The Star Wars #6 by J.W. Rinzler and Mike Mayhew hits comic stores everywhere today. We’re nearing the end of The Star Wars and our first draft heroes aren’t any closer to saving the galaxy.
They made it to space but that’s not enough to get free from the Empire’s grasp just yet whose ships are hot in pursuit. Fast flying and good shooting aren’t enough to save our heroes though. Instead, they make a crash landing on Yavin, the planet of the wookiees! And not everyone lands together…
It’s another issue where we can really see how many of George Lucas’s original ideas for A New Hope worked their way into the rest of the saga. The wookiees (and their planet) certainly went through some changes from the draft but it’s neat to see how they were initially imagined. It’s also always fun to see how he reused names throughout the saga.
This might be the first issue where I have to take some issue for the writing and I can’t even be sure that it’s Rinzler’s fault. Star Wars has certainly been known to break the laws of space before but I’m having a bit of trouble wrapping my brain about Annikin surviving in space outside of the ship for so long without any oxygen. Maybe he was able to breath the air getting sucked out of the ship but it did seriously strain my suspension of disbelief.
That quibble aside, this is continuing to be a solidly enjoyable book. Rinzler does a good job of making you are about these characters after only a few issues. (And I won’t say more to avoid spoilers.) He’s set up some intriguing scenarios for next issue and I’m particularly excited to see what sort of trouble this Skywalker and Solo can get up to.
Once more, Mayhew’s art is an excellent fit for the book. Even in the background, it’s immediately evident how each character feels or what their reaction to a situation is. It’s honestly a refreshing change from a lot of other comics on the shelves right now. Above all though, how he draws Annikin and Leia’s facial expressions never fails to make me grin, shake my head with amusement, and endearingly mutter some words that I can’t quite type on this blog. Heck, I even really appreciate the covers and the delightful captions that accompany them.
With only two issues to go, how they’ll wrap things up is as much of a mystery to me as it is to all of you. As always, if you haven’t been picking this book up, you should probably rectify that soon. You’re missing out on a fun read for sure.
