Star Wars #3
Jason Aaron, Writer
John Cassady, Artist
Laura Martin, Colorist
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed Darth Vader and Princess Leia, but the main Star Wars series continues to be the most fun of the three Marvel series set in a galaxy far, far away. Here the iconic heroes are all featured, with a healthy dose of Vader thrown in for good measure. Then there’s the action . . . it’s pretty much non-stop. Straight from the previous issue, Han and Leia continue to fight their way through the Imperial weapon factory in a stolen AT-AT, but things are not going well.
Faced with a wall of tanks and AT-ST’s blocking their path, even the AT-AT is in trouble. Things go all the worse when, in a cool collection of scenes, Vader arrives to chop the massive walker’s legs down with his lightsaber. (Quick aside: this series and his own self-titled comic have come a long way in restoring Darth Vader’s coolness after the annoying prequel version of Anakin Skywalker did so much damage.)
Even with the threat of Vader, and a battle raging around them, we see the earliest signs of attraction between Han and Leia. While that’s a pretty historic Star Wars moment, the story so far has really been all about Luke. Despite his inexperience, he displays the bravery and natural Force abilities that will eventually bring down the Empire. For now though, he’s surviving, and ultimately succeeding by the skin of his teeth.
Already he’s saved a number of slaves, diverted Vader away from his friends and now he goes back inside the weapons factory, in order to finish the original sabotage mission. Even though Luke has accomplished so much, he still questions his abilities, which leads to a cutaway scene to Tantooine and Obi-Wan Kenobi’s deserted home. Inside is a mysterious box labeled “For Luke.”
My Thoughts
First three issues have been fantastic. With the Imperial weapons factory destroyed, it looks like the series will move onto a pretty significant storyline concerning Luke’s early Jedi training.
As I mentioned in the beginning, the action in this series has been constant. It’ll be interesting if things slow down a bit now that the initial story arch is finished. Even if things cool down to a simmer, big things are ahead, and some fairly big chunks of backstory look to be filled soon.
Besides the fun storyline, everything else is working quite well in Star Wars. The art is fantastic, arguably the best of the three ongoing series. All of the main characters, Luke and Leia in particular, look like their straight from the movies. Really spectacular work there.
In addition, the nerd in me is thrilled to see all the classic Imperial vehicles featured in this comic. We’ve got AT-AT’s, AT-ST’s, speeder bikes and TIE fighters all present, and often in the same panels! Again, John Cassaday’s art is great, and really brings these things to life.
The only downside, and I’m not sure if I should even call it that, is that we know these heroes will survive. There isn’t really a sense of drama or peril, even as they find themselves face-to-face with Darth Vader. Still, the storylines are very engaging, and this series is all about telling the backstories of Han, Luke, Leia, etc.
My Recommendation
No real problems with Star Wars, and I wholeheartedly recommend it.
