Star Wars #62 Review

Writer: Kieron Gillen
Artist: Andrea Broccardo
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Publisher: Marvel
 

This issue of Star Wars starts off a brand new arc, The Scourging of Shu-Torun. The previous arc of the series, The Escape, was a bit of a breather coming off the tail of a series of more important arcs. This arc of the series will be the last of Kieron Gillen’s run, which is bittersweet for me. I look forward to the series presumably getting fresh blood and I’m excited to see what Gillen does with his big finale, but I have mostly enjoyed what he’s done with the series so it’s sad to see it come to an end.
 

The plot of the arc picks up from The Escape: the group has been reunited with the Rebel fleet and the Millennium Falcon, and Leia has revealed her plan to strike at Shu-Torun and Queen Trios after Trios betrayed them to the Empire previously. The group has to gather a specialized team to aid them in the mission.

It’s cool to see a number of the characters Gillen has played with in previous arcs come back here for the big finale. Even characters he didn’t create like Sana and SCAR Squadron have come back. On display in this issue are Tunga the Clawdite from Mutiny at Mon Cala, Benthic and the Partisans from The Ashes of Jedha, and Meorti from Hope Dies.

Admittedly I’m not very attached to Tunga or Meorti, because I don’t think either of them have been fleshed out enough or given enough attention in the past. Benthic and the Partisans on the other hand have the benefit of preceding the series and having a more rich history, so I’m especially interested to see what happens to them as this arc goes on.

I thought it was odd how Sana was offscreen and hadwaved to be on a run in one line. It felt like the way a TV show would handwave a character being gone if they couldn’t get the actor but I don’t see a reason for it here. Gillen overall hasn’t seemed interesting in exploring Sana very much. She was written out of most of the previous arc almost immediately after coming into the series for the first time during Gillen’s run and now she’s gone again. I hope to see her more later in the arc.

Getting to see Jedha again in this issue was pretty cool. I’m especially happy to see it under a different artist because I was never much of a fan of Salvador Larroca’s art back when the series last visited the planet.

Speaking of the art, I’ve become more and more appreciative of Andrea Broccardo’s art for the series. It isn’t the best art from Marvel’s Star Wars titles, or even the best art from this series, but it’s a significant step up from some of the other artists this series has had. I’m a bit sad Broccardo is only (presumably) on the first and last issues of this arc.

Solid issue overall. Nothing huge or surprising but still a good starter to an arc that I have high hopes for. Looking forward to seeing how Gillen finishes off his run!