Published By: Marvel Comics
Released On: 15 August 2018
Rating: Rated T
Writer: Gerry Duggan
Penciler: Marc Laming, Edgar Salazar and Will Sliney
The Synopsis;
THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE DEADLY! TOBIAS BECKETT taught HAN SOLO everything he knows about surviving hoodlum-filled cantinas and backwater worlds. But who is this career outlaw and why is ENFYS NEST— one of the galaxy’s most dangerous and brutal marauders — so dead set on taking him down once and for all? Find out in this original tale of a man who has gamed star system after star system, but at a cost that no heist can make up for.
The Story;
The issue opens with a wanted poster for Tobias Beckett and his crew, Val and Rio, with a short summary about each character. This also introduces us to the three chapters this comic is split into; The Man in Black, To Live and Die on Hovun IV and You and the Bantha You Rode In On.
The first chapter, The Man in Black, begins on Hovun IV, where Rio is in a cantina playing a card game. He pretends that he has got confused with which game they’re playing before a man in black comes through the door. Scared by a local legend, the patrons of the bar believe this man to be a death priest and everyone quickly exits so as not to incur the wrath of this deadly man. While one man is exiting, Val (who is also in the cantina) places a tracking device on him. With only Val and Rio remaining, Beckett drops his disguise as the man in black and the trio go off in search of their quarry.
The man they are following has blank ID chips, something their boss, Dryden Vos, has told them to get for him. They soon find the man climbing onto a boat. Without thinking, Beckett leaps onto the boat, telling the other two to catch up when they can. It does not take Beckett long to subdue the man and Rio and Val are quick to catch up in their own vehicle. However, they do not count on the man having his ship underwater. The ship quickly rises out of the water and turns things around on Beckett and his team.
The second chapter, To Live and Die on Hovun IV, finds Beckett and his team with hands on their heads and blasters pointed at them. Before much can happen, Beckett quickly bites into his arm and drops some of his blood into the water. Before long, a sea monster appears, attacking the ship and the men holding our heroes at blaster point. Instead of leaving, Beckett races onto the ship to find the blank id chips. After Beckett exits the ship with his loot, the monster drags the vessel down. Beckett calls his own ship (that has a piloting droid) to come and gather the team.
The final chapter, You and the Bantha You Rode In On, finds the team arriving at a space station called Munt Ontdal. After the ship has landed, Beckett leaves the ship, only to find Enfys Nest waiting for him. With their hands up, Val explains to Beckett that it was Enfys who sent them on the mission, masking herself as Dryden. Not willing to give up the chips, Beckett explodes his ship and the team rush off into the station. With no ship and no chips, Beckett finds a black cloak to retry the scam the issue began with…
The Review;
It frustrates me that Solo did so poor at the box office. When I first heard about the film, I had my doubts, I mean you can’t replace Harrison Ford. Yet after watching the movie, I loved it. Everything I wanted from a Star Wars film was there, the most important factor being it was fun. The introduction (or reintroduction in some cases) of new characters led to speculation that there would be (and I still hope will be) a sequel to come in the future. However, with this in doubt, it falls to the novels and comics to expand on some of these worthy addictions to the Star Wars universe. I was thrilled to hear that the first of these in comic form would be Beckett. In the film, Woody Harrelson does a fantastic job of portraying Han’s mentor and this one shot tries to expand further on this character.
From the first page, this issue sets the scene perfectly. The wanted poster quickly recaps on who Beckett is and who composes his team. I was a little surprised to find that the comic was split into three chapters each illustrated by a different artist. Thankfully, the writer is consistent throughout all three. I’ll be honest, I couldn’t see much difference between the three artists. None did a bad job, they detail the scenes, characters and action well and the art helps to make the story flow. I just don’t see what the need was, to have three different artists who all have a very similar style.
One thing this issue does well, is setting Solo up and showing where Beckett is when we meet him in the film. The comic explains that the team work for Dryden because of the debt they have built up. The similarity between this and Solo being in debt to Jabba helps to show that this is a common occurrence in the underworld. We also see straight away, that Beckett is having to run scams to try and find a way of paying this debt off. We are also introduced to the feud between Enfys and Beckett. However, the origins of this are never explained and hold no clue as to what has brought such rivalry between them.
However, the best thing about this issue is the fact that this seems to be a typical day in the life of Beckett and his team. In too many comics, do writers think that they need to do a story that has such earth-shattering consequences for the rest of the universe at large? This did not feel like that and kept with the rhythm of the Solo movie; it was fun! Which is exactly what this issue (and heck Star Wars) should be. Perhaps the thing that most annoyed me about this issue was the end and realising that was it. There seems to be a huge amount of potential here with these characters to create an entire series, not just one issue. The feeling that keeps seeping out of the comic is one of a western, which is so different to what else is on offer in Star Wars comics at the moment. I want to know more about Beckett, more about his rival Enfys and more about the jobs he takes to try and pay his debt off from Dryden.
Although this issue claims to answer questions, it just raised more and left me wanting more. If you enjoyed Solo, you will love this comic. The atmosphere echoes that of the film perfectly. I hope Marvel consider going further with these characters, as I certainly want to read more of this western set in a galaxy far, far away…
Availability;
This one-shot issue was released on 15th August 2018 and is available via the Marvel App and all good comic book stores. This issue retails at $4.99.
