– Spoiler Review –
Star Wars #59, the latest installment of “The Escape” arc, still finds our heroes stuck on the isolated Hubin, but everything changes due to some new (but unfortunately familiar) arrivals.
In Star Wars issue #59, the tables are turned both on our heroes and us readers, with Luke as the audience surrogate. I’ve been rather wrapped up in the mystery of the Markona Clan’s past, spurred on by Luke trying to uncover their secrets, that we both missed the fact Thane and Tula Markona are also trying to uncover their guests’ secrets to understand who they’ve harbored within their community. As much as this clan is an enigma to us, our heroes are one to the Markona clan, considering they’re so isolated it’s still a rumor the Death Star was destroyed, so how could they really know who Leia, Luke, and Han are? Because the focus has been deliberately on the Markona’s past, it was easy to forget their lack of knowledge about our heroes, hence why Thane revealing he’s known all along about Luke’s communicator plan and actively let his droid help him felt like a surprise but really, given Thane’s past and their isolationist life, it shouldn’t have. This, and Leia’s plan to disable Shu-Torun after what Queen Trios did to them, were some of the more interesting reveals of the arc so far, but Thane’s actions in an attempt to understand his guests brings out some problems.
For starters, it washes away Luke’s impatient decision to use his communicator, as Thane was blocking the signal, and erases his impending culpability from such a decision. Sure, Scar Squad showing up (more on them in a bit) allows him to see the potential repercussions of his actions, but anything that happens can’t be blamed on him like it would’ve been had Thane not been interfering, which robs this arc of an interesting lesson for Luke. He can still learn it, as like I said he’s seeing a scenario play out and is actively forced to deal with it as he must duel Scar’s leader, Kreel, and how he comes out from said duel means the repercussions are on him, but it would’ve been far more interesting to see this all be his fault, good or bad outcome notwithstanding. Luke’s decision to use the communicator has some parallels to what we learned in The Last Jedi about his decision to hide away after what happened with Ben Solo, as rather than think about the consequences of his actions, Luke does the impulsive thing, be it calling for help or running away. But in issue #59, the coming of bad things isn’t directly his fault, which weakens this storyline even if he feels it’s all his fault, while in TFA/TLJ, Kylo Ren and the First Order’s rise can actually be called partly his fault because had he stuck around, their rise might not have been so easy/absolute.
The other problem Thane’s meddling brings is now that Luke isn’t to blame for Scar Squad showing up, Sana Starros is left as a plot device punching bag. First she’s the one who drops them off, and then totally off-panel, she’s the one who brings Scar Squad down on them due to being captured and tortured, which feels surprising considering the strength of the character as we’ve seen her in the Doctor Aphra series. Since Sana’s introduction, she’s come so far from being Han’s “wife” that the whole kerfuffle over it seems silly in retrospect, but considering this is the first time writer Kieron Gillen has used the character in the Star Wars series since taking over, and considering all the amazing character work for her in the Aphra series, her usage to simply move the plot forward feels like a slight against a great newer character. Hopefully there’s more ahead for her in this arc, but not a promising start.
Ah yes, Scar Squad, how I barely missed ye and yet, here you are again. For newcomers to the Star Wars series, I can see the appeal and get being interested in the unique squad of troopers whose leader carries a lightsaber, but their past hinders their reappearance for me. We were originally introduced to Kreel as an undercover operative in the “Showdown on the Smuggler’s Moon” arc, who trained Luke for a while in combat before his true identity and Vader’s arrival brought it all to an end. We then met the entire Squad in issue #21, setting up their appearance later in, “The Last Flight of the Harbinger” arc, only for the heroes to easily defeat them, thus robbing them of feeling like a true threat, which no subsequent appearance has righted and I’ve been vocal about it every time; Heck, I even forgot about the whole business on Crait, until it was mentioned here, because their defeat was laughable and the entire issue was a bit of a mess. So having them back is complicated to say the least and maybe Gillen, who has a knack for villains, can make them a worthwhile enemy going forward…or just finally gets rid of them.
The romance building between Han and Leia gets cut off this issue, as Han’s befuddlement over Leia showing him plans to make Shu-Torun worthless to the Empire instead of inviting him into her room for adult activities actually comes out of his mouth, resulting in Leia pushing him out of her room and undoing all their progress. It did seem like they made more progress than would be “allowed” considering the events of The Empire Strikes Back, so this was a fun/funny way for Solo’s goodwill (probably thanks mainly to Leia catching him shirtless, chopping wood) to be spent and them sent back to where they were. Leia finally tells Luke about her plans as well, which he’s mad at her for not trusting him earlier, but his hypocrisy is laid bare when Thane reveals Luke’s communicator plan which he didn’t tell Leia about. But no one is able to yell at one another about all the secrecy for long due to Scar Squad’s arrival.
This has definitely been one of Kieron Gillen’s best arcs for the Star Wars series, though the problems brought up in issue #59 do leave a lot up in the air as to how the arc will feel once it’s concluded. Angel Unzueta (art) and Guru-eFX (colors) continue to hit close to tracing/uncanny valley but missing it, though it’s better on the new characters than our heroes. But without a lot of action this issue, and a lot of character confrontations, it’s great how well Unzueta does facial work, as we feel Han’s embarrassment or Luke’s frustrations far more potently with their work. And now I can’t wait to see how he does with Luke and Kreel’s duel next issue.
Here are a few other things:
- Leia’s plans to undo Shu-Torun’s importance to the Empire will be where the Star Wars series heads next, as the March solicitations revealed, alongside some GORGEOUS covers to look forward to.
While Star Wars #59 shows some cracks in “The Escape,” the work so far leaves one hopeful it’ll continue to be the series’ best arc yet under the new writer.
+ Everyone’s secrets (for the most part) are out
+ Great cliffhanger
– Taking away Luke’s choice
– Oh, hi Scar Squad
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 (#44-49) / Arc Review by Chris | Hope Dies (#50-55) / Arc Review by Chris | The Escape: #56 | #57 | #58 | #60 | #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)