The covers: A trio of covers for this installment of Star Wars Adventures. The A is by Valentina Pinto and has Kaz peering around a corner with BB-8 doing the same. The characters look as though they’ve stepped out of Star Wars Resistance. One question, where is Kaz’s thumb? His hand looks weird without it. I absolutely love the B cover by Arianna Florean. This has Han and Chewie just outside the ramp of the Falcon. Speed lines surround the pair as they ready their weapons to start blasting at their latest foes. It’s a generic image of the pair, true, but is just stunning. The final cover, the Retailer Incentive by Nicoletta Baldari, returns to Resistance with Kaz looking at BB-8 in fear with an explosion of orange, green, yellow and white lines behind them, including silhouettes for a pair of fighters I can’t recognize. This looks okay, but I’m not a fan of Resistance because of the style of artwork and animation. Overall grades: A B-, B A, and Retailer Incentive B-
The stories: “Sector 7-E” by Kevin Burke & Chris “Doc” Wyatt opens with Kaz daydreaming when he should be paying attention to Neeku who’s teaching him how to properly open and close water valves. These aren’t exactly skills that a wannabe fighter pilot wants to learn. As he tells BB-8 that Neeku’s information isn’t important he and the droid stumble upon a door in Sector 7-E that’s open. The pair see scuff marks on the floor that are a sign that something heavy was dragged into the room. Naturally they have to investigate. They find a trio of troubles that decide that BB-8 must be taken out. In a moment of karma, Kaz has to remember what Neeku was trying to teach him or the astromech droid is doomed. There’s some good tension and some funny moments, but all’s well that ends well. I was much more taken by Michael Moreci’s Flight of the Falcon Part 4: “Lady and the Tramp.” This continues Bazine’s quest to find the Millennium Falcon. Her search has brought her to Correlia and an audience with Lady Proxima who willing wants to help. “If you wanted help grinding Han’s beloved ship into space dust all you had to do was ask.” Her tale recounts when Han and Chewie had to return to Correlia to get parts for the Falcon that are only available there. Once they’ve landed they’re captured by Moloch who takes them to his master. What follows is great stuff, with Han face-to-face with Proxima, almost replaying their scene from Solo. Overall grades: “Sector 7-E” B and “Lady and the Tramp” A+
The art: I am impressed with how well Valentina Pinto with layout assistant Luca Colandrea create artwork that mirrors the look of Resistance, but as I’ve stated earlier, it’s the look of the show that keeps me from watching it. Every character and every setting has the same fuzzy, unfocused look of the series which I’ve seen in commercials and previews aplenty. I did like the computer screens that showed where BB-8 was going and I liked all of the panels that actually showed his journey. I’m extremely prejudiced looking at this kind of artwork, but it does look faithful to the show. I much prefer the second story illustrated by Arianna Florean. I was overjoyed to see Lady Proxima whose smile was absolutely deadly. The artwork throughout this quick tale looks as though it’s from a classic cartoon. I love Chewie’s posture with his arms folded across his chest and his face signifying his mood. I did not like the computer blur in the fourth panel on Page 6 which makes it look like a printing error. IDW would be wise to stop these blurs that resemble a B-movie that screams Corman more so than Lucas. The action at the end of the story is great and I love Han’s last cocky panel. Bazine has only one close-up of her, on the final page, and she looks magnificent. Overall grades: “Sector 7-E” C- and “Lady and the Tramp” A
The colors: Pinto colors her own work, again, looking just like it comes from an episode of Resistance. I did like how the daydream that starts the tale is given tan and orange colors to separate it from the events occurring in the present. BB-8’s oranges and Kaz’s greens make them stand out when they appear. Though fleetingly shown in the second tale, I loved the burn on Proxima’s face by Adele Matera, reminding the reader visually of what Han did to her. The muggy skies of Correlia are the familiar brown miasma’s that look disgusting. The actions on 6 and 7 are bright and explosive. Overall grades: “Sector 7-E” C- and “Lady and the Tramp” A
The letters: Tom B. Long is the letterer for the entire issue, creating scene settings, dialogue and transmissions (the same font), sounds, BB’s speech, Moloch’s unique dialogue, and Wookiee roars. The scene settings look great, standing out strongly when they appear to alert the reader where the story is occurring. I wasn’t thrilled that dialogue and transmissions are the same font, differed only by the shape of their balloons; they should be different fonts as they are different forms of communication. I loved BB-8’s sounds and Moloch’s speech is gorgeously indecipherable. Chewie’s roars resemble the same font as characters’ yells, but both are loudly spoken, so that didn’t bug. Overall grade: A
The final line: Fans of Star Wars Resistance and Solo: A Star Wars Story will be pleased with this twosome of tales. I’m admittedly not a fan of the former, while an unabashed fan of the latter. If you enjoy either of these SW spin-offs, this is an issue you’re going to need in your collection. Overall grade: B
To order a print copy go to https://www.idwpublishing.com/product/star-wars-adventures-17/
To order a digital copy go to https://www.comixology.com/Star-Wars-Adventures-17/digital-comic/725551?ref=c2VhcmNoL2luZGV4L2Rlc2t0b3Avc2xpZGVyTGlzdC90b3BSZXN1bHRzU2xpZGVy
To see the covers visit my Instagram account: patrickhayesscifipulse
Share this:
