Having been ambushed by Imperial forces, Princess Leia and her companions were rescued by the timely arrival of Luke Skywalker and fellow X-Wing pilot Prithi – after Luke was alerted to their plight by the ghost of Obi-Wan Kenobi. Even still, Leia barely managed to escape with her life.
On Coruscant, Han Solo and Chewbacca are one step ahead of the Empire and their bounty hunters Boba Fett and Bossk, having found help from an unexpected quarter.Meanwhile, in his efforts to return to the Emperor’s good graces, Darth Vader has enlisted the aid of fellow Force sensitive Birra Seah, putting her in charge of aspects of the construction of the second Death Star and promoting her to the rank of Grand moff…
Writer Brian Wood, artist Ryan Kelly, inker Dan Parsons, colourist Gabe Eltaeb, letterer Michael Heisler and cover artist Rodolfo Migliari delve us deep into enemy territory in the seventh issue of this blockbusting title.
The Story
We begin above the forest moon of Endor, the Super Star Destroyer Executor circling the Death Star mark 2 that is under construction. Boarding the destroyer is the head of the Empire, Emperor Palpatine, flanked by his Imperial Guard. The Emperor questions Acting Moff Birra Seah, over her right to bear the title Moff. Banishing Seah to her quarters, the enraged Emperor demands his guard bring Vader before him.
An emotionally distressed Seah looks to commit suicide within her quarters, raising her blaster towards her head as Vader reaches out to her through the Force, telling her that she is still of use to him. Seah relents and puts down the weapon.
On Tatooine Luke and Leia talk amid the wreckage of the Lars Homestead, and discuss the emotions of the life’s they have left behind in pursuit of the Rebellion, and the feelings that give them. Luke gives them a burial and headstone, and apologies for not giving them the gratitude they deserved during their life.
Late at night as the multiple moons descend over Tatooine Leia fills Luke in on the details of the mole within the Rebellion ranks. Luke gives Leia a plan for him and Wedge Antilles to board the Star Destroyer and tap into the data cores to unearth the mole. Leia thinks his idea is crazy, but Luke is insistent.
Over on Corusant, Han Solo, his Wookiee partner in crime, Chewbacca and the mysterious Perla, hatch a plan to escape the planet. Using the garbage barges that exist the planet on a cycle, Perla tries to sneak them under the defences of the Empire, as refuge. What they were not anticipating though was the bounty hunters Bossk, and Boba Fett who attack the garbage hold.
Over at Colonel Bircher’s command ship Antilles and Skywalker begin their subterfuge allowing Bircher to capture their shuttle whilst Prithi attaches her craft to the outside of the Star Destroyer. Meanwhile insider Birra Seah, now a lieutenant, is assigned to Bircher.
Back at the Rebel’s Home One, a determined Princess Leia has Threepio hide her departure as she exits the Rebel fleet on board an X-Wing seeking a new planet suitable for a Rebel base.
The Review
With a new art team in Ryan Kelly and letterer Dan Parsons I was intrigued as to how they would handle the premier Dark Horse Star Wars line that is Brian Wood’s Star Wars. I was especially excited to see more of Vader, and the Rodolfo Migliari cover promised this in abundance with a most beautiful portrait of Darth Vader. However, once again in this series the cover art bore no connection to the content within. Bar a force voice piece, Vader does not feature at all in this issue. This to me is the most irritating element in the series. A comic cover art must tell part of the story of the issue; it should sell that issue to me and not give me false promise, because it only gives me disappointment. This issue was strong without Vader, but the cover leaves me with a void as I opened it expecting some epic Vader scenes. This is somewhat of a recurring theme now in my reviews of these series, and I hope that as the series progresses this weak point is addressed.
That aside this is a strong issue, and bounces back from the poor ending to issue 6 in the series. It was exciting to see the Emperor and his guards confronting Moff Seah. There was a real sense of evil in the dialogue and imagery, and the sexism and psychological abuse towards Seah was powerful. My one and only criticism was one of the panels the Emperor cam across as quite cartoonish, and showing him being towered over by Seah took some of his power away. That said Ryan Kelly in his first outing in the series, really capture’s the evil of the Emperor in the close up shot of his face, a wonderfully crafted drawing.
Wood’s really turns down the dial on the sometimes overly dialogued issues, and is very subtle in the way he takes the story forward. He truly lets the art team tell the tale in this issue, and none more so is this shown that in the build up to Seah’s planned suicide. Without a single word of dialogue or plot the scene is allowed to build through image alone. Kelly and Eltaed really work amazingly well together here. Kelly’s lines are bold and brave, and the emotion in Seah’s face and body is incredibly well told. Add to that the choice of coloring from Eltaed with the slight purple tint to the frames conveying the darkening thoughts in Seah’s head. This planned suicide came sudden and quick, and you could criticize not building this part of the character. It’s difficult to tell whether the writer wanted this to be Seah’s choice, or rather the manipulation of the Emperor – but I will go with Seah’s emotions. I loved the way this whole scene was crafted, and I thought the payoff with Vader using the Force to communicate with Seah was a masterstroke. It plays at problems with Vader and the Emperor’s relationship, and their differing beliefs, and with the re-stationing of Seah I hope to see more play with this relationship.
Tatooine. The Lars Homstead. Luke and Leia discussing their emotions following the great loss and change in their lives. This should be emotional, this should be an epic scene, and this should be a chance to really explore both characters psyches at this huge time of turmoil in their lives. The outcome: “I thought I’d feel something coming back here. But I don’t”.
I could not believe that a writer of Wood’s ability would take these characters, at this point in the lives, in this location – and give us nothing. Why go there but to give us a nice background, because that’s all we achieve. This was a massive opportunity missed and I could not believe it, they may as well have been sitting talking in a non-descript hanger bay. The whole scene runs to six pages, and whilst a successful scene in pushing the narrative forward, so much opportunity was missed here, and cannot be returned to.
From the blistering suns of Tatooine to the bright lights of Coruscant we re find Solo, his Wookiee, and the most underutilised character in the series, Perla. This character promises so much in the little she has done so far, and begins to deliver here. She is a perfect foil to Solo, and I would love to see some scenes between Han and Leia, with the underlying sexual attraction between the characters, irritated by Perla. Wood’s is building a great rival to Han here, and I hope he takes the opportunity to really explore this. More recent on their horizon, will be some interaction between them and Boba and Bossk, and I am intrigued to see how Wood’s progresses this.
Wood’s continues his story progression, and plot building over the last few pages, gearing up for Luke and Wedge’s subterfuge, Vader’s plotting with Seah, and Leia’s planet hunt. Without any real impact However, overall Wood’s story telling, progression of the story, and plot line creation in this issue is excellent. In terms of scripting, this issue is up there with the best of the series. At times the best elements are the silent plot progression, it’s never been truer that the best is in what you don’t say. However, I just can’t get over the failure of the plot exploration on Tatooine. It really hurts this issue that such an opportunity was missed.
Ryan Kelly comes strongly into the series, and his art sits well with Gabe Eltaed’s colors. There was some great panels within the issues and I look forward to seeing more of their work. As we move forward in the Boba / Bossk plot line, and Luke and Wedge undercover mission, their hopefully will be some great opportunities for some landmark comic panels to come. For this issue, it was a gentle introduction for Kelly and I await more…
Whilst it had it’s faults, issue seven has geared up the series for the next arc, and I eagerly await issue eight to fall on the reverse of Celebration Europe. This is a strong series, with the level of criticism aimed at it due to its own high standards. It is heading in a strong direction, with a number of intriguing plot lines about to begin to pay off.
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