– Spoiler Review –
TIE Fighter #1 begins Jody Houser’s TIE-in (a pun I’m dying on a hill for) to the Alphabet Squadron trilogy of novels, the first of which releases June 4, and while the first issue does a lot of legwork, it introduces us to an intriguing cast of characters and ends on an exciting cliffhanger.
TIE Fighter begins somewhere between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, with its sister novel series taking place post-RotJ, and follows the elite TIE squad of Rebel hunters known as Shadow Wing. Normally known for being a hit squad against the Rebellion’s fighters, they are sent on a mission to investigate a Star Destroyer Imperial command has lost contact with, a larger concern due to the Empire employing a big, secretive new strategy. Once Shadow Wing arrives in-system, aboard the carrier Summit, the Star Destroyer Celerity fires on the carrier with an ion pulse and deploys its compliment of TIE fighters. An intriguing place to start, no? Who’s really on the Star Destroyer? Are they being misled? Is someone trying to bring down Shadow Wing from within the Empire? One potential answer introduces itself at the epilogue of the issue, where a member of Shadow Wing we met in the issue proper makes a call to the Rebellion on a hidden transmitter. But why has she defected? Did she help the Rebellion gain a hold the Destroyer to launch the deceptive attack? Considered me ready and willing to learn the answer, especially if the rest of this five-issue series will be done with any more set up.
Shadow Wing, and therefore TIE Fighter, has an expansive, primarily new cast of characters, which is refreshing for the comics for a change (even if some or most were developed for the sister novel series). The only non-new character is Lieutenant Lyttan Dree, who was first introduced in the Han Solo – Imperial Cadet miniseries alongside his brother, Tamu, who is suspiciously missing here. Did Tamu not cut it to be in Shadow Wing, ended up elsewhere, left and went to live with his wife he married at a casino, or the worse option, died? I hope TIE Fighter will get a chance to answer those questions. There’s Senior Lieutenant Jeela Brebtin, a pilot who can’t quite switch off and relax. Flight Officer Ganem Kahi has some slightly treasonous thoughts regarding the Rebellion. He’s dating Flight Officer Zin Graw, who does her best to help her boyfriend avoid going too far with his treasonous comments, but it’s revealed she calls the Rebellion by issue’s end, making one wonder what her ultimate plans are on the rebels’ behalf and how far her rebelliousness goes. Leading Shadow Wing is Second Lt. Commander Teso Broosh, who Lyttan confronts regarding rumors he sacrifices pilots to save himself, and seems to pass Lyttan’s test for now. Leading 204th is the “Grandmother,” aka Commander Nuress, who has been around long enough to mix up the Rebellion with the Separatists. There’s even a cameo from one of the main character of the upcoming novel, Alphabet Squadron, Yrica Quell, still very much a TIE pilot before joining the rebels, though knowing she’s part of the 204th and will likely know most, if not all, of Alphabet’s enemies personally adds a neat wrinkle for the novel. Also, it’ll be interesting to see this series will reveal how/when she leaves for the Rebellion.
Houser had her work cut out for her introducing so many characters and setting up an interesting situation, and while the opening issue is a little slow, there’s enough here to intrigue that will make me want to come back for the rest of the series. I wish the credit’s page included who does what art where in the issue, but there’s a clear difference between the art in the pages that end with the note about events continuing into the second issue and the flashback to a few days prior to “current” events. A quick Google search would make me believe Rogê Antônio did the work for the “current” events, with Arif Prianto on colors, while Michael Dowling worked on the flashbacks, with colors by Lee Loughridge, but I can’t say for the certain. Regardless, art in both is fantastic, with my preference for battle action going to the “current” set stuff and flashbacks winning with the facial expressions, as Zin’s choice looks even heavier on her than it would’ve with the more doll-eyed work in the opening section. If either one took over completely, we’d be in good hands, but I’d almost like to have these two teams continue to work together, hopefully to show the difference between the two time eras. Joe Caramagna will be the series’ letterer.
Here are a few other things:
- In the solicitations for this month (April), I was intrigued by the tease of a “Movie Variant” cover for TIE Fighter #1, wondering if it had to do with The Rise of Skywalker, but it seems it was just a shot of some TIEs and that’s it.
- If you picked up the Del Rey Sampler at Celebration Chicago 2019, then you’ve likely already read the excerpt for Alphabet Squadron tucked at the end of TIE Fighter’s pages, but if not, it’s a great little inclusion to have; the novel will include a few pages from the comic.
TIE Fighter #1 is a lot of set up, but I’m eager to see what comes next and where Houser takes all the intrigue introduced this issue.
+ Expansive cast, with a neat return character
+ Plenty of questions and intrigue begging for answers
– Pace suffers a bit for all the set up
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website @MynockManor.
TIE Fighter
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