When I talked to Charles Soule last week, he said that he didn’t think everyone was going to be happy with the end of Lando #5 but that he was. That should be, like, a giant neon warning sign when a writer says that. A warning sign that you’re probably going to have a lot of feelings. Lando #5 by Soule and Alex Maleev is out today and boy howdy do I have some thoughts on it that can’t be fully expressed without diving into lots of spoilers.
Lando and company have gotten themselves into a load of trouble and things didn’t look good for anyone at the end of issue #4. Things don’t go well for anyone. Essentially, rocks fall, the ship blows up, and everyone but Lando dies in one way or another. (Okay, so we’re a little unclear about Chanath Cha and I choose to believe that her escape pod was launched off panel and that we’ll see her again one day.)
Lobot’s storyline is the most heartbreaking to me. Apologies for referring to my interview with Soule again but he must have been laughing to himself when I glibly said that at least Lobot survives. His body survives, sure but his mind doesn’t as the implants finally win while he saves his friend. It certainly explains why he never says a word during Empire Strikes Back and makes me hopeful that Lando will one day succeed in finding a way to cure him. Lobot’s a better friend to him than I ever could have previously imagined.
At the end of the day though, there’s no other way that this book really could have ended except in flames. A ship with that much Sith treasure and history is dangerous in the hands of anyone much less Palpatine. Perhaps they’ve done the galaxy a favor. And how could Aleksin and Pavol possibly come back from being under the influence of that Sith mask? Poor Korin though… she deserved far better.
I do hope that we get to see more of Chanath Cha in some way, shape, or form. She’s too cool of a character to be relegated to being a one-story guest star. There are stories to be told about how she came to be on call for the Emperor and the history between her and Lobot.
Oh and it really should be stated again that Alex Maleev’s artwork on this book has been spectacular. This cover would make an amazing print.
Soule and Maleev delivered a unique and solidly enjoyable story about the one and only Lando Calrissian. Lando gets a ‘Hell Yeah’ from me along with a recommendation.
