When it was announced that Marvel would be regaining the rights from Dark Horse, and that Disney/LucasFilm/Marvel would be essentially "rebooting" (I'm not a fan of that word, btw) the universe, I was both apprehensive yet relieved. In one sense, it was hard for me to think that a lot of the things I, as a Star Wars fan, have grown to love about the Expanded Universe -- the incredibly excellent Thrawn Trilogy by Timothy Zahn comes to mind -- are no longer considered canon. However, the storyline has become so convoluted, so long, that a reboot may just be what the franchise, specifically the Expanded Universe (ie, comic book, novel and video game properties), needs to -- oh god, I hate to say it...don't make me say it...bring balance to the Force.
If you have't read it yet, feel free to stop here. Spoilers are contained within. If you don't care, or know you're not going to read it, continue on ahead.
Reading it made me feel like a little kid again. Instead of setting the comic in a time period with characters we may not know, Marvel puts us right in the middle of things with Han, Luke, Leia, Chewie and the droids. Set in between A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back may mean we won't see anything too dramatic (Luke won't get a leg chopped off; Han won't die, etc), but drama and tension are both very present.
The book starts with the classic crawl -- which had me humming the theme music in my head -- and the likenesses of the actors as our main characters take us right into an awesome sabotage story. There are a couple of splash pages in here too that took my breath away. The art is superb, and I am waiting impatiently for Issue 2.
That's not to say it's without error, however. I'd give the issue a solid 9, but a few minor things keep it from being a 10. Leia is a bit too brash here. Yes, we want a strong female character, and we know that the princess of Alderaan is no damsel in distress, but she makes a decision in the book that makes me scratch my head a little.
All in all though, it's a tour-de-force (hehehe, get it?) and any reservations I may have had are completely out the window. Welcome home, Star Wars. It's been a long time coming.
So here we are with the first of the new series under new ownership. Written by Marvel writer Jason Aaron, who also scripted the mind-shattering summer event Original Sin, Star Wars #1 is already the biggest-selling comic of 2015. In fact, the reboot under the Marvel banner saw solicitation sales come in over a million units, with a ton of variant covers (I'm hoping to score a sketch cover myself).
If you have't read it yet, feel free to stop here. Spoilers are contained within. If you don't care, or know you're not going to read it, continue on ahead.
Reading it made me feel like a little kid again. Instead of setting the comic in a time period with characters we may not know, Marvel puts us right in the middle of things with Han, Luke, Leia, Chewie and the droids. Set in between A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back may mean we won't see anything too dramatic (Luke won't get a leg chopped off; Han won't die, etc), but drama and tension are both very present.
The book starts with the classic crawl -- which had me humming the theme music in my head -- and the likenesses of the actors as our main characters take us right into an awesome sabotage story. There are a couple of splash pages in here too that took my breath away. The art is superb, and I am waiting impatiently for Issue 2.
That's not to say it's without error, however. I'd give the issue a solid 9, but a few minor things keep it from being a 10. Leia is a bit too brash here. Yes, we want a strong female character, and we know that the princess of Alderaan is no damsel in distress, but she makes a decision in the book that makes me scratch my head a little.
All in all though, it's a tour-de-force (hehehe, get it?) and any reservations I may have had are completely out the window. Welcome home, Star Wars. It's been a long time coming.
