Review: Star Wars Hyperspace Stories #4

Star Wars Hyperspace Stories #4 highlights just how badly the Sequel Era is being used in expanded fiction. There are no quality stories being told with the Sequel characters in spite of a vast need to give us some depth, characterization and closure that the Rise of Skywalker left unfinished.

Instead we are given this painful exercise involving Rey skipping any of that and heading to Kashyyyk for yet another Life Day sequel. This seems even more unnecessary given the far superior Life Day comic and Holiday Novel we got within the last year.

The anachronism used here makes this even more insulting as writer Amanda Deibert crafts this as a tribute to How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Every page has some moment sure to elicit unwelcome groans. Clearly the hope is to match the tone of the original holiday special, but it is unclear why anyone would want to match a tone so university reviled. As the other Life Day specials taught us, taking the content more seriously and giving Kashyyyk depth is a much better use of revisiting Life Day.

All of this is a shame as the art by Lucas Marangon and especially the colors by Michael Atiyeh are delightful. The wookiee characters bounce off the page as they deal with the bounty hunter Mwarr Ja’randa’s attempt to ruin life day for Rey and Chewbacca at the command of Kylo Ren. Unfortunately Rey does not look anything like herself. No one would recognize this character as Rey on first glance, although thankfully the cover spells it out for us.

This book represents everything wrong with the way the sequel era is being used in novels and comics. Nothing that actually uses these unique characters to define them, celebrate them, give them depth and carry them into the future is occurring. We are getting throwaway stories with thin plots, barely recognizable characters and no stakes. Even a comic designed for kids needs to make readers care about the characters, conflicts and outcomes.

Writing: 1 of 5 stars
Art: 3.0 of 5 stars
Colors: 4.5 of 5 stars

Overall:
2 of 5 stars

Writer: Amanda Diebert
Art: Lucas Marangon
Colors: Michael Atiyeh
Publisher: Dark Horse 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.