– Spoiler Review –
Lando’s trial by the Rebellion coincides with the capture of Mon Mothma by an unknown group, but is this just what he needs or will it further hinder his case? Star Wars #45 (Vol. 2) continues to make this trial entertaining and leaves room to explore Lando’s character arc.
Mon Mothma’s been captured! Such a situation is more dire than even I immediately imagined, as Admiral Ackbar, General Madine, and General Leia Organa discuss the amount of information someone could learn about their operations if they break her, the Rebellion would be dead in the water. I appreciate they have a plan in place for something like this, scattering the fleet and grounding its fighters to parts unknown to everyone, at random, so even if she’s compromised it would help limit the immediate fallout. Madine has their best Pathfinder team investigating, led by Kes Dameron of course, and there’s a plan to send out a reassuring message to the fleet as they scatter, so despite this monumental situation, the three decide the trial for Lando must go on. Given they are following the same protocol, and have so many high-profile members on board, it makes sense they can’t expose themselves and, well, what else are they going to do?
When court reconvenes, Advocate Georgio, Lando’s questionable representation in the trial, attempts to have a mistrial because she read the Corellian justice code and found a section about magistrates (judges) being gone but Madine shoots her down over the specificity of how it was written. With her little attempt out of the way, Muskray jumps into their next witness after the Talky droid: Leia Organa! The way both sides play into her experiences with Lando are excellent and really give this that courtroom drama flair one would expect based off movies and TV shows, and from writer Charles Soule’s own experiences. As Muskray questions her, she talks about their first meeting, all the charm and pomp showered upon them until there wasn’t any, as he’d made a deal with the Empire and lost Han Solo in the process, even though he helped them escape. Muskray and Leia’s testimony claim he has a history of betrayal, arguing one can never be certain if it won’t happen again. This is despite all of Leia’s time with Lando in this series so far, where he’s done what he can to make up for his mistakes, but the loss of
Han still outweighs it all to Leia. When Georgio steps up, buttering Leia up a little with compliments, she has Leia explain what Lando told her about his deal with the Empire, but them wanting Luke Skywalker, and then does something I wasn’t sure where Gerogio was going with at first: she shows Leia his bank account balances. And then she has Leia come up with the reason why someone with that wealth didn’t just run the moment the Empire came, why he’d even consider making the deal: the people of Cloud City. If there’s one thing we’ve seen throughout this series, and other one-shots along the way, he cares about the people on Cloud City and was doing what he could to protect them, as while it certainly saved his skin to make a deal, it was for their benefit too. Gerogio’s plan, show his character against all these accusations of his past actions, is certainly a noble one, and it’s about the only thing she can do to combat Muskray’s desire to keep reminding everyone Lando’s the reason Han’s gone in the first place (though not in the separate attempt to get him back during the whole War of the Bounty Hunters shenanigans).
As for how Lando feels about this, he’s uncharacteristically quiet, avoiding looking at Leia even nor offering anything helpful to Georgio in their case. As Georgio discusses the case with him after they adjourn for the day, his silence remains until he jolts awake from his morose mood and shouts for her to get him Chewbacca without explaining himself until the Wookiee arrives. Everyone in the courtroom could hear the transmission as the unknown attackers took Mon Mothma and Lando realizes he’s heard one of their voices before, their identity finally clicking. His pleading for Chewbacca to listen to him and take this news as it was his own to Leia and the others, as they’ll believe Chewie over him right now, is another well-written scene, as he makes a great emotional plea to Chewie over their past with one another. Chewie agrees to share the news, but Lando’s actions upset Georgio, who would’ve happily used such information to make a deal happen, ending the trial right now. Lando’s quiet, melancholy mood isn’t just for show, it’s because he believes he is a bad person, that he has to stand trial for all that he’s done, much like he told Lobot last issue, but he wants to get through the trial fairly because, no matter how he feels about his past, he is now fully accepting himself as a Rebel. And why would someone who is a fellow Rebel use such information for selfish purposes? After everything he’s gone through since this series started, it’s fitting to hear him make the claim he’s a rebel inside now, embracing his new lot in life, showing he cares for the people around him again.
As for the information Lando remembers, it’s far more than Kes Dameron and his Pathfinders can find, as while they uncover a ransom video, where the assailants demand an inordinate amount of credits, they have no leads, nothing to go on. And while it’s great Lando has information, it’s not the most reassuring, as he believes the person he heard was a woman named Hachi and she’s part of a group called the Scarabi, who he did work for years ago and he knows safe house locations, but he warns they are killers. Even though we know the Rebellion gets Mon Mothma back, given the Scarabi’s impressive skills and precision in kidnapping her, it’s going to be a tough fight for the Pathfinders to get her back from them, while I’m looking forward to how Lando will factor into it all.
It’s hard to imagine this storyline without artist Madibek Musabekov, colorist Rachelle Rosenberg, and letterer Clayton Cowles at the helm, as they all combine to make Lando’s emotional state, and eventual determination, so visceral. What helps too is we’ve seen this team handle a new exuberant Lando in past issues, so to juxtapose those earlier works with what’s presented here makes the difference starker. Throughout almost the entire issue, Lando wears a permanent scowl, never meeting Georgio or anyone else in the eyes, either looking away or down at the floor, but despite this darkness to his face or demeanor, Rosenberg doesn’t give him much to any shadow, as if to point out this isn’t for show and he is genuine. It’s very impactful the first time he looks at anyone this issue is once he remembers who Hachi is and wants to share the information with Chewbacca, not acknowledging Georgio or her ramblings prior to his revelation. Cowles aids Lando’s moodiness with his bubble placements as well, often putting them at the bottom of a panel, lower than normal, or under someone else’s, while often word bubbles are placed over his head, as if to denote he’s either not listening (like when Gerogio chats about strategy in his cell) or the reality of what’s being said is hanging over him (when Leia admits he made the deal to save his people on Cloud City). One of the little moments I quite enjoyed was learning who Muskray was calling to the stand next, as he begins to hype up his witness in the final panel on one page, a white background speckled with black on the edges setting an uneasy tone, and then on the next page, the color tone back to normal so at first you might suspect it’s not someone important, Cowles’ speech bubbles are the first thing that grabs you, so Muskray’s words get to tell you first before you see her, Leia is on the stand! Musabekov leaves plenty of space in the panel for this moment, Leia on the lower left, almost as if he’s hiding her, allowing Cowles’ placement work to reveal her to us first. Also, I really liked the team’s work on the flashbacks, showing familiar scenes from The Empire Strikes Back but at different angles and perspectives, but I most enjoyed the new scene depicted. As Leia goes over what Lando told her, we see Darth Vader being very dramatic about his little dinner plan, watching over the people preparing the scene, his arms crossed, looking extra grumpy, as if he’s impatient about getting to drop this dramatic surprise. Lastly, the colors for Uveron were my favorite, as the bright shining sun from last issue is gone and Rosenberg really lays on the deep purples and reds, the sun giving a foreboding red glow, all of it fitting the dour mood of the revelations they haven’t turned up any clues about Mon’s kidnapping.
Here are a few other things:
- The solicitations for the comics don’t just cover individual issues, but they also unveil the trade paperback collections, and the latest news is one myself and many fans, despite enjoying much of this era, will be happy to hear: the end for the current era of comics is nigh. The blurb for the ninth volume, which will collect issues #46-50 of Star Wars (Vol. 2), says Marvel is beginning to set the stage for Return of the Jedi, claiming there are surprising twists and turns to come, but we’re getting the grand finale of the era soon. Combining this information with the blurb from Darth Vader’s (Vol. 3) upcoming TPB with issues #46-50, it seems like #50 isn’t the end for both of them but it’ll come very shortly after. Maybe issue #55, #60 at the most? Otherwise ending at #53 for both, barring no delays, would mean the era would wrap up in December, ahead of 2025, much like they did for the last era switch at the end of 2019. Either way, I’ve been calling for the end of this era for awhile now and I hope they’ll clarify exactly when it will happen, but it’s nice to know it’s near to some extent.
- As for what to expect next in this series, we know Lando’s trial ends in June per the solicitations, while Soule took to Threads to reveal issues #48-49 are all about Leia!
- Last issue I didn’t realize it but it’s more clear this issue, on the planet Uveron, the hanging balls between the giant rock formations are where the cities are! It’s a neat design and I’d love to see more of a planet like that, as it’s almost like the Gungans’ home, Otoh Gunga, but in the sky!
Star Wars #45 (Vol. 2) continues to make Lando’s trial a memorable one which deals with Soule’s many years developing the character’s arc.
+ Both sides using Leia’s past with Lando to great effect
+ Lowly Lando
+ Art team helps add the emotional bits to a compelling trial
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website on Twitter @MynockManor and Instagram @mynockmanor.
STAR WARS (Vol. 2)
The Destiny Path: #1-6 — Operation Starlight: #7-11 — War of the Bounty Hunters: #12-18 — Crimson Reign: #19-24 — Special Issue: #25 — The Path to Victory: #26-30 — Quests of the Force: #31 | #32 | #33 | #34 | #35 | #36 — Dark Droids: #37 | #38 | #39 | #40 | #41 — #42 | #43 — Trial of Lando Calrissian: #44