Comic Review 243 // Star Wars Vol.3: Rebel Jail

I've been in a Star Wars-heavy month over here. This time I found Rebel Jail at the local library and had to partake. Turns out it was the same series as last week's review.

Title: Star Wars, Vol. 3: Rebel Jail

Author: Jason Aaron & Kieron Gillen

Blurb:

The rebel crew is en route to a prison base with a very important captive. But unlucky for them, they aren't the only ones with their eyes on this prize! Plus: Meet a rebel spy at the heart of the Empire, and join him on a mission of life and death! And in another tale from the journals of Obi-Wan Kenobi, journey back to the Jedi's days of exile on Tatooine. Moisture farmer Owen Lars may have taken in young Luke, but her refused to let Ben be a part of the boy's life. Now, prepare to discover the reason why!

COLLECTING: STAR WARS 15-19, Annual #1

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Review

Kieron Gillen opens the volume with a great one-shot. All about an attempted assassination attempt on the Emperor. This was a great action piece and being set on Coruscant made it more enjoyable. This felt like a mash between old-school swashbuckling adventures and Scifi. Which is what Star Wars should be all the time. It's a great way to start the volume.

Then we hit the jailbreak arc. Something big happened in Vol.2, so I need to find that soon (sorry I am reading these in a weird ass way). But it would seem Dr. Aphra has been captured by the Rebels and is being transported under the watch of Leia to Sunspot Prison. A prison space station located dangerously close to a sun! This is a prison for the worst of the worst. Not going to be blunt here but Leia was boring, not sure if it was the way they wrote about her or if her having so much plot armour takes away the excitement. But the entire plot for the jail story was sadly very predictable. This arc is saved purely by Leinil Yu’s art.

The Han and Luke arc was comical, due to some bad gambling the Han ends up failing to secure the funds to buy supplies for the rebellion. Fearing coming back empty handed the duo end up taking a job shuttling cattle. A short story was 100% filler, but a fun little read.

Then we reach the end. With more Obi-wan adventures. It's a bit dull to be honest as we follow Obi-wan watching over Luke.

A bit of a miss for me. Some great artwork, but two of the four stories are meh at best. Good for the competitionist and die-hard fan. But glad I didn't purchase it.

Comic Review 192 // Star Wars Adventures Pomp & Circumstance Vol.7

Punch it, Chewy! We are diving straight into another excellent Library find, as I discovered Vol.7 of the Star Wars adventure series. We have Poe and BB8 flying into danger in their sweet-looking X-Wing so let's not waste time and dive into the details.

Title: Star Wars Adventures, Vol. 7: Pomp and Circumstance (Star Wars Adventures (2017) #7)

Comic Team: John Jackson Miller, John Barber, James Gilarte, Jon Sommariva & Valentina Pinto.

Publisher: Disney

Fluff: Join Chewie, Poe Dameron, BB-8, and Luke Skywalker in these adventures that span the Star Wars universe and the saga's entire history. These young-reader-friendly stories will appeal to Jedi everywhere, Master and Padawan alike!

Chewie is all alone with a perplexing new problem that is a major pain in his hide, and the iconic Wookiee will have to use all of his strength, wits, and patience to overcome this latest danger! Then, when an emergency landing separates BB-8 from Poe Dameron, the astromech droid must make friends with the natives to repair their ship and return to the Resistance.

Plus, welcome to the Resistance! In this all-new adventure before The Force Awakens, follow the fledgling Resistance as it begins to realize the growing threat of the First Order! Based on Star Wars Resistance, an exciting new animated series on Disney Channel! And in the last story, with Leia injured, it's up to Luke to undertake a sensitive diplomatic mission with the easily-irritated Sarkans! What should be a routine meeting soon turns into an action-packed adventure with the galaxy's fate on the line!

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Review

Plenty of stories in this one. In my opinion, the first and title piece is Mind Your Manners. In this piece, we witness Leia and Luke as diplomats as they attempt to secure a deal for crystals used in laser production. Of course, things go wrong, and treachery threatens to overthrow all their hard work. This is a solid opener; it could have been a better start.

This is followed by a weird day tale in Chewie’s Day Off. Chewie is given some time away to unwind; unfortunately, a bounty hunter has other plans and ruins his relaxing day. Overall a poorly thought out tale as Chewie is never translated, so most of the story is left to the artwork. A bit of a miss for me.

Then we get the Poe and BB8 story Unlikely Friendship. Having landed on a swamp planet, our duo is rescued by a young boy. The trio then facedown the natives and restored the X-Wing for take-off. A relatively short affair, which is good. Easy to forget, but nothing wrong with it, just filler.

I was excited for this All Aces Battle Royale. I am currently working through the Resistance cartoon, so having a comic strip is perfectly timed. Set on the Colossus, we have the Aces attempting to intercept communication that, if allowed to leave, give away their location to the First Order. Really enjoyed this tale. I think this could be a highlight piece for me.

We then end with Sector 7-E. Also, a Resistance story, double fun! In classic Kaz style, he discovers pirates stealing weapons, and with a bit of help, he sets about bringing them down. A very straightforward rescue-style story but rather enjoyable for what it was.

Overall this comic was a middle ground for me. A few hits and a few misses. The Chewie one, for me, was a low point. The Resistance tales were an excellent addition, and I hope we get more, but I can see this being a hit for a younger audience.

As always, thanks for stopping by.