– Spoiler Review –
Age of Resistance – Special #1 is special with a capital S, as the Chewie and Maz Kanata content we’ve all been waiting for arrives, Amilyn Holdo shows why underestimating her is never a good idea, and BB-8 channels L3-37 on a mission for the Resistance.
“Maz’s Scoundrels” – Tom Taylor (Writer), Matteo Buffagni (Artist), Chris O’Halloran (Colorist), Travis Lanham (Letterer throughout)
We’ve gotten more glimpses of Han Solo and Maz Kanata’s friendship since The Force Awakens introduced her, from an early scene in Last Shot to a Battlefront II story mission, but unfortunately there hasn’t been enough Chewbacca and Maz to warm our hearts. Age of Resistance – Special #1 delivers the goods, and then some, in its opening tale where Maz hires Han and Chewie to recover some stolen goods. Maz’s love for Chewie is expansive and humorous, but the real delight is Chewie’s reaction to the whole thing: he embraces it. When he’s berated, lovingly of course, from his best friend of all the time, and he’s currently unable to be with his wife and kids, a little appreciation probably fluffs Chewie’s coat up a bit; I don’t blame him at all. There was an interesting exchange when Han asks Chewie about their friendliness, where of course we don’t get Chewie’s answer, but Han’s reaction about it being too much info does raise some questions, ones I don’t want to think too much about, but thankfully we don’t get the details and they play it all off for humor instead. In fact, the real highlight of the story is Maz atop Chewie’s shoulders, both of them screaming war cries and taking down the bad guys around them; it’s a thing of beauty from both the art standpoint (by Buffagni and O’Halloran) and how we’ve been building to this connection since 2015, to which the payoff has been worth the wait!
I also really liked our peek into why Maz hoards so many things over her long life, as the mission here is to help the Light side of the Force shine brighter than the Dark, hiding away a Sith-related artifact from the galaxy. Considering most of those items were in her castle when it was destroyed in The Force Awakens, I’m curious if a lot of the dark side items remained buried, if she went back for them, or even if someone else went and stole them, turning the tide once more. I hope we get more content with Maz and her adventures, as 1000 years of living probably has a few good stories, of which this was one of them!
As for the artifact Maz is stealing back? It’s a familiar looking mask, and my first reaction was to assume it was Lord Momin, recently seen in Darth Vader – Dark Lord of the Sith, but it had too many variations that not even a different artist could explain, so it was the wonderful Wookieepedia which came through: it’s the Grand Inquisitor’s mask from Star Wars Rebels!
“Maz’s Scoundrels” is easily my favorite story of the issue, hands down, and might be the best Special story of all “Ages,” potentially beating out Jar Jar’s big day in Republic’s Special tale…but I won’t be making that call until the maxiseries review.
“The Bridge” – G. Willow Wilson (Writer), Elsa Charretier (Artist), Nick Filardi (Colorist)
In a way, Amilyn Holdo’s story had an IDW Star Wars Adventures vibe to it, which is a good thing, as it imparts an important lesson and is also an enjoyable, functional tale about the character. Due to Holdo’s eccentricities, like dying her hair with what looks like the Mario series’ Piranha Plant, most people underestimate her capabilities, like Poe Dameron did in The Last Jedi or some trolls online when first revealed in her flowing dress for the movie. By touching on the subject about how one shouldn’t judge people by first impressions, this story tactfully addresses criticisms of Holdo and makes it abundantly clear how childish people are whoever took her looks to be any indication of her skills and bravery, in-universe or otherwise. It’s great we get to see this moment in Holdo’s life, as she steps up in the Rebellion and gains the recognition she deserves.
Charretier’s work, with Filardi’s colors, definitely helps add to the SW Adventures-vibe as she’s been primarily doing Star Wars comics there, but it’s also exceptional, from how it showcases Holdo’s unique look but also revels in her calm during the Empire’s attack.
“Robot Resistance” – Chris Eliopoulos (Writer), Javier Pina (Artist), Guru-eFX (Colorist)
BB-8 goes all L3-37 in Solo and starts a droid revolution that spitballs beyond the First Order’s comprehension, eventually destroying the base the little droid was sneaking onto to steal some data. We saw BB-8 lead his fellow droids in a mission from the Poe Dameron comic, “Lockdown,” and even fall in love later, so this story wasn’t as original or interesting as the others, but it’s still a damn good time to see BB-8 causing havoc and completing the mission without any human help.
+ Chewie and Maz spending quality time
+ Holdo defying first impressions, as always
+ Great art across the board
– Seen BB-8 have a little more fun before
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website @MynockManor.
AGE OF STAR WARS Maxiseries Review
AGE OF RESISTANCE
Finn | Phasma | General Hux | Poe Dameron | Supreme Leader Snoke | Rose Tico | Rey | Kylo Ren | Miniseries Review
AGE OF REBELLION
Princess Leia | Grand Moff Tarkin | Special | Han Solo | Boba Fett | Lando Calrissian | Jabba the Hutt | Luke Skywalker | Darth Vader | Miniseries Review
AGE OF REPUBLIC
Qui-Gon Jinn | Darth Maul | Obi-Wan Kenobi | Jango Fett | Special | Anakin Skywalker | Count Dooku | Padmé Amidala | General Grievous | Miniseries Review