Star Wars: Age of Rebellion - Heroes (comic) - Paul's REVIEW

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Title: Star Wars: Age of Rebellion - Heroes
Writers: Greg Pek & Marc Guggenheim
Artists: Chris Sprouse, Karl Story, Andrea Broccardo, & Matteo Buffagni
Recent Release Date: August 20, 2019

Age of Republic - Villains
Age of Republic - Heroes

Age of Rebellion - Villains

Synopsis: Writer Greg Pak (WEAPON H and WEAPON X) teams up with artists Chris Sprouse (BLACK PANTHER) and more to tell stunning adventures starring the greatest heroes from the original Star Wars film trilogy. What exactly did Han and Chewie do with all that reward money? What harrowing battles did Leia and Lando fight on the way to infiltrate Jabba's palace? STAR WARS: AGE OF REBELLION fills in the gaps between and complements the fan-favorite, iconic Star Wars moments, shedding new light on the films' eternal conflict between the light and the dark, good and evil.

COLLECTING: STAR WARS: AGE OF REBELLION - HAN SOLO 1, STAR WARS: AGE OF REBELLION - LANDO CALRISSIAN 1, STAR WARS: AGE OF REBELLION - LUKE SKYWALKER 1, STAR WARS: AGE OF REBELLION - PRINCESS LEIA 1 

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Review: This was the volume I was least looking forward to of these collections. The heroes from the original trilogy era have gotten plenty of stories, especially in the ongoing Star Wars comic taking place between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. Thankfully these stories are mostly outside of that specific time frame. 

Leia is the focus of the first story, which takes place after The Empire Strikes Back. Boushh is featured and some details of how Leia, Chewie, & Lando's plan for Return of the Jedi came to be are shown. Bossk also shows up. 3/5

Han's story takes place shortly after A New Hope before he has actually committed to being a part of the Rebellion. 3/5

Lando's story shows him trying to be a good leader for his people of Cloud City. He has some business problems and has to figure out his priorities. Lando shows some moral high ground while he also tries his luck. 4/5

Luke's story is the most unique (other than the final story) story, showing how the Emperor was trying to get into Luke's head. This story takes place between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. 4/5

Yoda's story is a fun one. It shows the old jedi master living his life on Dagobah before Luke arrives, remembering the downfall of the jedi. 4/5

This final story is weird. Like really strange. Porkins and Biggs are the focus and the vibe of the story is different than most Marvel Star Wars comic books. It's all about self care and going on vacation, while being haunted by the extreme things that one does during war like killing people. This story pretty much brings the hypocrisy of war and especially the war in the stars to the forefront. This story is either a 1/5 or a 5/5. I seriously can't decide; it's such a strange Star Wars story. I would be intrigued to see more stories from this perspective.

Overall, this book gets a 4/5 from me. I liked seeing the stories that don't take place between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. I do wish other minor heroes would have been featured instead of the main trio. They get so many stories already.


--PAUL

Star Wars: Age of Republic - Heroes (comic) - Paul's REVIEW

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Title: Star Wars: Age of Republic - Heroes
Writer: Jody Houser & Marc Guggenheim
Artists: Cory Smith, Wilton Santos, Walden Wong, Paolo Villanelli, & Caspar Wijngaard
Recent Release Date: May 28, 2019

Age of Republic - Villains

Synopsis: This is the Age of Star Wars - an epic series of adventures that unite your favorite characters from all three trilogies! Join the greatest heroes of the waning days of the Old Republic. Witness the never-before-seen moments that define them, the incredible battles that shaped them - and their eternal conflict between light and darkness! Considered one of the greatest Jedi Knights - or the one who led them to their doom - maverick Qui-Gon Jinn is known to bend the rules, and it's gotten him into plenty of trouble with the Council. Now, in the face of a mission gone awry, he's forced to confront his confl icting beliefs. Plus, Anakin Skywalker! Obi-Wan Kenobi! Padme Amidala! And Master Yoda!



COLLECTING: STAR WARS: AGE OF REPUBLIC - ANAKIN SKYWALKER 1, STAR WARS: AGE OF REPUBLIC - OBI-WAN KENOBI 1, STAR WARS: AGE OF REPUBLIC - PADME AMIDALA 1, STAR WARS: AGE OF REPUBLIC - QUI-GON JINN 1

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Review: It seems like we're coming to a new era of Marvel Star Wars comics. The ongoing series is ending soon and these volumes focusing on either heroes or villains from each of the trilogies are giving us new stories from different eras. This volume is all about the heroes from the prequel trilogy. I got into Star Wars comics during this era with the Dark Horse Clone Wars books. There are six different stories in this collection.

Qui-Gon Jiin is the focus of the first story. We need more stories about him. I really need to read the new Claudia Gray book featuring Qui-Gon and Obi-wan. In this story, though, Qui-Gon is questioning the Jedi ways, wondering what their real purpose really is. I really liked the bold colors in this story. 4/5

Obi-wan Kenobi gets the highlight in the second story. He's training Anakin. I give this story a 3/5. I did really enjoy seeing alien species I only knew from a Legends guide to aliens though.

Anakin Skywalker gets the third story. This one takes place during the Clone War and goes into the impossible choices of war. 3/5

Padme's story is my favorite from this volume. I give it a 5/5. This story also takes place during the Clone Wars. These stories always make me think about how much I dislike her story in Episode 3. She's such a badass senator. I really liked seeing the handmaidens discussing Anakin and Padme's relationship.

The next story is about Mace Windu. It goes into the complexities of the Jedi even before the Clone Wars began. There's a Master Huyang reference that I really enjoyed. I would love to see more of him in future stories! 4/5

Captain Rex and Jar Jar Binks are in the last story. I wish this story was longer. I would read a whole volume about these two. I would love to see an ethically complex take on Jar Jar's role in the Clone Wars. 4/5

Overall, it was really fun to read new stories set in the prequel era, but I was disappointed with how many took place during the Clone Wars. It's one of the times with the most story already in existence. I want more stories that take place before Episode 1. That's it for the Age of Republic. Next, the Age of Rebellion!. I give this volume a 4/5. 


--PAUL

Arrow Vol. 1 by Marc Guggenheim, Andrew Kreisberg, & Mike Grell - Ashley's Review

*I received this book as an eARC from DC Comics on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

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Title: Arrow Vol. 1
Author: Marc Guggenheim, Andrew Kreisberg, and Mark Grell (Illustrator)
Year Published: 2013

Synopsis: Spinning off directly from the hit CW television series ARROW comes the Emerald Archerer in these digital-first adventures! Show creators Andrew Kreisberg and Marc Guggenheim team with some of the industry's best artists, including Mike Grell (GREEN ARROW: THE LONGBOW HUNTERS), Phil Hester (GREEN ARROW: QUIVER) and others to fill in the gaps between episodes of one of TV's hottest new series.

Collects Arrow #1-6 and #1 Special edition

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Review: I was really excited when I saw that there was a comic series that was a direct spin-off of the CW television show, ARROW. I love the show, and have been anxiously waiting for its return this fall, and figured this would be enough to tide me over until then. I hoped that it would delve a little more into the background of some of the minor characters and give more context for the show. 

Although we do see some of the more notable characters (Moira, Laurel, Tommy, Diggle, etc), we don't really learn too much more about them. This collection gives a little background on characters like the white haired woman in the Triad, but kind of just throws the others in assuming you already know them well enough. It made it a little confusing at times, because I couldn't really tell who was supposed to be who or what was going on.

It was fun to see some of Oliver's other adventures, and to see him take on some villains that probably wouldn't have been "bad" enough to cover in the show. Or who do things that might be considered inappropriate for cable television (like human trafficking, etc). We don't learn too much about these bad guys, but Ollie sometimes has to be pretty creative to defeat them, and I think his martial arts skills are translated very well into pictures. 

This comic, like the show, is dark and gritty. I think the two are very reflective of each other, and I enjoyed that the comic was in the same style as the show. It helped to get into the world quickly, and allowed for fewer explanations as to what was happening. So if you've watched  the show, I would definitely recommend these comics. If you're looking to get into the world of ARROW though, I would suggest starting with the show and then going to the comics. And I would definitely not recommend these for a younger audience. A 3/5 from me.


--Ashley