Author Archives: Bria

Rebels Review: The Secret of Chopper Base

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rebels logoThe Mystery of Chopper Base has the distinction of being an episode that I was enjoying but mostly ambivalent towards for most of it but had me completely hooked by the end thanks to a very well placed musical cue. Kevin Kiner continues to nail it this season. That last slowed down version of the Imperial March? Perfection. That Big Damn Heroes moment? Also perfection. But let’s break down the rest of the episode.

As mentioned in Rebels Recon, this episode served a sort of season finale for most of the crew of the Ghost. They found a new base for the Rebels and complete their mission. For the Jedi amongst the crew, we’ll continue to follow them next week so it was nice to get one last team up and see them work together to save Rex from the spiders on the planet. Sabine in particular gets some solidly good moments and even saves the day. If the Ghost family had been relying on their Jedi to save them, they never would have survived. Speaking of which… Continue reading →

Review: Obi-Wan and Anakin #3

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Everyone’s favorite Master/Padawan team is back in Obi-Wan and Anakin #3 by Charles Soule and Marco Checchetto.  It’s a little more of everything that’s made this book so gosh darn good thus far.

Palpatine.  We’re going to start with Palpatine.  Look, I know I said it last time but I’m sad that we can’t get a Palpatine ongoing from Soule.  He is so clearly having the time of his life getting to write these Palpy Flashbacks in this book.  I know he’s already writing the Poe book and a zillion others for Marvel but… oh you mean that even writers have to sleep sometimes?  Alas.  Getting back to the point, it’s fun to watch Palpatine and Anakin interact because while he clearly has an agenda, he doesn’t have to be nearly as subtle because Anakin just doesn’t pick up on the manipulations.  It’s simultaneously delightful to watch Palpatine be the Puppet Master and incredibly sad to watch Anakin be manipulated by someone he trusts.

Back in the current time line, Obi-Wan’s brokered a temporary truce between the waring groups but… okay can people please stop taking advantage and twisting Anakin to their goals?  If you’re not careful, you’re all going to turn that poor boy to the dark side and then you’ll– Oh wait.  Crap.

Checchetto’s art paired with Andres Mossa’s coloring continue to be drop dead gorgeous, by the way.  This is an amazing team who puts out some really gorgeous work.  I hope we get to see more from this pair in the Star Wars universe.

Obi-Wan and Anakin continues to be so enjoyable that I can’t stop wishing it was an ongoing.  (How’s that for an endorsement?)

Star Wars News from C2E2

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Star Wars fans didn’t have to wait very long to get comics and books related announcements from C2E2 out in Chicago but it was all rather vague.  At a retailer breakfast this morning, it was announced that Marvel will be releasing a three issue comic plus a standalone issue in October that will be related to Rogue One.  No writer or artist has been announced yet.  We don’t know any other details but it’s likely filling a similar role to what Shattered Empire was for The Force Awakens.  The Star Wars Free Comic Book Day offerings will be $1 a pop copies of some of the previously released books, mostly #1s.

At the Star Wars books panel this afternoon, the big announcement was Star Wars: Catalyst.  Arriving on October 4th, the novel will be a prequel to Rogue One… and that’s all we know.  Author announcement is forthcoming.  Start the betting pool.

Outside of the Rogue One pattern, we did learn from Claudia Gray that a character from Lost Stars will make an appearance.  You may also start the betting pool on this one.  Claudia Gray also mentioned that the reason for the Bloodline’s delay was that she wanted to see The Force Awakens before finalizing her draft but also that this is a book about Leia herself  and not Leia defined by her roles as wife or mother.  For fans of Mark Waid’s run on the Leia comic, it sounds like Gray had the option to pull from the book but didn’t so don’t expect Queen Evaan to appear.

The Star Wars books panel featured Claudia Gray, John Jackson Miller, Jeffrey Brown, Adam Bray, and Elizabeth Schaefer.  You can read Newsarama’s liveblog here for some of the more fun tidbits that panelists mentioned throughout the hour.

Star Wars and the Lightsabers of Storytelling

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kylo ren vs reyPerhaps better than any other Star Wars film so far, the lightsaber duels in The Force Awakens tell a story and establish who the characters are in that moment. Only the duel between Luke and Vader in Return of the Jedi even comes close to telling this sort of tale via clashing blades. At first glance, the duel between first Kylo Ren and Finn and then Kylo Ren and Rey is brutal and it doesn’t get any less brutal after repeat viewings. Gone is the elegance of the Prequel Trilogy and with good reason. Kylo Ren doesn’t have the benefit of training with a Jedi Order who has perfected the weapon over millennia and Finn and Rey have never even held a lightsaber before that day. Every swing of a saber has meaning and you don’t need to have seen a single other frame of the film to get what sort of people these three characters are.

Finn has the least training with these sorts of weapons and it shows. He gets in a few good blows but it comes off as more beginner’s luck combined with a Kylo who is far from being at his best. (More on that last part later.) With any sort of sword fighting, a raw beginning can sometimes have more luck than someone who has trained, as they do not react in a way that is expected. In other words, someone who has even basic training will be more likely to attack and block in a way that utilizes more standard stances and responses that will be easier for someone else with even more training to counter. Unfortunately, it’s just not quite enough to help Finn last more than a few minutes despite his determination to help his friend.

Kylo Ren’s responding actions speak louder than any words could. He doesn’t take Finn as a serious threat. A traitor? Sure but he’s clearly familiar enough with Hux’s training program to know that there’s no way FN-2187 knows enough to be more than a nuisance and it shows. He toys with Finn especially at the start, dodging some of Finn’s more wild swings with a distinctive ease and even knocking him to the ground and turning away instead of pressing his advantage and ending it. Turning your back to an enemy is an insult. It’s not until Finn lands a blow that actually hurts him that Kylo steps up his game and decides to end the fight now. This time, he’s not content with disarming Finn and follows it up with an injury that ensures the former stormtrooper will stay down.

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Review: Darth Vader #17

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Kieron Gillen and Salvador Larroca are back with the next installment in the Darth Vader as the book takes its turn as a political maneuvering story. Or rather, it’s a story with political maneuvering and a wrench called Vader in the middle. Despite his history with Shu-Torun and Queen Trios, Vader doesn’t really care about the planet and its unique political system. He’s more concerned with making sure it remains loyal to the Empire and that he gets the job done. Everyone is working around him towards their own goals with varying levels of success.

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Rebels Review: Homecoming

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HeraRebels this week was kind of perfect.  Actually, I feel pretty comfortable saying that this was by far my favorite episode since the show started up again in October.  When it becomes clear that Hera’s Phoenix Squadron needs an Imperial carrier, she’s forced to contact her estranged father Cham Syndulla and ask for his help.  Things, however, don’t exactly go as planned.  (This is Star Wars.  When do things ever go as planned?)

Wings of the Master was great but this was the Hera episode I’ve been waiting for since I read A New Dawn.  We finally get those missing pieces of her backstory that, when put together with the rest of Rebels and the books, help us really understand who she is.  This is her time to shine.  Honestly, the only thing that could have made this episode more perfect is if we’d finally gotten to see our Space Married favorites kiss on screen and what we got was almost just as good.  Obviously this episode is a great Hera spotlight but we also get to see a completely different side of Kanan as he both fanboys over the great General Syndulla and is totally nervous about meeting Hera’s father and making a good impression.  (I’m with you, FPJ.  They very obviously have feelings for one another.)  They’re Space Married.  So. Freaking. Space Married.

But back to Hera.  While one could argue that it’s the culmination of everything we’ve seen so far, Homecoming gave us so much about Hera Syndulla that made her feel like a real person with flaws to balance her strengths.  Homecoming (with an assist from last week’s Space Whale episode) helps take her further out of the occasionally restrictive Space Mom trope and really let her shine as her own person.  Homecoming defines Hera in her own terms and not by her relations to other people on the Ghost or by her strained relationship with her father.

It’s impossible to discuss this episode without giving Vanessa Marshall all of the applause.  Hera had been relatively unique in that she spoke with an American accent instead of the usual French one that most of the twi’leks have.  Turns out there was a very good story reason for that and fans got to hear her slide back into a French accent during a very heated argument with her father.  It’s something that undoubtedly rings true with a lot of fans, myself included.  Intense emotions and family have a way of making even the most practiced person slip back into the vocal tendencies of their youth.  Marshall’s performance, especially in that scene, was flawless.

Another part of what really made this episode so strong was that it featured the entire crew.  This has been a show that has reinforced the importance of found family and it tends to be at its best when it consistently shows them working together even when one character takes the spotlight for a little bit.  Even though this was clearly Hera’s time, Ezra, Sabine, and Zeb still had their little moments.  No one was forgotten or conveniently written into a coma.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go watch this episode another twenty times and hope that maybe this time, Hera and Kanan will actually kiss.  #SpaceMarried

Review: Star Wars #16

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It feels like it’s been ages since we last saw our heroes so Star Wars #16 by Jason Aaron and Leinil Yu is a welcome return to the Rebel Alliance. While Han and Luke are off making poor life decisions with the Rebellion’s money, the ladies have far more pressing matters at hand.

How great is it that Sana Starros isn’t just a one-arc character but is instead returning in this issue? Actually, how great is it period that the majority of this issue revolves around Leia, Sana, and Aphra? The Han and Luke parts are fine but I could have been perfectly happy with an issue or even an entire arc focused just on the women. Unsurprisingly, Aphra is not going quietly into the night even though she’s been captured. While I continue to be very concerned about her safety and continued living (looking at you, Darth Vader,) I love that this issue shows that she hasn’t lost any of her fire. Leia has an interesting line about how the Empire will scour the galaxy for her which may seem innocuous but shows how much the Rebels don’t know about Aphra and Vader’s side project.

Speaking of Leia, the interactions between her and Sana build wonderfully upon when we last saw them on Nar Shaddaa. They may not be friends but they can work together towards a common goal and really not give a crap about Han Solo. In fact, it’s rather refreshing that he never really even comes up in their conversation. At the same time, it’s going to be interesting to watch and see where her story goes. Will she also go for being in it for the money to actually actively supporting the Rebellion or will the payday always be her driving force?

Both on-goings are moving along nicely from the aftermath of Vader Down and Star Wars #16 definitely gets a recommendation from me.