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

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