– Spoiler Review –
Our beloved walking carpet finds himself in a tight spot (literally) and even with this series’ lighter tone and mischief, Chewbacca #2 surprises with some flashbacks.
Zarro hatches a simple, but possibly complicated plan to rescue her father and the rest of the miners from Juam’s control. Chewie plays his part as both brute guardian and quick thinker, but a trap laid by Juam and his Shistavanen partner puts everyone in peril and Chewie’s life (not really, but still) in question by the end.
For Zarro’s plan, Chewie needs to crawl down a tight air shaft to pull everyone up one by one. It’s not an ideal plan and it’ll take a lot of time, but it’s Zarro and Chewie’s best bet at the moment. When Chewie initially rejects the plan, I laughed it up as just another of the mighty Wookiee’s surprising fears, but the true reasoning wasn’t funny; I should’ve taken the lack of humor in the opening crawl (the tone setting moment for issue #1) this time to indicate this wasn’t going to be all fun and games after all. When squeezing into the air shaft, Chewie flashes back to being captured by the Trandoshans with the rest of his people and being slammed into a tiny cell. I’m not sure if this is when this flashback takes place, but I guessing it could be when Chewie got captured by Kashyyyk’s unfriendly planetoid neighbors leading up to The Clone Wars S3 finale or if this is a separate occasion that could possibly lead up to his enslavement by the Empire (but I’m pretty sure the Empire had Kashyyyk under its grasp rather quickly post-Revenge of the Sith). No matter what the flashback is a precursor to, I sure hope we get more, especially since it’s a hugely welcome surprise in what I initially thought was just going to be a mostly humor-filled romp.
Greg Duggan (with help from Phil Noto’s art and Joe Caramagna’s lettering of course) showed he could write an intriguing start to a solo-adventure for Chewie in #1 and #2 proves he can also put together some fun action sequences. Zarro so far has been an engaging and likable character, pairing off against Chewie in fun ways, while Juam and his Shistavanen buddy are a little bland but definitely an evil I look forward to seeing overthrown.
Here are a few other things:
- Chewie showing off his exceptional mechanic skills and making that Gonk droid into a weapon was my favorite moment of the issue.
- Noto’s art continues to impress on all levels, as he captures Chewie wonderfully and gives Zarro all the bullheaded teenage girl through visuals alone. I hope to see him return for more Star Wars series in the future!
The Chewbacca series started off as and still is a lighthearted romp, but Chewie’s flashbacks added an intriguing layer I’m excited to see more of; Though if there aren’t anymore, the series still has been a mostly fun read, but I wouldn’t blame you for waiting until the trade paperback in early 2016.
+ Phil Noto’s art
+ Flashbacks
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website @MynockManor.