– Spoiler Review –
After the Star Wars series took a breath with the previous issue, things picked back up for #5, as Leia and Han go out on a mission to scout new base locations and Luke finds himself at Obi-Wan’s Tatooine home, but both run into some entertaining trouble.
With each comic series so far, there’s been one particular part that draws me to it: for Princess Leia, it’s the interactions between Leia and Evaan; for Darth Vader, it’s how they’ve handled him so far and the character of Doctor Aphra; for Kanan it’s just been everything about it; and for Star Wars it’s mainly the back and forth between Han and Leia. Jason Aaron has been writing them bickering together like a verifiable madman, hitting their voice and characterizations so spot on it’s like having Timothy Zahn back behind the wheel again. Zahn really understood the characters (even the supporting ones) and that’s someone Aaron has come really close to emulating here with Han and Leia; I was laughing several times throughout the issue thanks to their arguments. Their journey into the Monsua Nebula–which happens to be an old haunt of Han’s–and their eventual encounter with another woman scorned from Han’s past should be fun avenues to explore next issue.
If you want a Boba Fett who lives up to the all the hype, fanboy love, and badassery not seen in the films, but seen in The Clone Wars and the Legends novels, you get a chance for that Boba here. In a few simple panels, it’s clear why he deserves some of the rampant fanboy love he’s commanded all these years and why the denizens of the galaxy would certainly fear him: from effortlessly destroying the four-armed alien, leaving a wake of bodies he’s interrogated, to getting the drop on Luke and R2 (because really, R2 is the true hero for any bad guy to be worried about) it’s hard to argue that he’s the best in the business. I look forward to see how/if Luke manages to get out of Boba’s grasp, especially without R2 to help. The only thing I didn’t like about Boba in this issue was how he stopped us from learning what is in the box Obi-Wan left for Luke. We were so close! I expect we’ll learn the contents in the next issue, seeing as it’s the end of the first arc for this series, but I could be wrong.
Here are a few other things:
- Han mentions they are in the Moddell sector, which just so happens to be home to Endor. So if you’re wondering why the Imperials might be out there…
- With Leia so focused on finding a new Rebel base and looking for a co-pilot, for those inclined for a timeline these days, I’m betting the Princess Leia series takes place before the Star Wars/Darth Vader series. And let’s hope Evaan isn’t available because she’s just off helping the Alderaanians, had a mutual break with Leia, or anything else that doesn’t rhyme with schmed.
- Han says, “bucketheads” here in a nice call out to the term everyone loves to use on Star Wars Rebels.
- Never heard Luke called “Wormie” before? Here’s the A New Hope deleted scene where that happens (at the 0:27 mark if the link doesn’t take you directly to it). It’s possible the guy Boba interrogates/kills could even be in that scene, but for now he remains nameless.
- I don’t know what type of species the four armed alien is, but it certainly made me think of Goro from Mortal Kombat.
Star Wars #5 puts the series back into high gear and leaves me excited for what all can come next.
+ Han and Leia
+ Boba Fett
+ Back to rollicking adventure
+ Exciting set-ups
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website @MynockManor.
Star Wars (Vol. 1)
Jason Aaron: Skywalker Strikes: #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #6 | Old Ben’s Journals | Showdown on the Smuggler’s Moon (#8-12) | Rebel Jail (#16-19) | The Last Flight of the Harbinger (#21-25) | Yoda’s Secret War (#26-30) | The Screaming Citadel crossover (#31-32)| Out Among the Stars (#33-37) | Retrospective (#1-37)
Kieron Gillen Retrospective (#38-67) | Greg Pak and Phil Noto Retrospective (#68-75)