– Spoiler Review –
Writer Jason Aaron’s farewell arc continues, and if Star Wars #35 is anything to go by, a short little tale of that one time Han smuggled a Hutt, Aaron will certainly be leaving this series on a high note.
Much like the other two issues in Aaron’s final arc, “Out Among the Stars,” issue #35, aka “The Hutt Run,” tells a very contained, fast-paced, and overly enjoyable little tale: Han is asked by Mon Mothma to smuggle Grakkus the Hutt to his stash of weapons so the Rebellion might take them for their own use, but things of course don’t go smoothly. Like issue #34, not everything is as it seems and the twist is satisfying, leaving readers with another memorable issue full of fun, humor, and intrigue.
While we know Han wouldn’t have taken Grakkus’ offer to make him richer than he ever imagined, the whole scenario of Han being tempted works because it doesn’t make sense to anyone (not even Han) why a smuggler like him is sticking around with the Rebellion. Knowing Mon Mothma has figured out he’s around due to Leia is entertaining to know and curious to see both because she doesn’t try to stop him and that she’s not against using it to get Han to do stuff for the Rebellion; never stop being you, Mothma! Han doesn’t end up admitting the truth to himself this issue, but his miniseries covers the whole internal struggle much louder than is possible here, though for #35’s purposes his reluctance to admit his feelings regarding Leia is presented delightfully enough. In fact, his internal monologue bubbles are represented in the exact same color/lettering as it was in Han Solo, so that was a neat bit of small, but appreciated continuity.
Grakkus, a collector of Jedi antiquities, was first introduced in issue #9, where he knocked Luke Skywalker out cold, an act that will forever leave this particular Hutt engraved in my Star Wars memories. He ended that arc, “Showdown on the Smuggler’s Moon,” captured by the Imperials and his Jedi collection confiscated. His next appearance was in a jail cell during a Poe Dameron arc, which left me wondering if he had gone straight to prison without passing Go for all those years. As #35 showed, the Rebellion got their paws on him for a bit, so the tale of how he ends up in prison, again, remains to be told! As much as this was a Han and Chewie issue, Grakkus is almost the real star here, showing both his physical might and cunning mind in exciting ways. He might have the same weaknesses as other Hutts, but he’s not like the one we’ve typically dealt with (Jabba), so it’s appreciated to see him in his prime again and doing some very un-Hutt-like things.
Salvador Larroca and Edgar Delgado really do the beefy Hutt justice here, making it feel totally convincing he has the physical might he does despite his Hutt-physique. Say what you will about Larroca’s Han tracing, but I felt like it worked very well here and it even gave us, essentially, a scene between Genevieve O’Reilly’s Mon Mothma and a young Harrison Ford, and that alone was worth it to me. Also, the panel in which Grakkus is sprawled out and unconscious after Han had gave the Hutt another voice commanded shock really gave me a good laugh.
The next issue being set up is Artoo’s rescue of Threepio, a storyline that’s been out of sight and out of mind since it was first introduced in issue #25, but at least it looks like we’re going to get plenty of Artoo the ass-kicker so no complaints from me!
Here are a few other things:
- Jason Aaron speaks out about leaving the Star Wars series to SyFy Wire, an interview well worth reading. I’d like to point out a couple things: Aaron mentions these short tales were originally meant to be full arcs, but I’m pretty happy that didn’t end up being true. 4-5 issue of Luke and Leia trapped on an island together wouldn’t given me too many worries about how they filled all that time together, while this Han tale reads exceptionally well as a one-shot, so to speak. In fact, all three issues so far have benefited greatly from a truncated page count. He also mentions the Yoda tale he wanted to write and just thinking about his alternative makes the one we got even more of a headache: Predator, but with Yoda being the predator and him taking out a bunch of stormtroopers who crash land on Dagobah…what!!!??? Give me that, now.
- Though small, there were a few little connections to other parts of canon: General Draven was first introduced to us in Rogue One; Akiva is the homeworld of Norra and Temmin “Snap” Wexley, principal characters of the Aftermath Trilogy; Sunspot prison is mentioned by Mon Mothma, a place we last saw in the “Rebel Jail” arc of this series.
Another solid hit for Jason Aaron’s final Star Wars run!
+ Grakkus getting to show his might
+ Nothing is as it seems…
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website @MynockManor.
Star Wars
Jason Aaron – Skywalker Strikes (#1-6) | Old Ben’s Journals | Showdown on the Smuggler’s Moon (#8-12) | Rebel Jail (#16-19) | The Last Flight of the Harbinger (#21-25) | Yoda’s Secret War (#26-30) | Out Among the Stars: #33 | #34 | #36 | #37 | Retrospective on Jason Aaron’s Run (#1-37)
Kieron Gillen – The Ashes of Jedha (#38-43) | Mutiny at Mon Cala (#44-49)
Doctor Aphra
Aphra (#1-6) | And the Enormous Profit (#9-13) | Remastered (#14-19) | Annual: #1
The Screaming Citadel (crossover of Doctor Aphra and Star Wars on-goings)
Poe Dameron
Black Squadron (#1-3) | Lockdown (#4-6) | The Gathering Storm (#7-13) | Legend Lost (#14 – 16) | War Stories (#17-19) | Legend Found (#20-25)
Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith
The Chosen One (#1-6) | The Dying Light (#7-10) | The Rule of Five (#11-12)
Darth Vader
Vader (#1-6) | Shadows and Secrets (#7-12) | The Shu-Torun War (#16-19) | End of Games (#20-25) | Annual: #1
Vader Down (crossover of Star Wars and Darth Vader on-goings)
Kanan
The Last Padawan (#1-6) | First Blood (#7-12)
Jedi of the Republic – Mace Windu (miniseries)
Captain Phasma (miniseries)
Darth Maul (miniseries)
Han Solo (miniseries)
Rogue One (adaptation)
Obi-Wan & Anakin (miniseries)
Shattered Empire (miniseries)
Princess Leia (miniseries)
Lando (miniseries)
Chewbacca (miniseries)
Darth Maul: Son of Dathomir (miniseries)