Ah, the continuing adventures of a continuity that never
existed in the main franchise and now won’t even count in comic books. It’s too
bad; Brian Wood has done a pretty good job adding missing pieces and chapters
to the Star Wars mythos. How much did any of us really know about Mon Mothma?
She’s an actual character in this story.
This story picks up with the secret squadron of X-wing
pilots we met in the last collection.
They are still searching for a new Rebel base, but it seems there are a
lot more things going on too. Leia is visiting the remains of Alderaan, Han
Solo and Chewie are trying to smuggle themselves of Coruscant (and away from
Boba Fett and Bossk). Luke and Wedge are now spies, sneaking around on Imperial
ships. There is a lot going on. I respect the work that Wood put in to give
this story ties to other “Expanded Universe” storylines. Too bad it is all for
naught. Wedge suggests making his stealth squad permanent, under the “Rogues”
call sign. A great origin for the stars of a series of books. But those books
have now been declared non-canon, so oh well!
It’s a great choice to feature Leia so heavily in this series.
She’s always been short-changed in Expanded Universe material, so having her
anchor the series the way she does really lends her a sense of deserved
importance. I also like the way Wood maintains the romantic tension with Han
and just the hints of more tension with Luke. (Hey, when this story takes place,
we didn’t know they were brother and sister yet. Maybe George Lucas didn’t even
know!)
Carlos D’Anda’s return halfway through this book couldn’t
come soon enough. It isn’t that Ryan Kelly did a bad job, but D’Anda’s stuff is
like Jim Lee-lite, so having anyone else try to step in and fill the shoes just
doesn’t cut it. D’Anda just has the Star Wars universe down. His Boba Fett,
Vader, and Bossk in particular look fantastic. Fortunately, both artists can
handle drawing spaceships and most of the aliens pretty well, so the space
battles are strong throughout.
This is a light, breezy read that makes for a GOOD trip down
memory lane. I’m confident that Marvel will be very capable of expanding on the
Star Wars universe themselves, but that is no reason to short change the solid stories
Dark Horse has been putting out for years.
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