Marvel
Writer: Jason Aaron
Artist: Salvador Larroca
Description:
Han and Chewie go back to smuggling… for a Hutt?!
STAR WARS #35 is a Han and Chewie centric story focusing on the transport of Grakkus The Hutt to the outer rim. Writer Jason Aaron starts off strong with the characterization of Han Solo which is spot on for Solo. Han’s wit, snarky remarks, and sarcasm is on full display in his encounter with Mon Motha and the assignment she asks him to take on. The overall story is entertaining but fails to reveal much else outside of a single mission to help the rebellion. Han’s reluctance and eventual acceptance of the mission are typical of the character but I wished there were more self-doubt and hesitation.
The last few issues of the main Star Wars titles have been jumping from team to team. Luke and Leia to Lando and Sana to Han and Chewie. While fun, in and of themselves, I look forward to a series of issues with the same recurring characters and a more elaborate storyline. In this issue, Grakkus and Han have engaging dialogue and a run in with the empire is an exciting, yet all to brief, action sequence within the story. The ending of the issue sets up a potentially interesting character but not revealing too much as to where the story is going.
Now I must address the art of Salvador Larroca in a manner I always cringe at discussing. While the majority of the issue is well illustrated, the image of Han and the few panels of Mon Motha, particularly their faces close-up, is incredibly distracting. While the rest of a panel is drawn using very traditional comic line work, Han’s face is in almost all instances photo-realistic. I don’t know if this is a combination of the pencil work and the coloring of Edgar Delgado or this is simply Larroca’s call but either way every time it appeared immediately took me out of the story. All I could focus on why Han’s face looks like that as opposed to everything else on the page. Especially when it was in direct opposition to Chewie or Grakkus, Mon Motha not so much but, still stuck out like a sore thumb. Outside of that, the art was very good along with the cover, by Mark Mayhew, I just wish it was more traditional throughout.
Star Wars #35 is a good read and could have but I am hoping for bigger and better things in the future. It may be because it’s the year is winding down and annuals are starting to rear their ugly head that we are getting a lot of stand alone issues. Either way, I look forward to a return to a four to six issue run of a deeper long running story arc in the Star Wars universe.
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.
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.
