– Spoiler Review –
It’s a Life Day miracle…Star Wars Adventures #5 (Vol. 2) has finally arrived, bringing with it a new Padmé and Anakin story and another Tales of Villainy, one looking at Tarkin in an important light.
“The Incident – Part 1″ Written by Katie Cook, Art by Cara McGee, Colors by Brittany Peer, Lettering by Jake M. Wood
Cara McGee’s art initially threw me, but I ended up really loving its Sunday Newspaper Comic Strip-vibes, so much so it was a highlight of the story for me. Anakin and Padmé don’t look like their movie counterparts, but McGee’s emotive style, with big blushes and exaggerated expressions looks much better on her version of the characters. She also keeps the dangerous aspects of the story more nebulous, because while the situation is clearly not good for the two secretive lovers, the animated art alleviates some of the distress. Brittany Peer’s colors only add to the feeling, staying bright and vibrant, much like the art and tone of the story. Jake Wood, the typical Adventures letterer, even joins the fun, his chirps for Checker, the astromech assigned to escort Padmé from the concert venue, and the “thwump” and “whump” for any fisticuffs keep the same aesthetic intact and show his range for tone and story.
The tone from the art stems from Katie Cook’s lighthearted affair, and besides her fun little comic in From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back, this is the first time I’ve really had the chance to enjoy her work. The tale itself isn’t much, Anakin and Padmé find themselves in the middle of dangerous situation and it’s all thanks to an ally with debts to the wrong people, but where her writing shines instead is how she handles the parents of destiny. Anakin has a goofy grin most of the time, which is very fitting as he tries to remember why he’s really there to protect the theater owner over meeting his wife, while Cook captures his penchant for unorthodox plans when Padmé notices he’s actually not knocked out by gas their attackers used. As for Padmé, Cook shows off her more mischievous side, as well as letting her skills shine through, as she skillfully takes out an attacker on her own, proving once again she doesn’t really need Anakin’s help…but probably appreciates it! I look forward to see how this wraps up and what other good romantic content we can get.
UPDATE: Someone pointed out to Anakin has two good hands in this issue, as one should be metallic at this point. Maybe he’s wearing some fake skin to make people comfortable? Or a skin-colored glove? Unfortunately, I bet it’s just an error.
Tales of Villainy: “The Short Goodbye” Written by Casey Gilly, Art by Butch Mapa, Colors by Charlie Kirchoff, Lettering by Johanna Nattalie
While “The Short Goodbye” features Tarkin, he’s not the main character and I appreciated how writer Casey Gilly uses this chance to give us both a slightly inspirational tale and scarcely seen take on Tarkin. With the Grand Moff, “Goodbye” doesn’t highlight his shrewd mind and fear-inducing tactics (and thankfully makes him keep his shirt on), but rather what those aspects of him are hiding: a coward who hides behind the achievements of others. We saw this most recently in Rogue One, as he takes the Death Star from Krennic’s hands, and here he leaves behind an accomplished leader to spur on the troops at Scarif as he scurries away to the Death Star, in case any spies may try to whisk away items from the base’s vaunted vault. It’s important to see all these sides of him, as a better way to flesh him out as a character and highlight, as these all-ages leaning comics tend to do, moral lessons. As for Captain A’shar Farless, I actually quite enjoyed his character, as his friendly demeanor with his bodyguard droid (a Dark Trooper), and his willingness to help younger cadets by inspiring others to create a nearly deadly distraction showed his character was stronger than that of Tarkin’s for the little things. Liking him is bittersweet, knowing what’s next for all the souls on Scarif.
Butch Mapa’s art is reminiscent of Adventures regular Derek Charm’s art, with its mostly clean, digital look, while Mapa has some great, telling expressions for characters. For example, Tarkin’s mean-mugging grin or snarky smile as he waves goodbye to A’shar captures the cavernous look of the character, while there’s a clear determination on A’shar’s face throughout, even after Tarkin’s goodbye, and I enjoyed how he manages to be playful with his droid or saddened thinking about what he asked his men to do to help others. Charlie Kirchoff’s colors only added to the Charm-like look of the issue, as he’s often working with him, and I really loved how his colors set the stage of Scarif in the opening panel, as the rising sun provided hues that didn’t look far off from Miami Vice, while the panels around Tarkin as he talks a bit about his past show how colorful his life’s been by being so colorful compared to the panels around them. As for lettering, Johanna Nattalie didn’t really deploy SFX, but kept the pacing of the story light with the heavier dialogue boxes and allowed the art to remain in the focus.
Here are a few other things:
- Heather Antos, editor for Marvel’s Star Wars comics for its first few years taking back over the license in 2015, now returns for IDW! So glad to have her back!
- When I say this is a miracle, it almost literally is, as Star Wars Adventures #5 was originally solicited for release this January, so it’s 6 months late and 3 months since issue #4. I won’t hold my breath on when we’ll get the next issue, but I’m always rather optimistic so maybe this is a sign things are finally turning around for IDW’s publishing woes.
Star Wars Adventures #5 (Vol. 2) is a decent enough return for the series after many months of delays, with a decent start to an Anakin and Padmé story and a Tales of Villainy not afraid to take Tarkin down a peg.
+ Fun Anakin and Padmé content
+ Revealing Tarkin’s weaknesses
– Tales don’t offer much new overall
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.
IDW’S STAR WARS ADVENTURES (Vol. 2) REVIEWS:
#1 | #2 | #3 | #4