– Spoiler Review –
In Star Wars issue #47, Threepio must help advert disaster and the Big Three attempt to evade deadly sea creatures so that the “Mutiny at Mon Cala” can commence.
Threepio never quite gets the spotlight, besides in his surprisingly excellent one-shot a few years back, but Star Wars #47 is definitely his chance to shine and luckily his plating is just that. As the Big Three go off to rescue Lee-Char, Threepio is left in charge of overseeing and helping Tunga’s, the shape-shifting Clawdite, performance of Moff Tan Hubi. The droid of course gets himself more worked up than he needs to, but it’s not due to anything with Tunga’s performance, but rather he can’t fully appreciate the Mon Calamarian’s most beautiful opera, The Faluvian Cycle: The Tale of the Tragic Eggs because he’s stuck babysitting. There’s a number of good laughs as he dithers over his duty and his love of fine art, especially since he doesn’t have to watch over Tunga too much because the Clawdite plays his part rather well, despite a few improvisations. But things seem to be going too easily for these two, so I imagine it’ll get a little more hectic next issue as it might take the Big Three longer than anyone realized to get back to Mon Cala and switch out the Moffs.
Over on Strokill Prime, the planet where Lee-Char is imprisoned, the Big Three, Chewbacca, and the real Moff have quite the predicament: they’re being pursued by one of its water monsters, which looks very similar to one of the fish in The Phantom Menace. Seeing as Luke isn’t so concerned with studying the Jedi anymore and rather just acting like one now, having put the search to rest after events on Jedha, he has the ridiculous idea to battle the fish with his lightsaber. Chewie comes up with a better idea, using the light of Luke’s lightsaber to make it run into a wall, and the two help save the day and get them to the prison safely. Much like Artoo is always saving everyone and doesn’t get the credit, Chewbacca has a history of that as well, and I really liked the interplay with him and Luke, both with the good luck hug and then turning Luke’s crazy idea into a smart one. Bonus points for getting Chewie soaked so that he has to shake off in the tight confines of the ship, drenching an unlucky few, as a nod to the Wookiee being inspired by George Lucas’ dog. If the whole prison incursion seems too easy, well, there’s a good reason for that…
Since the 13th issue of the Darth Vader – Dark Lord of the Sith series, part of the “Burning Seas” arc which is a thematic crossover with “Mutiny at Mon Cala,” I’ve theorized that King Lee-Char would be dead when our heroes came to rescue him and I was right…from a certain point of view. I figured Lee-Char would be dead because he knows Anakin is Vader, thanks to a Jedi helping him back in the early days of the Empire, and that’s not a secret you take to the grave, it’s the type that gets you sent directly to the grave, do not pass go, do not collect 200 credits. Despite knowing that, it turns out Lee-Char is still alive, if only thanks to medical machines. Either way, the effect of Lee-Char’s death/near-death state will be the same: knowing they’ve been lied to all these years, the Mon Cala people will revolt and join the Rebellion. It’s been fun watching bits and pieces ping-pong back and forth through both series and now I’ll be curious to see what Vader does to Lee-Char to put him in such a miserable state.
Kieron Gillen’s writing always packs some laughs and this issue didn’t disappoint with Threepio stuck in a leadership role, while the rest of the issue is mainly action-packed and helping move pieces around the board for the final three issues of the arc. On art continues to be Salvador Larroca (art) and Guru-eFX (colors) and the faces are still the bane of this series’ existence. But what Larroca has always done a great job with, creatures and big, expansive panels, gets plenty of play here between the battle with the fish and views of the Mon Cala opera, so there’s less to deal with face-wise than normal.
Here are a few other things:
- With the July solicitations of Marvel’s comics, covers and new details for the first two issues, #50 & 51, in what is being hyped as the biggest story of the series yet, “Hope Dies,” were unveiled. Also revealed, Larroca and Guru-eFX continue as art team, unfortunately enough.
All work and no play makes Threepio a more worried droid than usual in Star Wars #47.
+ Threepio’s “tough” job
+ Chewie saving the days
– Faces continue to distract
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website @MynockManor.
Star Wars
Kieron Gillen — Ashes of Jedha (#38-43) / Arc Review by Chris | Mutiny at Mon Cala: #44 | #45 | #46 | #47 | #48 | #49 / Arc Review by Chris | Hope Dies (#50-55) / Arc Review by Chris | The Escape (#56-61) / Arc Review by Chris | The Scourging of Shu-Torun (#62-67) / Arc Review by Chris | Kieron Gillen Retrospective
Jason Aaron — Jason Aaron Retrospective (#1-37)
Greg Pak — Rebels and Rogues (#68-72)