Published: November 4, 2009
Writer: Tom Taylor
Artist: Colin Wilson
Colourist: Wes Dzioba
Letterer: Michel Heisler
Cover Artist: Jo Chen
Editor: Randy Stradley
The synopsis;
The Yuuzhan Vong invasion of the galaxy is spreading quickly. Prince Finn Galfridian, whose planet of Artorias was taken and his family separated by the Vong, is training as a Jedi with Luke Skywalker to prepare himself to save his family and lead his surviving people.
Not surprisingly, the other members of the royal family have been working to save themselves! Finn’s mother and sister Kaye are fighting against the Yuuzhan Vong’s bioengineered killing monsters to escape imprisonment, and if his father, Caled, is still living, he will be leading resistance on Artorias. With hope, Caled lives, and will still be fighting when Finn arrives with aid!
The review;
I honestly can’t believe we are already at the final issue of this first arc of The New Jedi Order: Invasion series of comic books. Last time out, the tide of the Yuuzhan Vong invasion of the galaxy had started to faulter slightly at the hands of the Jedi and the Artorian royal family. In this issue, the tide has definitely started to turn!
Onboard the Tsam Pah, Kaye Galfridian is leading a rebellion of the Artrian people taken prisoner. Just by coming to together in sheer numbers they overthrow their guards. The battle has only just begun, but the first phase has gone to plan, and Kaye is now able to free Arbeloa as promised. It doesn’t take long for him to go to work on the next batch of Yuuzhan Vong, but curiously, Queen Nina, walks away from the battle.
This is a great start to this last issue. Kaye has been able to free Arbeloa, and he knows that she is not to judged by her appearance. Last of his kind, he wants to exact revenge on the Vong and his new adversary will help him rage war on them. It is interesting that the queen just ups and leaves without responding. Last issue she was almost catatonic and seemed to have given up, but there seems to be something that has changed for her now.
Back on Nar Shadda, the Solo’s are aiming to meet their contact. Jacen and Lowie are in the cantina as the rest observe the action via the eyes of Prowl. They do enough to stimulate interest from Dahal and he leaves the cantina. Finn and Prowl tail Dahal and follow him through the streets. A vagabond stops Finn and in an unusual exchange, the mans face does not move with his words, but he does not hear the man utter Finn’s full name as he leaves. This has stopped Finn in his tracks, and he is about to be spotted by Dahal, Finn uses the Force to jump up to hang from a hoarding.
Now there are some strange developments on Nar Shadda. Meeting with Dahal is all part of the plan, but this is only the first phase of the mission to hopefully lead them to the bigger fish. I really couldn’t get over the similarity of Dahal to Bistan the Lakaru from Rogue One. The series has little flashes of connections to the stand alone and sequel trilogy movies, comics and novels that are in a way Easter eggs. This is something that can be said for many of the titles we have chosen to review during Lockdown Legends. It helps show that the current writers have also drawn on this wealth of literature to form the new canon. The vagabond that Finn comes across is a strange moment, but I am sure it will become an important one as the series enters its next phase. I know Prowl calls out to Finn, but he only uses his first name, not his family name. The vagabond knows this already, is he Force sensitive or a Vong in disguise? There is also something of note with the city scape of Nar Shadda. While writing this review I have the TV on with Blade Runner playing. The similarities between the cityscapes is phenomenal, and leave me thinking, who influenced who?
The battle on board Tsam Pah is bloody and brutal, but tha captives are making progress with Arbeloa and Kaye now facing Commander Shakel. Promising Shakel pain, Kaye informs him that she promised Arbeloa his head. Meanwhile her mother gazes out of a viewport at the desolation of Artoria below. She seems to snap out of her catatonic state and has a glint in her eye.
Back on the Millennium Falcon, there is discord among the Solo children as they have found out that Han has been there and didn’t see them. This has upset his youngest son, Anakin the most. Finn interrupts Leia talking to Anakin to say that they need to move quickly, Leia snaps back to say, “I’m talking to my son, the war can wait.” She continues to console him about his actions in the incident that Chewbacca lost his life.
Shortly afterwards, Leia confronts Dahal and his associate in the cantina, blaster in hand. Dahal makes a run for it, but he is not who they are after. They crowd around the table to discuss the information they seek. The information is costly, but Leia hands over a pyramid shaped object as payment. The information of the identity of the informant they seek is revealed as the Artorian King’s adviser, Dulac.
In the underground bunker on Artoria, Dulac and Caled Galfridian discuss the creation of it. Caled insists that Dulac stays with them and places guards at his door to protect him. They must rest as they will face the Vong many times soon.
This phase of the story has many twists. Kaye and Arbeloa having reached the command centre of the Tsam Pah are about to confront the commander. A poignant part of this is that the Solo children are so hurt by the events of how Chewbacca came to pass and their fathers’ reaction to those events. There is fierce feeling of resentment as well as loss, which threatens to divide them. Feels a little familiar to me with the estranged relationship between Leia, Han and Ben in The Force Awakens. I get the feeling that Caled has suspicions of Dulac’s double cross, nothing shows that to be correct, but that is only a gut feeling.
Back on board the Tsam Pah, the Artorian’s now have control of the ship. The queen has now recovered and speaks with her daughter. She has witnessed destruction of Yuuzhan Vong buildings on the planet surface below and she is convinced her husband I alive and fighting to his planet. They need to be able to pilot the ship to take full control of it. Nina moves into the seat where Shakel used to sit and limbs reach out to embrace her and penetrate her. Then, the Tsam Pah leaps to hyperspace.
Wow, what an ending to the issue. Closure, but a cliff hanger for the next part of the series. The queen has sacrificed herself to help her people, but this is a great twist for her character. She has gone from catatonic and almost inactive, to taking charge. Her daughter is proving to be one hell of an adversary for anyone as well.
There has been some excellent story telling accompanied with amazing artwork and that is why I absolutely love this series of comics. As I have said before, it is a favourite era of ‘Legends’ literature for me.
I hope that you have enjoyed us visiting them as part of Lockdown Legends.
Availability;
Star Wars: The New Jedi Order: Invasion ran for 3 series from 2009 to 2011, encompassing 17 issues. Invasion – Refugees #5 is currently available in digital format via the Marvel App, comiXology or by subscribing to Marvel Unlimited. A physical copy can be found in one of the many trade paperback releases from Marvel. Please check with Amazon UK and US or your local comic bookstore for availability.
