Reviews 

“Star Wars Legacy: Tatooine”

By | July 23rd, 2020
Posted in Reviews | % Comments

You know those wars? The ones in the stars? Well, they are still raging. But while the Fel Empire, the One Sith, the Jedi Remnant, the Galactic Alliance, the Yuzhan Vong, the Crime Syndacites, and a million other factions vie for galactic supremacy, “Star Wars Legacy” decided to focus up and tell the kind of story it does best. A nice mix of simple adventure, nostalgia, and good comic craft make ‘Tatooine’ the best arc of this comic series yet!


“Star Wars Legacy” #36-40

Story by John Ostrander and Jan Duursema
Written by John Ostrander
Illustrated by Omar Francia, and Jan Duursema
Inked by Dan Parsons
Colored by Brad Anderson
Lettered by Michael Heisler
Published by Marvel
Originally published by Dark Horse

There have been moments, issues, and stories I’ve liked in “Legacy” better than this one. But I’d be hard pressed to argue that anything would get a higher numeric score. ‘Claws of the Dragon’ was full of meaningful character moments and plot twists. But ‘Tatooine’ is just more fun. We focus on our central trio and even though I am sick to death of Star Wars always going back to this one desert planet (in no less than 6 out of 9 movies), we’re far enough along in the timeline that it didn’t feel overly self indulgent.

And besides, it’s hard to call something like this boring. There are so many moving pieces! Classic villains the Black Sun Cartel are up to no good! Morrigan Corde is back, and this time she’s brought a friend- a commando who happens to be her daughter… Cade’s half-sister! There are a trio of assassins who look like Star Wars meets Mortal Kombat! (And they are vampire aliens!) If you claim to like Star Wars, but rolled your eyes at all of that, I’ve got a lot of questions for you. This is where it’s at.

This is also a story where the dynamics of our main three (Cade, Syn, and Blue) get more room to breathe than they’ve gotten in a while. Blue is a little heartbroken that Cade was dallying with another lady (which is tedious). But it’s actually pretty fun in execution. They aren’t hooking up anymore, but there’s still a lot of love between them, even physical affection. They don’t doubt their commitments to each other, but there’s a real hurt. And it’s fun to contrast that with Cade and Syn who had a rocky time with Cade’s Jedi reveal, but they are past that. Syn learns to enjoy trusting Cade. He even pretends to be a renegade Jedi to hook up with a twi’lek at the cantina. (It doesn’t work).

What delights the midichlorians right out of me though, is all the family drama. So much Star Wars fiction is trapped in the shadow of “I am your father,” and that’s a tough place to be. You ain’t never gonna top that. So “Star Wars Legacy” doesn’t try to beat it. It takes more of a “history doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme” stance. When Cade meets his half-sister, of course he tries to pick her up. Unlike Empire Strikes Back though, the writers know that they are writing siblings so the icky tone is intentional, and thus hilarious. It’s like that scene in Game of Thrones where Theon meets his sister for the first time. Gross, cringe, and unforgettable.

And sure, we get the requisite scene where Cade duels with the ghosts of his ancestors. That’s just the price of doing business at this point. The comic isn’t called “Legacy” because there’s not going to be a bunch of ghost duels. But the surrounding stuff is so zippy and fun that it gives the thematic work more impact. The assassin kicking and near-miss incest fakeout stuff is thrilling, so the navel gazing is a great change of pace. It’s not a slog to read at all, quite the opposite. Cade’s journey feels fun and important.

By the time the Mynock is pulling out of the starport, I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to Tatooine. And that’s crazy, because when the cartoons or The Mandalorian use it as a setting, I roll my eyes. But it turns out there’s an inherent Star Wars flavor, and it can be applied to cowboys and vampires and ninjas and pirates and spies and wizards and heroes. When you put all those things together to make a Star Wars, it is a good time.

Continued below

May the Force be with you! See you on another world.

Star Wars Track of the Week: “Binary Sunset” by John Williams from Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope


//TAGS | 2020 Summer Comics Binge | Star Wars

Jaina Hill

Jaina is from New York. She currently lives in Ohio. Ask her, and she'll swear she's one of those people who loves both Star Wars and Star Trek equally. Say hi to her on twitter @Rambling_Moose!

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