– Full Spoiler Review –
How does the Rebellion go from the height of its offensive against the Empire to the lowest point of its existence? Kieron Gillen was tasked to follow up Jason Aaron’s run on the flagship Star Wars series to show us exactly that. Fresh from the destruction of the Death Star, the Alliance launches a massive offensive against the Empire, starting with Cymoon I and the Harbinger, all the way up to an assault on SCAR Squadron to rescue a captured C-3PO. A beleaguered Darth Vader tasks Queen Trios of Shu-Torun to come up with a plan to infiltrate the Alliance’s ranks and take them down from the inside….
The flagship title desperately needed something – or someone – different to breathe new life into the series. Unfortunately, with the series stuck between Episodes IV and V, and a plethora of one-shots, mini-series, and even ongoing series set in the same time period, the stories were becoming a little stale. Enter: Kieron Gillen, the man who would move the story from the height of Alliance power in Episode IV to their lowest period: one the run, hiding on Hoth in Episode V. Gillen, eschewing Aaron’s new-story-every-arc approach, set out to tell a continual narrative of the growth of the Alliance’s fleet and their worst defeat ever. Depending on whom you ask, Gillen’s run hit some incredible highs, yet was still stuck with some of the problems that hurt Aaron’s run. Join both Chris and Ryan as we reflect on Gillen’s run on the flagship title!
The Good
Going Serial (Ryan): Gillen differentiated his time on the series by taking the serial approach, trading in the disconnect thrills of Jason Aaron’s era for a building narrative, focusing on what little character development could be had in such a limited era. It also made readers want to keep coming back, as each arc built off one another, for the most part. It wasn’t always perfect though, as Gillen’s slow burn style made plenty of arcs feel like his grander story was losing steam. But with Jason Aaron’s anthology-like approach, readers could time out and return safely without missing much, and while that has its benefits, it made the mainline Star Wars series less of a marquee title and just another series (though it wasn’t always the case). Going serial made Star Wars feel more Star Wars, as it was a continuing story like the films and let Gillen leave a stamp on the saga similar to those in charge of film trilogies.
The Tragedy of Queen Trios of Shu-Torun (Ryan): Besides Doctor Aphra and the murderbots in Gillen’s Vader series, Queen Trios was easily my favorite new character introduced, and I was very excited to see her again once she got mixed up in the events of Gillen’s Star Wars story. A little part of me always figured, given Gillen’s track record, Trios’ time wouldn’t end with her heart still beating, but I hoped her story/character would receive a memorable arc like she did in the Vader series. By making her a cautionary tale regarding believing the ends justify the means, Trios is the catalyst for Leia awakening from her plan of vengeance against Trios and her betrayal, making Leia see the dangers of the path she was walking. Beyond that, I appreciate how committed Trios was to protecting her planet, no matter what it cost her, even dying as she lived, helping to save her planet one more time.
Pushing the Narrative (Chris): Maybe one of the biggest bummers of Jason Aaron’s run on the flagship Star Wars title was his desire to, seemingly, keep the story as close to the Battle of Yavin as possible. Because of this, neither the characters nor the series never seemed to move forward, as characters made little (if any) forward progress in terms of their characterization. Nobody could grow more than they did in Empire Strikes Back, blocking them from changing much within the series itself. Unfortunately, this made the first couple of arcs only superficially fun, and didn’t really show us anything new about the characters. Neither did Aaron’s run show us massive events between the films, either. Without forward movement for the characters, or big enough events, the series was sputtering out. (I may be casting a bit of a dramatic light on this, but these statements are true for me, at least!) In light of this, I think that Gillen took the right approach in making up for the inability to have characters change much when he used the flagship title to tell major event stories rather than focusing on the characters. Sure, Leia ended up becoming the star of the run, but I don’t think Leia’s characterization will be what Gillen’s run is remembered for. Instead, we’ll remember the return to Jedha, the amassing of the Alliance’s fleet and the mutiny of the Mon Cal people, the destruction of the nascent Rebel fleet, and the Scourging of Shu-Torun. Focusing on events between the films gave the series a much more epic and grand scope, bringing the comic up from “fun side reads” to “must read” additions to the story.
The Partisans (Chris): One of the most intriguing factions added to the Star Wars canon since the reboot is Saw Gerrera’s Partisans. The Partisans are everywhere, being featured prominently in two young adult novels, three adult novels, Jedi: Fallen Order, Rogue One, Rebels, and now the flagship Star Wars title. Both Rebels (in the excellent episode, “In the Name of the Rebellion“) and Rogue One showed that the relationship between the Alliance and the Partisans was, well…very strained. But after the destruction of the Death Star, everything changed. In need of new allies, the Alliance, under Leia’s leadership, reaches out to the Partisans to ask for their help in fighting the Empire. Part of the story focused on how their relationship could be mended, but the next part asked “how far is too far?” in revenge and war, using the Alliance and Partisans as foils to one another. There are a few parallels that can be drawn with Inferno Squadron based on how the Partisans functioned in the stories. First, they were pseudo-antagonists to the main characters: not really on the same side, but mostly working toward similar goals for a while. Second, they both brought out the best parts of Leia and Iden, helping them restrain their worst impulses and seeing the Partisans as having gone too far in light of their goals. Finally, both were used to make Rogue One feel like a bigger and more important story to the whole of the canon, and I really appreciated that. While the series did not add new characters (as Ryan and I both discuss below), using the Partisans as a secondary Rebel group really brought a lot of good material out of the book.
The Bad
Artistic Problems (Ryan): I really don’t want to beat a dead fathier here, but a solid portion of Gillen’s run was affected by Salvador Larroca’s art. They worked exceptionally well together in the first Darth Vader series, but back then Larroca didn’t use as much facial tracing as he did across his time on Star Wars. All I need to point out is either the panel I mentioned in my 2017 year-in-review where one person had 3 different faces in 3 different panels on the same page or the screaming death of Chulco to get my point across of how jarring these artistic choices were. Much of my lack of enjoyment for arcs like “Ashes of Jedha” stems more from the art than anything else, and while it’s been hard to forget, thankfully they changed artists to Angel Unzueta for the final two arcs to help put Larroca’s time on the series behind us. I know it could’ve also been editorial demands that brought about his tracing, so if he’d ever return, I hope he can return to his style from the Vader series, as there’s plenty of other aspects I love about Larroca’s art but unfortunately they didn’t shine through bright enough here.
Pace-maker (Ryan): Despite the pros to a serial approach, the flip side of building up a story across several arcs and committing to character development means the pace in stories can suffer as a result. Something as urgent as “Hope Dies” feels too stretched out in 6 issues, released bi-monthly, with art only highlighting a moment or two/barely encompassing the entirety of the attack by the Empire, making their giant destruction lose a lot of steam, while the tricky events of “Mutiny at Mon Cala” are too compact and feel too easy after lots of time is spent on prep work and a stop at the bar to catch up with some familiar faces. But while Chris didn’t agree with me on this, I ended up thinking “The Escape” was excellently paced despite it being an arc full of our heroes relaxing on a moon full of mystery. I think that last bit is what made “Escape” feel better paced: instead of our heroes getting into situations with their end goals in sight, already knowing what they want to accomplish, there was a palpable sense of mystery, of the unknown, something to pull us along. All the other arcs deal with our heroes getting into and out of whatever trouble is thrown at them, just like the arc before it, but a new cast of characters with a question mark over their heads leaves room for surprise, for something new, and it’s the reason “Escape” was the only one to really sneak away from the pacing trap.
Lack of New Characters (Chris): What Ryan calls an “in-between” moment on Gillen’s run below, I am committing to calling Gillen’s lack of new, memorable, and prominent characters a mistake on his part. The flagship title, if it must remain between Episodes IV and V, needs to introduce new blood, new events, and new locations into the series to remain relevant and exciting. While I don’t think it’s impossible to craft a good story if you know what will happen to a character (like the Prequels, for instance), it’s sure a lot harder to create intriguing stories based on people that you know can’t change and crafting arcs that we already know the ending of, as Ryan alluded to above. Of course, Gillen is responsible for the creation of both Meorti, an engineer in the Rebellion, and Tunga, a Clawdite actor, but neither felt like integral parts of the cast. Even in stories that relied on them, they were relegated to a secondary status.
The In-Between
Shelving Sana/Lack of New Characters (Ryan): While Gillen’s serial approach brought meaningful and intriguing development to the Big Three, it came at both the expense of Sana Starros and it meant we really didn’t get many new characters introduced. Thankfully, Sana did get plenty of important and excellent panel-time over in the Doctor Aphraseries, like working things out with her ex, but her minor appearance in “The Escape” made her more of a plot device than anything worthwhile to the story; hopefully Greg Pak will get her involved more or she’s now meant more for the Aphra series/another book appearance like she had in Last Shot, neither of which would be a bad thing at all! But not introducing a lot of new characters meant we didn’t get to see the Rebellion grow in any meaningful way, even Tula’s clan Markona from “The Escape” wasn’t seen again after they joined the ranks, as the Big Three interacting with more of their fellow rebels would’ve help raise the stakes, because while “Hope Dies” was a big moment for the Empire and was supposed to be a big arc, it felt undermined and small because we knew the Big Three would survive to strike back and we didn’t have a lot of investment in those who did perish.
Double-shipping (Chris): This seems like a strange critique to take against a book, which is why I’m putting it in the in-between section. For most people, more Star Wars anything is good, and I’m reticent to look a gift horse in the mouth here. I love getting new Star Wars comics every week; when the canon rebooted, we had maybe three issues a month, and now I can reasonably expect ten new issues per month, or two/three issues per week. But I think that the shipping speed of the flagship title was too much for everyone involved. It probably pushed the artists too much, which makes this entire series’ art reliant upon tracing (both Unzuetta and Larroca traced). But it’s not an entirely bad thing: as Ryan pointed out, I thought the entire series was badly paced. Releasing the issues faster meant that we got to the end of the arcs faster, which helped me feel like the stories themselves were moving a bit faster. I couldn’t imagine some of these arcs being released over a six month window.
QUICK HITS:
Favorite Arc: Ryan – “The Escape” With a fun mystery, new characters, and Solo going shirtless, it was the detour the series needed.
Chris – “Mutiny at Mon Cala” It may not be entirely fair to judge an arc by its meta-context, but my favorite arc from Gillen’s run has to be the “Mutiny at Mon Cala.” The main reason? The tie-in with the Darth Vader – Dark Lord of the Sith arc that took place twenty full years earlier! In Darth Vader, we see the Imperial stranglehold of the planet Mon Cal, but in Star Wars, we see how, twenty years later, the Rebellion sparks the light of rebellion under them as they lend their aid to the Alliance fleet!
Least Favorite Arc: Ryan – “Ashes of Jedha” While I liked how it connected Rogue One so heavily into our heroes’ stories, it was a learning curve of getting used to Gillen’s style/pacing for the series.
Chris – “Ashes of Jedha” If we’re unfairly judging arcs, I will have to choose “Ashes of Jedha” as my least favorite arc simply due to the art. The story itself was mostly fine – it was a cool tie-in to Rogue One and it brought some great elements together (remember: I loved the alliance between the Rebels and Partisans!). I thought bringing back Queen Trios was a fantastic move that added so much depth and history to this story! But the art, man. It was so hard to follow the action sometimes, and I was taken out from the story, over and over and over again, with the tracing and Uncanny Valley effects.
Top 5 Overall Moments (in no particular order):
- Rogue Squadron, Form Up (issue #52): With “Ashes of Jedha,” Gillen connected Rogue One to the original trilogy in a big way, the sacrifices at Scarif and the destruction of Jedha viscerally affecting the Big Three. And when the Empire comes knocking in “Hope Dies,” Luke christens his team Rogue Squadron, honoring the fallen as he leads the battle to keep the Rebellion alive, a giant pay-off to Rogue One’s events and characters.
The Swolo is Strong in Han’s Family (issue #57): Han is the first of the Big Three to really embrace their solitary life on Hubin, appreciating the hard work by naturally chopping wood with his shirt off, revealing Kylo Ren’s swole appearance in The Last Jedi is a family trait. While the moment gets the ball rolling on the Leia/Han romance, can’t I just pick it because it’s Han shirtless for the first time ever? (Though Tarkin going shirtless in the same year might’ve topped it)- Battle Royals (issue #66): Trios and Leia finally meet after the former’s betrayal of the Rebellion and they come to blows in an epic, but short battle in a collapsing throne room. The state of the room around reflects Leia’s mission, while Trios dies as she lived, looking out for her planet. You can’t quite cheer for Leia’s victory, but at least she learns an important lesson from the perished royal.
- Famous Last Words (issue #40): The art aside, Gillen gives us readers the treat of seeing Bail Organa’s final words to his daughter Leia, moments before she gets on the Tantive IV at the end of Rogue One. His words are what keep her going and show why she’s always willing to shoulder any and all burdens, as it’s what Bail believed she could do, and she does it time and time again.
- “I’m the Captain.” (issue #42): Han gets the leadership itch as the situation on Jedha deteriorates, but the real thanks belongs to some coaxing from Chewbacca. Their friendship is one of my favorite of the Saga, so to see it in full swing, with Chewie showing off his subtle skills at helping Han become a better man is a true delight to be hold. Plus, there’s a Wookiee hug…you can’t go wrong with one of those!
- Bonus: Here’s Kieron Gillen’s top 5 moments!
In Gillen’s final issue, he has a full page letter to fans about his time on Star Wars comics (from his Vader series, Aphra, and this), implying he’s done for quite some time with working on them. It’s not something I’m particularly happy to hear, as regardless of any of the problems I had with his run or how most of the art did it no justice, he’s been an integral part of the comics landscape. His finale might not have been the highest point of his work, but it was undoubtedly a Gillen exit, epic, darkly humorous, and full of great character arcs just when you think none could exist. Goodbye, Kieron Gillen, and I hope you one day find yourself writing for the GFFA again.
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. Chris is the Manor’s Sous Chef. You can follow him on Twitter @ChrisWerms, You can follow the website @MynockManor.
All comic panel images credited to Marvel/Lucasfilm
Kieron Gillen Star Wars Reviews:
Arc Reviews by Chris: Ashes of Jedha | Mutiny At Mon Cala | Hope Dies | The Escape | The Scourging of Shu-Torun
Individual Reviews by Ryan: Ashes of Jedha (#38-43) | Mutiny At Mon Cala (#44-49) | Hope Dies (#50-55) | The Escape (#56-61) | The Scourging of Shu-Torun (#62-67)
You can see how the series fared in Ryan’s 2018 Year-in-Review, and eventually the 2019 entry!