Star Wars, Geek Culture, and Power Converters
The final piece falls into place today as Rebel Heist #4 by Matt Kindt and Marco Castiello arrives in comic book stores. It’s Luke Skywalker’s turn to take the spotlight!
Han’s captured, Leia’s captured, and Chewbacca’s captured. That leaves Luke Skywalker to save the day and the Bothan Imperial spy to narrate the events. Can he get all three of his friends out of jail and still pull off the mission?
This review contains some spoilers.
The final arc of Corinna Bechko and Gabriel Hardman’s fantastic Star Wars comic continues as Legacy #17 hits comic store shelves today! (And this review continues to be sad that we’re in the last few months of this book.)
Ania and company have followed the coordinates from Jao’s transmission to the rogue planet but their mission to rescue the Imperial Knight is far from over. They no more free Jao from his bonds when a literal army of Sith arrive hell bent on taking out Darth Wredd once and for all!
Darth Maul: Son of Dathomir #3 by Jeremy Barlow and Juan Frigeri hits comic store shelves today and Maul’s vendetta against Darth Sidious continues!
Count Dooku and General Grievous are now captives of Darth Maul after a fierce battle in the last issue. Maul tries to convince Dooku to abandon Darth Sidious and work with him and Mother Talzin instead. Meanwhile, the Jedi have gotten wind of Maul’s latest victory and spot an opportunity to take out two enemies at the same time…
It’s difficult to discuss this issue without going into the “surprising facts from Maul’s past” that the solicit alluded to so from this point onward, this review will have spoilers despite my usual policy to write spoiler free.
It’s another Vader graphic novel as the collected edition of Darth Vader and the Cry of Shadows hits shelves today. Tim Siedell on script and Gabriel Guzman on art take us on another galactic adventure with the newly named Dark Lord of the Sith… or do they?
Darth Vader’s rampage across the galaxy after the fall of the Republic continues as he seeks out the remaining Jedi and rebels to destroy them. It’s through the eyes of a deserter clone trooper returned to the fold that we some of this as he comes to serve as one of Vader’s most trusted stormtroopers.
It’s New Comic Book Day, and Dark Horse seems to release everything at once, so naturally, all our reviews come out at once. Today, the last installment of Serenity: Leaves on the Wind releases and keeping things spoiler-free, here’s what I have to say:
Aw, comic, no.
I’m not going into the substandard art again, but if there’s been one thing I have enjoyed about this series, it’s been the writing–until now. And I understand that this comic is setting up for whatever the next Serenity comic mini-series is going to be, but the end of this comic very, very quickly took a turn for both 1) a (second) rehash of an old plotline and 2) a WTF spin on the level of Buffy Season Eight.
If you’ve bought the other five comics in the mini-series, buy this one to complete the set. But if the next mini-series continues off this arc, rather than telling stories like The Shepherd’s Tale or Better Days, I’d be just a little bit wary of investing money in it.
Another issue of Rebel Heist, another one of our heroes takes the spotlight. Rebel Heist #3 by Matt Kindt and Marco Castiello arrives in comic stores today as Chewbacca gets to pick up almost literally where Leia let off and get the trooper to his destination.
This go-round, it’s the stormtrooper with a code hidden in his DNA who’s narrating our hero’s adventure. Unfortunately for him, he’s stuck with Chewbacca as his guide when he doesn’t think much of wookiees or understand of a lick of shyriiwook. This is clearly not a partnership made in heaven but it’s the only way they’re going to get to this galaxy drive in time to help Han.
The last arc of Star Wars: Legacy kicks off today as Legacy #16 hits comic store shelves. Don’t worry though: Corinna Bechko and Gabriel Hardman are hardly going to just coast through these final few issues and there are always some surprises awaiting readers in Legacy…
This review contains some spoilers.
When last we saw our heroes, Ania Solo had been rescued from her mysterious hunter and also exonerated during her trial. As is the nature of the galaxy though, Jao Assam was arrested for deserting the Knights. Clearly Ania will be having none of that so she sets out to try and have him freed only for Jao to seemingly escape. Nothing’s quite what it seems though from Jao’s escape to the Empress Fel herself.
Action! Action action action action action! For all the set-up in Serenity #4, Serenity #5 is all action, and yes, you will need to go back and read the previous issue to catch up and understand exactly what is happening in this issue, because there is so much action switching between enough perspectives that it takes a read or two to figure things out.
Basically, though, this is where the excrement meets the cooling machinery. The crew (plus the Operative) has gone to rescue the other River-like girls, only to discover that they’ve been completely brainwashed, leaving River to fight them. And everything goes nuts here, until the end, when there’s a horrible realization that what’s left of the Browncoat resistance are those left on Serenity–because the Alliance has used all of this as a trap.
But Malcolm Reynolds has one thing he has left to do–and that’s to save Zoe. And he’s going to do whatever it takes.
Art – cue my normal complaints and my normal WOW about the cover. Writing – not up to its usual standards here, but that’s because this is action action OMG all the action. Still, comic writers are responsible, in part, for laying out the pages and the panels and what’s happening in them, and this was the first time I really wasn’t all that impressed. Still, overall, it’s a good story, and I’m not sure how all the ends are going to get tied up in one issue next month.
It’s a very Star Wars week as Rebel Heist #2 by Matt Kindt and Marco Castiello is released in comic store everywhere today. How does this second issue stand up against the first?
While Han Solo has managed to land himself in prison, Princess Leia is halfway across the galaxy. And oh boy is she handling her mission much more competently and professionally than he was. That doesn’t mean it won’t be tough to get the Alliance’s agent off of Feddasyr.
It’s another crazy day in the life of Ania Solo as Legacy #15 by Corinna Bechko and Gabriel Hardman hits comic store shelves today. Will Ania survive the glass rain and the most inhospitable planet this side of Mustafar? Will Ramid’s sacrifice be in vain? Will something about this quest to track down the Sith ever go right? (Okay, so maybe only some of these questions will get answered in Issue #15.)
Stuck out in the middle of a glass rainstorm, things continue to look bleak for Ania Solo even though her friends have finally tracked her down. Thankfully, none of them are about to let this strange bounty hunter take their friend without a fight. But how do you stop a bounty hunter with a light whip who seems hell bent on finding and capturing Ania Solo?