Tag Archives: Star Wars

Review: Darth Vader #19

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It’s ever so nice when you read the last issue of an arc, flip the book closed, smile to yourself, and say “That was everything I hoped for.” That’s exactly what I did when I finished Darth Vader #19 by Kieron Gillen and Salvador Larroca. When Gillen first introduced Queen Trios (then Princess Trios) in the Darth Vader Annual, this was exactly the sort of story I was hoping we would see. (What can I say: I’m a sucker for the Star Wars royals.)  Marvel has absolutely delivered.

Some spoilers after the jump. Continue reading →

Review: C-3P0

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It’s real! After months of delays, the one-shot C-3P0 comic book that was supposed to be a part of the Journey to The Force Awakens has finally hit comic stores shelves. So was this one-shot by James Robinson and Tony Harris worth the wait?

Consider me… whelmed.

I am not a fan of Tony Harris as a person (google it) but I have to say his art is definitely the highlight of this story. The credits indicate that he did the line art, inking, and colors and it definitely works really well together. It’s actually the best thing about this book. There’s a page at the start that’s mostly of Threepio that just really really works.

The story itself feels… superfluous. We already knew from reference books that Threepio wears the red arm to honor the sacrifice of another droid. That’s… basically the story. Right there. If you’re a fan of Threepio, you’ll like this story because it’s a heck of a lot of him talking like his usual self. The one bit that did stand out was when another droid gets a little more philosophical about what exactly being a droid is. There’s a super neat bit in which we find out that despite being memory wiped, traces and glimpses of those memories still survive. It’s something that I never considered before but find endlessly fascinating.

So is it worth the wait and your money? If you’re a completionist or a Threepio fan, sure. If you’re not… well, it’s not a bad issue. It’s most unfortunate that this issue didn’t come out when originally planned.

Jake Lloyd, Mental Illness, and Laying Off on the Bullying

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Jake Lloyd, the actor behind Episode I’s Anakin Skywalker, was recently moved to a psychiatric facility after spending ten months in jail following a high-speed chase with police in South Carolina in June 2015.  While the information has been out there for a while, the fact that Lloyd suffers from schizophrenia is once again in the news, perhaps in a higher profile way than it had before.

There are about a hundred things we could talk about with this.  Psychiatric facilities versus jail, support for mental illness, lessening the stigma of mental illness.

Because let me tell you guys something.  As someone who suffers from a mental illness herself?  It sucks.

Continue reading →

Review: Poe Dameron #1

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Less than a year ago, we had the wonderful Heather Antos, Assistant Editor for the Marvel Star Wars comics, on the Tosche Station podcast and we maaaaay have begged a little for an X-Wing/Rogue Squadron comic. And we weren’t alone in really hoping to see more stories focused on X-Wing pilots in the new canon.  A few months ago, we learned that Poe Dameron was getting his own series. I’ll be honest with you all: when Marvel announced this book, I was mostly excited but also a tiny bit hesitant. I’ve been a huge fan of Charles Soule’s work in the Star Wars universe thus far and Phil Noto’s art is always lovely but I wasn’t quite sure if it was possible for someone to that find that same vibe that made Stackpole and Allston’s pilot books so good.

I shouldn’t have worried. Not for a minute.

Poe Dameron #1 has a little bit of everything. It has the assembling of the squad. It has some fun flying action. It has BB-8 being adorable. It has Leia Organa being the badass General that she is. It brings in pilots we already know. And it has Poe calling BB-8 buddy. What else could you want?

I don’t want to overhype this book but I also want to strongly encourage everyone to go pick it up today. This is absolutely the book that so many of us have been hoping for and I’m so glad that it’s finally here. Poe Dameron is in the hands of a very strong creative team and I absolutely can’t wait to see where the hunt for Lor San Tekka takes us and I definitely can’t wait to fall even more in love with this new group of pilots.

Review: Tales from a Galaxy Far, Far Away: Aliens Volume 1

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With Tales from a Galaxy Far, Far Away: Aliens Volume 1, Landry Q. Walker returns to a good old element of Star Wars: short stories about the random beings we see in the background of the films. The 90s saw the publication of more than a few of these, ranging from Cantina tales to Jabba’s Palace. Walker lets the background characters from Jakku and Maz Kanata’s castle take starring roles in these six stories, helping flesh out the universe just a little more in this collection.

High Noon on Jakku
At last! We have found the elusive Constable Zuvio! High Noon on Jakku is a fun little mystery tale where, interestingly enough, the most intriguing character is a droid called CZ-1G5. It’s also a story that provokes thought about the state of droids in the galaxy far, far away. Is it still odd for some of them to not have owners? It’s definitely odd to think about the concept of a droid having free time and doing volunteer work.

A Recipe for Death*
A Recipe for Death is like the lovechild of Chopped and your detective show of choice with a dash of Star Wars. (That was a sentence I never expected to type.) This story really helps drive home that these are definitely a return to the old Tales from collections. Where else would you have a Star Wars story devoted to a whodunit tale set in a kitchen? This particular story was engaging and kept me guessing all the way to the final reveal of the murderer and the new sous chef.  Continue reading →

Review: Darth Vader #18

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It turns out that all Kieron Gillen and Salvador Larroca had to do to keep me happy while Dr. Aphra is in mortal danger is have Vader be involved in a plot line that has royal intrigue. I didn’t even worry about her once during this issue! Out today is Darth Vader #18 in which everyone’s favorite Sith Lord must battle the enemies of Shu-Torun’s Queen and Cylo’s apprentices while simultaneously keeping the murder bots in check.  Who says that Sith Lords can’t multitask?

As per usual, spoilers and discussion after the jump. Continue reading →

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?)