– Spoiler Review –
The penultimate entry in Marvel’s Return of the Jedi 40th Anniversary series of one-shots takes us from a glimpse inside the Empire last issue and over to the rabble rousers trying to take it down in the next: Return of the Jedi – The Rebellion #1! Written by Alex Segura, the issue follows the Rebellion’s attempt to foil a plot to assassinate…Mon Mothma! While it gets a little too convoluted for its own good, it’s a well-paced and enjoyable little ride.
Writer Alex Segura previously penned Poe Dameron: Free Fall, which I compared to Solo: A Star Wars Story in my review as it both felt like ticking off boxes for Poe’s new The Rise of Skywalker added past yet had a similar charm to its characters. Many of Segura’s creations for the novel find themselves in cameo or important roles in Return of the Jedi – The Rebellion #1, though for readers of this issue who might’ve missed out on Free Fall, they might feel a little left out since it’s not always clear why they are being used/mentioned, while even I had to journey to Wookieepedia to refresh my memory on them a bit. Pair that with a story which gets too labyrinthine, introducing a bunch of characters, switching narrative point-of-views, jumping around in time, and not always coming off clearly on some aspects, The Rebellion buckles under this weight. However, alongside the art team, Segura props it up with such an intriguing story, great usage of some recognizable characters, and a pace which lets readers sort of hand-wave away some of the confusion.
The big anchors come in Segura’s usage of Admiral Gail Ackbar, Mon Mothma, Shara Bey, and Kes Dameron, as their characterizations feel flush with what has come before and adds some intriguing new moments to their lives. For Ackbar and Mothma, it was great to see these two leaders interact, especially in these final days before the Battle of Endor (this takes place literally only days before), as things get heated quickly as their priorities clash in understandable ways. Ackbar is eager to protect her from the plot to assassinate her, fine with using resources to do so, while Mon is so very against that, knowing the Rebellion is too big to fail without her now and said resources are far more vital for the biggest fight of their lives (at least for another year). Ackbar sends for Kes and Shara to uncover the plot against Mon and save her, regardless of how much he actually agrees with her. We get more of Mon in the issue, seeming much like her portrayal by Genevieve O’Reilly in Andor, as she springs the trap and takes the risk, knowing her contact’s information will be worth it. It was cool to see her in the field, as she’s not quite there yet in the first season of Andor, and it’s nice to see her willing to get her hands dirty and put herself in bad situations, just like she asks her people to do all the time, as if a bit of Luthen Rael lives in her. As for Kes and Shara, I liked how Segura shows their trust in one another and the easy way they fall into being together again despite chunks of time away fighting the good fight for the respective units. With Shara, it’s great to see her out of the cockpit, outside her comfort zone, and still showing she can kick some ass, while still holding the dream of hunkering down after the war and leaving it behind to raise their son Poe. Kes’ love for his wife is readily apparent and further twists the knife she won’t be around much longer and makes the hope we get more of them together grow ever stronger.
In the end, is the information Mon risks her life for and all this hubbub is for worth it? That’s harder to tell, though I’d say it didn’t really feel like it, as she now basically knows even more Imperial leaders will be on the Death Star II, so if they destroy it, they’ll take out even more of the hydra’s heads. Though with them already knowing the Emperor himself will be aboard, thanks to the Bothans (who are a species still yet we haven’t seen somehow?!) the fact a few more might go down with the ship is good details, but something they could easily figure out afterwards nor changes their desire for this big fight ahead, hence why I feel like this information, while nice, might not really be worth all of the effort everyone involved went through, as well as the confusion readers go through in the issue itself.
As for the issue’s art, there’s a bit of a group effort here: Matt Horak, Brent Peeples, and Rafael Pimentel provide the art, while Jim Campbell is on colors, and Travis Lanham lettering. I wish the credits detailed who did which pages, as they’ve done in the past but far too sporadically, as I have an idea where one person’s work ends and another begins, but I’m just not sure who did what (my guess is Horak is the first third, Peeples for the middle, and Pimentel for the final third), though I’m grateful each one isn’t too drastic from the other and it flows rather well. The design for the Arcona assassin Lan-Drus was instantly intriguing and really left you curious for more of her story, as one half of her T-shaped head is replaced with an IG-unit’s head, while the brown, blocky shoulder pad over a robotic left arm gives me Dash Rendar-vibes (an outfit one can equip in Jedi: Survivor). What happened? How did she manage to survive whatever it was that happened? And how long as she been doing this? All questions I had the moment she appeared in the opening panels of the issue. Whomever kicked off the issue, I quite enjoyed the work being done with Ackbar, as while the Mon Cala face/head isn’t able to convey much emotion, the artist found a way to carry it through in little ticks or droops on the face, while later panels have him hunched over in exasperation, Campbell’s colors dampening his usual skin-color to match his darker mood. Shara’s new outfit, as she’s typically depicted in her A-wing suit, was a welcome addition to the character, as it had similarities to Princess Leia’s early comics’ look and Padmé’s Attack of the Clones outfit on Geonosis, but adds some splashes of purple and gold to the mix. Everyone’s Mon Mothma was enjoyable, as the first person’s Mon had a regal yet sharp look to her, the middle Mon showed the weight of her decisions, and the final Mon was very close to Caroline Blakiston’s portrayal in the 1983 film, yet had a little extra edge that felt fitting given her years in the role and that she shows up at the end to save the day herself. With a lot of plot, there’s a lot of dialogue and Lanham handles it all well, not being too distracting and helping us flit across the panels, the truest guide amongst all the twisty spy-jinks. I have only one gripe with the issue’s art, but the smuggler Alfris Sotin has a blocky, hairless head, with pink skin, and the page where Shara catches up to him and pins him to a wall has a weird habit of changing the size of his head across a few panels.
Here are a few other things:
- The remaining Return of the Jedi 40th Anniversary one-shot is Max Rebo #1, which looks to come full-circle with the Jabba’s Palace #1 start and brings us right into the beginning of the film!
- Also, we’re a little over a month until the August 29 release of From a Certain Point of View: Return of the Jedi! With SDCC this coming weekend, and the Lucasfilm Publishing Panel on Friday, July 21, mayhaps we’ll learn more about what characters will be featured, while we’ll get those character cards eventually as well.
Return of the Jedi: The Rebellion #1 might lose its readers with its unwieldy plot, but the pace and characters, plus solid art across the board, guide them through to the end.
+ Spot on characterizations
+ Ackbar and Mon, Kes and Shara pairings
– Too confusing for its own good
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.
RETURN OF THE JEDI ONE-SHOTS
Jabba’s Palace | Ewoks | Lando | The Empire