It’s a brand new day for the main Star Wars book as Kieron Gillen slides in to take the reins and I’m like 99% sure that all of my favorites are going to die because I spent all my Gillen Good Luck on keeping Aphra alive. Just like he’s been doing over in Doctor Aphra, Gillen is already working with the events of Rogue One as our heroes venture over to Jedha. Needless to say, things aren’t doing great there in the wake of the Death Star and the Empire is trying to mine whatever kyber crystals it can from the ruins. The Rebels arrive looking for the remains of Saw’s Partisans while the Empire brings in a specialist to try and solve its mining issues. Things are likely not going to go very well for either of them very soon. Shocker, right?
While Jason Aaron’s run was solidly good, Gillen’s new angle for the book can only be a good thing for the series. He’s not a stranger to our core crew, having written them during the two crossovers, but seeing his take on the heroes for once will undoubtedly be fun. There’s already been a tie in to his Vader series that was unexpected yet incredibly welcome.
On the other hand… the art on this book continues to be an exercise in frustration for me. I like Larroca’s style well enough but the moment the faces jarringly slide into photorealism, I’m not a fan. There are at least several panels where the faces clash so much with the rest of the art that they almost look pasted in.
A few assorted thoughts:
- No really. That Vader character has me grinning from ear to ear
- Will the Dreamers be brought up? Why did the Dreamers and this group split?
- Ubin Des has the potential to be a really neat character
- Will the Guardians of the Whills just die out as an order now that there is no temple to guard? If so, that’s incredibly sad.
All in all, a good start to a new era of Star Wars comics. It’s most definitely a good place to jump onboard if you haven’t already.
Star Wars #38: Kieron Gillen/Writer, Salvador Larroca/Artist, Guru e-FX/Colorist, Clayton Cowles/Letterer, Heather Antos/Assistant Editor, Jordan D. White/Editor
In its final season, Star Wars Rebels is clearly not messing around and follows up its double sized premiere with another hour-long episode. This week, the crew of the Ghost encounters Saw Gerrera again and his very not-Mothma-approved rebellious ways. They’re sent on a mission to repurpose a communications satellite that goes sideways very quickly and takes Ezra and Sabine on an adventure they definitely didn’t expect.
When it comes to being a Mandalorian fan, I could probably be considered a late bloomer. I didn’t really find any appreciation for them until I was 16 and discovered the Republic Commando books. At the time, only the first two had been released but those two were all it took for me to fall in love with first this batch of clones and then with the Mandalorian culture that Karen Traviss created. When you’re a sucker for found family stories, it was hard not to. That was not, however, the Mandalore we saw first in The Clone Wars and that is now the official canon. While I’m not the sort to be a bitter Legends fan, I strongly believe the Star Wars universe is lesser for it. 