After barely escaping the citadel of Ktath’atn with their lives, Luke and Leia find themselves on the run yet again. This time it’s from our old friends the Empire. Let’s dive in and find out if Luke and Leia’s latest adventure is any good.
Marvel Synopsis:
The Hero of the Rebellion & the Princess of the Revolution! Luke and Leia finally get some time alone. Unfortunately, it’s stranded on a desert island.
What’s the skinny?
A journey with the ever eccentric and unpredictable archeologist and rogue, Doctor Aphra nearly turned Luke into a mind controlled slave and cost Leia her life. Hoping for a slow ease back into the swing of things, our Princess and Jedi-in-training decided to undertake a routine supply mission on behalf of the Rebel Alliance. Unfortunately for them the Empire decided to show up and while Luke, Leia and the Rebel Alliance may have dealt the Empire a massive blow with the destruction of the Death Star, the rulers of the known galaxy still pack a massive punch.
In a desperate effort to escape their TIE fighter pursuers, Luke flew he and Leia’s damaged ship into a nebula, which prevents the Empire’s instruments from effectively tracking them. Within the nebula a remote and deserted water planet was the only option for their near dead ship to land on. Our heroes ship just barely made it and while they’re in a tropical paradise, they’re also stranded and being hunted by the Empire. Luke and Leia will have to work to figure out a way off the planet without being able to repair their ship and more even more pressingly, a way to survive the strange wilderness they find themselves in.
What’s the catch?
The TIE fighters are mentioned several times throughout the issue as the main danger to our heroes. But when the Empire finally shows up they’re nowhere to be found. What gives?
Is It Good?
The artwork by Salvador Larroca simply gorgeous. The water planet Luke and Leia are marooned on is filled with strange aquatic and land based creatures. Salvador brings this planet to life above and below the ocean, as well as creating beautiful scenes when our characters enjoy the stars in the night sky. There are points where his work on the characters is incredibly realistic, the only issue being it isn’t consistent throughout the issue. When the Empire arrives on the scene you can feel the sense of danger and the adrenaline kicking in. The use of shadows during the combat scenes was nicely done, you barely saw any character detail but it didn’t detract from the action whatsoever.
My main gripe with the story here is the handling of the Empire’s involvement. At the first mention of the Empire we’re made aware that TIE fighters chased Luke and Leia to their current location. TIE fighters are heard passing over the island at night by Luke. So when the Empire finally does show up where are the TIE fighters? Why does the Empire come at their two most wanted fugitives with ground forces only?
I grew up reading countless Star Wars stories through comic books, short stories and novels. It was always fun reading about Luke, Han or Leia off on a random adventure in some remote corner of the galaxy. That’s what Jason Aaron has delivered to us with this issue: Two heroes stranded on a strange alien planet in the middle of no where and the Empire hot on their heels. Nothing in this story has any real impact on the Star Wars universe at large or the character development of Luke as a Jedi and Leia as a leader of the Rebel Alliance. That isn’t a problem though. As a Star Wars fan I’m looking for adventures that involve aliens, outer space, strange planets and lightsabers. Aaron delivers across the board and provides us with a fun adventure between story arcs, that reminds us that Star Wars isn’t just the Empire and the Rebel Alliance. There’s a great big galaxy out there.
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