Shadow Wing is a shadow of itself.
Creative Staff:
Story: Jody Houser
Art: Roge Antonio, Ig Guara
Colors: Arif Prianto, Jean-Francois Beaulieu
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna
What They Say:
A NEW MISSION! A betrayal from one of their own. Is the squadron even ready to fly again after so many losses? And who are these new pilots who think they’re good enough to join the ranks of SHADOW WING?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
As we move into the penultimate installment of this series, the storyline feels like it’s firming up a bit more clearly in regards to its intent with the defectors. A lot of it has been kind of spread out with the team itself, and the backup features haven’t helped toward a clearer central narrative, but Jody Houser has juggled several things well here. Roge Antonio’s style here is pretty solid throughout and I like the unique he gives to a lot of the characters with the heavy linework and the like, imbuing them with a different sense of power and position. The mechanical aspect is the strongest overall but the book as a whole is pretty good looking and fits with how I imagine an Imperial-based series should look in most ways.
With the losses that Shadow Wing has suffered recently and other squadrons as well, we see at the Casida training academy that the current class is being graduated early and directly into service. The initial focus is on Bansu Ro and Rac Syrmo, the top two ranked pilots who are in contention for the top spot and argue about it even as their instructor informs them that they’re being sent to the front lines where such things don’t matter. The two still bicker about this as the book goes on and the end up with Shadow Wing and it really doesn’t do anything to make you like them since they’re handling themselves like this. But the idea of the academy rushing out younger and less-ready pilots than it used to because of the threat of the Rebellion shows just how panicked some quarters were getting at this phase.
Events on board the Pursuer are pretty tense, which is nice to watch unfold, as they piece together the information that they got from Zin after her death. That paints the picture of the way that it’s not a planet but a ship that the defectors head toward but also shows the tension among the remaining members over not realizing what Zin was up to, leaving a real stink of betrayal that’s infectious. Combine that with the discovery that they’re getting cadets en route to the mission and you get a sense that there’s no real Shadow Wing anymore. Which is not the best way to go into such a mission. But watching the way it plays out here, especially with Teso and Ganem going at it because of how they feel they missed everything is really well done and paints a good picture of how a tight squadron can surprise and crack because of secrets.
In Summary:
I’m definitely enjoying the TIE Fighter series as it offers up something different, though I totally get how it humanizes the bad side in a way that makes people uncomfortable. I do wish we had a few more zealot types within the ranks of the book so that it was made clear because most are still acting like they’re in the extension of the Republic, which makes sense, as opposed to being in something different now that it’s the Empire. Houser puts together some good stuff here and I’m looking forward to seeing how the cadets handle things in the finale while also enjoying how the Shadow Wing group is dealing with their issues. The tension is ratcheting up really well here and it’s just on the cusp of potentially dealing with a really big issue that I’d love to see explored more when it comes to defectors.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Marvel Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: July 17th, 2019
MSRP: $3.99
