Star Wars: Chewbacca

Second of two gifts I bought for the Kiddo at Boocup, Kerry Place, Jingan, Shanghai, China.

Title: Star Wars: Chewbacca
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Date: January  2016
Writer: Gerry Duggan
Artist: Phil Noto
Letterer: VC's Joe Caramagna
Editor: Jordan D. White, Heather Antos
Cover: Phil Noto

Classic spaghetti-Western stranger-comes-to-town story with Chewbacca crash-landing on a planet (between the events of A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back) and meeting up with a girl who has just escaped imprisonment in a gangster's mining operation.

Writing Chewbacca is an interesting challenge, as his dialogue is restricted to wookie growls and roars, which leaves much of the storytelling in the hands of Zarro the escaped mine-worker. Fortunately, Zarro is a lot of fun, a nice mix of youthful idealism and brash snark.

The villains are less interesting, particularly Jaum, the rather generic gangster boss, who never really feels like he has a chance against the good guys.

There is a bit of backstory and character development for Chewie, but the focus is mostly placed squarely on Zarro, with Chewie as the strong and (not always) silent type.

A couple of other characters who come in later in the story felt a bit underused: Sevox, a blind tinkerer who sees through the eyes of a protocol droid, and the Imperial star destroyer captain Commander Kai both felt like they had a ton of unrealized potential, and it would be great to see either or both of them get more of a spotlight in another series.

Phil Noto's artwork is lovely. He does a great job with Chewbacca's expressions and body language, and I love the look of Zarro. His supporting characters all have excellent and distinctive designs as well.

Rating: 7.5/10

Star Wars: Han Solo

This was a Christmas present I bought for the Kiddo at Boocup, Kerry Place, Jingan, Shanghai, China.

Title: Star Wars: Han Solo
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Date: January  2017
Writer: Marjorie Liu
Penciler: Mark Brooks
Inker: Mark Brooks, Dexter Vines
Colorist: Sonia Oback, Matt Milla
Letterer: VC's Joe Caramagna
Editor: Jordan D. White, Heather Antos

This exceeded all expectations, in spite of the story being a tiny bit contrived.

Trade paperback collection of a limited series. Taking place between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, this has Han recruited by Leia to infiltrate a high-stakes spacecraft race while smuggling several rebel spies, at least one of whom may be a traitor.

What made this great were the original characters introduced for this series, something that can often be a weak spot in these adaptations. In this case the supporting cast was excellent, especially the mysterious space-racing veteran Loo Re Anno, who absolutely steals the show. Several other rival racers are fun characters, and there's also some good interactions with the various rebel spies and operatives that Han encounters.

There's good consistent character development for Han, as well. Nothing shocking, but a lot of little insights in his internal monologue that runs through much of the story.

Chewie and Leia get good moments as well, and the artwork is excellent, with some clever page layouts especially in some of the racing sequences.

This is a fun adventure perfectly suited to Han's character.

Rating: 8.5/10

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story #6

Another summer purchase by the Kiddo.

Title: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Issue: 6
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Date: November 2017
Writer: Jody Houser
Artist: Emilio Laiso
Colorist: Rachelle Rosenberg
Letterer: VC's Clayton Cowles
Editor: Heather Antos
Cover: Phil Noto

We somehow missed getting #5. Here are links to reviews of the rest of this series: Issue #1, Issue #2, Issue #3, Issue #4.

Rogue One concludes at a frantic pace with a desperate running battle to get the Death Star plans off of the planet Scarif and into the hands of the Rebel Alliance. The pacing of the comic captures the frenetic feel of the action in the film while managing to downplay a couple of the plot contrivances that weaken the story.

As with some other Star Wars comics I've read, the medium does not do a very good job with space battles, especially when small panels become necessary to cover all of the plot and dialogue. Lack of page space also hurts some of the ending scenes.

Rogue One has a few really big moments at the very end, and this issue could really have used 3-5 more pages to give them the treatment that they really deserved. Instead, much of the finish (I felt like one scene worked and two failed badly) does not live up to what we saw on the big screen.

Rogue One is a good story that packs its strongest emotional punch in the scenes covered in this issue, and it's an important moment in the overall Star Wars saga. This comic delivers on some of that emotion, but could have done better.

Rating: 5.5/10

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story #4

Kiddo was buying all Star Wars all the time this past summer!

Title: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Issue: 4
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Date: September 2017
Writer: Jody Houser
Artist: Emilio Laiso
Colorist: Rachelle Rosenberg
Letterer: VC's Clayton Cowles
Editor: Heather Antos
Cover: Phil Noto

The fourth issue of Marvel's adaptation of Rogue One covers some of the film's most iconic lines, including "Rebellions are built on hope!", and the naming of the Rogue One callsign.

Mon Mothma gets a nice scene in this issue, which is cool since she is a character who seems to get overlooked quite a bit. This issue also features Vader, plus a lot of setup for the action that will comprise the last two issues.

The pacing was good, and the art was solid, especially on Jyn's expressions and emotions.

Rating: 6/10

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story #3

Another of the Kiddo's purchases over the summer.

Title: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Issue: 3
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Date: August 2017
Writer: Jody Houser
Artist: Pablo Villanelli
Colorist: Rachelle Rosenberg
Letterer: VC's Clayton Cowles
Editor: Heather Antos

I reviewed issue #1 here, and issue #2 here.

The third installment of Marvel's adaptation of Rogue One covers the escape from Jedha and ends cliffhanger-style on Eadu.

A lot of the focus in this issue was on the tensions between the characters as hidden agendas come to the forefront and conflicting interests threaten to shatter the tenuous trust that has built up between the group of rebels Jyn Erso has found herself in the company of.

The key scenes here worked better on film because the actors were able to give more subtle emotional cues than it's possible to get in the comic medium, in spite of a valiant effort by artist Pablo Villanelli.

The adaptation remains faithful to the film, but the pacing of this issue and the abrupt cliffhanger made it feel very fragmentary.

Rating: 5/10

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story #2

The Kiddo picked up several Star Wars comics at various shops around New England this past summer, including most of the individual issues of Marvel's Rogue One adaptation.

Title: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Issue: 2
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Date: July 2017
Writer: Jody Houser
Artist: Emilio Laiso, Oscar Bazaldua
Colorist: Rachelle Rosenberg
Letterer: VC's Clayton Cowles
Editor: Heather Antos

The second issue of Rogue One covers the action that takes place on Jedha. The main focus of this part of the story is to introduce Chirrut Imwe, Baze Malbus, and Saw Gerrera, and to expose Jyn Erso to the secret message left for her by her father, Galen Erso.

There are some street-level skirmishes, but most of this issue is setup for what is to come.

Jyn looks great throughout this issue, and the art team does good work with Baze and Chirrut as well. The story pacing is handled well, and it felt like it moved along at a comparable rhythm to the film.

This was a well-made adaptation, and it did an effective job with a good story, even if it did not add much for those who had seen the movie.

Rating: 6.5/10

Star Wars: The Last Jedi #1

Another Star Wars comic the Kiddo picked out at Merrymac Games and Comics in Merrimack NH. Star Wars books are the Kiddo's go-to comics of choice these days.

Title: Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Issue: 1
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Date: July 2018
Writer: Gary Whitta
Artist: Michael Walsh
Colorist: Mike Spicer
Letterer: VC's Travis Lanham
Cover: Mike Del Mundo
Editor: Heather Antos, Tom Groneman, Emily Newcomen

First part of Marvel's film adaptation for Star Wars: The Last Jedi. The book captures the pacing of the film well, and there is a nice bit of internal monologue from Luke Skywalker that adds a bit of perspective. But of course, an adaptation is somewhat limited by its own nature. I liked the film, and the comic does a good job retelling that story.

It does leave out one of the more memorable comedic moments from early in the movie, and the space battle scenes fall a bit flat in terms of the actual action between spaceships. Paige Tico's scene is handled really well, though.

This generally works, but does not add a whole lot if you've seen the film.

Rating: 5.5/10

Darth Vader #1

The Kiddo picked this one out last summer at one of the Newbury Comics stores.

Title: Darth Vader
Issue: 1
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Date: July 2016
Writer: Charles Soule
Penciler: Giuseppe Camuncoli
Inker: Cam Smith
Colorist: David Curiel
Letterer: VC's Joe Caramagna
Cover: Jim Cheung, Matthew Wilson
Editor: Jordan D. White, Heather Antos

This picks up directly from where Revenge of the Sith left off, showing us a newly-armored Vader who is still very much the young, angry man who was brought over to the dark side by Emperor Palpatine.

His initial quest is to gain a lightsaber of his own, and this apparently has to be done to old-fashioned way: by killing someone for it. Of course, with Order 66 already in the books, finding a Jedi may be harder than actually defeating one. As is usual at this stage in the saga, it's all pretty much a win/win for Palpatine.

There was a fun little callback (call-forward, really) to the climactic moment of Return of the Jedi, and the characters and setting look excellent. I didn't find myself all that invested in Vader as a lead character. He's still the whiny Annakin of the prequels here, and it looks like it's going to be a bit of a tall order for this solo (see what I did there?) series to make much of a change in that.

Rating: 5.5/10

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story #1

The Kiddo picked this one out at one of the Newbury Comics locations when we were in the US this past summer.

Title: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Issue: 1
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Date: June 2017
Writer: Jody Houser
Artist: Emilio Laiso, Oscar Bazaldua
Colorist: Rachelle Rosenberg
Letterer: VC's Clayton Cowles
Editor: Heather Antos

First of all, let me just say that I LOVE these action figure variant covers. So much fun!

This is the first issue of the official adaptation of Rogue One. It moves at a pretty fast pace to get to the point where present-time Jyn Erso is introduced and then takes its time a bit more from there.

The fight scenes look good, and the story becomes more focused in the second half of the issue, with the adaptation making some good choices in what to emphasize or cut.

This is competent and visually appealing, but there is a limit to what a comic can do adapting a film, and the result is something that never gets much past feeling like it's a competent adaptation

Rating: 5.5/10

Star Wars #33

Our travels in the US continue. We spent last weekend in Annapolis MD, where we attended my cousin's wedding. In addition to wedding-based activities, we toured the US Naval Academy, saw Spider-Man: Homecoming (loved it!), and stopped by Capital Comics, where the Kiddo picked out this recent Star Wars issue.

Title: Star Wars
Issue: 33
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Date: September, 2017
Writer: Jason Aaron
Artist: Salvador Larroca
Colorist: Edgar Delgado
Letterer: VC's Clayton Cowles
Editor: Jordan D. White, Heather Antos
Cover: Mike Mayhew

This takes place between episodes 4 and 5, with Luke and Leia are stranded together on an uninhabited island located on a mostly-ocean planet.

Making the wise decision to completely ignore any potential awkwardness resulting from this scenario, the story focuses on Leia, whose narration adds some depth to her character while at the same time explaining how the Princess ended up with some wilderness skills.

This is a nice interlude without a lot of major plot implications. The visuals are good and the insights into Luke and Leia are interesting. There are enough twists to make a decent self-contained story.

Rating: 6/10


 

Darth Vader #21

Back to the random stack of unread comics. This is a fairly recent one that I got this past summer.

Title: Darth Vader
Issue: 21
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Date: August, 2016
Writer: Kieron Gillen
Artist: Salvador Larroca
Colorist: Edgar Delgado
Letterer: VC's Joe Caramagna
Editor: Jordan D. White, Heather Antos

I am not ashamed to admit that the variant cover with the awesome action figure packaging design totally sold me on this comic. I love this cover theme! So much childhood nostalgia!

That being said, I knew nothing about the Darth Vader series going into this. Apparently it takes place between Episode IV and Episode V, and Vader is trying to get back into the good graces of Emperor Palpatine following the destruction of the Death Star. He is tasked with capturing Cylo, a mad scientist type who turned against the Empire (not to the rebel side, mind you, this guy appears to just be out for himself).

Meanwhile, there's a second plot involving Vader sending a pair of droids who are essentially heel versions of C3PO and R2D2 to retrieve a former ally of his who has gone into hiding.

The bad-guy droids are a little goofy, and it was odd to see Vader in a sort of solo-adventurer heroic role (although it's really no different than things he did all the time as Anakin).

There is also an issue of flavor that can be a problem for me with some Star Wars comics. Cylo's organic-mechanical ships didn't feel authentically Star Wars to me, for reasons I can't pin down to more than just "vibe". To be fair, I think that keeping the flavor of a tie-in when you're being asked to expand on the universe is really difficult. But the stuff involving Cylo still didn't feel to me like it fit.

That being said, the action was good, the dialogue was good, and the ending cliffhanger at least looked entertaining.

Rating: 5.5/10

Poe Dameron #1

I stopped in at Newbury Comics in Manchester NH during our wanderings on our summer US visit, and got the first two issues of this series for the Kiddo, who continues to be a big Star Wars fan.

Title: Poe Dameron
Issue: 1
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Date: June 2016
Writer: Charles Soule
Artist: Phil Noto
Letterer: VC's Clayton Cowles
Editor: Heather Antos, Jordan D. White

In this Star Wars: The Force Awakens preview, Poe Dameron is searching for clues to Luke Skywalker's whereabouts, along with BB-8 and a new "Black Squadron" team of Resistance pilots.

After flying through a maze of caves, Poe finds himself in a tense standoff with a group that stands guard over a mysterious egg.

I liked the handling of the negotiations between Poe and the cave-dwellers. Neither side really wants to fight, but it's still a tense situation.

The new characters in Poe's squadron only get brief introductions, but it's enough to make them interesting. The hints of a possible traitor among them are a little heavyhanded, but I did like the snippets of history that added to the backstory for The Force Awakens.

This was a good start to a nice original story that fits in well with the new film.

Rating: 7.5/10

Star Wars: The Force Awakens #1

Many years ago, back when I was in college, I used to get my comics at Comics For Collectors on the Ithaca Commons in Ithaca NY. I finally got back to visit Ithaca during our current trip back to the US, and managed to stop in at Comics For Collectors at their current location, still right near the Commons in downtown Ithaca. I had the Kiddo with me, and he picked out a couple of Star Wars comics.

Title: Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Issue: 1
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Date: August 2016
Writer: Chuck Wendig
Artist: Luke Ross
Colorist: Frank Martin
Letterer: VC's Clayton Cowles
Editor: Heather Antos

Adaptations always present their own set of unique problems. A comic adaptation of a film is working with limited space, and so there are cuts and other adjustments that must be made. There is also the issue that the adaptation writers are usually working from some version of a script an not necessarily the finished cut of the film.

This series adapts the new Star Wars film, covering the beginning of the movie, through most of the action that occurs on the desert planet Jakku. Most of the film's new characters get introduced, while the cast who appeared in the original trilogy will appear in later issues of the adaptation.

The comic uses caption introductions for the characters, which comes off a bit clunky, but does give the advantage of getting everyone's name out immediately.

The art is good, and the characters as draw look like they appear on film (which can be hard to do well in film-to-comic adaptations). I felt like a really iconic visual toward the beginning was unfortunately cut, but the ending full-page panel is a perfect shot of another one of the movie's iconic moments.

As an overall story, I liked this better than any of the prequel films, and I found it to be at least as good as Return of the Jedi, probably better (I'll have to see how it holds up to multiple viewings), so I felt like the plot is solid. The adaptation looks good visually, and its pacing feels right.

Rating: 7/10