Expedited Introductions
I have a problem. I like to write. I find it cathartic to put my opinions and thoughts in writing. I even used to have a Blog about my local team in a certain professional sport that would be well suited to be played on Hoth. Then we had our first youngling and so ended my blog. Despite having two younglings now, I still manage to have a few quiet moments for thoughts and opinions. A lot of those thoughts and opinions are about Star Wars. In the interest of not talking about Star Wars to the point that my wife puts a death mark on me, I've decided to take another crack at blogging to get some of it out of my system. Since I have extremely limited time and energy to devote to it I'm just going to dive in and write when I can. Thanks for checking it out. Feel free to share any thoughts you might have about anything I write with me on G+ or Twitter.
Enhanced Interrogations
Enhanced is the best word I can think of for the most recent issue of the Marvel Star Wars Comic. I say enhanced because I don't think it's been bad at all in any of the previous four issues, but issue five takes it to the next gear. The first four issues did a great job of walking the fine line of having enough fan service to show fans "This is the Star Wars you know and love" all the while laying the groundwork for a new story. I feel the series really hits it's stride in issue five. Even the cover with it's flashy background and trio of intense looks says: "It's go time!"
*Spoilers Follow*
We now have a pretty good idea what everyone's motivations and goals are right now and we start to see these unfold in this issue. The pace of this issue is great, bouncing back and forth between Luke, Leia/Han, and everyone's favorite Mandalorian Bounty Hunter.
The issue Starts with Luke. He's searching for answers on Tatooine and struggling with what is likely some cognitive dissonance over why he's returned to the planet he used to be obsessed with leaving. His mind is telling him that it's a waste of time, but he seems to understand that it's where he needs to be, even if he doesn't fully understand why. What happens when he finds Ben's house has a beautiful symmetry to to when Anakin returns to his home world that juxtaposes Luke's choice of good to Anakin's choice of evil. Like much of this issue, the scenario feels familiar, but in a natural way that is not redundant or too gimmicky. Luke's part in this issue ends with him making a big discovery only to have the party crashed by none other than Boba Fett.
Before I go into Boba's part in this story, I should preface it by saying that my point of view on Boba is nearly entirely based on the Original Trilogy. It's my understanding that he get's fleshed out a little more in the Clone Wars series, but I've never seen it (Yet). So if I'm way off base due to my missing knowledge, I'm sorry. That said I LOVE what they do with Boba here. I am interested to see how it affects his popularity. I feel that Boba Fett's popularity (which I feel I can speak to since it predates the Clone Wars series) stems from the fact that his character is pretty much a blank slate. Sure we know from the films that he's a BAMF with sweet armor who always get's his mark, but his motivations outside of some daddy issues are largely unknown and where he falls in good vs. evil is largely undefined. I feel that this allowed fans to imagine their own ideals and motivations for his character, giving him universal appeal for fans who want to root for him regardless of which faction they favor. I think that the comics have put an end to that ambiguity. To throw back to my D&D days, I think previously you could make a reasonable case for any-non good/non-lawful alignment from true neutral to chaotic evil. I think that this issue clearly establishes once and for all he's evil through and through. His "Enhanced Interrogations" at the Mos Eisley Cantina don't do much to flesh out his motivations, but they sure show he clearly doesn't care about what is morally right and wrong. I also greatly appreciated John Cassaday's art, which from panel to panel seemed to convey the quick and precise way that a skilled killer like Boba Fett would move. As a side note I really wish that the Limited Edition Boba Fett Action Figure Cover Variant from
John Tyler Christopher had been for this issue.
Lastly we have Han & Leia. Their story feels a little bit like filler/build up for the most part, but it's ok because Jason Aaron captures the characters interactions and relationship perfectly. Up to this point I felt Han was kind of a little shaky and seemed out of place, but one on one with Leia he feels more natural. I find it refreshing that they have kept his mercenary "me first" mentality and haven't just flipped a switch to the "Reluctant Rebel leader" Han we see in Episode V. Han & Leia's familiar bickering culminates in a great cliffhanger where they as it seems they always do: Go from out of the frying pan and into the fire. I must say I am very intrigued as to who this woman chasing after Han may be.
All in all give this issue 4.5/5. It's my favorite so far out of all the Star Wars issues, and perhaps even out of all the Star Wars comics currently running, including the Darth Vader series, which up to this point has been my favorite series as a whole. Thanks for reading, if I get time next up will be a review of what seems to be the most controversial issue so far: Darth Vader #5.
So my wife's maternity leave has eneded so I've been crazy busy adjusting to the stay-at-home dad life with two kids instead of one and haven't had time to put thoughts to keyboard in a while. While I had a brief moment I wanted to throw out a brief PSA.
Long story short, I was pretty much right. Unless you are collecting and want all of the things, or haven't picked up issue #1 of either of these yet (What are you waiting for?!?!), I would wholeheartedly recommend skipping them. Basically you get the regular issue with a card stock "half finished" cover followed by a script plus maybe ten pages of some uncolored art. It's neat sure, but hardly worth it unless money is no object to you.
