Star Wars TPB 4: Alliance

Once again, John Ostrander takes us away from Cade and the core cast to focus on the greater Star Wars universe. This time I really appreciated it. I love the idea of a new (Rebel) Alliance and we get a ton of it here. Admiral Gar Stazi is a neat character, he's such a strategic thinker that I loved watching his confrontations with the Sith Empire. I sort of had confidence he'd come out on top, but in this weird storyline there are no guarantees.

It was fun seeing the action based around Mon Cal, the home planet of Admiral "It's a Trap!" Ackbar. However, naming a city Ackbarea is laughable. The issue is packed with Sith atrocities to really build them up as big bads. Darth Krayt is an evil, evil dude. I'm really invested in seeing the Imperial remnants and the Rebels teaming up to take him on.

There are a ton more character introduced, but since we don't have time to get attached to most of them, I can appreciate Ostrander's shorthand. While they are different characters, the reader can get a feel for many of the supporting cast from how their races appear in the movies. There is an overconfident dug (like Sebulba from Ep 1) and it's easy to feel like he's an old character.

Darth Wyyrlock gets an issue too, and he's an interesting character. It's neat seeing his level of loyalty in a Sith, it's fascinating that his behavior goes so against the grain for the Dark Side. There is a great confrontation with an old Sith lord that really highlights the differences. I have to imagine that Darth Krayt is much more effective having a right hand guy like Wyyrlock around.

The art by Omar Francia and Alan Robinson is clear enough, if a bit on the sketchy side. I'm not sure they'd fit as well in a super hero book, but it works well in a sci-fi title like this.

Good