BOOK I, PART 6
SKYWALKER STRIKES
It is a period of renewed hope for the Rebellion. The evil Galactic Empire’s greatest weapon, the Death Star, has been destroyed by the young rebel pilot Luke Skywalker.
But Skywalker knows he has a long way to go if he ever hopes to become a true Jedi. Seeking clues to his destiny, he has returned to Tatooine, to the home of his departed mentor, Ben Kenobi. Meanwhile, Darth Vader is seeking answers of his own and has hired the notorious bounty hunter Boba Fett to track down the mysterious pilot who destroyed the Death Star.
Fett has found his man. And his flash grenade leaves young Skywalker blinded and alone….
The Story
Luke Skywalker is blinded by Boba Fett’s flash grenade.as he is ambushed in Ben Kenobi’s old home. Denying he is Skywalker, Luke ignites his lightsaber in a desperate effort to escape Boba Fett’s attack.
Over in the Monsua Nebula Han and Leia have passed through the electrical storm and landed on a beautiful planet that could be the perfect hiding place for the Rebels. It was an old hideout for Han during his smugglers days. Escorting Leia to his hideout behind a waterfall – Han turns on the old charm with the offer of some Corellian wine for the Princess.
Above the planet, the Imperials look to abandon their pursuit when the unknown mystery bounty hunter appears and blasts past them on course for the planet below.
Back on Tatooine, Luke appears to be losing to Fett as he channels the Force and somehow unknown to him uses it to hurl the package addressed to him that he found into the back of Boba Fett. This buys Luke and R2 the time to escape with the package.
Unimpressed with Han’s advances Leia throws the wine in his face, as they argue the bounty hunters ship arrives in orbit and Han appears to recognize it.
But before Han can explain the bounty hunter introduces herself, she is Sana Solo – Han’s wife!!!! With guns raised, and Han with his head in his hands – she demands to know who Leia is.
On Tatooine, Luke has returned to his ship with R2, his sight returning he opens the package from Obi-Wan. Inside “The Journals of Ben Kenobi.”
Meanwhile, Boba Fett has returned to Lord Vader to report his failure to capture Luke, but he has something more important for Vader. The name of the Force sensitive youngster. Luke Skywalker! With this news Vader unleashes his Force rage on the windows of the Star Destroyer as Fett retreats – his job done.
The Review
This comic represented the good and bad of the Star Wars ongoing series from Marvel. Lets start with the bad. We pretty much know that Luke has not seen Fett before their encounter in the movies. Thus it was essential that Luke not see whom was attacking him. It felt very contrived, and forced – yet it allowed Luke to be put in a situation where he had to use the Force as his only means to escape.
This resulted in a rather clunky fight sequence that did nothing to enhance Luke, whilst damaging the ability of the greatest Bounty Hunter in the galaxy. We learnt that a fully armed Fett with the element of surprise in his armor could not defeat a blinded barely Force aware kid….
The fight scene also included the most out of proportion oversized R2 you are ever likely to see. It was bizarre. The art did not improve later in the issue with a quite horrendous portrayal of Han Solo in the Corellian wine scene.
But with the bad out of the way, lets focus on what was good, and some of it was very good. I actually enjoyed the fighting talk between Fett and Luke. It was short, sharp, and a fine portrayal of Fett and a naïve Luke. I felt once again Jason Aaron got both Han and Leia characters spot in, and he coupled them with a fun chat up scene that allowed the smuggler and strong princess personas to bubble to the top.
The general plot of Jason Aaron’s writing has improved dramatically with each issue, and I am now starting to enjoy parts of the series. He throws too huge curveballs into this issue with the introduction of Sana Solo and The Journals of Ben Kenobi. Where this will take us, I have no idea – but for the first time in the series I am excited to see the next issue. This could be great or terrible but the journey just got interesting. That is a great start.
The next issue will be a flashback issue focusing on Ben Kenobi, this could be a very pivotal issue in the success of the series. Issue seven will also see a welcome break and change from John Cassaday’s art. With Simone Bianchi taking duties on issue seven, and Stuart Immonen taking over the permanent art duties from issue eight. Cassaday has had some interesting creative over his six issue run, some I have enjoyed but quite a few of our hero characters looks have faltered to the point of destraction.
With the first arc done it feels that Star Wars is starting to find its feet, and now it just needs to find a stride. The next few issues should be interesting….
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