– Spoiler Review –
After the rousing success of Jody Houser’s Age of Republic, how could the other “Ages” live up to it? Greg Pak wastes no time showing he can rise to the challenge in the Age of Rebellion, beginning with an excellent opening salvo, which starts with Age of Rebellion – Princess Leia #1!
Not many stories take place between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi (in canon), so it’s always refreshing when one does as it usually means Leia takes main stage, no questions asked, as Han is out of the picture and Luke is trying to figure things out after his dad’s big revelation. There was already the rather excellent Leia-centric Moving Target, a YA novel that punched far above its weight, and now “Princess Scoundrel” in the Age of Rebellion joins the slim list with a stellar portrayal of the character as well. Set after Forces of Destiny episode “Bounty Hunted,” where Maz Kanata helps Leia get Boushh’s outfit, “Princess Scoundrel” sees Leia having to embrace her disguise both as a way to save Lando, with plenty of kicks to the face, and to learn how to play the part before she goes in front of Jabba to rescue Han. We know Leia is no stranger to a blaster or taking charge of any and all situations, as she rightfully should be, but her having to be a scoundrel, a bounty hunter, that’s not something we see her do much of, but her life so far has given her interactions with beings like that and has put her in situations where she’s made less than savory decisions. So like how Pak rose to the challenge to continue the compelling character portraits of the Age of Star Wars maxiseries, Leia rises to the situation with aplomb.
It was a real blast to see Leia embrace the Boushh disguise, especially since she had to go up against Bossk and his two henchmen to rescue both Lando and Chewbacca. It’s not a big leap for her, talking tough to criminals or coming up with brilliant plans to rescue some incapable dudes, but it really shows how much “aggressive negotiation” skills she got from her mother and how her restlessness with being just a Princess/wanting to get out and fight to free the galaxy paid off, allowing her to have the skills to fight someone like Bossk, something she can attribute to her father. As much as she is the product of her parents, she is her own person, so it was fun to see her not only use those inherit skills, but also her own uniqueness as she quips her way through helping Lando, taking it almost a little too far in selling the disguise, and all those wonderfully funny kicks to Lando’s face, which I feel was less to sell her role and more about some pent up anger over his betrayal in Cloud City. There’s also some great little quiet moments this issue as she gears up for Han’s rescue/this quick detour to rescue Lando, though Pak manages to mix both pathos and humor into the moment. There’s a perfect mix of all the things which make Leia such a compelling character this issue, capturing the unforgettable character’s essence.
One of the great features of the previous “Age” was how each villain and hero issue per month rhymed, as in the issues compared and contrasted the two characters. I don’t know if Pak is continuing that on purpose, and/or it’s actually something handed down on the editors to have happen, but it seems to be back for this “Age.” For Leia and Tarkin, one of the ways the issues rhyme is how Leia must play a villain to gain a reputation to proceed her, though she shows it takes more than physical prowess to do so, while Tarkin’s reputation already proceeds him, scaring his subordinates into doing their jobs, even though he dreams about letting out his full prowess to teach them a lesson. In a way, this point compares the two characters, as both have the prowess to overwhelm others, but they know when and where to use it. There’s another another thought on how the issues rhyme, but it depends on reading/discussing Grand Moff Tarkin #1, so go check out that review!
While two teams worked on the art for this issue, it wasn’t easy to distinguish the change, which is a good thing in my book, as it can be a little glaring like how three different teams brought some Shattered Empire issues to life. For pages 1-12, 20, there was Chris Sprouse and Karl Story, while pages 13-19 had Will Sliney, Marc Deering, and Karl Story. Gluing it all together was colorist Tamra Bonvillain, one of the comic’s first new female creatives in quite a long time, so welcome to the fold! Sprouse and Story’s Leia really captured Carrie Fisher’s likeness without going overboard, everyone’s take on Lando was great too, while I really enjoyed the electricity effects and Bossk’s big drop from above. The final page of Leia, as Boushh, bringing Chewie intp Jabba’s Palace was a perfect delight to end the issue on. Travis Lanham had a lot of sound effects to bring to life, and while they were big and bold, they never made the panels look too busy.
Here are a few other things:
- Chewie doesn’t get to do terribly much this issue, but I enjoyed Leia and Lando’s interactions, especially as she brings up her gripe about his betrayal and he repeats his oft-repeated line, “It’s not my fault.” Pak has just as great a handle on Lando as he does Leia in his supporting role, so I’m looking forward to Lando’s own issue in May.
- Celebration Chicago 2019 is only days away and by Saturday we’ll have a fuller picture of the upcoming Age of Resistance, as well as any other new comic announcements! If you can’t wait, you can learn a little about Age of Resistance already thanks to Jedi-Bibliothek.
- Also at Celebration Chicago comics-wise? The new creative team for the mainline Star Wars series will be announced, which has already been revealed by Amazon and I mention this tidbit here because a certain person involved with this issue will be one of the new additions and already he’s shown he’ll be a great new asset for the series!
- Over on Twitter, Pak shared a little thread on the creation of the two issues which released today, Leia and Tarkin. Worth a read!
- The character essays continue from Age of Republic and Bria LaVorgna (of Tosche Station) returns as well with a deservedly extra long essay about Leia, evoking the touching, perfect tribute to Carrie Fisher at Celebration Orlando 2017; gives me tears thinking about it again after reading her essay, as that truly was quite the moment to experience that day. Check out her humble thread about her return for these essays on Twitter.
Age of Rebellion – Princess Leia #1 is a fantastic issue about Star Wars‘ greatest royalty and a great show of how this latest “Age” could at least be as good as the last.
+ Leia owning the role of Boushh
+ Leia kicking Lando in the face/Bossk’s butt
+ Rhyming seems to return
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website @MynockManor.
AGE OF STAR WARS Maxiseries Review
AGE OF REBELLION
Grand Moff Tarkin | | Special | Han Solo | Boba Fett | Lando Calrissian | Jabba the Hutt | Luke Skywalker | Darth Vader | Miniseries Review
AGE OF REPUBLIC
Qui-Gon Jinn | Darth Maul | Obi-Wan Kenobi | Jango Fett | Special | Anakin Skywalker | Count Dooku | Padmé Amidala | General Grievous | Miniseries Review
AGE OF RESISTANCE
Finn | Phasma | Special | General Hux | Poe Dameron | Supreme Leader Snoke | Rose Tico | Rey | Kylo Ren | Miniseries Review