writer: Jason Aaron / John Cassidy / Marvel Comics
Christmas came early, nerds! Okay, fine, Christmas did not actually come early, but we got an even sweeter deal than that. Star Wars showed up twice this month. Yes, fanboys, John Cassaday is actually on schedule enough to give us two books in one month. Granted, this is a phenomenon we will most likely not see again in our lifetimes, but let’s enjoy it while it’s here.
When we last left our heroes, their sneak assault on an Empire weapons base was going a little awry with the arrival of stormtrooper reinforcements. Meanwhile, Jedi noob Luke Skywalker goes looking for a little revenge round with his mentor’s killer, Darth Vader. Jason Aaron’s take on the sci-fi legend is an unrivaled winner. Every scene is kinetic, not just jampacked with the action that fans of the original trilogy know and love, but with the same energy.
Luke’s first meeting with Vader strikes all the same ominous notes as their earliest encounters. Han Solo’s still playing it by ear, flying by the seat of his pants just like the good old days. And C-3P0 is still…umm…useless. Aaron just gets the spirit of this story and its characters in a way Dark Horse’s scribes just never seemed to latch onto in all those years. And visually, John Cassaday has yet to miss a beat in this book. All the excitement and all the humor sings on every panel. You can’t help but cheer seeing Luke commandeering a speeder, bragging about bullseyeing womp rats.
Bottom Line: The mythology isn’t broken and Aaron/Cassaday see no need to fix it. And we’re okay with that. 9.5 out of 10.
Show Comments
Shaka Jamal (@FaceOfYo)
Sweet! Your review is persuasive. 🙂