Canon Comic Review: Star Wars “The Escape” Arc (Issues #56-61)

The Rebels crash land on a planet bereft of ships or communicators. What do our heroes do in their down-time? How can you have downtime in the middle of a galactic civil war? Read our arc review of Star Wars “The Escape” now!

Usually, here at the Manor, we try and have an arc review up before the next arc review starts. In light of that, this review of “The Escape” would have normally come before the current arc had started. You, our valued and perceptive reader, might have noticed that this review is coming after the first two issues of the “The Scourging of Shu-Torun” had started. There is a reason for this, and it is not because I am incapable of meeting deadlines. (That might be true to an extent, but not the case here.)

The reason this one is coming a bit late is because this arc made me reckon with a lot of hard ideas, mostly that I’m not totally enjoying this series. You might have guessed what these feelings are, but I’ll make them explicit: I am struggling to stay engaged. Back when Kieron Gillen took over the series at issue 38 with “The Ashes of Jedha,” I had high hopes for the series. I thought Gillen would infuse new life into the series that was seeping out as we focused on the same main characters, with only brief interactions with the new characters (namely, Sana Starros or SCAR Squadron.) Unfortunately, while Gillen rounded out the cast more than writer Jason Aaron, I felt like we spent just as much time with the main cast.

“The Escape” proved to be the same type of story. Rather than helping us see new characters (or spend more time with Sana, who is featured in the arc!), we see Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Princess Leia alone interacting with a new side cast. As the Rebels make a hasty exit from the site of their massive loses in “Hope Dies,” the Rebels are separated and ambushed. Sana’s great piloting can’t help them escape Imperial forces, and Han, Luke, and Leia are ship-wrecked on the planet Hubin.

Though Hubin seems like an idyllic paradise from the beginning, the planet soon becomes a nightmare for the trio. The native people have no ships which would allow them, or our heroes, to escape the planet. Nor do they have communication devices, rendering our heroes incapable of reaching out to the Rebel fleet. Add to that the native mercenaries’ violent ways and giant beasts that attack the settlements, and you’re in for a bad time on Hubin.

I’ve found that Gillen’s pacing on this flagship title has been extraordinarily slow. I had trouble reading each issue individually, wherein the pace never really picked up and issues moved slowly until they ended. I also started to really “feel” that the first two issues were set-up, and I think that’s made me have the same thoughts about the pacing on “The Scourge of Shu-Torun.” Unfortunately, because of this type of set-up, I didn’t really feel engaged with the story until the fourth issue in the arc.

Until the fourth issue, we see Luke, Han, and Leia deal with life on Hubin in different ways. Han is, of course, happy with some of the downtime. Remember: he recently took a break from the Alliance anyway, being called back into service in the fantastic Han Solo mini-series. Leia uses the time to plot revenge on Queen Trios and Shu-Torun, but we don’t find that out for a few issues. Finally, Luke is desperate to build a communicator to be in touch with the Rebels so he can go back into the galaxy and fight Darth Vader.

We, the readers, are not the only ones who know this. Clan Markona, the head of the government on the planet, are well-aware of his attempts. Thane Markona, the patriarch of the family, allows Luke to build the transponder to test the Rebels. (I want to point out that I totally misunderstood this scene I’m about to describe, thankfully my editor helped correct me.) Thane jams the transponder that Luke builds, so he cannot reach out and ask for help. Unfortunately, SCAR Squadron has captured Sana, who was separated from the Rebels before they landed on Hubin, and tortured her for the location of the Rebels. Both Ryan and I have noted how unintimidating SCAR Squadron is, having been beaten fairly easily in every appearance they’ve made so far. Even their most dangerous victory yet, the capture of C-3PO, was undone by R2-D2. This arc doesn’t do anything to redeem them, but gives them a chance at redemption in the current arc.

Also, I wasn’t really comfortable with the way this arc handled Sana. She had a bit of redemption at the end, but it felt like her role in this arc was to be beaten as a pilot, beaten physically, and then used as a comedic element in the final issue. I’d love to see a woman handle Sana’s story at some point – Lando’s Luck author Justina Ireland comes to mind for a prose novel; even Marjorie Liu, Kelly Thompson, or Jody Housler would be welcomed from the comics’ side!

I feel like I have been almost overwhelmingly negative. There are some good aspects in the arc. First, let me note that having new artists here are super welcome. Andrea Broccardo and Angel Unzueta (of Poe Dameron fame!) take turns illustrating this art, freeing the series from some art issues that have travailed it before. Clayton Cowles and Guru-eFx continue to letter and color the series, with the same neutral lettering and colors they had provided for Larrocca. Unfortunately, eagle-eyed readers will still see the tracing for the movie characters, but it doesn’t stand out near as badly as it did before. Gillen also sets up lots of interesting side-plots, such as a Jedi who left the Order and married into Clan Markona. Clan Markona and the planet Hubin are welcome additions to the series, as it has felt like a while since we’ve seen world building like this.

So, take this as my apology for a late review, and take my critical honesty as more than me trying to be a debbie-downer. I love Star Wars and want to see this series do well: I don’t think I want to see a time where we don’t have stories featuring these three. I can’t say for sure what I think would add excitement to the series, but I think a more robust side cast, more intimidating villains, and a slightly faster pace would be very welcome and a good start to finding a solution.

You can follow Chris on Twitter @ChrisWerms, and of course, you can follow the Manor on Twitter @MynockManor!

Star Wars Comic Reviews
Ashes of Jedha | Mutiny at Mon Cala | Hope Die s | The Escape (individual reviews by Ryan): #56 | #57 | #58 | #59 | #60 | #61 | The Scourging of Shu-Torun | Kieron Gillen Retrospective