by Mark Mitchell
This article contains SPOILERS. If you haven’t read the issue yet, proceed at your own risk!
Hey, what’dya know, actual queer people in Star Wars. Continue reading
Category Star Wars
Villains Done In By Their Own Mistakes in Star Wars: Poe Dameron 23
by Michael DeLaney
This article contains SPOILERS. If you haven’t read the issue yet, proceed at your own risk!
In the battle of good vs. evil, two things are usually true about the bad guys: they are stupid and they are crazy. In Star Wars: Poe Dameron 23, writer Charles Soule gives us some examples of both of these in the First Order agents Malarus and Terex. Continue reading
Chewie Gives Good Hugs in Star Wars 42
by Taylor Anderson
This article contains SPOILERS. If you haven’t read the issue yet, proceed at your own risk!
Very little has been leaked about the new Han Solo movie, and depending on who you talk to, that may or may not be a very bad thing. Even though its release is only a few months away, details about it are sparse with the exception of a few tidbits, such as explaining how Han and Chewie first met. Unless Disney has changed the lore drastically, this will probably take the form of Han saving Chewie’s life so the former owes the latter a life debt. While that might be the basis of their relationship, in Star Wars 42, we see that there’s so much more to it than just that. Continue reading
Luke’s in Hell in Star Wars 41
by Mark Mitchell
This article contains SPOILERS. If you haven’t read the issue yet, proceed at your own risk!
Like pus from an open sore, a dangerous energy seeps into the universe in Kieron Gillen and Salvador Larroca’s Star Wars 41, escaping from the remains of the Jedi temple on Jedha. Luke has come to Jedha and the Cult of the Central Isopter looking for guidance in mastering the Force. Larroca and colorist GURU-eFX paint an evocative portrait of a planet in torment — Luke’s in Hell, basically, but that’s the point.
Star Wars: Storms of Crait 1 Is More Than Just Trivia
by Spencer Irwin
This article contains SPOILERS. If you haven’t read the issue yet, proceed at your own risk!
Thanks to decades of supplemental material, there’s almost nothing that’s gone unexplained in the Star Wars universe — even the most minor, insignificant of characters tend to end up with extensive backstories. This can be fun trivia, but I often find myself rolling my eyes whenever I see another story that exists just to explain something that didn’t really need explaining. At first, Star Wars: Storms of Crait appears to be just that kind of story, but thankfully, it transcends those origins to become something far more entertaining. Continue reading
The Complexity of Magna Tolva in Doctor Aphra 15
by Taylor Anderson
This article contains SPOILERS. If you haven’t read the issue yet, proceed at your own risk!
A lot of the time when I think about what makes Star Wars so much fun I think about the memorable characters. Darth Vader is the perfect villain, Han is the archetypical anti-hero, and Leia is the strong willed leader who won’t let herself or others fail. While all these characters are great, I have to admit that in many ways they’re pretty flat characters. Sure, you can argue that Leia, Han, and Vader all undergo a journey and gradually change, but none of them undergo a transformation that literally changes who they are. What I’m getting at here, is that Star Wars is sorely lacking in complex characters. It is for this reason, however, that Magna Tolva is such a welcome addition to the universe. Continue reading
A Thrilling Heist Propels Star Wars: Poe Dameron 22
by Mark Mitchell
This article contains SPOILERS. If you haven’t read the issue yet, proceed at your own risk!
I’m a sucker for a good heist story, and one of the fundamental elements that separates good heist tales from bad is clearly defining the roles of each team member. Knowing exactly what part every person plays orients the audience, and communicates the stakes of each individual moment. In a heist film, the heist is usually painstakingly laid out early in the movie, with the point man taking the players, and the audience, through every piece of the plan. But comic books don’t have the luxury of time afforded a two hour movie, and so it’s doubly impressive that Charles Soule and Angel Unzueta’s Poe Dameron 22 manages to create such a thrilling heist, with clear roles and interesting stakes, in the limited confines of a single comic book issue. Continue reading
Sins of George’s Past Arise Once More in Star Wars 40
by Taylor Anderson
This article contains SPOILERS. If you haven’t read the issue yet, proceed at your own risk!
George Lucas has many sins to atone for. Jar-Jar Binks, Episode II, and of course the “special edition” of the original trilogy. Of this last sin, perhaps what makes it the most grievous is that it has taken that which was perfect and smeared crap all over it. While there’s a lot to complain about with the re-releases, nothing gets me more worked up than the added scene in Episode where Han encounters Jabba outside of the Millennium Falcon. The CGI in this scene is just awful and it’s clear that Harrison Ford is not actually talking to a giant slug, but simply an overweight man, as Jabba appeared in the original scene. With such sins as its burden, I though Star Wars would be careful not to repeat anything of that nature. And so it was, until Star Wars issue 40.
More Than Just Offensive Accents in Star Wars: Poe Dameron 21
by Taylor Anderson
This article contains SPOILERS. If you haven’t read the issue yet, proceed at your own risk!
There are few aliens in the Star Wars universe who are hated as much by fans as the Neimoidians. True, Jar-Jar Binks makes the all of the Gungans disagreeable to a certain extent, but the Neimoidians seem especially hated. Maybe that has to do with the fact that they instigated much of the political unrest that caused the Clone Wars, or maybe it’s because George Lucas made the highly questionable decision to give them all accents that border on the offensive, given that they sound like a caricatures of a Japanese accent, but the Neimoidians have always been disliked by fans. While they aren’t necessarily likable in Poe Dameron 21, at least we get to see that there’s more to them than just a silly accent. Continue reading
Rogue One’s Bernie Bros in Star Wars 39
by Michael DeLaney
This article contains SPOILERS. If you haven’t read the issue yet, proceed at your own risk!
I’m of the opinion that Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is a giant unnecessary mess of the movie. However I also believe that Star Wars comic books do a far better job of exploring the series themes and motifs than most of the films do. Such is the case with Star Wars 39, which deals with the aftermath of the destruction the Empire delt to the planet Jedha in Rogue One. Continue reading
Retcon Punch 