– Spoiler Review –
With the trial of Lando Calrissian at an end, the Rebellion looks to focus on the big battles ahead, though Princess Leia finds herself struggling with her heart and her status as a figurehead in Star Wars #48 (Vol. 2), especially as a new crisis hits far too close to home.
After Luke’s struggles with cleansing a kyber crystal and Lando’s trial for his crimes against the Rebellion, Leia Organa seems like the natural next step for Charles Soule’s series to focus on before it ends with issue #50 in September.* Her feelings on what’s happened since Cloud City, and her desire to rescue Han, started to come back into play during Lando’s trial when she took the witness stand, so it seems natural we dive into how she’s juggling being a leader in the Rebellion and still trying to be a person, an individual, at the same time. This dichotomy of her roles and wants has always been a place of fertile character development with Leia and Soule makes it worth readers’ time here. After experiencing a dream/vision of the Death Star destroying Alderaan, which showcases her self-imposed guilt over the incident, her unrest prompts her to meet with Luke Skywalker, to talk through what’s going on. If you want some great scenes with brother and sister before they actually know the truth, look no further than this issue, and likely the next. As she’ll tell Luke at the end of their conversation, she feels comfortable enough to be herself around him, not a symbol, and we see it in the way she lets out her emotions, from crying, admitting it all feels like too much, and her concerns her final, and the Rebellion’s, days are to come. It’s the sense of finality which is sticking with her the most, the idea of a second Death Star looming in the horizon, making her feel like her desire to save Han Solo is absolutely selfish, but she’s afraid she’s running out of time, that she won’t live past the battle to come, and then who will come after him? It’s refreshing to have her express these things, as while it’s great to see her constantly be the bastion of hope for the Rebellion, letting her be a person as well, her own wants and desires, helps put into perspective how she’s really felt about everything and better aligns with stuff we see afterwards, like The Princess and the Scoundrel and the later the sequel trilogy. During this confession of her feelings, Luke’s as supportive as you’d expect, but what I appreciated most about Soule’s writing here was how Luke lets her talk it out and doesn’t try to find the solution for her, he respects her too much to assume he’ll have the answers she needs, and just asks how he can help instead. He does offer her guidance on what she’s saying, pointing out she isn’t to blame for Alderaan or it’s impossible to have such certainty over the future, but the way he lets himself be open to help points to the amazing Jedi he’ll become.
Their conversation is cut short when Evaan Verlaine, a fellow Alderaanian, comes with bad news about Alderaan’s people: they’ve gone missing! This all ties back to the 2015 Princess Leia miniseries, where Evaan and Leia leave Yavin IV in the wake of the Death Star’s destruction and try to gather up as much of their fellow Alderaanians before the Empire gets to them. By the series’ end, a group of survivors is assembled, with a leader picked amongst them, and they were left to wonder the galaxy, only Evaan knowing their current location or checking in on them, to keep them safe. It’s been a lingering thread for nine years now and I had given up hope we’d hear anything about it, so I’m glad to be proven wrong, but one should always expect Soule to offer surprising nuggets across the eras if he can get the chance. Evaan’s news is she’s lost contact with the group and wants permission to go check on them, with Luke suggesting Leia go along on, saying it might be what her dreams are pointing towards, which Evaan does point out they are technically military assets to the Rebellion to justify it. She gives into their ideas, with Luke joining the mission, and the group heads out to the last known location. I loved seeing Evaan and Leia together, though it’s never felt like enough since the 2015 miniseries (even with Evaan’s part in Aftermath: Life Debt), so hopefully that could change one day.
When they arrive in the middle of nowhere space (maybe they should’ve sent them to the Nihil’s No-Space so they couldn’t be found), they detect at very least one or two life signs aboard one of the Alderaanian fleet ships and Luke and Leia decide to board it and check it out. They find Jora Astane, a character from the 2015 miniseries who originally distrusted Leia and later became her advocate, floating in a bacta tank, but while everything points to her being alive, Luke can sense in the Force she’s actually dead and someone set her up to make it appear like she’s alive! As Admiral Ackbar will famously say at Endor, it’s a trap! Raiders appear, giving Evaan a run for her money in space and forcing Leia and Luke to make for escape pods, trying to avoid the boarding party. As the ship begins to blow up, Luke pushes Leia into the sole occupant escape pod and ejects it, saying he’ll catch the next one. We follow Leia’s point-of-view and watch the ship explode shortly after, Luke presumably still aboard…and then Leia’s pod is picked up by the raiders, who take them to their leader: Zahra!!!!! With only two issues left in the series after this, Soule’s still pulling off big cliffhangers like this?! Commander Zahra was a ruthless and worthy opening antagonist for this series when it debuted 4 years ago, as she would go on to doggedly pursue and mess with the Rebellion, specifically Leia, up until issue #24, where Leia ends up leaving her for dead with a creepy creature in a cave. Not killing Zahra was the right choice at the time, as doing so only would’ve proven the other woman correct, but will Leia come to regret it? What did Zahra do to the rest of the Alderaanians? How are Luke and Evaan? Seriously hyped to find out!
As for art on this two-issue arc, Jethro Morales joins the series, with Rachelle Rosenberg and Clayton Cowles remaining as colorist and letterer, respectively. The opening dream is a daze of intriguing images, from Leia on the Death Star, at the firing station, Tarkin and Darth Vader standing over her shoulder, to the young Leia on Alderaan, hugging her parents, but it’s the image of Leia standing at a viewport on the Rebellion ship, looking out at space, which stuck with me more. She’s standing there, arms crossed, looking out in the void of space, her back to us and the rest of the ship. The void is probably more reassuring than her survivor’s guilt-ridden dreams, while having her back to us is a powerfully simple way to show how she’s hiding this part of herself from everyone else. In the next panel, when Luke calls her name, she only turns her head back towards him, while Cowles lets Luke’s word bubble hang in the void of space next to her, as if it’s trying to reach out and not quite getting through yet. If you watch over the rest of their conversation, Leia’s arms remain crossed and her back is facing Luke for most of it, but as she begins to open up more, she not only loosens up her arms, but she begins to turn towards him, leading to her tears and eventual embrace of him, her back now towards the void, allowing someone to fully see the person underneath the symbol. The colors by Rosenberg helps tell this transition as well, as the overwhelming blackness of space is often in every panel Leia is in, despite the crisp whites of the ship around her and Luke, and we see less of the dark space colors by her the more she turns towards Luke and embraces him. I like big, shocking, vivid imagery as much as the next reader, but it’s often these subtilities which remind me of what makes this medium such a joy to read. The bacta tank Luke and Leia find the dead Jora Astane is likewise bright, hopeful in the first panel we see it, but as Luke senses the truth of Jora’s condition, we don’t see the bright overhead lights as much and the tank looks brackish, darker as its sinister purpose becomes clear. And lastly, Zahra’s return is some great character design, from the scaring on her face and neck, the new metal arm clenched in a fist and metal leg on the same side, while her holding her sword again, which Leia left with her, proves the woman’s tenacity if her scars and new limbs didn’t. Talk about an entrance!
Here are a few other things:
- By Leia and everyone else thinking it’s just dreams she’s dealing with, it’s a clever way to disguise a Force vision and her Force sensitivity.
- *In case you missed it somehow, this Star Wars series is coming to an end in September with issue #50! The final issue will feature Luke teaching Ben Solo, where he’ll be sharing stories of the Rebellion and other eras to his pupil, and Soule revealed in his newsletter the four chapter names for the big 50-issue finale! SDCC 2024’s Patton Oswalt hosted publishing panel is when I’m expecting them to unveil what’s coming next for Marvel’s comic line (though a 4-issue Ewok miniseries was just revealed), so check back to the Manor with the news when it drops!
- Considering heading over to Kickstarter and supporting Soule’s latest campaign, the concept album for his comic Curse Words!
Star Wars #48 (Vol. 2) sets up quite the interesting exploration of Leia as past traumas and enemies become unavoidable.
+ Seeing Leia as a person too
+ Luke and Leia, as well as Evaan and Leia, goodness
+ What a great cliffhanger reveal!
– Will two issues be enough for this story?
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website on Bluesky, Twitter @MynockManor, and Instagram @mynockmanor.
STAR WARS (Vol. 2)
The Destiny Path: #1-6 — Operation Starlight: #7-11 — War of the Bounty Hunters: #12-18 — Crimson Reign: #19-24 — Special Issue: #25 — The Path to Victory: #26-30 — Quests of the Force: #31 | #32 | #33 | #34 | #35 | #36 — Dark Droids: #37 | #38 | #39 | #40 | #41 — #42 | #43 — Trial of Lando Calrissian: #44 | #45 | #46 | #47