited view of things after A New Hope in how to get around in the galaxy. Figuring that he’d find someone like Han and get him to Coruscant, he instead found himself chasing after a thief that made off with his lightsaber. Obviously he’ll get it back, but it’s a fun roof running sequence that we get wherein said thief tells him he’s insane for how he did it, using his latent Jedi ability. Luke’s response? “No, I’m a Skywalker.” Prime dad joke material there, Luke, prime dad joke material. Of course, with Luke’s luck, it’s out of the frying pan and into the fire. It’s a very fun sequence overall though and Immonen really captures the feeling of running the roof’s without getting so deeply involved that you lose the majesty of it all, which is definitely a very important thing in terms of positioning the layout and camera for the reader.
Where all of this takes Luke is really very, very, interesting. Having him fall into the hands of Grakkus the Hutt and his territory gives him his first direct contact with a Hutt, though he obviously knows them by reputation from Tatooine. We’ve had a few Hutts in The Clone Wars and elsewhere so it’s interesting to see one that plays differently as he wants Luke for something bigger. Revealing himself to be an antiques collector with a focus on Jedi memorabilia, he has a fantastic warehouse filled with all sorts of relics. And he needs Luke to be able to open the holocron he has – the first we’ve seen mentioned in the series so far. This is Luke’s first encounter with one and, if it was done in a movie, you can imagine the moment unfolding beautifully there, first from the shadowed Hutt and then to dozens of holocron’s opening up. There aren’t any real reveals in most of them, but we get a fantastic moment where one of the messages comes from Ahsoka. Her fate has been a mystery and will likely remain so for a long time, but providing a whisper of a connection from the Clone Wars series – and now Rebels – to Luke is almost intoxicating.
While I would have liked more time with Han, Leia and Sana, what we get from Luke is fantastic material that expands the breadth of events and connections without forcing it in an awkward way. Han and Leia’s storyline is a subplot here at most since it’s about the trio realizing that they’re screwed at this point with the arrival of several stormtroopers. Sana’s looking at everything from her bounty hunter-like perspective and it makes sense, but I love the spanner in the works that Han throws by revealing that he’s high on the wanted list by the Empire as he’s a rebel now. That certainly shocks her. The group dynamic shifts from that point on and there are some really good moments as they do their best to escape all while putting Han in his place. Which is a given considering what he’s dealing with and the situation he’s created. It’s a good sequence overall, but I kept finding myself wanting to get past it and back to Luke’s storyline. Something I haven’t felt too much of yet in this series.
In Summary:
I won’t say I’ve struggled with the main Star Wars series but I’ve found myself enjoying pretty much every other series more. This installment does some really strong material for Luke and his attempted journey to Coruscant as it fleshes out his time in an interesting way, showing his reckless and youthful side, and presenting some new light connections to past events and characters in a way that doesn’t bludgeon us with them. Aaron’s script works best when dealing with Luke and the Hutt and Immonen really shines during the whole Smuggler’s Moon section. The subplot material isn’t bad but it’s more about nudging things along with nothing significant overall, both in writing and artwork. It’s solid but mostly unmemorable, which will certainly change now that the road trip has taken on a new turn.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: All Ages
Released By: Marvel Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: September 16th, 2015
MSRP: $3.99
