– Spoiler Review –
Vacations for our characters thankfully never last long for us readers, even if they need it and deserve it, as a trip to gather more fuel has led some key Rebellion members to a mysterious place from the High Republic era called No-Space, where the truth of what they discover certainly ramps back up the excitement and intrigue for Star Wars #30 (Vol. 2).
While the vacation aspect of the latest arc was hard to swallow last issue, especially with time seemingly feeling like it’s going to run out soon on this part of the era before Return of the Jedi begins, the way the story ended more than left me intrigued. After stealing an ancient Path engine from a Nihil ship being auctioned off, they barely make it away in time to install the item and jump to hyperspace in the hopes it’ll lead them to the fuel-rich Kezarat Convoy, only to find themselves transported to an eerie, abandoned location known as No-Space. The Nihil were marauders from the High Republic era who used the special Path engines to jump through hyperspace in surprising and unique ways, while No-Space was their secretive base, all things key to the storytelling of The High Republic publishing initiative’s Phase I: Light of the Jedi. Writer Charles Soule is one of the initiatives architects, so he’s able to supply enough information here, like he did last issue, where readers who aren’t familiar with the new era yet won’t feel too left out, though at the same time he provides some interesting potential teases for those readers who are. Regardless, both readers of this series and initiative are still in for an intriguing, good time this issue since the answers are surprising and intriguing, while the characters get some great moments as well.
Leia, Lando, Luke, Amilyn, and Chewbacca arrive at No-Space and immediately try to leave, but the still connected Path engine forces them to stay, causing them to land on the barren slice of land hovering before them, the Nihil’s once Great Hall, to effect repairs. Surprisingly enough, they aren’t alone, as they meet a young boy in a space suit with some weird syntax, calling the group “News” and himself an Old, and saying there’s even Old Olds, while asking for “flavors.” The conversation with him isn’t terribly fruitful but is cut short by the arrival of giant, menacing droids with blaster proof and lightsaber resistant armor, causing the kid to run away by jumping off the edge into the expanse of space. The group’s shaken but can’t concentrate on it long with the droids attacking them, though with their weapons useless against them and the cold vacuum of space their only option, it’s not looking good for our heroes…until a weird ship arrives and opens its hatch to them. They make the jump, Luke having to save Lando, and find themselves in the ship of more people like the kid, relinquishing their weapons to be ferried away to safety…the safety of the Kezarat Convoy! For 200 years, the ships and their occupants of the convoy have grown into a little colony, surviving in the unknown reaches of No-Space, developing a certainly unique society of their own. This isn’t the first time Star Wars, or any sci-fi, has gone down this route before, but I always find it interesting and I can’t wait to see what Soule has in store, as we know this group will leave at some point, but will they bring the colony with them, will the colony want to stay, or something in-between?* All I know is, if they’ve been living here for 200 years, I have a sinking feeling the wells of fuel will be dryer than Amilyn Holdo hoped, but we’ll have to wait and see as this arc unfolds!
Speaking of Amilyn, this is not going like she planned beyond the potential lack of fuel. She knows Leia, they go way back as we first saw in the excellent Leia: Princes of Alderaan, so she knows her friend doesn’t take breaks, doesn’t take it easy, not now, not back when they were younger, not ever. She devised this plan to both help the Rebellion, yes, but the advantage of the plan wasn’t so much what the Rebellion could get, but what she could offer her friend: a much needed break. And now they are trapped with a colony grown from a convoy, no way to fight off the big machines around their ship, the only way out. She expresses her apologies to Leia, but Leia, always able to lift others up even if she’s down, tells Amilyn she’s just happy they got to spend time together. It was a bonus there was a pool to enjoy and a fancy party, sure, but for Leia this little connection with a friend is more than enough, regardless of the circumstances or outcome. It’s only a page long, but it carries a lot of weight, and it makes me crave for more, especially since it feels a bit more natural to their history than last issue’s men-focused talks…and since it ends with Lando ruining the moment with a well-timed joke. Having Amilyn back hasn’t quite been at the level one could hope, but if there can be more moments like what we got in issue #30, it’ll only strengthen both characters, the series, and help build into what we saw in The Last Jedi.
The little bit of Lando and Luke bonding went a long way for me this issue as well, as the two don’t always spend much time together in the films but it’s hard to imagine they didn’t, so seeing it all now helps for stories later, like Shadow of the Sith and The Rise of Skywalker. It might not be as substantial or deep as the Leia and Amilyn content, but considering Lando was making fun of Luke last issue, almost dismissively calling him Jedi instead of by his name, that he comes around on Luke after the latter saves him freezing in the cold vacuum of space helps show him the need and reality of having a Jedi around. While I might point more towards SotS and TRoS for what this helps, it also builds into their eventual teamwork for rescuing Han from Jabba the Hutt’s Palace, and it feels like a natural progression from where they were in the end of The Empire Strikes Back/the beginning of this series.
Returning after a one-issue break Andrés Genolet provides art again alongside Rachelle Rosenberg and Clayton Cowles, colorist and letterer respectively. Genolet taking over has felt like a minor pivot from the previous work on the series and he doesn’t disappoint again, capturing their essence with his own take yet make it easy from a glance who is in the panel, an uncanny ability. In particular, what really made the chat between Amilyn and Leia work so well is the feelings they wear plainly on their faces, from Amilyn concerned face over ‘failing’ her friend to Leia’s reassuring smile after she recalls her painful life so far just a panel before, Rosenberg’s colors allowing the spaceship around them fade away and the focus remain on the two women, while Cowles ensures the bubbles only assist the colors in pushing the background out of focus and putting their words and Genolet’s art in the forefront instead. After the arresting visual of No-Space last issue, I was curious how the series could follow up on it and how unique the location is considering we’ve seen it so rarely in a visual medium. In big ways and small it played with the edge of space nature of the location, with my favorite being a single panel of Luke and Lando looking out over the edge, the expanse of space overwhelming the little panel, Rosenberg’s black coloring doing its best to differentiate where Luke and Lando’s capes end and space begins, the way it’s not always certain making the two feel so small against the larger backdrop; the bigger scene Genolet has fun with the concept is the crew backed to the edge, with no way to escape, as I’m sure the Nihil liked to do to one another and any other enemies who made their way to their Great Hall, pushing them to the edge until they fell into the great abyss. To me, the best panel of the issue is the one of the human kid in the space suit the group first met, having collected everyone’s weapons in a knapsack after they were thrown into space, igniting Luke’s lightsaber and flying off with their jetpack, a funny visual after Luke’s concern and warning the kid could hurt himself and funny for all those who ever think using one can only be done by the most powerful of Force-users.
Here are a few other things:
- *While we already know the group will leave No-Space, we just don’t know the particulars yet, we sort of already know where the series will go next beyond even the usual comic solicitations, as this is the first issue since Revelations, the big one-shot that glimpsed in the future of all Star Wars comics currently out from Marvel. In it, the seeds were planted for a story involving a droid revolutionary coming to cause problems for the galaxy, all still ahead of Return of the Jedi somehow, and that Luke, Lando, Leia, Chewie, Artoo, and Threepio would all come into contact with the droid sometime after escaping No-Space (and spoiling my questions on whether the colony comes back to the fleet or not, something I’m a little confused over why it was done). Beyond that, there’s Luke seen holding two gems, one red and the other green, seemingly a call-out to a Legends storyline sort of wrapped up in a one-off comic a few years ago.
- The Abyssin who greets the group on the rescue ship could even be from the original run of the ship, considering they can live longer lives.
Star Wars #30 (Vol. 2) doesn’t disappoint in opening up an intriguing mystery for the series to explore, while it also manages to let the characters have some pleasant shared moments as well.
+ Intriguing story and colony to explore
+ Amilyn and Leia’s connection
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.
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 — War of the Bounty Hunters: #13 | #14 | #15 | #16 | #17 | #18 — Crimson Reign: #19 | #20 | #21 | #22 | #23 | #24 — Special Issue: #25 — The Path to Victory: #26 | #27 | #28 | #29