The official site, ahead of next week’s April solicitations, offered up a sneak peek at the start of Age of Rebellion, the second era of the “Age of Star Wars” maxiseries, which begins in April once Age of Republic wraps up in March.
Age of Rebellion will be written by Greg Pak and his “Age” starts where it should, with Princess Leia #1 (out April 3)! Pak is joined by Chris Sprouse on art (who’ll be doing art for all the Hero issues), and their issue about the rebel Princess is, “…set following the events of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, the story tells of how Leia prepares for the rescue of Han Solo by taking on the identity of bounty hunter Boushh, and must earn the trust of Bossk.” This is actually based off of a Forces of Destiny episode, which included an appearance by Maz Kanata, so I’ll be curious how it’ll be adapted for a one-shot comic, but I’m disappointed this won’t be an original tale.
Next up is Grand Moff Tarkin #1, out April 10, with art by Marc Laming (the primary artist for all the Villain issues), and it, “…explores how the Imperial mastermind ensures that the Death Star lives up to its name.” With Rogue One, Catalyst, and Tarkin all covering plenty of the Moff’s antics in regards to the Death Star and his past before taking over, what else can this issue bring to the table? We’ll just have to wait and see.
Also out on April 10 is Age of Rebellion – Special #1, with stories about three different characters:
“Writer Si Spurrier and artist Caspar Wijngaard tell a tale of droid bounty hunter IG-88; a Yoda story set during the Jedi Master’s exile on Dagobah comes courtesy of writer Marc Guggenheim and artist Andrea Broccardo; and writer/artist Jon Adams focuses on rebel pilots Biggs Darklighter and Jek Porkins.”
Age of Republic’s Special issue was a lot of fun with great little stories about Mace Windu, Asajj Ventress, and a Captain Rex/Jar Jar Binks team-up, and Age of Rebellion sounds like it’ll be just as great! Spurrier is the excellent writer helming Doctor Aphra at the moment, and Caspar Wijngaard’s art is superb, so I look forward to this IG-88 tale, especially if it ties-into his upcoming appearance in The Mandalorian live-action TV show! A Yoda story set during his exile? I hope it can live up the few, great little stories of Yoda’s exile in From a Certain Point of View. And Biggs Darklighter AND Jek Porkins in the spotlight? Long overdue!
May brings four issues, Han Solo #1, Boba Fett #1, Lando Calrissian #1, and Jabba the Hutt #1, while June brings the “Age” to the end with the father son duo of Darth Vader#1 and Luke Skywalker #1. I really like the main Age of Rebellion covers over the base Age of Republic ones, as Terry and Rachel Dodson give each character a certain gravitas that is missing from the action-orientated Republic ones (while Giuseppe Camuncoli is welcomed back as Special #1’s cover artist!). Also, writer Jody Houser has been rhyming the villain/hero issues released each month for Republic, so I wonder and hope Pak will continue to do so with his Rebellion era.
A big disappointment here is how we’ve only had one issue starring a female lead per era, though Age of Republic has the advantage with one of its Special issue’s stories about Asajj Ventress, while Age of Resistance, starting in July, will at least have two issues with female leads, Rey and Rose Tico, so that’s a small, but still meager improvement. The most disappointing though? No female artists for either “Age,” but that remains to be seen for Age of Resistance.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m plenty excited for these issues and the whole maxiseries, but the lack of female creatives can’t be ignored as it’s a rampant issue with Star Wars comics as a whole, though at least IDW has been doing a slightly better job with that, as you can read a bit more on in my 2018 Star Wars Comics Year-in-Review.
UPDATE: April solicitations are out and, while nothing much different than what you read above, it does help me realize the Leia issue doesn’t really seem to be an adaptation of the FoD episode, so that’s good news!
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website @MynockManor.
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CURRENT SERIES COMIC REVIEWS:
Age of Republic (miniseries)
Doctor Aphra
Aphra (#1-6) | And the Enormous Profit (#9-13) | Remastered (#14-19) | The Catastrophe Con (#20-25) | Worst Among Equals (#26-31) | Annual: #2
Star Wars
Ashes of Jedha (#38-43) | Mutiny at Mon Cala (#44-49) | Hope Dies (#50-55) | The Escape (#56-61) | Annual: #4
Darth Vader – Dark Lord of the Sith
The Chosen One (#1-6) | The Dying Light (#7-10) | The Rule of Five (#11-12) | Burning Seas (#13-18) | Fortress Vader (#19-25) | Annual: #2
Han Solo – Imperial Cadet (miniseries)