Star Wars, Vol. 12: Rebels and Rogues (comic) - Paul's REVIEW

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Title: Star Wars, Vol. 12: Rebels and Rogues
Writer: Greg Pek
Artist: Phil Noto
Release Date: November 19, 2019


Synopsis: Darth Vader is on the hunt for Luke Skywalker! Thousands of remote probes are sent into the far reaches of space looking for the Rebel Alliance. But the rebels send out desperate, heroic missions to lead them astray. Chewie and C-3PO lure a drone to a planet with an unstable core but learn of a secret droid civilization. With Star Destroyers and Darth Vader approaching, they must now protect these newfound droids. Luke Skywalker undertakes a mission to lead a drone away from a rebel refueling station but runs into the Force-sensitive human Bendoh. With Luke training to be a Jedi, will Bendoh be a valuable teacher or a simple grifter? Then, Han Solo and Princess Leia plan to use a drone to take down a local crime boss, but things get complicated when they run into Leia's ex! What could possibly go wrong?!

COLLECTING: STAR WARS 68-72

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Review: This is the twelfth volume in this ongoing series and quite honestly, it's getting stale. I am absolutely ready for the jump past The Empire Strikes Back. I'm curious to see if they'll do any Shadows of the Empire plots. But in the mean time, this volume had our main heroes split up into duos. Han and Leia meet with an ex of Leia. Luke and Artoo search a desert planet and meet a force user. Chewbacca and Threepio discover some not-so-organic lifeforms.

There are some interesting ideas in this volume, but it just feels kind of boring. There's no big picture things going down It just feels like more missions that will be resolved and are just taking up the time until we get to Hoth. The stakes don't feel high. One thing I did enjoy seeing was Han and Leia's relationship starting to look like what it does in The Empire Strikes Back. 

I give this volume a 3/5. The heroes are divided and not much happens. There isn't even much resolution in this volume. 


--PAUL

STAR WARS: C-3PO: The Phantom Limb (comic) - Paul's REVIEW

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Title: Star Wars: C-3PO: The Phantom Limb
Author: James Robinson
Illustrator: Tony Harris

Recent Release Date: April 13, 2016

Synopsis: C-3P0 #1 will reunite the acclaimed and award-winning writer and artist team of James Robinson and Tony Harris for the first time in nearly two decades, the tale follows “golden rod” on a solo adventure leading up to his appearance in Star Wars: The Force Awakens — and reveals what led to this change in appearance.

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Review: This one-shot comic was announced long ago and took forever to come out. It was pushed back at least three times. The day it finally released, I stopped by the comic book store and picked up a variant (the action figure one, of course) since I wasn't sure if it would be compiled in a volume. And I just couldn't wait any longer.

This comic explains the red arm Threepio references when he is first introduced in The Force Awakens. Although many people have criticized this red arm as being only done to sell toys, it is very Star Wars-y. The galaxy is so much bigger than the films.

The story is quick and simple, but packs more of an emotional blow than you might expect. It reminded me of an episode of Clone Wars. 

The art is dark and contrasts the bright colors of the droids. I was amazed how emotion was shown in the faces of characters who don't emote at all. 

I enjoyed this comic, but there was more hype than deserved. It was a great story to add to the expanding canon of Star Wars. I give this one-shot comic a 4.5/5. 


--PAUL