Whether or not you liked The Force Awakens’ comic adaptation (we weren’t that big of fans of it here at the Manor), there’s a whole new creative team behind Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’s adaptation, with Jody Houser as writer and Emilio Laiso (Star Wars Annual #2) on artist duties. You can look for it in comic shops with issue #1 starting in April, but before then, you’ll find below that I’ve looked into Houser’s past works (and mention how she fits into my hopes for 2017’s comics) and what Laiso means for the story as an artist.
Jody Houser worked previously on the Oprhan Black comic, which wasn’t so much an adaptation but an expansion of the characters from the show, so she seems to know her way around working with properties brought to life first on a screen. Her site mainly reveals she’s worked on several limited series comics, meaning she’s no stranger to a short run of issues, which Rogue One will be a total of six. And lastly, she’s heading the Faith ongoing for Valiant comics, which stars a plus-sized superhero and has gone on to have the fastest third through fifth printing of a single issue in comics history; It seems she’s doing something right, hey? In the interview with EW.com, she teases the comic will expand on what was seen in the both the film and novelization, while she seems to most look forward to writing about Jyn, Cassian, and Bohdi because, “You have the new convert, the lapsed believer, and the life-long devout thrown together to work for a common goal.” She sounds like a pretty good fit for the adaptation, so here’s hoping that ends up being true in the finished product. Another great thing about Houser is that in my 2016 Year-in-Review of the comics, I found 2016’s dearth of female creatives working on Star Wars a problem and well, I have to say, this is a good start at turning that around.
Emilio Laiso drew for his first second Star Wars comic with the highly entertaining Star Wars Annual #2 in December (his first was Shattered Empire #2) and while I enjoyed his work there, I’m not entirely sure it’ll be a good fit for RO. Laiso’s art in Annual #2 was a little more cartoon-ish in its exaggerations, which worked very well with the story of that issue, but it might feel out of place with the darker, grittier tone of RO. But there’s been no preview pages released yet so I can’t say for certain, as Laiso could adjust his style accordingly.
Check back in April for our reviews! UPDATE: The first issue is here and it really delivers!
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website @MynockManor.
SEE ALSO:
Movie Review: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (by Ryan)
Canon Novel Review: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (by Chris)
Canon Novel Review: Catalyst: A Rogue One Novel (by Ryan)
Soundtrack Review: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (by Elliot)
Darth Maul Comic Series Set to Unleash the Sith in February 2017
Doctor Aphra Comic Series Announced, Drops December! (UPDATED)
Yoda-Centric Star Wars Comic Arc Announced, New On-Going Series Teased
Darth Vader Ongoing Comic Ends with Issue #25
Rogue One Prequel Novel and Comic Announced, New Bloodline Details Revealed at C2E2 2016 (UPDATED)
Upcoming Comic Releases Include Han Solo Miniseries, The Force Awakens Adaptation
Poe Dameron Headlines New On-Going Comic Series
Marvel’s Back: Star Wars Comics 2015 Year-in-Review
Darth Vader
Vader (#1-6) | Shadows and Secrets (#7-12) | The Shu-Torun War (#16-19) | End of Games (#20-25) | Annual: #1
Doctor Aphra
Aphra (#1-6)
Poe Dameron
Black Squadron (#1-3) | Lockdown (#4-6) | The Gathering Storm (#7-10)
Han Solo (mini-series)
Obi-Wan & Anakin (mini-series)
Kanan
The Last Padawan (#1-6) | First Blood (#7-12)
Vader Down (crossover of Star Wars and Darth Vader on-goings)
Star Wars
Skywalker Strikes (#1-6) | Old Ben’s Journals | Showdown on the Smuggler’s Moon (#8-12) | Rebel Jail (#16-19) | The Last Flight of the Harbinger (#21-25) | Yoda’s Secret War (#26-30) | Annual: #1 | #2
Shattered Empire (mini-series)
Lando (mini-series)
Chewbacca (mini-series)
Princess Leia (mini-series)
Darth Maul: Son of Dathomir (mini-series)
One-Shots: C-3PO