– Spoiler Review –
Age of Rebellion – Lando Calrissian #1 shows the smooth smuggler dealing with the responsibilities and realities of being Baron Administrator of Cloud City, in a tale which captures the character expertly as he tries to make a change for the better.
In some ways, Age of Rebellion – Lando Calrissian #1 feels like an epilogue to the excellent Lando miniseries from 2015, though you don’t need to read that to enjoy this, but I’d highly, highly recommend you do. In the miniseries, we find out how Lobot became more ‘bot and less Lo, with his parting words to his friend striking an emotional chord and urging Lando to find something to believe in besides himself. It’s a line that reverberates through many of Lando’s decisions afterwards, like how AoR – Lando has him fighting with the decision to keep or leave Cloud City. This issue also picks up the sad thread of Lobot’s loss to the implants, as Lando continues to treat/talk with him like he hasn’t been taken over by them, offering him a drink despite knowing better he can’t/won’t, but it’s apparent these are tactics he employs as coping mechanisms with what’s happened, as he once again promises to find a cure for his friend; I’m hoping we one day get to see that happen.
Lando’s problems with owning Cloud City come down to what every business must deal with: money. From overdue loans to worker bonuses to keep them happy, Cloud City’s coffers are as empty as the vast reaches of space, and as Lando is wont to do, he goes tries some get rich quick schemes…like gambling. Also as Lando is wont to do, his gambling comes up short, but when he’s offered billions from a businessman to do a simple job of replacing the alien’s nephew as the head of a more profitable business, how can Lando refuse, despite Lobot’s protests? When Lando finds out about the true nature of the business, he backs out of the deal and frees some slaves, back to being in debt and trying to keep Cloud City afloat; money isn’t everything, after all. It’s a great show of the character as it reveals how much the place and its people matter to him, dipping into his own personal stashes to keep his workers happy, a big change since his younger, Solo-era days as he’s now caring more about others than himself; it was always there in Lando, but now it’s who he is. This helps set up his actions in The Empire Strikes Back a bit, as it helps make more sense why he’d take a deal with the Empire, much like how “The Angle” in From a Certain Point of View sets up his mindset going into the film. Lando’s commitment to Cloud City is something we see more of in the brilliant novel, Last Shot, and how Pak’s take on Lando seemed to fit so well and gels with the characterization from the miniseries, short story, movie, and novel is an impressive accomplishment.
I was surprised to see we had a different artist for this Hero issue, as the series overall is supposed to normally have Chris Sprouse on art for Heroes, as this issue’s solicit stated, but I’m actually quite happy with his replacement, Matteo Buffagni. Part of the reason I enjoyed his and Tamra Bonvillain’s (colors) work was how it connected to the Lando mini as well, as it hued closer in style to Alex Maleev and Paul Mounts’ stellar, gritty look than Sprouse’s cleaner work, though I don’t know if this was an intentional choice or not. Buffagni gives Lando and Lobot’s adventures here a little bit of an older flare as well, and all around I’d love to have him back for more comics, bringing Tamra along as well due to how well her color work fits with both Sprouse’s stuff and the newer arrival of Buffagni.
Here are a few other things:
- This appearance makes me even more excited for Lando’s role in The Rise of Skywalker, as I hope we’ll start getting to learn what he’s been up to this whole time!
- Next week, we have Jabba the Hutt #1, which sees the slug visiting Canto Bight! So far, whether he planned it or not, Pak has managed to rhyme the Hero and Villain issues, so how can Lando and Jabba connect?
Age of Rebellion – Lando Calrissian #1 is another exceptional expansion and dive into the smoothest of smugglers.
+ Picking up threads from the Lando (2015) miniseries/connecting with other stories
+ Lando doubling down on Cloud City
+ Art fits both opulence and grim
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website @MynockManor.
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