Now that all three of the Marvel “Star Wars” books have come out, the main series from Jason Aaron and John Cassaday stands out as the best of the bunch. Maintaining the spirit of the the original movie, this book’s ambitions steer more toward delivering an exciting story over anything else.
Written by Jason Aaron
Art by John Cassaday• The attack on Cymoon-1 comes crashing to an end!
• Will the Rebels overcome Vader to strike another blow against the Empire?
• And is Luke ready to be the Jedi Ben wanted him to be?
More than anything, I get the feeling that these first three issues of “Star Wars” have been a sort of preview of the kind of story Jason Aaron and John Cassaday want to deliver. There are some exciting chases, blaster fights, architectural destruction, and, most importantly of all, lightsaber duels. Aaron has a strong handle on how the characters speak, interact, and make decisions, while Cassaday only amplifies this with great gestures and movements and sense of action, and they deliver their parts with a true passion for the material. “Star Wars” #3 wraps up the Rebels’ attack and escape on Cymoon-1 and goddammit if it doesn’t pack in as much fun and excitement as the original movie.
Take, for example, Luke using the AT-AT to his advantage in a speeder chase, or when Leia and Han desperately try to get back to the Millennium Falcon in an Imperial Walker commandeered in the last issue while in the middle of a classic Han and Leia argument, or Chewbacca desperately trying to repair as much of the damaged ship as he can from some local scavengers. This issue is a 20-page chase sequence and not once did I feel bored or overwhelmed or confused about what was going on.
Darth Vader, though, comes out as the strongest element in the book. From my experience, there have not been many moments when Darth Vader’s been allowed to be an absolute boss. Make no mistake, he’s a complete badass, iconic in his villainy, but more often than not, he’s presented as more intimidating and stoic, imposing and terrifying; the kind of person who enters stage left and the entire room falls into tense silence. His subordinates approach him with wobbly knees and none of them are sure they’re going to walk out of that meeting with their head.
Aaron and Cassaday give Vader some ridiculously satisfying moments. There’s very few figures who could walk through a battlefield with only mild irritation and brandish their weapons without you going, “OH SNAP, SON!” It took the Rebels a squadron of speeders and tow cables to take down an AT-AT, but Vader tears one to shreds with a few frustrated thrusts. Sure, a lot of that comes because we’ve seen people around Vader cower in fear in his presence and we, as readers, know that Vader is not someone to be trifled with, but these moments of Vader in action don’t come fast enough, and sometimes don’t feel as horrifying as they ought to be.
Total boss.
Cassaday’s art is lively and kinetic. He uses a sort of rectilinear widescreen layout, similar to Darwyn Cooke’s “New Frontier” stuff, that helps give a sense of the scope and wonder to the story. He knows when to pack the frame with numerous characters, and doesn’t allow any of them to stand around, and he also realizes when it’s time to take a step back and let the negative space in the frames tell the story. (I’m thinking of a late scene with Darth Vader emerging from some flaming debris, appearing only mildly frustrated.) His pacing is impeccable and his work has a fluidity to it that would make this feel like a Star Wars book even if Luke and company weren’t in it.
Aaron continues to bring what feels like an extensive knowledge of the Star Wars Universe to this book. He drops hints at concepts like The Force or Luke’s desire to be a Jedi, but I think he realizes that this isn’t yet that important, and he’s trying his damndest to make this as entertaining as possible. Sometimes, though, I feel like Aaron’s playing, like, a tabletop RPG with these characters more than actually using them. Some of his dialogue is a bit off-rhythm, jolty, especially with anything Leia says. The one that brought me most out of the book came toward the end when Leia was telling Luke how good he is at this hero gig. It’s not George Lucas levels of awkward, but it doesn’t feel as confident as the rest of the dialogue.
Continued belowBut this also speaks to a bigger issue with the kind of book “Star Wars” is: a bridge between two other stories. We know that eventually Han and Leia and Luke are going to end up on Hoth, and so the stakes feel a little more fleeting and arbitrary. It seems like Aaron can only go, “I think Leia would react like this if faced with this situation,” rather than being able to give her a full character arc. I do think that Aaron did mostly strong work deflecting our attention away from that lack of character wiggle-room, but I’m not sure how long something like that could go on.
In all though, Aaron and Cassaday have turned in a strong start to the Marvel “Star Wars” series. They’ve dropped some exciting hints at the mood and essence of their story, of its energy and spectacle. They’ve also shown that they are capable of concluding one of these stories in a satisfying manner, which is something “Star Wars” material hasn’t always been able to accomplish. I’m excited to see where they’re going to take this thing and what far reaches of the galaxy they still plan to explore.
Final Verdict: 8.8. Focusing more on the spectacle and energy of the the Original Trilogy, gives this conclusion to the first “Star Wars” arc a satisfying and exciting feel.
