– Spoiler Review –
Star Wars #13 (Vol. 2) brings Luke Skywalker back to the series in a big way, offers a surprising returning face, and sets up for how the series will tie into the War of the Bounty Hunters crossover, all while making it a blast for readers to enjoy.
Star Wars #13 (Vol. 2) is a “Prelude” issue in the grand scheme of the War of the Bounty Hunters crossover, which kicked off in last week’s War of the Bounty Hunters Alpha #1. If you didn’t read it, Charles Soule, writer of the Alpha issue, this series, and WotBH architect, makes it easy to know what you missed in this issue, filling readers in on Boba Fett’s antics in the fighting ring and the fact he’s no longer on Nar Shaddaa (though it doesn’t reveal he lost the frozen Han Solo), which the main WotBH miniseries and the rest of these tie-in issues will deal with through October. It also seems clear that if you choose to only read one specific series, like say this one or maybe Doctor Aphra, their stories will certainly intersect with the crossover’s storyline, but you could easily read them only and still enjoy the stories they’ll tell, as the set-up for Star Wars #14 (Vol. 2) seems to hint things will get back to the Operation Starlight storyline started several issues back but also include more about the hunt of Han Solo. Soule recently said the series is built with a modular design in mind, meaning you could read the main miniseries starting in June or one of these series and still understand what happens in the overall crossover (as the final panel here suggests you only need to read the miniseries to continue the story)…though the more you read, the more complete the experience. Expect us to round-up the monthly events of War of the Bounty Hunters crossover with special Report articles, to help you keep up with what’s happening!
With Luke at the focus of the opening arc of the series, it made sense of him to take a backseat and let Leia and Lando, and the other stars like Shara Bey and Kes Dameron, be in the spotlight for a moment, especially as the story dealt with reuniting the scattered Rebellion fleet. It did become odd Luke was nowhere in sight though, but his return in Star Wars #13 (Vol. 2) is more than worth the wait and easily makes his previous absence shrug-worthy in hindsight. I know I’m not the only one who thoroughly enjoyed Luke’s big appearance in the season 2 finale of The Mandalorian, or his time in Battlefront II’s Pillio mission, or heck, even his more mature, calm, and Jedi-like ways by Return of the Jedi, this issue gives us a glimpse of how he ends up the Jedi Master he becomes. In A New Hope, Luke had trouble with a single training remote but here he easily flips, slices, and dices through a horde of them, Yoda’s words about being calm and at peace even in combat echoing through his training, which he manages even despite a Threepio interruption (and it feels like a small reference to Rey’s training scene in The Rise of Skywalker). It’s a great scene to show how far he’s come, but it’s what happens throughout the issue that really brings his newfound confidence and purpose to light. On Nar Shaddaa, Luke is easy-going, joking even, as they find themselves further and further in trouble on the Smuggler’s Moon (with a nice reference to his previous visit in Volume 1), and there’s an near-instant iconic panel with his new Jedi-like assuredness, igniting his lightsaber and telling the Kanji Hutt’s gangsters to let them be because he didn’t want to hurt any of them, giving me mad RotJ Luke vibes in the best way possible. It’s refreshing to see him, now past the news of Vader’s revelation (well, he still needs confirmation from Yoda), stepping into his own and being the Jedi Knight and eventual Master we all know he’ll become.
As fun as it was to see Luke out and about, being a great Jedi Knight, the rest of the issue was a blast to read as well, from the comedic bits with Threepio, the trouble they get themselves into on Nar Shaddaa, to the fast-pace overall. Threepio Soule plays Threepio brilliantly for humorous effect this issue, from his unwillingness to translate for Artoo as he doesn’t deem his info important, his lengthy list of Nar Shaddaa sayings (“Never tickle a Hutt” being my favorite, though someone should tell Diego Luna!), to how Luke keeps trying to tell him not jinx their escape. I was also very glad to see Chewbacca back in the thrust of the story as well, as it’s understandable he’d be sending out messages to any and all contacts in hopes of locating Han Solo, and then want to be on the mission with a good, solid lead. His anger is palatable when they learn Boba’s gone and they don’t have a good lead on where he went next, meaning the search for the frozen popsicle that is Solo has only gotten colder (couldn’t help myself, sorry); not having Chewie involved with the story would be a disservice to the character and their friendship, so I’m glad to see him so involved here and look forward to see how he’ll be part of the story in the coming issues. The lead on Nar Shaddaa turns out to be a surprising, though familiar Wookiee face: Sagwa, who Han and Chewie freed from the Spice Mines of Kessel in Solo: A Star Wars Story! Soule frequently finds amazing ways to tie the many different eras and stories together (remember issue #6??) and this was a small, but exciting part of such work, as it answers a question about some of the Wookiees who were freed, without telling the whole story, leaving room for it to be told; though Sagwa ending up with the Rebellion was an awesome way to continue his story!
Once the action winds down and the team is pulled back to the Rebellion, Artoo is finally able to pass along the urgent message, via Threepio, he had for Luke since the beginning of the issue: Artoo gives Luke a list of potential Jedi Outposts, much like the one he and Artoo visited on Tempes* in issue #6, which he found on the Death Star. This is so intriguing on so many different levels, it’s almost more levels than the Death Star has! I might be stretching, but it’s definitely got lots of intriguing potential. For starters, why was the list on the Death Star’s databanks, especially if Palpatine wasn’t even really ever scheduled to visit or be on it? Was it there as a list of potential targets after Yavin IV, for Tarkin to eradicate and wipe away the history of the Jedi? And then there’s Artoo just now coming to Luke with this info. It’s could just be handwave thing, like well where do we fit this so it makes sense Luke knows of all these places to go, like Pillio, and help set the stage for any post-Return of the Jedi Luke stories in the works (from novels, comics, or even a TV show) or there could be some fun theories why Artoo waiting until now: he’s an old droid, so he was just so caught up in things he didn’t consider it until now; seeing Luke’s progress after Dagobah and Yoda gave Artoo the confidence to pass along the information as he wants to see the latest Skywalker become a great Jedi; he’s calculated how things might go for the Rebellion against the Empire and wants Luke to get away from it all, knowing what happened to his friend Anakin, and go out in the galaxy to train and win the fight ahead. Like I said, all theories of course and I doubt it’s much deeper than ‘this felt like a great place to give Luke the information we already know from later stories he has,’ but it’s a fun scene with so much potential it’s hard not to get caught up in exploring it more.
Like I said earlier, the art team of Ramon Rosanas (art), Rachelle Rosenberg (colors), and Clayton Cowles (letterer) has a near instant iconic panel on their hands with Luke’s declaration to the Hutts of Nar Kanji gangsters: with his brown pants and high black boots, and a black v-neck, with his yellow lightsaber behind his back (Ahsoka Tano style), Chewbacca and Threepio beside him, it’s such a memorable, heroic look that it’s right up there with him standing in the hallway in The Mandalorian or rejoining the Rebellion after visiting Yoda one last time in RotJ. Beyond that, I really enjoyed how the team here handled one of my favorites from the Alpha issue, the Pa’lowick (think Sly Snootles) taking entries into the battle rink, as I felt like Rosanas managed to capture her indifferent attitude, while Rosenberg kept the coloring right that it only added to her return, instead of taking away. Wookiees can always be a hard thing for artists, but this team ensured Chewie looked familiar but so too did Sagwa, retaining much of his unique facial look but helping fill him in a bit since the rescue on Kessel, where he looked emancipated; Chewie’s anguish, mad their lead turned out to be nothing, was also a great two panels, from his initial yell getting a large, near-panel encompassing “argh” from letterer Cowles, spiking it such a way, and bathing it in red, it was easy to hear the anger and pain, while the second panel where he presses his attack, with a surprised Luke in the background, reminds me a lot of his actions in The Force Awakens right after Han’s death. This team made the swash-buckling look good, and the humor hit right, while it managed the emotional moments too.
Here are a few other things:
- *In the issue, Luke and Artoo talk about Elphrona, a location Luke actually won’t visit until much later alongside a young Ben Solo and Lor San Tekka, as the place he got the yellow lightsaber, but it’s actually Tempes. Soule wrote Light of the Jedi, which has a large chunk of the book take place on Elphrona, and he admitted this was just a small error that they’ll fix in later printings; guy has so many stories he’s working on I’m not jealous of having to keep that all straight…I know I’d make more mix-ups than he ever will!
- I translated all of the aurebesh in the panels and it wasn’t anything exciting, unfortunately, as it was generic stuff like club, saloon, and whatnot.
- Don’t forget, at the end of these issues, they’ve included a handy checklist for the overall crossover’s (34!) issue list!
Star Wars #13 (Vol. 2) brings back Luke in a fun, bold way, while the return of Sagwa and Chewie’s anguish over not having Han back ground this series in the big, epic-sized War of the Bounty Hunters crossover.
+ Luke on his way to Jedi Master status
+ Chewie’s prominence in a story about finding Han
+ Threepio humor and fast pace
+ Art team retaining characters and showing off Luke’s new confidence
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.
WAR OF THE BOUNTY HUNTERS CROSSOVER
May: Alpha #1 |
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