TIE Fighter #3 Review

Writer: Jody Houser

Artist: Rogê Antônio, Geraldo Borges

Letterer: Joe Caramagna

Publisher: Marvel

In the third issue of the TIE Fighter miniseries, Squadron Five of the elite Shadow Wing has discovered an Imperial admiral who has gone rogue from the Empire and taken over a factory. He has asked the squadron to join him in his defection but they refuse, escaping and heading for their ships.

I enjoyed the first couple of this series a decent amount but nothing in it had surprised me yet. I expected the last three issues to be a fairly standard story about defeating the rogue Imperial admiral with maybe one squadron death in the last issue or two.

I was very wrong.

The story went in a completely different direction. This was probably the first time I read Star Wars and actively didn't want the Rebel X-Wings to wipe out all of the enemy TIEs. The series also lost the two characters that had gotten the most development in the previous issues, which now seems like setup so the readers would feel more during their deaths. They were definitely the two I had liked the most and I'm sad to see them both go in such quick succession in only the third issue. Especially considering that Lyttan was the series's "anchor" character, the only one that the readers were familiar with from another Star Wars comic.

This issue also surprised me with the development for Broosh. He had been a pretty standard shady character until now but this issue gave him a much more sympathetic light and a tragic backstory, with dramatic irony that added to the impact of the main story. It was an especially good idea to use Major Keize from the Alphabet Squadron novel as a way to develop him, because those who have read the novel already know how honorable Keize is and have an attachment to him.

Ganem and Jeela are the two characters remaining to get spotlights and I'm intrigued to see where they go. So far Jeela has been pretty emotionless and underdeveloped so saving her for one of the final two issues is an interestng choice that makes me think there's more to learn about her.

I really like Antônio's art, I hope he gets more Star Wars work after this miniseries. Unlike how I felt after the previous issue, I have no idea where the story is going to go now and I'm really enjoying it. I hope we'll see more connections to Alphabet Squadron like Keize's appearance here. Either way, I can't wait to read more.