Star Wars Forces of Destiny: Rose & Paige

The Kiddo got this one for Christmas. It was purchased at Merrymac Games and Comics in Merrimack NH.

Title: Star Wars Forces of Destiny: Rose & Paige
Date: January 2018
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Writer: Delilah S. Dawson
Artist: Nicoletta Baldari
Colorist: Nicoletta Baldari
Letterer: Tom B. Long
Editor: Bobby Curnow, Denton J. Tipton, Peter Adrian Behravesh
Cover: Nicoletta Baldari

This is an all-ages Star Wars one-shot featuring the Tico sisters before the events of The Last Jedi.

Faced with the task of gathering needed supplies on an uninhabited planet, and lacking equipment, Rose cobbles together wheeled vehicles to scout the planet's jungles. Resistance General Lazslo is skeptical, and Rose's own self-doubts are one of her biggest obstacles, but she goes ahead with her plan, and ends up having to save her sister from some unexpected danger.

This was one of the least violent Star Wars stories I've run across. Just Rose and Paige against nature and bad luck. The real conflict is Rose's struggle for her own self-confidence.

It's a bit more wordy than it really needs to be, and I would have liked to have seen a bit more focus on Paige, since she is the character that we know less about, but it still manages to be a charming adventure that feels fresh and different while still unmistakably Star Wars.

Nicoletta Baldari's artwork is wonderfully expressive, and a nice fit with this feel-good story.

Rating: 7.5/10

Star Wars Adventures #1

From last summer's purchases.

Title: Star Wars Adventures
Issue: 1
Date: September 2017
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Writer: Cavan Scott
Artist: Derek Charm, Jon Sommariva, Sean Parsons
Colorist: Charlie Kirchoff
Letterer: Tom B. Long
Editor: Bobby Curnow, Denton J. Tipton, Peter Adrian Behravesh
Cover: Jon Sommariva

The copy I got is the "RI-B" cover variant.

The opening chapters of two stories here, set in the Star Wars universe with an all-ages style.

First up is "Better the Devil You Know" featuring a pre-Force-Awakens Rey, living as a scavenger on Jakku and forced into a situation where she must save her Junkboss, Unkar Plutt from enemies or risk having him replaced by an even worse local mobster. I really loved the art style on this story, especially the cute and fierce interpretation of Rey, who is portrayed as confident and capable even while stuck in the bad situation has was in on Jakku,

The second story featured Emil Graf an explorer traveling through "Wild Space" with a small crew of odball companions. Emil doesn't get much to do in this story, as the bulk of it is a flashback to prequels-era Coruscant and an adventure involving a pickpocket who tries to steal from Obi Wan Kenobi.The flashback story was fun, and the framing sequences did a good job of introducing Emil and his crew with a nice sprinkling of humor.

In the end, I was more interested in reading more of Rey's story, but I did enjoy both.

Rating: 7.5/10

Magic: The Gathering: Path of Vengeance #2

Today I found myself in Fall River MA and stopped in at Stillpoint Comics, Cards, & Games.

I picked up this MTG comic along with a few booster packs.

Title: Magic: The Gathering: Path of Vengeance
Issue: 2
Date: January, 2012
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Writer: Matt Forbeck
Artist: Martin Coccolo, Chris Evenhuis
Colorist: J. Edwin Stevens, Baileigh Bolten, Noris Sola
Letterer: Tom B. Long
Editor: Carlos Guzman
Cover: Ryan Pancoast

You know the drill. Bought it for the promo card (A lovely version of Voidmage Husher).

This is issue #2, but it may as well have been issue #1. The story was easy enough to figure out.

Planeswalker and thief Dack Fayden is being hunted down by the Rakdos Guild, while he himself is on the hunt for evil planeswalker Sifa Gent. The trail has led Dack back home to Ravnica, where his network of safehouses has apparently been compromised by, well, pretty much everyone.

Dack's old rival, Maytov, is injured in the mayhem that follows, and Dack spends a few pages musing on how he and Maytov first met while in the present, Dack has decided to get Maytov to a healer. Once there, Sifa's evil plan is figured out and it's up to Dack to not only get his revenge, but also possibly to save all of Ravnica.

This story moved the plot along without all that much actually happening. It spent a great deal of time telling, rather than showing, and the whole issue felt like a big infodump to set up the climactic battle. I do continue to like Dack as a character. He is thoughtful and fun. I also thought the flashback sequence had some good moments.

On a side note, couldn't they have come up with a more interesting name for the Mcguffin that starts this whole mess than the "Ancient Fang"?

Rating: 5/10

Magic: The Gathering: Theros #4

Last of my three recent purchases at Newbury Comics in Hyannis.

Title: Magic: The Gathering: Theros
Issue: 4
Date: January, 2014
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Writer: Jason Ciaramella
Artist: Chris Evenhuis
Colorist: Joana Lafuente
Letterer: Tom B. Long
Editor: Carlos Guzman
Cover: Anthony Francisco


So, the cover has gone pretty much full-on Infinity Gauntlet. Oh, and the promo card is Acquire. Which I totally bought this comic for.

This is the beginning of a new story arc. Dack Fayden is having nightmares. Unfortunately, as it turns out, these days in Theros, nightmares lead to sleepwalking, followed by sleepspellcasting, including sleepfireballing and other sleepmayhem.

Dack manages to stop a mage in the midst of most of the above, and she repays his kindness by conveniently infodumping.

And that is pretty much it. The new story has been set up, if perhaps a bit heavyhandedly. I did like the artwork on the people and scenery of Theros in this issue. The city setting provided a nice opportunity to showcase that.

Rating: 5.5/10

Magic: The Gathering: Theros #3

Back to Newbury Comics in Hyannis tonight with the Kiddo. Picked up two more MTG comics for me (for the promo cards!), and a comic for the Kiddo. Here is the first of those reviews.

Title: Magic: The Gathering: Theros
Issue: 3
Date: December, 2013
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Writer: Jason Ciaramella
Artist: Martin Coccolo, Chris Evenhuis
Colorist: Joana Lafuente
Letterer: Tom B. Long
Editor: Carlos Guzman
Cover: Volkan Baga

This wrapped up the storyline, which came as a surprise to me, since I bought the fourth issue at the same time as I bought this one. I'm not sure how many issues this is scheduled to run.

Promo card was Wash Out. Yes, I bought this for the promo card. But you knew that.

So, Dack Fayden has assembled the two pieces of his mysterious artifact and it's, well actually it bears a rather striking resemblance to the Infinity Gauntlet. A Gauntlet of Might or Gauntlet of Power, maybe? The Gauntlet of Power makes more sense since it seems to boost Dack's blue magic.

We start things off in the midst of last issue's kraken-unleashing, and there is some degree of mayhem until Dack goes all Infinity Gauntlet on the Kraken's posterior region. There is a gorgeous two-page spread of the kraken battle, but the rest of the action was rather stale with the Kraken mostly just looming there without really doing all that much.

Then we get some annoyingly vague backstory on Captain Vog and all of a sudden we are epiloguing. That felt way too quick.

Which is how I will keep this review.

Rating: 5/10

Magic: The Gathering: Theros #2

Bought this one tonight at Newbury Comics at the Independence Mall in Kingston MA. And yes, bought it for the promo card (which was a nice version of Gaze of Granite).

Title: Magic: The Gathering: Theros
Issue: 2
Date: November, 2013
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Writer: Jason Ciaramella
Artist: Martin Coccolo
Colorist: Joana Lafuente
Letterer: Tom B. Long
Editor: Carlos Guzman
Cover: Dan Scott

This goes a long way toward fixing the problems of the first issue. In fact, it is perfectly possible to start the series here. As it turns out, there was nothing in issue #1 that couldn't be summarized.

I love the fact that planeswalker Dack Fayden turns out to be prone to seasickness. Please let them remember this in future continuity!

After spending a voyage leaning over the lee rail, Fayden arrives at a mysterious island which houses part of an artifact that he is seeking. He slings spells at a gorgon and some sort of sorceress and manages to make his escape with the goods.

The villains then proceed to the unleashing-the-kraken portion of our adventure.

This was fun and well-paced, with some good character development sprinkled in.

Rating: 7/10