– Spoiler Review –
In Age of Resistance – Kylo Ren #1, Ren returns to one of Darth Vader’s failures to prove he can finish what his grandfather started.
Vader originally tried to bring the Benathy, out in Wild Space, under the Empire’s heel, but due to his failure to defeat their “god,” he had to retreat. Kylo Ren comes to prevent the Benathy from continuing their expansion, unchecked due to Vader’s failure, and bring them under the First Order’s heel. There’s some great verbal sparring with the Benathy king, and I had a fantastic laugh picturing Kylo sitting in the overly giant chairs he declines to use, but the fun came to a quick end, as it always does when Kylo’s around, as he spears the king and his guards with a lightsaber. The battle begins and soon the “god” arrives: a Zillo Beast! I loved all the genres The Clone Wars brought to and made work with Star Wars and the two-part Zillo episodes were definitely an underrated favorite for me. Turns out, without the gas the Republic developed, Vader couldn’t find a way to defeat the Zillo, but Kylo pulls the classic jump in the giant monster’s mouth and kills it from the inside out, successfully finishing what his grandpa started.
On a purely action/art level, this issue is enjoyable, but it falls short of the dissection of Kylo in Age of Resistance – Supreme Leader Snoke #1, which was more Kylo’s issue than Snoke’s. Considering this takes place prior to The Force Awakens, but only show Kylo willfully committing terrible acts as we already know he’s capable of, Kylo Ren #1 doesn’t add much more to the character besides giving him a victory which stacks up against his fear Rey uncovered, that he’ll never be as great as Darth Vader, though he still suffers from it regardless. Due to this, the entertainment factor isn’t enough to stop this from feeling like a somewhat disappointing finale to Age of Resistance, especially since we got a much stronger issue in Age of Resistance – Rey #1 just last week.
In their final bow as Villain artists, especially as the Heroes team got two great issues in a row, Leonard Kirk (pencils), Cory Hamscher (inks), and Guru-eFX (colors) come out swinging big and it’s quite the sight to enjoy. The panels where Kylo clearly mimics Darth Vader are a masterstroke, the new Benathy species are of a unique, neat design, and when the Zillo Beast enters the fray, and falls, it’s a glorious over-the-top spectacle. There are no short of sights to enjoy in this issue!
Here are a few other things:
- Looking for a more impactful Kylo story? Beyond the obvious with The Rise of Skywalker, December also brings The Rise of Kylo Ren limited comic series, by the fantastic Charles Soule, with art from Will Sliney. Check out details on the first issue from December’s solicitations!
- Soon after the upcoming Age of Resistance miniseries review, we’ll have an Age of Star Wars maxiseries one as well, looking back at how all three minis stacked up together.
Age of Resistance – Kylo Ren #1 isn’t the strongest end for the miniseries, but it’s certainly an enjoyable one to look at.
+ Fantastic art, especially the dueling Vader/Kylo panels
+ Zillo Beast!
– Doesn’t add anything Supreme Leader Snoke issue already did
– So-so for a finale
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website @MynockManor.
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