– Spoiler Review –
In their quest to rescue a family member and secure family secrets, the Starros Clan turns towards their eternal auntie, Deva Lompop, for help, leading them on a wild mission to procure…a rancor?! Sana Starros #3 maintains the impressiveness of the first two entries with twist, turns, and more of the explosive energy we’ve come to love from it.
First introduced in Justina Ireland’s War of the Bounty Hunters – Jabba the Hutt #1, the Shani Deva Lompop is a deadly, intriguing, long-lived character and her connection with the Starroses only adds to her growing legend. She’s a ton of fun this issue, from talking Sana through her pouting over Phel, convincing Sana to pour rancor piss on herself, to her unmatchable confidence, making me even more excited for her time in this series and more appearances in The High Republic’s upcoming Phase III. When Sana asks why Deva’s willing to help them, she reveals she made a promise a long time ago, which I imagine was to Avon Starros before she mysteriously disappeared, something revealed last issue. In Phase I’s The High Republic – Mission to Disaster (also by Ireland), Avon and Deva meet while the former is kidnapped by the nefarious Nihil, whom Deva is a member of at the time. There’s no promise to protect the Starros clan then, so I imagine this is something we’ll get to see in Phase III, which launches in October (maybe in perhaps in Ireland’s upcoming THR – A Valiant Vow??), and I am SO intrigued on the how and why such a deal even comes up. Can’t wait to find out! Until then, we got more Deva here and she doesn’t disappoint.
When Grammy Thea, Mevera, and Sana meet with Deva, she asks them how the Imperials got Avon’s journals and it’s revealed Phel took them, causing Sana to storm out in disgust because she doesn’t want to clean up another mess of his. This scene confirms he’s an Imperial now, as I was suspecting, though the situation and what led to it remains a mystery…for now, as Ireland has been judicious with providing new information each issue. Sana grabs a drink and meets an alluring stranger, though Sana doesn’t have the chance to accept her offer when Deva arrives, revealing Lanitra is part of their upcoming mission together, warning Sana not to get involved as Lanitra is one to watch out for. When Sana challenges the Shani why she’s speaking with her, Deva says she’s not out here on Sana’s family’s behalf, but on her own accord, due to her promise all those years ago about protecting the Starros Clan. With Deva’s long-lived perspective, the huffing mad Sana, always quick to anger and holding a mighty grudge, is able to put her problems with Phel aside because in the end they’ll be helping her cousin Aryssha, plus…doesn’t she want to steal a rancor?! It’s a fun exchange, though I particularly liked Deva’s insistence it’s healthy to hold a grudge, as Sana certainly take to heart with Doctor Chelli Aphra later. While Deva has Sana prioritizing Aryssha’s safety despite Phel’s involvement in the situation, Sana doesn’t want to hear anything from Grammy Thea or Mevera about it, saying their decision to not tell her earlier is like choosing Phel over her…again. Whatever happened which led to Phel joining the Empire, it’s certainly going to be one helluva a story when Ireland and team tell it.
The issue wastes no time and takes us to Hon-Tallos and its galaxy-wide famous zoo, something Deva is familiar with as seen in Ireland’s back-up story in the final issue of IDW’s Star Wars Adventures series. The pace picks up a little too fast at first here, as while it helps us match Sana’s confusion on what they all have planned with the zoo and how it helps them with Aryssha, it left me wishing for a little clarity. Sana Starros #3 doesn’t let up from here, yet this is to its advantage, as the pace of how the events unravel bring readers clarity far quicker. This is where we see Deva’s deadlier side, as she faces down a towering hragscythe (first seen in The High Republic – The Rising Storm) while Sana saves an innocent bystander, the rancor doesn’t bother with her because it can tell she is a predator, and later she launches herself and her unnaturally wide jawed mouth at business associate and zoo owner Wollina in retribution for breeding rancors against her wishes. And then we see why Sana was kept so much in the dark, as learning she needs to douse herself in juvenile rancor pee and riding a rancor on the fly probably would’ve gotten Deva a very firm “no” for doing the job. In the moment, Sana doesn’t have much choice, and after the rancor gives her a nice big kiss, she hops aboard and flees with it, using the creature to bat away the ever-persistent bounty hunter Marl Jibs they left in the dust last issue. What this all has to do with saving Aryssha, I’m not too sure, but once it’s revealed Linatra is part of a syndicate who wanted to liberate the animals in the zoo, and now she and the syndicate owe Deva a favor, the family guardian is free to help with their little problem. But a new one pops up first, as Grammy Thea, who was up on the rooftops providing cover fire if needed, as she was known for when she was part of Enfys Nest’s crew, is captured by Marl Jibs! Persistent to a fault, despite being slapped off his speeder bike by the rancor under Sana’s control, Jibs has found a way to capture Thea and is holding her ransom until Mevera gives herself up. I can’t wait to see these three ladies show Jibs who’s boss!
It’s not the only problem facing the family, as we also check in with Aryssha aboard her husband’s ship, where things become increasingly clear she’s in trouble and it all comes from an unlikely and surprising source. She’s been sneaking around Officer Cerasus Ehllo’s ship, sending secret messages to her family following them and suggesting detours to give them time to catch up to her, but already Ehllo has gone back on his word and took them to Corellia first before her chosen detour location. He barely seems to be talking to her, claiming he’s afraid he’ll lose her despite standing next to her, and the concern is clear on Aryssha’s face. Her still fermenting children are a great excuse for her to get away from him, scour the ship to hear about any updates on cracking the codes to Avon’s journals, where she overhears them debating if ancient Togruti is involved or not…and that’s when Cerasus spots her, slinking around! But Cerasus is not alone, their reason for visiting Corellia is now on board: Phel Starros! Aryssha’s cousin and Sana’s twin brother didn’t want to miss Avon’s journals being unlocked, hence his presence here, while he’s the one who told Cerasus to be worried about her! What happened that he’s so willing to sell out family to the Empire? Or is this all part of a giant, giant ruse? I hope for the latter, as the former will likely lead to some heartbreaking story ahead. I trust Ireland and team either way!
Pere Pérez is still on art, with Dono Sánchez-Almara on colors and Travis Lanham lettering, and the team continues to dazzle, especially in bringing to life the chaos of the zoo liberation. When the hragscythe is unleashed on the crowd, I loved the page of Deva and Sana facing it down, the progression of Deva’s aggression towards it, running straight towards one of its three giant heads on their very long necks, taking out her little blade, and stabbing it is easy to follow, while it flows very well for how Sana rushing towards the poor kid in the monster’s way, diving and grabbing them, taking them out of harm’s way. Sánchez-Almara helps keep the focus on the action, the single-color backgrounds making the hragscythe, Deva, Sana, and the kid pop, while the red fits well with Deva’s strike against the creature and the yellow feels almost relieving when Sana saves the kid. Lanham’s SFX also stay out of the way but highlight what needs to be in certain panels to accentuate the action more, cueing us in on Deva unsheathing her blade or Sana’s dive. Another great action panel is the one where Sana’s on the rancor and makes it swipe at the pursuing Marl Jibs, as Pérez’s rancor has tons of great little details, like wrinkles all over and good definition, looking positively fierce as it turns around, bits of saliva flinging about, its jaw open and teeth sharp, Sana barely holding on, while Sánchez-Almara adds just enough shadow and darkness to the scene it makes it all the more menacing, plus Lanham’s SFX for the rancor’s swipe is primal and deadly. It’s not all action this team is great at, as once again the facial expressions really impress again, from the big and boisterous to the subtle, like Aryssha’s look of concern towards Ehllo as they look out at Corellia which makes her look of fear and dread, no longer hiding her true feelings, all the more impactful on the final page. I love Sana’s various range of emotions, how resigned she is as she pours the rancor piss over her head to the utter look of fear she has as the rancor is unleashed and approaches her, while her famous temper has some big displays, from her mouth open and eyes browed as she’s storming away from her family, to even the way Pérez draws the lines on her face when the perspective is pulled further back, her body gestures of the arms crossed aiding in showing us how much she’s pouting. As for Deva, the gleeful look she has before launching herself at Wollina is disturbing in the best way, making her earlier comment of being a predator ring true.
Sana Starros #3 proves the team can’t miss, even if things get a little too hectic for their own good.
+ Deva Lompop POPs this issues
+ Lots of fun in the zoo liberation
+ Excellent work by the art team in big action scenes and little expressions
– Pace gets a little too ahead of itself at one point
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.