There is a type of Star Wars story many people purport to hate. It’s the kind that feels the need to explain every little detail from the beloved films. Why did R5-D4 have a bad motivator? Why did Admiral Motti not believe in the Force? Did Poe Dameron get a good deal on his iconic jacket? Those people are wrong. There is nothing wrong with these sorts of stories and indeed, some of the most beloved stories in the Expanded Universe start with such trivial questions. This dynamic is on display in “Galaxy’s Edge” #1, an issue that had a lot of potential as a Star Wars story, but fails as a comic book first.
Written by Ethan SacksCover by Rod Reis
Illustrated by Will Sliney
Colored by Dono Sanchez-Almara
Lettered by VC’s Travis LanhamA CALL TO ADVENTURE ON THE VERY EDGE OF THE GALAXY! THE COMIC TIE-IN TO THE THEME PARK! BLACK SPIRE OUTPOST has long been frequented by smugglers, merchants and travelers from every corner of the galaxy looking to make their score on the infamous black market – or experience the exotic thrills only the remote world of Batuu has to offer. Beings like the infamous DOK-ONDAR, a proprietor of rare and one-of-a-kind antiquities, thrive on the unique opportunities which abound on the lawless outpost at the very edge of Wild Space! But the evil FIRST ORDER has come to Batuu and the survival of the entire outpost is at stake! The road to Black Spire’s possible salvation might begin in the past…with a job HAN SOLO and his partner CHEWBACCA pulled for Dok-Ondar. The newest chapter of the growing Star Wars saga begins this April with ETHAN SACKS (OLD MAN HAWKEYE) AND WILL SLINEY’S (BEN REILLY: SCARLET SPIDER, SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY) GALAXY’S EDGE – the riveting comic adventure tie-in to the theme park.
What could be a sillier starting place than this? “Galaxy’s Edge” is the name of the new Star Wars themed Disney World park. A few of us will be lucky enough to visit it, but for the rest of us, it is the backstory to a vacation destination we might never see. The Galaxy’s Edge park lets visitors pretend they are visiting Black Spire Outpost, a town on the far-off planet of Batuu. The first couple of pages set the scene, and despite how inconsequential the story is, it is charming as hell.
A smuggler walks through a dusty outpost. A droid offers him a “juicy Ronto wrap.” The smuggler refuses it; he’d much rather try the Meiloorun Juice. I don’t know for certain that these are products you can buy in the Disney park, but I’d be shocked if they weren’t. And it’s kind of funny. It seems like the “Disneyworld” version of a Star Wars spaceport… but that’s exactly what it is! Instead of tanking the issue with silliness, it seems like a fun meta-joke, like maybe the creators are in on it, and inviting you to have a laugh with them.
Next, we are introduced to Dok-Ondar. He’s the richest guy in Black Spire Outpost, and a collector of rare antiquities. Doubtless, he’s the shopkeeper who tourists are going to buy their dumb souvenirs from. He’s instantly memorable, a colorful bearded Ithorian with a ton of ‘tude. Not only is he doing his crime boss thing, the First Order is in town, and they are breathing down everyone’s necks. The smuggler takes a look at a creature in a jar, and Dok-Ondar reveals that it is a baby Sarlaac, when suddenly…
We are in a flashback and the fun energy of the issue comes screeching to a halt. See, it turns out that years before Han Solo and Chewbacca were hired by Dok-Ondar to smuggle him that Sarlaac. So they took the Millennium Falcon, flew it to I’vorcia Prime, and fought some guys. Unfortunately, it’s this caper that takes up most of the issue. Ethan Sacks writes a pretty good Han and Chewie, but the don’t have anything to do. The story follows all of the most predictable beats and fails to surprise even once. Han snarks, Chewie grumbles, the bad guys are treacherous and slimy, the monsters get loose, and there’s one memorable panel of Chewie leaping with his bowcaster like he’s a furry John McClane.
Continued belowBlame for this story can’t just fall on Sacks. Will Sliney is on art and he doesn’t do much with the material either. You recognize everyone and everything that you should- Ithorians look like Ithorians, First Order ships fold in the way you’d expect, various machinery looks enough like something you’d see in Mos Eisley- but the new designs don’t really rise to the occasion. Some of the bad guys on I’vorica Prime look like familiar Star Wars creatures, but one dude is just a shrimpy green guy with a fashionable head of hair. He looks like a lazy background Star Trek alien, not the kind of guy who could instantly inspire a short story in Tales From Jabba’s Palace.
After the caper, we return to the present and it turns out a conspiracy is afoot on Batuu. And I for one would be here for it, but I suspect this is going to be the structure of every issue. A slow trickle of Black Spire action in the framing narrative, and a bunch of self contained adventures featuring familiar faces. Indeed, future issues promise appearances from Greedo, Jabba, Hondo, and the planet Jedha.
Does this issue fail because it over-explains Star Wars minutia? Far from it! A comic with a decent excuse to bum around could take us into the different food shops and tourist attractions that Disney is hoping to sell us on. I can only imagine the thrill of seeing a familiar droid or landmark in the park and knowing its secret history. This story fails because instead of embracing the weird and wonderful, it gives us the familiar. It’s a compilation of smuggler tales, the likes of which we’ve seen before, without any impact. If Poe Dameron really did buy his jacket from Dok-Ondar and there were a fun misunderstanding, imaginative shenanigans, and maybe a chase or two, I’d much rather be reading that story!
Final Verdict: 4.5 – A competently drawn issue withers without any storytelling ambition.
