Word has gone out: Ania Solo has a bounty on her head for the murder of an Imperial Knight. Ania protests her innocence to her friends—the Mon Calamari Sauk, assassin droid AG-37, and Jao Assam…himself an Imperial Knight. But the discussion is interrupted by a distress call from a ship in the middle of an orbital minefield.
Boarding the vessel, Ania was reunited with and old flame, Ramid. Sauk agrees to help repair Ramid’s ship, though Jao is suspicious of the story of how the ship was damaged.
But while Sauk and the others gathered repair supplies, Ania was whisked away aboard Ramid’s undamaged vessel—and Ramid detonated one of the mines, incapacitating AG-37’s ship…
The Review
After being kidnapped by her ex-boyfriend, Ania now has a whole new world of trouble to deal with, and on this one it rains glass. Hot on their tails is the lightwhip armed bounty hunter who is determined to get the bounty on Ania’s head. Elsewhere, AG-37, Sauk and Imperial Knight Jao Assam try to figure out why Ania was kidnapped and where her captors took her. Throughout this issue, more questions are raised than answered, and yet each new piece of information only raises the level of intrigue.
One of the first questions raised is why did Ramid kidnap Ania? Upon first meeting each other, they naturally fell into a kiss, thus implying they had a romantic relationship in the past. However in this issue, we find out that Ramid didn’t much care for the way they last departed. It somehow involves Ania leaving him in a prison camp and not coming back to free him. While we don’t know Ania’s side of the story, it’s enough for the pieces to start falling together. Ramid felt betrayed, so seeing the bounty on Ania’s head was probably a duel reward. He’d get both credits and revenge.
The next intriguing question is why does Ania have a bounty on her head? According to Imperial Knight Draco Antares, Ania killed an Imperial Knight, and now she has to be brought to justice. Master Yalta Val is not so convinced of the accusation. Neither is Sauk or AG-37. Jao is suspicious, though. This in turn leads to some more teasing reveals. AG-37 offers to show Jao some footage of when he first met Ania at the prison camp. In so doing, he inadvertantly shows a holoimage of Han Solo and Chewbacca before quickly skipping forward in time to the moment he met Ania. AG even mentions a promise he made to a Solo. When did AG-37 meet Han? Why? What promise did he make? All questions that spur the imagination and inspire more interest in the series.
On top of all those fascinating questions and teasing plot reveals, there’s some nice action in this issue. Those action moments also give the art time to shine. Gabriel Hardman’s dark, gritty style continues to enhance the lived in, used look of the environments, ships and even characters. It harkens back to those familiar aesthetics of the original trilogy films. The colors work well in bringing those images to life on the page. For instance, there’s the panel where Ania thumps someone with a impromptu bludgeon. The background and target brightens with oranges and yellows to evoke a sensation of pain and violence. The expression on the victims face is racked with pain. Topping it off is a brightly lit action word “WWUMP!” that’s like a cherry on the sundae. The small detail of coloring the letters in a pale blue sets it off from the rest of the picture, causing it to jump from the panel. It’s such a tiny scene and easy to miss, but for me, it really jumped out and is a good illustration of how the artwork can come together in this issue to tell the story.
I’m not a big fan of the cover, though. There isn’t much to it, just a lot of blue and a reflection of Ania’s face. But the little image of a TIE bomber sparked my interest when I first saw it. Who could that be? Thankfully the TIE bomber comes into play in this issue, and gets some cool action scenes with some great artwork showing it in battle. The pilot also fits nicely into the story, and leaves the issue on a high note. It’s an effective way to leave readers in anticipation of the next issue.
The pacing and balance of Legacy #12 is very well done. There’s a good mix of action, backstory development, and plot movement. Plenty of questions are raised to generate more interest in the story. Clues are dropped on the past of several characters. Between the character conversations, there are bursts of excitement as conflict ignites. All of builds together for a satisfying chapter of the series
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