– Spoiler Review –
In the miniseries’ penultimate issue, family loyalties are tested like never before for the Starros clan, as the wayward Phel makes his presence known. Sana Starros #4 is another excellent, energy-filled issue that leave readers eager for the finale, even if we don’t want it to end!
Phel Starros, Sana’s twin brother, has been a shadow looming everything so far, his mysterious falling out with the family and continued lack of presence in the series (until last issue) like a countdown clock. I’ve been very interested to learn what happened with Phel, especially when he reveals himself as a loyal Imperial in issue #3, willing to even sell out his family, like his cousin Aryssha. What made him this way and why would he abandon his family so completely? As Aryssha confronts him, pleads with him to see reason since they are family, he tells us his version of events: after Sana left for the University at Bar’leth (where she met, fell in love with, and came to hate Doctor Aphra), Phel was devastated, felt betrayed, and got in with some bad crowds, and since his family didn’t help him, the discipline and attention he got from the Empire was enough to assuages his familial issues and turn him loyal to its cause. This is just one side of it, and we only have an issue left to unpack the other, so I’m curious how close to the truth this is compared to the reality of likely what happened instead of what he’s told himself after all these years. Regardless of the answer, I’m glad we finally got a glimpse into the character, what he believes, and his motivations, as before this issue ends he and his twin sister have a fateful run-in, and not having this would’ve lessened the impact of their meeting. Before said clash, Phel implores Aryssha to leave her family behind and embrace her Imperial life, like he did, because things could be far worse. Her belief she could fix Cerasus washes away then, as she’s left, locked up in her room, realizing she made a mistake.
Sana, her aunt Mevera, and auntie Deva Lompop focus on the bigger problem first: supposed bounty hunter Marl Jibs capturing Grammy Thea. Everything about the situation feels off to them: Mevera, despite Marl asking for her in return for Grammy, has no recollection of the man, while none of them believe the Soikans put a bounty out on her anyways. Any digging they do only confirms this isn’t what it seems and is instead a trap, one Deva believes she has the perfect plan for, so they set about springing it. While Mevera is off to build some heavy hitting fireworks, Sana and Deva take a hike into town to scope out the location, but their time together takes an interesting turn. Deva admits her plan likely won’t work, but she knows failure can be as good a teacher as success, so she’s preparing for both to happen. And then she asks Sana to hit her. Sana refuses, of course, but Deva thinks the young Starros is so wound up, she needs a chance to release, though her initial refusal leads to Deva throwing her to the snowy ground. A little more teasing from Deva gets Sana in the mood, though she’s swinging wildly and madly as Deva makes even more jokes, missing every time. Taking the unconventional route, throwing some snow, she finally gets some good licks in, knocking Deva down. When asked if that helped her, Sana responds with how she’s always been coiled tight like this, as its saved her in the past (and we know it does in the future), so she’s fine like this, but Deva’s happy she could give her a moment where she wasn’t worrying about stuff she couldn’t change. I love Deva’s auntie dynamic here, and how she goes about fulfilling her vow to Avon, as while she might not be active, when she’s around, she makes it count. I hope we’ll get to see more of them interacting in the future, even after this series.
Mevera rejoins them as they make their way into the little town on Hynestia,* though her explosive payload was left, under Deva’s orders, back at their ship. They spring the trap, regular stormtroopers and even flame troopers ambushing them, as Marl and his Besalisk accomplice abscond with Grammy and Mevera, who was injured in the initial attack. Deva provides a distraction and Sana pursues, only to learn it’s her twin brother Phel who set up the trap! Their first interaction in this miniseries and it’s a doozy, as they start to throw around insults like only siblings can, get into a fight, and he says something rather dark before shooting to kill. Their tussle has a clear and easy victor, Sana, though Phel is as smart as his sister can be, taking out his weapon instead of trying to fight more, angrily telling her he should’ve just killed her in the womb. Sana’s obviously taken aback by the vicious statement as Phel takes the shot, though Deva arrives in the nick of time to take the hit, holding Sana back from following as Phel takes his leave, afraid of confronting Deva. Like I said earlier, could Phel’s story really be the full truth of what happened? Could Sana leaving him behind for school fester enough for him to wish her dead all the way back in the womb?! Or is this just typical Starros grudge level, as Sana tried killing Aphra several times before they sort of reconnected again? I look forward to seeing more of these siblings in the finale, come what may!
Make no doubt, they are on a collision course. Sana is furious and ready to take the fight to him, with Deva’s help of course, as well as them recruiting Linitra, the revolutionary from last issue, for help. As for Phel, he believes he has the Empire on his side, that they’ll protect him, unlike what he thinks family does, so I imagine he’ll be in for a rude awakening. In fact, learning Cerasus tried to have them killed, way back in issue #1, shakes Phel a little, though he rationalizes it in the name of the Empire, leaving his aunt, Grammy, and cousin in a room together. The three Starros women take stock of one another, ready to complete the mission and get Avon’s journals back, but we learn there’s another complication: Aryssha’s water broke! So, on top of being behind enemy lines and their rescuers being outnumbered, babies need to be delivered as well?! Count me in, as this sounds like an absolutely wild and fun development, raising the stakes and setting the scene for what should be a chaotic finale. If Sana Starros can keep its characters in focus amongst the chaos, like it has so far, we’ll be in for a special treat, which is why I’m both excited for the finale yet dreading the end has to come. Justina Ireland, you’ve done it four times in a row, I know you can do it one more time!
This art team impresses once again, with one of my early favorites in the issue being Phel’s story, as it’s drawn unlike anything else we’ve had in the series so far. Artist Pere Pérez, alongside colorist Dono Sánchez-Almara and letterer Travis Lanham, strike a different tone, shrouding Phel’s memory in shadows and 2D, as we only see outlines, for the most part, of these moments he’s recalling, as if to clue us in his story isn’t being seen in full. This means Sánchez-Almara doesn’t have tons of colors to bring to the table, as it’s often black, filled in flat characters, but when he does get to use other colors, it really stands out, like the spooky white eyes of the Imperial officer and their clean, white hand, offering in peace, the shining bright light panels behind them giving them a scary, almost horror-movie vibe, like some spirit of evil pulling a fast one. Lanham’s lettering stays out of the way as much as possible, these little images almost doing enough on their own anyways. The fight between Sana and Deva was also a highlight, as I enjoyed Deva’s red mask being removed at just the right time, as well as how the SFX played into the bout as well. Pérez’s Sana here, her confusion over what Deva’s suggesting, shock as Deva makes to pick her up, and the downright anger as she’s ready to join the fight, calling Deva “featherhead,” is such a great evolving expression, as we see her calm to start and it ends up with her angry, teeth gritted, in a pose we can fill in the blanks (no AI needed) of her stomping towards Deva. Having Deva masked for some of the fight, not only to keep us guessing how serious or how much she’s enjoying this, also lets Pérez focus in using her bright, yellow eyes, which give her a dispassionate look as she deftly dodges Sana’s initial salvo, which Pérez shows is a struggle for Sana as she’s usually framed in motion or causing the blurred lines of a panel while Deva’s framed almost frozen in place, like this movement takes no effort at all. Sánchez-Almara’s colors help keep this entire scene clean, as there are various blue-ish white shades for the snow around the two women while Deva’s cute remains a pearly white against this backdrop yet it’s not confusing or hard to determine if we’re looking at her or the background…though her colored feathers certainly help too! When Deva’s mask does come off, she’s got a wicked smile, which sort of undercuts Sana’s efforts, as if it’s still not enough. But when Sana does get the good hit in, this is where Lanham’s SFX comes into play, as when Deva first threw Sana to the snowy ground, his “SLAM” SFX feels quick and dirty, almost unexpected, at the end of the panel, to imitate the quickness of Deva’s move. As Sana swings and misses, there is no SFX, but when she finally makes a connection with her booted foot to Deva’s face, the “SLAM” there is bold and thick, less jagged and tiny, to hammer home how big of a hit this really was. There’s some fun layouts this issue, with my favorite being the two-page spread at the end, as we have Deva stepping in to hold back Sana and then them planning, while a shot of Cerasus’ ship bisects the page, the bottom half panels of Phel on the ship with his family, leading to the Starros ladies being reunited.
Here are a few other things:
- *As a big The High Republic fan, in case that wasn’t clear already when you’ve visited the Manor, even a little throwaway line like Deva’s, claiming the spot the ambush takes place used to be the site of a Jedi Temple, causes me to perk my ears up…especially when Hynestia is a planet Ireland introduced and later mentioned in much of her High Republic outings. Will we get to see what happens to the Jedi outpost/Temple there in Phase III? And will it coincide with Deva making the vow to Avon Starros?
- Sana and her crack team of malcontents and fellow Aphra exes had quite the moment in the good doctor’s 31st issue, which pushed queer representation and unpacked plenty of amazing character building to be one of Star Wars comics best issues ever. Sana is a common denominator…
- I quite enjoy how, while like most comics and Star Wars stories everyone is in the same outfit for the most part, at least there’s different layers or even a jacket added here and there.
- For the final issue next month, it has a Pride Month cover and, you guessed it, Sana stars on it! This will be her first year gracing a Pride Month variant, but it’s her second themed variant in 2023, as she was also on a Black History Month cover for Doctor Aphra (while Phel starred on this series’ cover).
Sana Starros #4 brings Phel to the forefront in just the right way, while it all ends with a promise of quite the finale ahead.
+ Phel revealed (how much is the truth?)
+ Springing the trap with a great pace, once again
+ Love the way the art team told a story with Deva & Sana’s fight
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.