Han Solo, Chewbacca, and garbage-barge pilot Perla have narrowly escaped Boba Fett on Coruscant by making a risky jump to undetermined coordinates, while Princess Leia’s soujourn in the debris field that was once Alderaan has left her disillusioned and thoughtful as she returns to the Rebel fleet.
Rebel pilot Prithi arrived back at the Rebel fleet in bad shape – but in time to warn Mon Mothma of the incoming Star Destroyer Devastator. Aboard the Devastator, former prisoners
Luke Skywalker and Wedge Antilles commandeered two TIE Interceptors and joined Colonel Bircher’s wave of Imperial fighters to assault the Rebels.And Darth Vader, now understanding exactly who Luke Skywalker is, has commanded his personal spy, Birra Seah, to detain Luke, no matter what…
Writer Brian Wood, artist Carlos D’Anda, colourist Gabe Eltaeb, letterer Michael Heisler and cover artist Sean Cooke bring us the eleventh issue of Star Wars.
The Story
We open on-board the Devastator – Birra Seah is nervous about reporting to Vader her failure to capture Skywalker. She decides the best option is for her to flee. Meanwhile all out combat strikes are launched upon the Rebel Fleet.
Onboard their stolen TIE Interceptors, Wedge & Luke plot their escape, as Leia returns to Home One, which has taken extensive damage. Leia begins to gather together a squadron to build a defence as Luke & Wedge crash-land their fighters into Home Ones main hanger bay.
In the Cularin systems asteroid belt, Perla guides Han and Chewie to a stash of weapons dating back to the Clone Wars. For asylum within the Alliance, a steady job, a ship and the credits – Perla strikes a sale with Solo.
Wedge and Luke re-join Leia’s squadron this time in X-Wings and they charge at the TIE squadron. The fighting is brutal. Seeking guidance, Luke reaches out to Ben Kenobi, but is distracted from his meditation as Prithi comes through in his comm to tell him she is sorry for leaving him, and waiting for him in the medial centre.
Luke is hit and has to pull out after his hydraulics fail [perhaps he bought them from me]. Shockingly Bircher calls Mon Mothma by comm and requests to come home. Mothma agrees and he passes all override codes for the Empire craft to the Rebels. Wedge finds it difficult to capture, and not kill the remaining Imperials – he wants revenge for Yavin. Leia talks him down. It is revealed that Bircher is Mon Mothma’s nephew, and he has sliced Rebel code into the Star Destroyers systems.
Seah sends Vader a message from her escape pod from the Devastator apologising to Vader for her failure. He promises to kill her, and crush the Rebel Alliance.
As Vader prepares to board his personal shuttle, he receives a message from the Emperor…
The Review
Issue 11 has some real highs, but also some disappointing lows – perhaps reflecting a little bit of the publics perception of the series. It was the proverbial mixed bag.
Wood’s disappointed me with poor development of the plotline. Birra Seah suddenly became traitorous when she has previously seemed uber-loyal. Luke and Wedge’s TIE experience was short lived and underplayed, and within a couple of frames came from being in a TIE to being in an X-Wing. The ending of Vader being messaged by the Emperor really did not leave an exciting cliffhanger; ending on an Emperor taunt would have been the right cut point. That said, Wood’s did deliver two stunning moments for me. Perla finally found her foothold in the storyline. A character I have long held firm the belief that had something to deliver, finally started getting interesting – showcasing some craftiness and cunning in her stockpile of weapons. I am interested in seeing her interact with Leia and the other Rebels – it could get interesting…
Secondly, the shocking reveal of Bircher having been a Rebel spy and in fact Mon Mothma’s nephew was a phenomenal move. We have seen that he is an epic pilot, and so can instantly add an interesting dynamic to the main Squadron storyline, but he has also killed their friends and other Rebels. Things could get tricky…
Sean Cooke’s cover art is my perfect kind of cover. It tells a story of the issues contents, and in doing so draws you in and excites you about the story to come. It is an epic space battle and I love the detail on Home One and the Y-Wings. You never get enough of the old Y-Wing. It is not easy filling Hugh Flemming’s shoes, but I am anticipating seeing much more from Sean Cooke as the series progresses.
In an issue devoid of much character interaction, and with a focus on the Wars – the artwork really needs to deliver. In this issue it started slowly with weak and basic depictions of Birra Seah on the Destroyer that lacked any real depth or detail. I also felt that the initial foray of torpedos on Home One lacked real quality.
That said, D’Anda and Eltaed are high quality artists, and looking at the segment with Perla and Solo shows the level of quality they can deliver. They also deliver with the dog-fighting X-Wing vs TIE Interceptor scenes. It’s difficult to tell a story through this imagery but they do it so well. Perhaps the iconic moment from the issue comes with the reveal to the Rebels of Bicher, and their reaction. It is both a fantastical reveal, but also very comedic. The initial shot of the interior of the TIE interceptor looking out was a great way to start that panel.
Despite the central reveal, the issue was generally weak – again seemingly brushing over interesting plot lines in some manic way to push the story on, instead of letting it grow and develop at the correct pace. Coming up to issue 12 in the series, we are a crucial juncture in the comic’s lifespan but we seem to be losing plotlines rapidly rather than expanding out. I have a feeling that this series is wrapping up rather than ramping up. Something I would not be happy about. There is real potential in the story, the characters and the timeline here – it just needs to start delivering, and soon…
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