Comic: Star Wars #1
Written By: Brian Wood
Pencils By: Carlos D'Anda
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: OUT NOW IN STORES & DIGITAL DOWNLOAD (VIA COMIXOLOGY)
rating: 3.5
After the Battle of Yavin, the Rebel Alliance needs a new base of operations. Luke, Leia and Wedge are scouting for a new planet for the rebels to call home but when they come under attack by the Empire, Mon Mothma realises that there may be a spy within the ranks, so she decides to set into motion a more covert team to carry out the Rebellions next moves.
I'm a long term Star Wars fan. I love the movies (yes, even the Prequels). I love the toys and I love the many animated series projects that have come out of the greatest film franchise in the galaxy but even with all that behind me I still struggle with expanded universe novels and comics (and even games to a certain degree). Over the years I've really only enjoyed the Dark Empire comic series but beyond that I found a whole lot of the comic and novel stories a little too far out of my remit for Star Wars lovin Its usually because the dialogue doesn't feel right, or Force powers are pushed into crazy realms or writers just take a genre they love and try to shoehorn it into the Star Wars Galaxy, generally with results that do nothing for me. Dont get me wrong, I've tried many a time to find a jump on point over the years but it never really sticks for me.
So, after hearing of the recent success of the all new Star Wars #1, the Star Wars fan in me got intrigued again. So I decided to give this one a shot, after all the future of the Star Wars movie franchise is soon to be out of George Lucass hands, So I best try to get used to a non-Lucas Star Wars galaxy before 2015 rolls around I guess. Anyway the first issue of this new Star Wars series was a solid affair. Its very Leia, centric as she goes from being The Princess to a key part of the Rebel Alliance and having her as the central character makes quite a bit of sense as were already aware of Lukes next big event in Empire Strikes Back. I have to admit, I didn't always feel the need for all the dialogue explaining every little move the three Rebel pilots were making every step of the way but I do appreciate that this title is trying to pull in a wide audience of readers, so I guess this sort of stuff is required given the wide range of age groups this might appeal to.
Really all this first issue is doing is setting up the players and their situations. We get a glimpse at Vaders current state and Palpatine gives him hassle about his failure on Yavin (no doubt leading into Vader upping his Force strangle factor on those put in charge around in when we arrive at Empire) . We also get Vaders intrigue with this new Skywalker on the scene which will no doubt be his focus moving forward. Additionally we get a look into how Hans big move on Yavin, that saved the day has made him even more cocky and why he isn't in a rush to pay off Jabba just yet. Really this plays to all of the crowd. Hardcore fans will dig the nods to what they know and how it leads on to what they know comes next, casual fans will just enjoy hanging out between movies with Luke, Han and Leia Id imagine and new comers to Star Wars comics get the characters they know in a situation they feel comfortable in. Overall this is a great jump on point, with solid action and a premise that makes sense. Its not strangled with years and years of Expanded Universe mythology and the story is well told with some great comic book art versions of our Star Wars characters to boot.
For a non-fan of the Star Wars Expanded Universe. Id say I was impressed with this comic but not in awe of it really. I'm certainly not fully converted to the world of Star Wars comics yet, as it still suffers from not quite feeling like Star Wars and more just feels like expansions on elements that are in the films anyway but as I said I am a hard fan to please outside of the films. However, I'm in for at least the next couple of issues, just to see if the story itself can keep hold of me. Ill happily hang out with Luke, Han and Leia until I lose interest in yet another between stories story but hey, maybe this time will be different, it's certainly off to a good start.