– Spoiler Review –
Caught in the middle of their latest heist in Han Solo & Chewbacca #3, the pair, alongside Greedo and supposedly Han’s father, must find a creative way out in another breezy, enjoyable heist-romp of an issue.
After finding the vault they came to raid empty, and the security guards closing in, the situation does not look good for Han, Greedo, and Ovan. Trapped in the penthouse suite they came to rob, Han does what he does best all issue long, going with his instincts and hopes, trusting in luck to see them through, leading to several funny exchanges that read like classic Han Solo with Marc Guggenheim’s writing. Early in the issue, he calls the guard company trying to detain them for a med shuttle, and corporate miscommunication makes his crazy idea pay-off, and later he nudges some stormtroopers to mess with their latest mark (part of the Crimson Reign tie-in!). Han’s best thinking on his feet, going with the flow, not concerning himself with how it’ll pan out in the end, its consequences, but how it’ll short-term help them live a little longer or achieve their goal. This will change after Han gets wrapped up in the Rebellion and falls in love with Leia, finds a friend in Luke, but for now this feels like the Han of this era, very close much like we meet him in A New Hope, flying by the seat of his pants, going with the first idea and finding a better one if that doesn’t work out. Guggenheim has an excellent hold on this Han, not only with this hare-brained ideas, but how he interrupts others constantly, talks like he meant it to work they way it did the whole time, or acts like he’s not concerned with certain events, while David Messina on art, with Alex Sinclair on colors, expresses his roguish grin or faux certainty with some classic Harrison Ford-like faces, which look particularly good and less and less trace-like.
While Han has his doubts about Ovan being his father, he offers an olive-branch in his own way, asking the man to continue to help them on the job of tracking down the urn Jabba the Hutt’s requested. After all, they are down a man now, as Han knows where the urn is but Greedo doesn’t, so he cuts out the Rodian but would appreciate an extra hand in the heist still ahead. Certainly not to try to bond or understand if Ovan really is his dad of course, no, definitely not that. Han, staying detached from his feelings, from trusting others, coming in hot just like his reliance on luck at this time in his life. When Ovan steps aboard the Falcon, he’s less Luke Skywalker thinking it’s junk and more older Han Solo saying he’s home, telling Han he did good and might’ve even had a hand in making this very model, though his shock at the beauty of the ship might be a big hint he isn’t his father. Technically, the way Lando had the Falcon is likely closer to how it was built, and the way he maintained it compared to Han’s meant it was probably closer to factory setting like Han’s dad would’ve last seen it, so him thinking this is a beauty could be a betrayal of the truth of his identity. Or I’m reading to much into how people feel about the Falcon…we’ll find out eventually!
When the solicitation for this issue revealed it would somehow crossover with Crimson Reign #3, an issue of a series set between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, when Han’s, you know, frozen in carbonite, I was very intrigued to learn how it would connect. I forgot a little said issue took place in an indeterminate time in the past, back in a time when Sava Madeline Sun still had non-green, pale skin and called herself the Archivist, so not yet a key player in Qi’ra’s schemes to take out the Sith ruling the galaxy. In the issue, her little hovel of treasures and relics is raided for contraband by the Empire and Qi’ra saves her from the stromtroopers, offering her a place with the Dawn…and thanks to Han Solo & Chewbacca #3 we know why the Empire targeted Sava Sun, because she recently obtained the urn Han and crew are looking for and he sent the troopers after her as a concerned citizen tip, since she wouldn’t give it up nicely! Han spies the back of Qi’ra’s head as she takes the Sava away, so the two were even closer than either realized (as I’m sure they often were during this time as Qi’ra worked in the shadows to solidify Crimson Dawn’s might), and I love this level of connectivity, subtle yet rewarding, as reading just Crimson Reign without this wouldn’t change the issue, vice versa, but the added context is nice.
Regardless, they move in after Qi’ra and the Sava leave, scrounging for the urn in the remaining mess. Just as Ovan locates it, he’s blasted in the back! And then a furry, towering visage appears…BLACK KRRSANTAN is here to mess up everyone’s day! This is all leading to a fourth issue promised to be totally from Chewbacca’s POV, without translations, with a big Wookiee on Wookiee brawl! I was already excited for the issue, but this set-up has me absolutely anxious and all his new fans from The Book of Boba Fett will want to check it out!
With each issue I’ve come to like David Messina’s work more, and one thing I noticed this issue was the size of the panels, as there’s lot of big ones with one a few characters or one character in them, which keep the pace moving and allow Messina’s art more room to fit big facial expressions by Han or make the actions of the thieves almost comically larger than life, giving the series it’s lighthearted tone. I loved the sequence leading up to Krrsantan’s full page reveal, from Han’s slow turn, the surprise on his face, the frighteningly large and tall shadow looming over Han, the Wookiee’s big paws grabbing him, and then the big reveal of Messina and Sinclair’s take on the less-than-friendly Wookiee, his immense size, armor, and snarl making him as menacing as we’ve seen him in the comics before and same enough to his recent live-action counterpart all fans of the character won’t be disappointed. In fact, the quality of their Chewie so far, and now this, gives me a lot of high hopes for how the art will help tell the battle of the Wookiees next issue. Joe Caramagna’s roars for Chewie, always breaking the word bubbles, is a solid precedent many others have used before, but in revelation to Krrsantan’s appearance at the end, having his growl nearly take up the top of the page gives his menacing appearance more weight and power. I liked the scale of the word bubble for when the med people realize they’ve been duped and Han and crew have already flown away, as it’s a small thing but helps sell the comedic timing.
Here are a few other things:
- The building Han and crew are holed up in on Corellia is named Kasdan, a reference more than likely to the Kasdan family so critical in Han Solo’s time on screen: Lawrence and Jon Kasdan, with the latter involved with The Empire Strikes Back and beyond while he teamed with his son Jon for the Solo movie.
Han Solo & Chewbacca #3 settles into an enjoyable heist pace with fitting characterizations and movement on the main job, while sets up for an exciting Wookiee-centric issue and has some low-level connectivity for comics readers to appreciate.
+ Han doing what he does best
+ Comic connectivity
+ Wookiee-rific reveal by the art team
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.