Marvel
Writer: Duane Swierczynski
Penciler: Fernando Blanco
Cassian Andor is one of the top intelligence agents in the ranks of the Rebel Alliance, ably assisted by his reprogrammed Imperial security droid, K-2SO. But naturally, the two weren’t always on the same side of the Galactic Civil War. Now, for the first time, read the story of the pair’s first contentious meeting! It is very likely not to go well.
Cassian & K-2SO #1 is a one-shot giving readers essentially an origin story of the pairing of the rebel intelligence officer and Imperial security droid. Writer Duane Swierczynski maintains the tone of Rogue One with plenty of action and lighthearted even funny moments. He also keeps intact the humor and nuances of K-2SO we all fell in love with in the movie. The story itself is about what essentially is a mission to extract Imperial security protocols for the rebellion.
Cassian travels to the backwater world of Wecacoe with two rebel spies, Kertas & Rismor. The pair have a knack sniffing out Imperial intelligence but don’t communicate in a traditional sense. Swierczynski has devised a unique method of how the two speak and Cassian must serve the reader in both dialogue and narration to fully explain what’s happening. Cassian is literally the only voice there is until K-2SO appears and using this narrative device for our main characters is unique but sometimes feels a bit clunky.
Like most Star Wars stories, the mission is laid out as a simple one but things go wrong almost immediately. The most humor in the story is derived by Cassian’s constant struggle to re-program K-2SO but the payoff in the end about the usefulness of K-2 is very satisfying. Once the action gets going it doesn’t stop and it’s well illustrated by Fernando Blanco. It’s got all the feeling of a battle in which our heroes find themselves outnumbered by Imperial troopers with plenty of missteps and close calls along the way. The coloring is great and matches the tone and feel of another desert planet awash in the presence of the Empire.
There aren’t too many surprises here even though we learn more about K-2SO joining the rebellion. I wish we could have gotten a little more backstory on Cassian but that would be better played out if this wasn’t simply a one-shot. It certainly would make for an interesting ongoing series. All in all, CASSIAN & K2SO #1 is a solid read and definitely feels right at home in the Rouge One storyline. It’s got plenty of action, humor and most importantly a definitive conclusion and explanation to K-2SO’s importance to the rebel cause. Any fan of Rouge One will find this a satisfying chapter to that story but this could have been great if it gave readers a deeper dive into the connection to the original Star Wars trilogy.
The last issue of Doctor Aphra ended with the ancient Jedi Rur possessing the body of a droid determined to destroy Aphra’s chance of selling him to the highest bidder on the black market. Writer Kieron Gillen kicks off Doctor Aphra #11 in a high intensity, chaotic fight to stay alive. This issue is all action from page one. Gillen has a unique challenge here by addressing some universal understandings of how and why certain Star Wars characters behave. When Rur is on the attack he goes against almost everything we believe about the Jedi. He’s aggressive, angry and vengeful which plays more like a dark side mentality. Gillen pulls it off but you never really see Rur as a Jedi. It is consistent though because Rur gave Luke pause and concern back in the “Screaming Citadel” storyline when Luke was contemplating training under him back in Doctor Aphra #8.
Gillen also tackles the notion that droids protocol’s make them what they are but Aphra is none too shocked to discover that Triple-Zero and Beetee are behind much of the chaos. They try to play dumb and Gillen makes this comical but Aphra can see right through it. Vader’s killer droids have always been blood thirsty but conniving and underhanded feels less like protocols and more like sentience. That said, if these are protocols then they are meticulously planned which by the end of the issue seems a lot more plausible. More on that later but again good writing by Gillen. As stated previously, this issue is non-stop action and at times the pace is so frenetic that it can get a bit confusing. This was a definite issue I had to go back through a second time.
Whatever mojo writer Charles Soule took from Darth Vader last issue he certainly returns to him in spades in DARTH VADER #4. Issue #3 ended with Vader missing the lower part of him left leg and crumpled in a heap from his first encounter with Jedi Master Kirak Infil’a. Soule walks a fine line with Vader making him both vulnerable and powerful simultaneously but one thing Vader does not lack is determination. Soule quickly takes Infil’a from his penance, confident in Vader’s death, and out to restore the Jedi Order. While Infil’a does all the talking Vader is all about action.
Giuseppe Camuncoli does most of the heavy lifting in illustrating Vader’s discovery of his true power and he walks the reader through it with meticulous precision. He never leaves you guessing as to what’s happening on the page even when there’s no narration or dialogue. It’s a subtle thing but really carries the weight of Vader’s struggles and triumphs.
DARTH VADER #3 starts off with our first look at Master Kirak Infil’a at the Mid-Rim River Moon of Al’doleem. He is the last of the ancient Jedi order who managed to a survive Order 66 by taking a type of penance, the Barash Vow, where they are disengaged from the Jedi order and live alone inside the Force. Infil’a power is obvious from the beginning. He is training fighting against his droid Arex while simultaneously assembling four Padawan traps using the Force. Writer Charles Soule uses some witty banter during the sparring match to make light of the dangers of such a difficult task.
Doctor Aphra #8 is the fifth and final issue of the Star Wars crossover event, “The Screaming Citadel.” The entire story began with a one-shot issue, followed by Star Wars #31-32 and finally wrapping up with Doctor Aphra #7-8. The final chapter, written by Kieron Gillen, who is no stranger to writing some twisted tales, pulls no punches here. I really enjoy the Doctor Aphra series and this was another good issue. However, this entire crossover feels less like a Star Wars story and more like a horror story with Star Wars characters. There’s nothing wrong with that, if fact it is quite good, just unexpected for a Star Wars story.
