My comic book store owner knows I am a huge Star Wars fan. He doesn't quite appreciate that I am a purist. And by purist I mean canon = the Original Trilogy. The first Timothy Zahn trilogy of novels and the Han Solo Trilogy are apocrypha, as are Dark Empire, Shadows of the Empire, and a few limited "Tales from..." compilations. As with all apocrypha I could take or leave them, but generally they entertained me.
So when I said, "how are the new Star Wars comics?" and he said "they are really good, you need to read them," I'm not sure he really knew what he was suggesting. My standards for Star Wars is ridiculously high. BUT, I am not a closed-minded a-hole. I am always open to more great stories in a universe that was GOD to me growing up. However, I usually take that look with much caution. I could recount my analysis of the recent Episode VII trailer, but that belongs in another entry.
I decided to throw at least most of that caution to the wind and pick up at two of the three Star Wars comics that were just recently released. Maybe this time they got it right, or were at least close. Maybe this time I would be able to revisit the magic that is Star Wars again and feel the same thrill I felt when I spent two days reading the aforementioned Zahn trilogy cover to cover instead of studying for my HIST-351 final. Maybe...
So we start with
Star Wars #1. Seems like the good place to start. This is the core book. The story is set between New Hope and Empire Strikes Back (from here on in, it's going to get nerdy, so if you don't really get Star Wars, you will get lost, I make no apologies or attempts to carry you through this) and I'm told that all but a few select things from here and there have been thrown out and this is a fresh start (so goodbye to that apocrypha listed above).
I'll try to break the story down for you without totally ruining it because you may want to read this on your own. Basically, our heroes (the core characters) are working to take the Empire down from the inside by destroying the rest of the Imperial infrastructure. The Death Star was the big potato, but there are other notable targets, like the largest munitions factory (or in this case planet) in the Empire. So our team resorts to extremely slight subterfuge to sneak in and blow up the weapons manufacturing base. And they do a pretty good job of it, that is until it is time to leave. As they are about to make their escape, the big scary guy himself shows up (what are the chances?), and effectively nullifies their chance to get smoothly off the planet. While Luke, Han and Leia are doing the hard work, Chewbacca is playing point man for their escape, and Threepio is hiding out with the Falcon in a garbage dump. When their cover is blown, Chewbacca gets compromised and Han and Co. attempt to blast their way out. Meanwhile Threepio is meant to come pick them up in the Falcon, only the ship has been picked apart by scavengers and is not ready for take-off. Our heroes are left in quite a pickle. This sounds great, doesn't it? It sounds like it is going to be exactly what we want it to be. And yet...
I think my main problem is that the whole issue tries too hard. I don't know that I am familiar with Jason Aaron's writing before this, nor the man himself, so I have no idea what he already knows about Star Wars, but I feel like this book over-tries to
BE Star Wars to the point that there is no room for anything else, or worse, anything new. And therein lies my real beef with this comic. There is nothing new to see here. Everything in this comic BLEEDS Star Wars in all its Star Warsiness. Aaron doesn't show me anything I haven't seen before, sometimes with ridiculous results. Let's start there:
The book opens with our heroes piloting a stolen spacecraft that is meant to hold a delegation from Tatooine coming to negotiate a trade deal with the Empire. From Tatooine. What are the chances? There are a ba-zillion planets in the galaxy and the ship the Rebels steal is from a planet we have much, much, much familiarity with from the movies. Why? Does it serve the story? No. Up until now the ONLY significance of Tatooine is that it's where Luke and Ben came from. Otherwise, it has been painted as a barren, miserable planet of absolutely no significance. The stolen ship could be from Klakdon VII and it would matter not to the story. So why is it from Tatooine? Because Star Wars. Now we go from the convenient to the absurd. What does this spaceship from Tatooine look like? Keep in mind it's a SPACE SHIP. Why, look there! It looks just like a Sail Barge. Just like the one Jabba the Hutt uses to tool around the desert on Tatooine. Would it make sense for a SPACE SHIP to look like something built for traversing the desert? Does everything on Tatooine have to look like this? I seriously doubt it, but here it does. Why? Because Star Wars.
Would it have killed the story for this to be a ship from Planet X that looked like a cool new kind of space ship we've never seen before? No. It probably would have helped. A lot. But instead we are force fed super familiar stuff because I guess the writers or editors are afraid if we don't see Star Warsy stuff right out the gate, we'll think we bought a Care Bears comic instead. It just misses the point. (Go read the Zahn trilogy and see if he does that. Here's a hint: No, he does not)
The rest of the comic keeps falling into this trap. Eschewing cool new Star Wars stuff for things you have seen before. Why does Vader have to be the big bad Imperial that shows up to thwart them? Why can't it be a new big bad Imperial threat? Because Star Wars. As the heroes are trying to escape they run into a giant storeroom full of, guess what, AT-ATs and decide to hijack one to make their escape. Does it make sense that they might find AT-ATs in this facility? Sure, but do they have to immediately assume its a great idea to hijack one in order to escape? But why do they find AT-ATs? Because Star Wars. And why do they decide to steal one in order to escape? Because wouldn't it be cool if Han Solo drove an AT-AT? Also, Star Wars. And finally, the comic ends with something you've never seen before: Luke squares off against Vader in a lightsaber duel (or at least that what is set up by the panel below). Not only am I pretty sure this screws up ESB more than a little bit, I'm also pretty sure as a Star Wars fan, I've already seen this twice in its two most impressive forms. And yet, here I get to see it again. Why? Does it serve the story? No. Because Star Wars.
And finally, the one area where Aaron decides to try something new feels completely out of place. Threepio has always been a reactionary character. He has always bumbled into a situation, reacted poorly to it, and then somehow bumbled out of it. His one shining moment, the culmination of his story arc if you will, is in ROTJ in the Ewok village when he more or less saves the team and then recounts the story of their adventures. Otherwise, he's just kind of bumbling around without much to say about the world except an immediate reaction to what is going on (he's the chorus and our window in if you will). Yet here, Aaron decides that Threepio is running commentary on the big picture, making inside jokes ("I do find it rather disconcerting that your vessel continues to be so easily mistaken for garbage" despite the fact that it won't be mistaken for garbage until ESB, so "continues" is an odd joke), and otherwise waxing philosophical about the Rebellion overall and the ability of the characters to work together. It's just not in his character to do this. Nor is it in his character to take a blaster and go to work on the scavengers dismantling the ship. Although that is where Aaron seems to be taking us. Can C-3PO even hold a blaster? Ugh. It just isn't working. The only hope is that Threepio blunders it badly or someone comes and rescues him.
Honestly, the bare bones of this comic are absolutely great, but the execution of it is extremely troubled. I feel like Jason Aaron was required to sit and watch all 3 movies and then just spat out what he saw onto the plot of this comic, hoping that it was Star Wars enough to catch the casual fan and not piss off the die-hards (or hell, maybe even titillate the die-hards, I can't tell.) The end result is that I will not be back for issue two. I've already seen the movies, I don't need see those same elements shaken up in a snow globe and regurgitated for me over a new plot. No, thanks.
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| Honestly, there was more novel stuff in THIS Star Wars comic set in the same time period, but from a wildly different era |
(I make little mention of Cassady's art because I've not been much of a fan since Astonishing X-men, and honestly, for me, he's a one-trick pony that is solid, but unimpressive. He draws from movie stills to get the faces to look right and when he doesn't you can tell. His action is solid, but flat. The best I can say is that he isn't over stylized, which I truly hate, so I guess it could be a LOT worse)
Ok, so that was a little bumpy. Let's take a look now, at
Princess Leia #1 and hope that it's better.
And it is! Much better. I'm totally on board with this comic. Unlike
Star Wars #1, this comic doesn't vomit Star Wars all over the place and hope it's striking a nostalgia chord with me so that I feel catered to. Instead, this comic tells a great Princess Leia solo story about what the hell she does with herself once the Death Star has been destroyed and she has to come to grips with the fact that her ENTIRE FREAKING PLANET has been obliterated. Alderaanian Shakespeare? Gone. Alderaanian Michelangelo's David? Gone. Alderaanian Marx Brothers? Gone. It's all gone. Plus her entire family and friends and stuff. So what the hell do you do with that? There's your story. And it's a good one.
Leia finds out that the Empire is hunting down any remaining Alderaanians with the intent to kill them. Apparently you screw with the Empire and you get ultimate nullified. Not cool. So Leia decides to go preemptive and round up the remaining Aderaanians herself and get them to safety. She enlists the aid of a conveniently placed, but totally acceptable, Alderaanian X-wing pilot to help her execute this plot. This first issue tells the story of how this ball gets rolling, and honestly, it looks like its going to be a LOT of fun.
A lot of fun until the final page. The last couple of panels really. See I thought we were leaving all of the BAD Star Wars stuff behind and trying for a fresh start. I thought we were safe. And then Leia says:
Well, shit.
Since I read that, Aimee has talked me down, suggesting that maybe, just maybe, THIS Naboo won't be a giant flaming pile of crap loaded with Gungans and Ric Olies and dismal romances and all of the other stuff from The Movies That Shall Not Be Named. So I am going to give Issue #2 a try. Maybe she's right. Maybe I shouldn't throw away 21 pages of really great stuff over one trivial detail. Maybe, but it's a BIG risk. Fool me once, shame on you, but fool me 4 times? I'll set that damn comic on fire.
(Terry Dodson's art is a perfect match for the tone of this book as well. A great storyteller and a pleasing style!)
So the net result is a disappointing Star Wars comic and a very promising Princess Leia comic with a troubling edge. Honestly, it could have been worse, much much worse. And as a side note, based on the "sneak previews" in the back of Star Wars #1, I think I am glad I didn't pick up Darth Vader #1 and here's why:
Why is Vader visiting Jabba the Hutt? Because Star Wars. Ugh.
We'll start with the second issue of A-Force. I was pretty interested in where this was going and the second issue didn't really disappoint. I think the weakest part of this series is Battleworld itself. The A-Force team is very interesting, but the "rules" of Battleworld both set the stage for the action and restrict the potential for what the team could be. Super-hero teams need to work in a world that is grounded with known rules and status quo. When the world that serves as the backdrop is still very new and a jumbled mix of other worlds, it makes it hard to fit the new team in a proper context. I think I'll like A-Force more post-Secret Wars, but I'll stick with the team until we get there.
Next up, another second issue, Starfire #2. If you recall, this was another "wait and see" comic that was going to be purchased solely on the value of the cover. Well, obviously the cover was good enough to warrant a purchase and the interiors don't disappoint either. If you are looking for a lighthearted alien super-hero comic, this will scratch that it. I'm in.
