REVIEW: Star Wars #3

Writer: Jason Aaron
Cover Artist: John Cassaday
Colors: Laura Martin
Letters:Â Chris Eliopoulos
Published: March 11, 2015
Publisher: Marvel Comics

When I heard the news that Disney had bought out Lucasfilm, I, like many others wondered what this would mean for tie-in (no pun intended) material such as The Clone Wars, which had been hitting its stride for a couple of seasons, and the Dark Horse version of the ever popular space opera. Â Now we have Rebels and the first few issues of the new Marvel comic, it seems that normal service has resumed.

Issue three starts with our heroes up to their collective necks in trouble. The art by John Cassidy in the open barrage is effective with TIE fighters, AT-ATs and speeder bikes all on display and looking like their film counter parts. However, character wise, it’s a slightly different story. There are panels in which you can see that the face looks like it has been taken from one of the movies. That in itself isn’t a concern; it’s when Cassidy moves away from the photo stills and has to create his own version of the Solo smirk, for example, that he runs into trouble. In addition I am not a big fan of the look of his Chewbacca or Millennium Falcon, the latter looking flat, however I do appreciate the effort in making Luke look like his pre-wampa attack.

Jason Aaron provides the the script and story and his efforts produce a mixed bag. On the Dark Side we have a lot of Star Wars mainstays in play. A reactor that needs blowing up, a last minute Falcon rescue of Luke, C-3POÂ in bits and the ever popular will the hyperdrive work? This may seem lazy writing, but I assume that Aaron is looking to provide the elements that fans love about the movies. On the Light Side we do have a couple of moments that made me smile, especially Vader’s moment of reflection and Leia’s pep talk. The only other problem I have is sometimes the characters don’t sound like themselves, even to the point of some Star Trek slipping in there.

This is a tie-in book so you know that everyone has to survive, as it’s set between A New Hope and Empire. This means that any cliff hangers are somewhat negated. With only select moments to hint at what is to come, “I have a bad feeling” that thisq book could end up as an endless repetition of set pieces from the movies.

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Author Profile

Johnny "The Machine" Hughes

I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow

Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network