General Darth Vader and his Imperial forces have invaded Aquilae, but the planet won’t be theirs until they capture Princess Leia, who, along with her two young brothers, is protected by the legendary Jedi General Luke Skywalker, his apprentice Annikin Starkiller, Han Solo, and Captain Whitsun.
After an ambush by the Sith Knight Prince Valorum at the Gordon Spaceport, Leia and her champions made a narrow escape, succeeded in commandeering an Imperial starship, and blasted into space.
Headed for the Ophuchi system’s Chrome Companies—which have offered help to the princess and Aquilae—the fugitives are soon overtaken and attacked by Imperial hunter destroyers…
Join scripter J.W. Rinzler, artist Mike Mayhew, colourist Rain Beredo, letterer Michael Heisler and cover artist Nick Rudge as we continue the story of The Star Wars.
The Review
There are a lot of familiar elements in The Star Wars #6 as this strange escapade into ‘what could have been’ continues. From shootouts with starfighters, to asteroid belts and adventures on a world full of furry warriors, the visuals and names strike common chords. However, the story is all very different. Annikin is in love with the princess, the Ewoks are Wookiees, and the bounty hunters are fur trappers. It’s yet another odd chapter in this strange series.
The weakest part of this issue is the beginning. The characters are fighting off some starfighters with Annikin and Whitsun in the gunwells ala Luke and Han in A New Hope. Then they dodge into an asteroid field before deciding to land on Yavin. There’s nothing wrong with the visuals. The character’s get some nice closeups that help emphasize the emotions of the scenes. There are lots of good transitions from action to characters to setting. The problem is the dialog. It just falls flat.
On one hand, there’s just too many people talking. Keep in mind Artoo is a talking character in this series. You’ve got Skywalker barking out orders, Threepio flying the ship, Han giving commentary, Whitsun, Annikin, Leia, Artoo…it’s hard keeping up with which word bubbles belong to who. Beyond some of that confusion is the weakness of the dialog. For instance, Skywalker giving course coordinates, “Change course to three point one,” is wasted space. It doesn’t do anything for the reader. Then there’s Whitsun advising Leia to discourage her feelings toward Annikin.
Leia: “Are you sure Annikin will be all right?”
Whitsun: “I think so. But his feelings for you are dangerous.”
Leia: “Feelings?”
Whitsun: “Yes. You should discourage him.”
Keep in mind that that’s the entirety of the scene. The conversation is very stiff and unnatural. Why would Whitsun want Leia to discourage Annikin? There’s no context for it. Whitsun isn’t a Jedi, he isn’t interested in Leia, he has no investment in Leia marrying someone of royal blood. The only thing that seems likely is that he thinks it’s a distraction. It just seems off. For that first half of the issue, most of the scenes just don’t feel all that engrossing. The action is jumpy and there’s just too much crammed in and going on for the reader to really attach to. The weak dialog doesn’t help any.
Once the action shifts to Yavin, the story improves. There’s some really cool visuals on the planet with the forest environment and the way the lighting shines down on the characters. The action slows down a little, and it’s easier to follow along and buy into the story. I also liked how the bounty hunters from Empire Strikes Back show up as Wookiee trappers. They oddly speak a weird language, so you can’t tell what they’re saying, but visually, it’s a nice addition and plays well into the story. From there, Annikin winds up fighting a Wookiee in ritual combat, which is kind of fun. There was one confusing panel where it looked like Annikin sunk his axe into the Wookiee, but in reality flipped the axe around and jabbed him with the handle, otherwise it was done well.
So, for the first time, readers finally got a glimpse of what it would have been like to have Wookiees instead of Ewoks. Would it have been better? Who knows. But in regards to this issue, I think it worked pretty well. There was a slow, bumpy start to things in space, but the story improved with the transition to Yavin. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens with the Wookiees next.
Reviewed by Skuldren from Roqoo Depot. For more Jedi News comic reviews click here.
