Solo: A Star Wars Story #2 Review
Writer: Robbie Thompson
Artist: Will Sliney
Colorist: Federico Blee
Letterer: VC's Joe Caramagna
Publisher: Marvel
Solo: A Star Wars Story #2 continues Marvel's adaptation of this year's standalone Han Solo film which explored the famous smuggler in his early years. It continues where the first issue left off, as a very strict retelling that stuffs as much movie script as possible into its word balloons.
It's become clear in this issue that we will have a by-the-script retread of the entire movie, beat by beat, for the remainder of the series. It doesn't seem to be intended as supplemental material, but rather as a straight replacement for the movie in comic book form. Unfortunately, Solo: A Star Wars Story was a nostalgic explain-all that served primarily to plant the seeds that begin Han's future character arc and resolve any threads referenced in the Original Trilogy. That kind of story doesn't translate well to this format. This adaptation isn't without merit - but the movie doesn't provide the foundation needed for these comics to succeed.
The film is primarily about introductions. How Han meets Chewie. How Han meets Lando. How Han first lands himself in the Millennium Falcon's cockpit. The meeting of Chewbacca was the finale of the first issue. This issue ends on a similar splash of an unexpected (if you haven't seen the movie) reintroduction as well. I have no doubt that Lando's introduction will grace the final page of an upcoming issue, or that Han will seat himself in the Falcon in the final panel of another. In a movie, these are entertaining scenes that offer measured payoff and lead into the next. Unfortunately, these beats do not equate to climaxes for individual comic book issues.
This is a mostly actionless script that has been dutifully transcribed into comic form. It's wordy and stiff, and it refuses to prune. So many unnecessary details and lines of dialogue are included without much thought to whether they even function in the scope of the comic or align with its art. This series would have benefited massively from being cut down to a four-parter if only to force the writer to actually adapt rather than duplicate.
Beyond the fact that there may not be enough action to justify the length of this series, the action is done... inconsistently. The first two pages actually contain very effective action as Han and Chewbacca scuffle in the mud on Mimban. Chaotic and kinetic, the first page plays with its layout to frame a fight that Han is clearly losing. In general, the layout throughout this issue seems a little haphazard and random, but panels are placed with cognizance for this first encounter. On the other hand, the train job is a wreck. It's a "fight scene" I suppose, but it's more of an excuse to pour in more dialogue. Opponents almost never exist in the same panel - instead, it continues to showcase character close-ups cornered by dialogue and text... with something drawn in to remind you this is an action scene. Maybe it's Beckett firing his blaster in a tiny panel that contains 25 words (and is half-hidden by their balloons).
Maybe it's Han, mid-jump, as he exclaims: "You'll have to uncouple this one on your own, Chewie," before Beckett asks, "Han?" and Han replies "I'm on it, Beckett!" as someone else says, "Val, keep your eyes open, we just tripped a sensor." Every piece of that dialogue is contained in a single panel depicting Han taking a leap. You barely register that it's supposed to be action, you barely remember to look at the artwork because each panel in this action sequence works like a slide in a PowerPoint presentation. Each slide is just a moment drawn from the movie's frames to accompany your reading of what happened in the film for two minutes on either side of that still. In this way, it barely feels like a comic. The art is wallpaper for the writer to frame and hang his replica movie-script on. It just can't keep up.
Speaking of wallpaper, every page has a borderless backdrop that wastes more space than it deserves and it can give some pages an oddly unfinished feel. The art makes better use of its color scheme this time around with a grey hue at the edges of every panel possible. This helps to assuage the plasticky sheen to character faces (poor Han can't catch a break, he looks vaguely like a Ken doll gone wrong in both of his current Marvel series - although he's much worse-off in Imperial Cadet). However, a fireside scene that replaces the standard colors and shading for a warmer, orange-washed tone (and more organic coloring technique) shows that the shiny clay world of Solo #2 is actually preferable to some alternatives.
Solo: A Star Wars Story #2 doubles down on the failures of the first issue and all but confirms that the series won't work. The way the film has been adapted does not work with the medium to which it's being adapted. It's ill-fitting, obligatory, and uninspired. That said, it is hopelessly faithful to the film - you'd be hard-pressed to find a comic adaptation that crams more of the source material into its pages. While not particularly resonant or effective, it is utilitarian and meticulous. If you're looking for an illustrated abridgment of the film script to keep on your smartphone, this is probably your best option. Otherwise, spend the cover price of this issue on the movie rental and get the same dialogue - in the medium it was written for.
Artist: Will Sliney
Colorist: Federico Blee
Letterer: VC's Joe Caramagna
Publisher: Marvel
Solo: A Star Wars Story #2 continues Marvel's adaptation of this year's standalone Han Solo film which explored the famous smuggler in his early years. It continues where the first issue left off, as a very strict retelling that stuffs as much movie script as possible into its word balloons.
It's become clear in this issue that we will have a by-the-script retread of the entire movie, beat by beat, for the remainder of the series. It doesn't seem to be intended as supplemental material, but rather as a straight replacement for the movie in comic book form. Unfortunately, Solo: A Star Wars Story was a nostalgic explain-all that served primarily to plant the seeds that begin Han's future character arc and resolve any threads referenced in the Original Trilogy. That kind of story doesn't translate well to this format. This adaptation isn't without merit - but the movie doesn't provide the foundation needed for these comics to succeed.
The film is primarily about introductions. How Han meets Chewie. How Han meets Lando. How Han first lands himself in the Millennium Falcon's cockpit. The meeting of Chewbacca was the finale of the first issue. This issue ends on a similar splash of an unexpected (if you haven't seen the movie) reintroduction as well. I have no doubt that Lando's introduction will grace the final page of an upcoming issue, or that Han will seat himself in the Falcon in the final panel of another. In a movie, these are entertaining scenes that offer measured payoff and lead into the next. Unfortunately, these beats do not equate to climaxes for individual comic book issues.
This is a mostly actionless script that has been dutifully transcribed into comic form. It's wordy and stiff, and it refuses to prune. So many unnecessary details and lines of dialogue are included without much thought to whether they even function in the scope of the comic or align with its art. This series would have benefited massively from being cut down to a four-parter if only to force the writer to actually adapt rather than duplicate.
Beyond the fact that there may not be enough action to justify the length of this series, the action is done... inconsistently. The first two pages actually contain very effective action as Han and Chewbacca scuffle in the mud on Mimban. Chaotic and kinetic, the first page plays with its layout to frame a fight that Han is clearly losing. In general, the layout throughout this issue seems a little haphazard and random, but panels are placed with cognizance for this first encounter. On the other hand, the train job is a wreck. It's a "fight scene" I suppose, but it's more of an excuse to pour in more dialogue. Opponents almost never exist in the same panel - instead, it continues to showcase character close-ups cornered by dialogue and text... with something drawn in to remind you this is an action scene. Maybe it's Beckett firing his blaster in a tiny panel that contains 25 words (and is half-hidden by their balloons).
Maybe it's Han, mid-jump, as he exclaims: "You'll have to uncouple this one on your own, Chewie," before Beckett asks, "Han?" and Han replies "I'm on it, Beckett!" as someone else says, "Val, keep your eyes open, we just tripped a sensor." Every piece of that dialogue is contained in a single panel depicting Han taking a leap. You barely register that it's supposed to be action, you barely remember to look at the artwork because each panel in this action sequence works like a slide in a PowerPoint presentation. Each slide is just a moment drawn from the movie's frames to accompany your reading of what happened in the film for two minutes on either side of that still. In this way, it barely feels like a comic. The art is wallpaper for the writer to frame and hang his replica movie-script on. It just can't keep up.
Speaking of wallpaper, every page has a borderless backdrop that wastes more space than it deserves and it can give some pages an oddly unfinished feel. The art makes better use of its color scheme this time around with a grey hue at the edges of every panel possible. This helps to assuage the plasticky sheen to character faces (poor Han can't catch a break, he looks vaguely like a Ken doll gone wrong in both of his current Marvel series - although he's much worse-off in Imperial Cadet). However, a fireside scene that replaces the standard colors and shading for a warmer, orange-washed tone (and more organic coloring technique) shows that the shiny clay world of Solo #2 is actually preferable to some alternatives.
Solo: A Star Wars Story #2 doubles down on the failures of the first issue and all but confirms that the series won't work. The way the film has been adapted does not work with the medium to which it's being adapted. It's ill-fitting, obligatory, and uninspired. That said, it is hopelessly faithful to the film - you'd be hard-pressed to find a comic adaptation that crams more of the source material into its pages. While not particularly resonant or effective, it is utilitarian and meticulous. If you're looking for an illustrated abridgment of the film script to keep on your smartphone, this is probably your best option. Otherwise, spend the cover price of this issue on the movie rental and get the same dialogue - in the medium it was written for.
A Look Inside
