Review: Star Wars #19

Star Wars 19 is the kickoff of Luke’s adventures traveling the galaxy to become a great Jedi. In the period between Empire and ROTJ, Luke should be having incredible experiences that are building his confidence and abilities. This issue aims to begin the emotional and physical journey, but his journey gets sidetracked by an overused trope in the modern mythos: a Jedi holocron.

The issue begins with the Rebels gathered to plan how to find the disparate divisions of the rebel fleet lost in the prior battles. Luke let’s Leia know he needs to leave to develop his own self. His most recent run in with Vader has shown him just how far he needs to go to become a Jedi. Oddly, instead of simply returning to Yoda he goes on a quest and ends up finding a Holocron…of Yoda.

On his way to find it he does pass through some very important worlds in the Star Wars mythos. But the time spent on each is only a few panels and not at all enough to feel worthwhile. It’s nice to see Illum, Arashar, Lothal Mount Pasvaal and other places but it would be nicer to really spend a full issue or even an arc seeing Luke explore and have adventures on these worlds.

That said he does arrive at the Ruins of Am’balaar and this allows him to rebuild his connection to the Force, practice fooling Stormtroopers and meet a former ally of a Jedi. Colli is a mechanic who was saved by Kirak Infil’a. He tells Luke of an imperial warehouse holding Jedi artifacts. Luke uses his rekindled connection to the Force to make the stormtroopers find him the Holocron and is surprised to see Yoda’s image and voice emerge.

The character art throughout the issue is solid but the backgrounds in many scenes feel a bit too simple. There are great depictions of the landmark locations across the galaxy, but the smaller scenes lack some depth. That being said, the true limiting factor here may be a lack of any action or conflict beyond Luke’s own thoughts. This may just be the beginning of a much larger story, but it’s tough to see why any reader would return simply to hear Yoda’s old hologram talk next issue.

Writing: 2.5 of 5 stars
Art: 3 of 5 stars
Colors: 3 of 5 stars

Overall: 2.7 of 5 stars

Writer: Charles Soule
Art: Marco Castiello
Colors: Rachelle Rosenberg
Publisher: Marvel Comics

Author Profile

M.R. Jafri

M.R. Jafri was born and raised in Niagara Falls New York and now lives with his family in Detroit Michigan. He's a talkative introvert and argumentative geek. His loves include Star Wars, Star Trek, Superheroes, Ninja Turtles, Power Rangers, Transformers, GI Joe, Films, Comics, TV Shows, Action Figures and Twizzlers.