To stand for something or die for nothing.
Creative Staff:
Story: Kelly Thompson
Art: Emilio Laiso
Colors: Rachelle Rosenberg
Letters: VC’s Joe Caramagna
What They Say:
Princess Leia is on a top-secret dangerous mission that brings her to a planet that wants no part of the war against the Empire. But when an injury threatens to end her mission, can she inspire that rebel spirit in those who just want to keep their heads down? Writer Kelly Thompson (A-FORCE) and artist Emilio Laiso (GODS OF WAR) bring us an all-new tale of Alderaan’s last monarch in action!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Annuals are dicey things. I can’t say I’ve ever been a fan of them, though they have in years past introduced some great new writers and artists that got their first opportunities either through standalone stories that were done or as part of larger events that utilized the annuals to tell the tale. Within the Star Wars comics franchise, the Darth Vader annual is memorable as it set up events in the past that played into a new storyline so it was an extended background piece that fleshed out an already engaging story that was being set up. The first Star Wars annual? I can’t even remember it. With this second annual, we get writer Kelly Thompson board tackling a largely standalone tale that looks to be introducing a new support player. With artwork from Emilio Laiso, we have a solid tale that gets the room to breathe that it needs without coming across as too decompressed.
The story is narrowly focused as it takes place on a world known as Skorii-lei where we’re introduced to Pash Davane. Pash, known more as Bash as she knocked some heads in her past, is an engineer who found her career dead when the industry she was a part of on the planet was ruined thanks to a pitched battle between the Empire and Rebellion. The visual of a crashed Star Destroyer in the background is certainly interesting as that was never a common theme in the films but is getting a little more play after The Force Awakens. With Pash’s work being gone, she’s now a glorified janitor that does grunt work and whatever she can to get by, not be noticed, and has largely become indifferent to the war going on because of how she feels like both sides are the same in that they only cause destruction and ruin whatever they touch.
An understandable position, but one hard to be sympathetic with because it means she mostly stands for nothing. That’s not to say she’s a bad person and we get that throughout the book because she did the good thing of helping an unconscious Princess Leia back to her place where she’s stitched her up and is taking care of her. That’s now becoming more problematic because the Empire has dropped a lot of Stormtroopers into the area to find her and bounty hunters are starting to arrive as well. That has Pash knowing that her life is once again changed because of others, but she is doing the right thing – but keeping her options open. Leia, being smart enough to play unconscious to get a feel for the room, does her best to get away but also realizes that she needs Pash’s help.
It’s a familiar story setup but one that plays well for the most part, depending on whether or not you can handle Pash. Leia’s side of it is well done as she’s confronted about her role in causing the destruction of Alderaan and so much more death and destruction and it’s clear she has a view of why she does what she does. For Pash, who hasn’t really stood up for anything, it’s hard to understand though she does at least show the right side in trying to get Leia to where she needs to get to with the data she has. Pash was a struggle to read because my mind’s voice for her was so dour and indifferent, coming across as bothered by having to deal with all of this, that I found her continually unsympathetic overall even though I understand why she is like she is. We all run into situations like this in our lives but rarely are we caught in the midst of a war and just look to keep our heads down. Her arc isn’t a surprise, ending up with the Rebellion where she’ll be wanted and needed, but there’s also that sense that she knows she’s just a tool for them. That sense of family potential is definitely there, however, based on what she sees with Leia and the others when they come to rescue her. But that voice in my head of how she comes across is just damn hard to shake.
Thompson keeps the story moving well here as with an annual page length there’s more space to tell it and we get more dialogue and quiet moments to work through the interactions. I also like that Leia never talks about getting back to Han and Luke specifically, just her friends, as her main focus is to get the data back, so we don’t get any sort of emotional moments there. Laisio’s artwork is pretty good throughout and I like the way he presents Leia in terms of posture and the kind of way she carries herself, plus some nice design work in how her hair comes across since it gives her a dynamic look. Pash is an interesting design as she reminded me of a lot of anime characters from the science fiction side with a build like hers combined with the hair color. I wasn’t taken with her as a character as I was with Aphra, for example, but I’m curious to see if she’s being seeded for a larger role and if my mind’s voice for her will change as time goes on.
In Summary:
While I see others calling Pash a badass and being taken with her in a strong way, I find myself more reserved in my opinion because of how she’s largely taken no positions for quite some time, going by the narrative here. That makes me wary of her, especially in a life where war has been a constant for years, if not her entire lifetime. Thompson presents her well and I don’t think she’s a simple character but rather a complicated one that has layers yet to be peeled back to dig into it, and that the comics medium may be the hardest one to do that with. Paired with Emilio Laiso for the artwork, the annual has some strong sequences to it and a really good flow with the narrative that keeps it otherworldly but grounded within the known. I’m definitely curious to see if Thompson will take on more Star Wars work as the segment here involving Alderaan is one that I want to see explored more in a larger galactic sense with the kind of psychological impact it would have. This is a good, if small, window into some of that.
Grade: B
Age Rating: All Ages
Released By: Marvel Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: November 30th, 2016
MSRP: $4.99
