Prisoner of the Floating World Part Four
Junk dealer Ania Solo has found a battered Imperial communications droid. But instead of bringing her profit, the droid causes Ania and her friends–Sauk, a Mon Calamari ice harvester, and AG-37, an ancient assassin droid–to become the targets of a Sith warrior masquerading as Imperial Knight Yalta Val.
On the run from the Sith imposter, Ania and company encounter Jao Assam, the real Yalta Val’s apprentice. They team up to locate Master Val, only to be caught in the tractor beam of a Shifalan patrol ship.
Meanwhile, unaware that she is dealing with an imposter, Shifalan Governor Biala aids him with the completion of a vital communications array that will allow her system to communicate beyond the Surd Nebula…
That’s how scripters Corinna Bechko and Gabriel Hardman, artist Gabriel Hardman, colourist Rachelle Rosenberg, letterer Michael Heisler and cover artist Dave Wilkins set up the fourth issue of the latest Legacy title.
The Review
Legacy #4 punches up the action as the characters face off against the Sith. Lightsaber duels, Force choking, explosions, there’s a little bit of everything by the issue’s end. But one danger the heroes might not be expecting is Ania Solo’s brashness. Will her desire to act bring about their downfall? Perhaps the real question is, does Ania have the famous Solo luck?
The story left off in issue #3 with Ania, Sauk, AG-37 and Imperial Knight Jao Assam being caught in a Shifalan tractor beam. In issue #4, they get locked down in a hangar bay and immediately assaulted by a swarm of flying droid mini-ships. Unfortunately, the new tech is kept pretty mysterious as we don’t get to see what the little devices do other than flush people out of their ship. This lands everyone in prison cells without much hope.
Meanwhile the Sith is causing trouble among the Shifalans. Governor Biala has had enough of the Imperial Knight running around and telling her what to do. The schism between them widens to the point of violence. When he’s not causing trouble for the governor, the Sith torments Jao and drops some info on what’s going on. We find out that the Sith isn’t looking to turn anyone to the dark side, but he doesn’t explain just what his plan is for the communication array or the captives.
Interestingly enough, Governor Biala turns out to be the hero of the story as she rescues everyone from their captivity. In turn, however, Ania Solo threatens to be their undoing. I liked how this issue kept a straightforward story with everyone in one place, so there wasn’t a whole lot of jumping around. I also liked how Governor Biala’s character developed. It’s nice to know that the monkey like Shifalans aren’t a bunch of buffoons. Furthermore, the story ends with a lot of chaos and some serious character questions, which turned out to be a nice way to leave the story on a thought provoking level.
That said, there are a few weird issues in the story. There are two panels in the middle of the comic that show the salvaged Imperial communications droid escaping AG-37’s ship, but there’s no indication why the droid is escaping and what purpose it will serve. Secondly, Ania Solo appears to be able to blow up a ship with a blaster pistol. Later on, that blown up ship is miraculously able to fly off. Lastly, the final panel skips a scene which would have been very significant to show. In the second to last panel, we see a body lying on the hangar floor. In the last panel, that body is floating in space. It’s kind of awkward and really could have used a panel showing how that body was shoved into space, thus wrenching some emotion out of the readers.
There really aren’t any surprises in the artwork in this issue. If you’ve been following along with the series, you know what to expect. The panels continue to be dark, gritty and expressive. However there is a lot of color variety in this issue. From blaring orange sound effects, green hued space, bluish interiors, red dominated stasis fields, brightly lit prison cells, fiery explosions and some nice blue colored lightsaber clashes, there’s a massive spectrum of color.
Even though there were some weird elements in this issue, I liked the shift to action and uncertainty. The art is good and the story picked up a notch while raising a lot of questions. There was a good build of momentum as the panels unfolded. With the aftermath of the last panel, I found myself really looking forward to the next issue. Thus I give Legacy #4 a five out of five. While it did have a few flaws, the rest of the elements made up for it.
Next Issue: Collision Course!
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