The interesting thing about accidentally putting off your comic reviews for a few issues is what you notice about how an arc reads. I’m a big fan of Kieron Gillen’s work (just go look at my reviews of his fantastic Darth Vader) but something about his Star Wars series just wasn’t entirely clicking for me in the same way. That click finally happened when I sat down and read the latest three issues together. If you’ve struggled with “The Ashes of Jedha”, try reading it all together in one sitting for a better experience. (Which given that we’re talking about Gillen’s writing here, probably shouldn’t have surprised me. But here we are.) Let’s talk about each of the big three.
Han is probably the character who benefited the most from these three issues. He’s sort of just been… chilling lately for a lot of the series. The “This is our friend Han and he DROVE US HERE!” meme was applied to some of the earlier issues and it wasn’t entirely incorrect. In this back half though, we see Han go from being just the pilot to being the captain. Add in his mentorship with Ubin and his decision to lead at Endor is put into an entirely new context.
What delighted me most about Leia (in addition to all of the twin stuff) was how Gillen subverted expectations. #42 ends with Leia and Trios squared off to fight which made me roll my eyes a little because of course the women were going to duke it out but then that wasn’t quite how things went. The issue sets things up for Trios to possibly return in the future and I sincerely hope that she does. She’s fascinated me since her first appearance and watching her and Leia interact was the best.
Meanwhile, poor Luke continues to struggle with the weight of expectations. He’s the only (sort of) Jedi that the galaxy knows of and he was thrust into the spotlight without much warning. Figuring out this whole Force thing would be tricky at the best of times and Obi-Wan really should have sent him to Yoda sooner. His Force experience on Jedha was not a kind one. Meanwhile, this is the first time that we’ve heard Luke talk about the sacrifices that Rogue One made to get the Death Star plans and the sacrifices that so many others had to make in order for him to blow the station up. The weight of all these legacies and expectations is staggering and it’s impressive that this farmboy keeps going. You want to know the definition of a hero? Just look at Luke Skywalker.
Assorted Thoughts
- Han calling Chewie “fluffbucket” is the best
- The cover of #43 is beautiful
- You already know what I’m going to say about the internal artwork
- Somehow this arc has made Jedha even more tragic
“The Ashes of Jedha” works incredibly well when read as on cohesive arc and while I may not be on board with the art work, I’m certainly excited to see where else Gillen takes the main series after these last three issues.
Star Wars #41-43: Kieron Gillen/Writer, Salvador Larroca/Artist, Guru e-FX/Colorist, Clayton Cowles/Letterer, Heather Antos/Assistant Editor, Jordan D. White/Editor
