– Spoiler Review –
Commander Zahra has been a pain in the Rebellion’s rear since the start of Charles Soule’s run on Star Wars in 2020, but it all finally comes down to the explosive battle in Star Wars #23 (Vol. 2).
It’s been clear for some time now Zahra isn’t your typical Imperial Commander, often brave, bold, and inventive, striking swift and deadly against her enemies. She’s hunted down the Rebellion’s scattered fleet after Hoth and gave Leia some doubts (that part of the storyline didn’t quite work, but I digress), and now she’s staring down the full might of the Rebellion aboard her single Star Destroyer and her speech to her troops show she’s more than confident they can win the day. Her tactics and reading of the situation and her opponents certainly makes it look like she’ll take them all out, toying with the Rebellion’s desire to save everyone it can and then somehow taking out all the pawns in front of her in one deadly, nasty maneuver. Grand Moff Tarkin would be proud of his protégé now, but then again, he was a fickle man and he likely still wouldn’t be, moving the goal post for her, but for us readers, it’s been impressive to see Tarkin reincarnated to some extent, a look at what he would’ve done if he hadn’t been killed aboard the Death Star. I had a little disconnect with this issue, as Zahra said last issue she would hunt down and kill the intruders on the ship, but here she makes no mention of them and seems almost surprised when the Pathfinders wreak havoc on her meticulous plans. Is this a case of overconfidence like Tarkin, who assumed victory was in hand and didn’t want to flee the Death Star, her getting far too caught up in planning her near defeat of the entire Rebellion, or a miss on the script? Considering her similarities to Tarkin, I’ll go with it’s Tarkin confidence and that she fully intended to go after them, but their sabotage was so precise thanks to Shara Bey’s details, it brings Tarkin’s Will to the ground. Though Zahra went down with the ship, just like Tarkin would, she jettisoned out into an escape pod in the final moments…then calls Princess Leia and challenges her to a duel! This woman just won’t quit and I freaking love it. There hasn’t been a villain in the mainline Star Wars comic with as much staying power and ingenuity in…well, since ever, it feels like. I can’t wait to see these two face off, which feels like a fitting ending to their 23, and soon to be 24, issue-long feud. I’m curious about Zahra’s weapon, as issue #8 she used a traditional sword to strike Leia, but it’s now red, almost lightsaber-like, as she stands on the pod in an image reminiscent of Moff Gideon with the darksaber at the end of The Mandalorian’s first season. Maybe it’s the heat from the descent or from exiting the pod? Or she did upgrade it? Or just an art error? We’ll find out next issue!
Kes Dameron and Shara Bey reuniting was long overdue and yet a little underwhelming for how long it was strung out. We spent more time with Kes dealing with her sacrifice to save the others than with how Shara felt during her time alone on the Tarkin’s Will, unsure if she’d see Kes or Poe ever again, besides one stellar issue, which is unfortunate, while knowing their fates made the delayed reunion (and real-life delays for when these issues came out) land with at most a happy smile and a little laugh. There’s a coy reference to the additional background added to Poe through The Rise of Skywalker/expanded in Poe Dameron: Free Fall, but after their quick hug, the issue gets right back to the action. The Pathfinders make the ultimate sacrifice, repaying Shara for hers by blowing up Tarkin’s Will and letting the newly united couple to flee without them, a clean way to wrap up the new characters but a disappointingly quick way for their tales to be over before we ever got to know them.
Roman Rosanas, with Rachelle Rosenberg on colors and Clayton Cowles on lettering, does the ship action a lot of justice this issue, as he and the team have in the past. The way the Destroyer used its thrusters to burn the Fleet still on the planet below, from Cowles’ panel breaking SFX to the burning destruction left in its wake, really hammered in the extent of Zahra’s deadly move, while the listless way the Rebellion ships hung in the atmosphere after the Imperial ion cannons disabled them sold the perilous situation they were in. But the most impressive panel/page was the Tarkin’s Will tumble to the ground, as four panels show its descent, like the Executor crashing into the Death Star II above Endor’s Forest Moon, with it hanging in space, splitting the clouds, hitting ground, and erupting in flame, Rosenberg’s colors giving beauty to its fall and destructive fury to its explosion. The epic-level feel to the page and its panels reads like a crushing final note in Zahra’s story, which makes her survival all the more surprising to the Rebellion. The hug between Kes and Shara, while quick with Cowles’ lettering giving it the space they need, was a lovely image by Rosanas, especially as Shara is the focus, her quiet tears what we see. I also really liked an early panel of Zahra, after she rallies her team and gives them a play by play of how the battle will unfold for their shocking victory, the Rebellion calls to offer them a chance to surrender just like Zahra said they would, leading credence to all her other claims. To help punctuate how this all proves her bluster, the panel of the news’ delivery sees Zahra quietly looking down at the person with the information, the dialogue bubble off to the side, keeping all the focus on Zahra, making her appear larger than life almost alongside her grand plan.
Here are a few other things:
- I know there is limited page space, but it seemed weird not to have some moments with Leia and the Rebellion responding to Zahra’s tactics. Maybe issue #24 will go backwards a bit to show that before Leia and Zahra duel.
- Delays have hit the comics quite a bit, changing the landscape of releases by months. We won’t see issue 24 until June 8 (so not too bad), while the epic-sized 25th issue won’t be out until late July, one I’m really really looking forward to! The way those dates have been changing, it still could again, but it has seemed to stabilize now.
- In case you missed it, Soule is now a Creative Consultant for Lucasfilm, so expect more of his handiwork in expanding and exploring the galaxy far, far away.
Zahra’s second to last (maybe) stand made for an epic, destructive battle, but some other aspects got lost in the grandiose nature of events in Star Wars #23 (Vol. 2).
+ Zahra’s confidence
+ Beautiful destruction from the art team
+ Epic set up for a climatic duel
– Wish we’d seen from the Rebels POV too
– Short Reunion
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 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | #6 / Arc Review — The Will of Tarkin: #7 | #8/Arc Review — Operation Starlight: #9 | #10 | #11 | #12 — War of the Bounty Hunters: #13 | #14 | #15 | #16 | #17 | #18 — Crimson Reign: #19 | #20 | #21 | #22