In Review: Star Wars (2020-) #2

Synopsis: “No…I am your father.” In the wake of the events following The Empire Strikes Back, it is a dark time for the heroes of the Rebellion. The Rebel fleet…scattered following a disastrous defeat at the Battle of Hoth. Han Solo…lost to the bounty hunter, Boba Fett, after being frozen in carbonite. And after being lured into a trap on Cloud City and bested in a vicious lightsaber duel against the evil Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker…learned the horrible truth about his past. Vader did not kill Luke’s father Anakin–Vader is Luke’s father! Now, after narrowly escaping the dark lord’s clutches, and wounded and reeling from the revelation, Luke, Princess Leia, Lando Calrissian, the Wookiee Chewbacca, and the droids C-3PO and R2-D2 must fight their way back to the Rebel Alliance—for the fate of the entire galaxy is at stake! After so many losses is victory still possible? But, what Leia, Luke and their ragtag band of freedom fighters do not realize is that they have only traded one Imperial trap for another! Enter the cunning and vengeful Imperial Commander Zahra, at the helm of the Tarkin’s Will!

Review: The story of what happened between Empire Strikes Back and Return of The Jedi continues.

The Story

Having barely escaped destruction at the hands of Commander Zahra in the last issue. Leia and her ragtag group of rebels are on the back foot. They can’t contact the other rebel cells because if they do Zahra will pounce and hunt them down. So a different plan is needed. Meanwhile, Leia is struggling to trust Lando Calrissian who still has to prove himself after having betrayed Han Solo to the Empire. To that end, he offers to find out whether or not Boba Fett has sold Solo to Jabba the Hutt, which means he needs to take the Falcon. Leia not trusting Lando asks Chewie to escort him. Elsewhere, Luke is still struggling with the revelation that Darth Vader is his father, but is still trying to prepare himself for future engagements regardless. Lando offers Luke a chance to try and find his lost Lightsaber, will take them back to Bespin.

I’m also loving the fact that Poe Dameron’s parents seem to be getting a fairly decent role to play in these books.

Artwork

Jesus Saiz continues the trend of accurately recreating the character likenesses from the movies. I particularly enjoyed his interpretation of Jabba’s palace during the brief time that we see Lando trying to broker a deal with Jabba. The recreation of Jabba and Bib Fortuna are wonderfully done. We also get a few more flashback sequences of Luke’s fight with Vader as Luke continues to try and process what has happened.

Overall

Overall. A really strong issue, which is building on events rather nicely. I’m particularly enjoying the fact that Lando is having to earn the trust of Leia and the rebels. Given that we never got the opportunity to see that happen in the movie series. A return to Bespin awaits in the next issue and I am looking forward to seeing how that will play out.