– Spoiler Review –
Star Wars Adventures #8 (Vol. 2) main tale takes the sibling fun a little too far, while the backup “Tales of Villainy” doesn’t land.
“The Princess and the Bog, A Twin Tale – Part 2″ Written by Sam Maggs, Art by Liana Kangas, Colors by Brittany Peer, Lettering throughout by Johanna Nattalie
The sibling humor and interactions from Part 1 of this tale carry over into Part 2, but writer Sam Maggs takes it overboard here, the goofiness stretching out of character that at times I wasn’t able to suspend my disbelief over the characterizations to truly enjoy it. For the all-ages audience this series focuses on, it’ll still provide plenty of entertainment and overall I might be in the minority as some of the over-the-top shenanigans here just didn’t land for me, like the starry-anime-like eyes about the binog. I was immensely pleased, almost to Luke’s level but not quite, by the binog’s part in the story, as it fit with its Jedi: Fallen Order background role, where it scurries further away while the Empire is on Bogano and then comes closer when they are purged, while finally seeing it in action and interacting with Luke and Leia was fun; I was sort of jealous because I really wanted to interact with it in the game! Despite the goofiness taking over too much for me, in the end I appreciated what the tale did for the (unknown to them) sibling relationship of Luke and Leia, allowing them to have this low-stakes journey and helping them see how collaboration will benefit them working together in the future.
Again, Liana Kangas’ art really aided the story’s humor and gave the story’s wholesome messaging/feeling a great boost with its looser styling, though, like the examples I mentioned above, it went a little too far for my particular liking. That being said, while the brief action moments were a little confusing, I did like how it felt like it gave you a chance to catch up to what happened as Luke and Leia were running around taking out stormtroopers, almost as if the single panel was a flipbook. Peer’s watercolor-like work meshes well with the lighter sentiments of the tale and brings our Kangas’ newspaper strip art style, and I just really appreciated how much she helped make the stormtroopers stand out as an other to the planet of Bogano compared to Luke and Leia. Lastly Nattalie’s lettering gets a workout in this part of the issue, as she really goes all out with the expressive and large SFX with a styling similar to the art, with my favorite being the SMACK when the Bingo hits the stormtrooper and then it’s defiant, don’t mess with us FLICK shortly after.
Tales of Villainy: “Trade Relations” Written by Danny Lore, Art by Arianna Florean, Colors by Ronda Pattison
I don’t understand the feelings regarding trade negotiations not being the most exciting or thrilling story focus, since usually the argument is made as an overly simplistic way for people to write off the prequels when there are so many other things happening in those great films, and while I still can’t sympathize, I will say this “Tales of Villainy” and its negotiations and story are still confusing after a few read throughs. And it’s more about how the story is presented than necessarily what the story’s about, as it shifts suddenly and has far too much exposition dialogue that the last page surprise doesn’t quite land; the character manipulating events and the clone who almost discovers her intentions don’t have enough characterization or non-expositional dialogue for them and their parts of the story to really feel earned. It ends with potential for a sequel, with Count Dooku wanting to take out the clone who suspects his mole, though it’s a two page appearance and feels very flimsy, like the rest of this tale, for it to be the sole reason they could even mention Count Dooku for solicitations of this issue.
Otherwise, Arianna Florean’s art is always a delight, its clean styling and digital cartoon look at least makes it easy to follow the action in each panel or see some of the confusion in the clone’s face or the traitor’s duplicity as she contacts Dooku. Florean previously provided art about the clones in The Clone Wars – Battle Tales miniseries for IDW, and while she goes the route of giving them distinct or unique faces compared to what we know, it’s a fitting look and style for the stories she’s usually working on. Colors by Ronda Pattison keep each of the characters very distinct with the bright, loud choices be it the purple, blue, or green outfits, while I loved how it also aided in giving each clone their own personality and help tell them apart. The grim blue of Dooku’s sinister appearance, and all the shadows it produces, helped sell the traitorous scene. Nattalie’s lettering is far more focused on helping the reader digest the packed script and much SFX, but I feel like Florean and Pattison’s art didn’t need much assistance in that regard.
Star Wars Adventures #8 (Vol. 2) overall doesn’t land like the previous issue.
+ Sibling Understanding
+ Art on both tales have their moments
– Backup tale offers a shrug
– Main tale goes a little overboard
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 | #5 | #6 | #7