Comic Review: Rogue One – Cassian Andor #1 (One-Shot)

Ten years. Where has the time gone? Ten years since Rogue One was released in theatres. Well maybe not quite ten years, that anniversary will be hit at the end of the year, but it is an easy one to miss. We’re all looking ahead (to the future, to the horizon), to a much bigger anniversary, rather than one that I think is almost as important. Rogue One is arguably the most successful of the Disney era films. Not only did it give Original Trilogy fans what we always wanted, but it also spawned a television series that went beyond the realms of Star Wars and shone a mirror on our society better than many modern shows have done recently. It had incredible writing, incredible acting and all the while (with one dark lord exception) without a lightsaber. It is a testimony to just how powerful the time period of the Original Trilogy is and continues to be. It pleases me greatly that Marvel has not let this opportunity go by and are celebrating the anniversary with a series of five one-shots, each looking at a character. The first is Cassian Andor. This is going to be, and will always be, the most difficult of any character to try and expand. There is a whole series that delves and expands this character. How can you possibly add to this character? Equally, how can you celebrate a one-shot of Rogue One and not get dragged into Andor. Well Benjamin Percy has signed up to write this almost impossible task! I’m not going to lie, I don’t envy him, this does seem a hard endeavour! If his name sounds familiar, he has done some work in the Star Wars universe for the black, white and red series’ although I am going to pick out the first issue he did for the Maul: Black, White and Red which was stunning! If we see half of what was in that story here, I’ll be very happy! Joining him, is no stranger to Star Wars, Luke Ross. He has done numerous Star Wars comics and knows his way around better than a Jawa around a scrapyard! The two of them – I’m sure – will bring us something great, even if the task seems somewhat daunting!

Let’s start with the obvious, when this is all set. Unlike any other character that is going to be one-shotted in this series, there is no time to play with Andor. You can’t go after Rogue One… for obvious reasons. You can’t go too far before because you are then in Andor territory, which means that Percy has literally got the time from the end of Andor to the start of Rogue One to play with. As the comic demonstrates, this is literally hours. Firstly, I really appreciate that Percy has made the correct decision here, he hasn’t tried to put the story in somewhere else because it would have just felt wrong and it would have felt more like Andor than Rogue One. Secondly, to write a story that fits into such a short space, to tell a worthwhile tale that brings something new, is also impressive. For all intent and purposes, we are seeing Andor go from Yavin to meet his man at the start of Rogue One, what trouble can there be?

But of course, trouble there can be. Percy shows us that the Rebels do not have an easy time of it and I love how Percy weaves this into the story. He introduces us to a nobody called Barger – who we will all likely forget after this comic. The point of him is that he sells the Rebels false IDs. Of course, the Rebels must make use of such people and of course, at times, such people will betray them. The way this all links up with the film, the show works incredibly though. Why Luthen was so careful in Andor, why he wouldn’t trust the other Rebels, why he thought they were sloppy. Percy gives us a slight glimpse. The Rebels must make use of the people that they can, but they don’t have chance or think, to be as thorough as they should be, which leads to trouble.

Andor steals the show here (no pun intended on multiple levels). Percy gets this character so well. From the opening shots on Yavin, where you can feel that tension oozing out between him and Draven so well, to when he is on the Ring Kafrene, quick thinking to get himself out of a situation. It’s the Andor we know and love. More than anything else, it’s his relationships with K2, the thing that I think has always shined whitish no matter what we see them in, that really shines the brightest here. Percy demonstrates that dry humour, that brotherly love that exists between the two of them. It makes you want to see so much more of it. It is bittersweet knowing that we never will…

The artwork by Ross is excellent, as always. Andor is captured just right, as are all the familiar faces. The design of Barger I love, he is a different and looks odd but in a good way. the thing that really strikes me, is the settings. These are familiar settings that Ross just lets us feel at home in. Even with Kafrene, where we are in areas we haven’t Been in before, you feel like you are coming back home to your sofa and lounging comfortably down to a forgotten delight. The marketplace really feels so alive, the detail on it is exceptional and the lighting on the helmets on the troopers gives it that warmth yet threatening glow.

All in all, this is a wonderful one shot. It’s not groundbreaking in terms of story and it never could be, there is whole two seasons of Andor for this character to do that. What it does do is fill in the one tiny piece that is missing from Andor’s timeline and does it well. It sets up the events in Rogue One perfectly. Percy does a tremendous job of capturing the character so well, not missing a beat from how he is at the end of Andor. This is one of those comics that just makes you feel good, that reminds you of why you love a film, why you love the characters and why the anniversary of it is so important. For me, that is precisely what these one shots should be doing and Percy has done that superbly.

Availability;

Star Wars: Rogue One – Cassian Andor #1 is the first issue of a 5-part mini-series of one-shot comics published by Marvel Comics. This issue retails at $4.99 and is available from comiXology and your local comic book store.