Star Wars Adventures Annual #2 Review

Writers: Cavan Scott, Pierrick Colinet, Elsa Charretier

Artist: Mauricet, Margaux Saltel

Letterer: Tom B. Long

Publisher: IDW

The second Adventures Annual main story follows in the footsteps of last year's and gives a spotlight to Jaxxon, a green rabbit that dates back to the original Marvel run of Star Wars comics in the 70s. These issues have been his only real use since then. Most of the Expanded Universe has been afraid to touch him outside of easter eggs and jokes because of the inherent silliness of the concept, but one of the best things about these stories is how they embrace that silliness and make it fun. Star Wars has always been inherently silly and when it's well executed there's nothing wrong with that.

This issue takes place after Return of the Jedi and pairs Jaxxon up with Lando, which is an interesting pitch all on its own. The duo also come into conflict with the cybernetic Imperial Korda from the Adventures in Wild Space series of books from the same author, who I honestly didn't expect to see again, much less here of all places. It's also a direct sequel to one of the Flight of the Falcon backups from earlier this year which is another automatic win for me because I very much enjoyed that run. 

The execution is a delight, as to be expected from Cavan Scott. The amount of Star Wars content the man writes whlie maintaining a consistent level of quality never ceases to impress me, and it's always fun looking for all of the bits of interconnectivity he hides in all of his stories big and small. Jaxxon and Lando are a fun pair and while Korda is fairly generic, he serves his purpose here and I'm glad it was him instead of a brand new generic Imperial villain. Mauricet's art is perfect for the style and tone of the series as always. 

The backup story was just as good, if not even better. A touching and adorable story where Breha tells Leia stories about her mother Padmé on Alderaan while Leia is still an infant. It's a nod to Leia's claim that she has vague memories of her mother in Return of the Jedi, something fans have been debating for years, but it's also a very sweet story on its own. I liked seeing bits of Padmé's story from The Clone Wars as well as her story from the films. The art was great and I appreciated the little continuity nod to the ongoing Leia manga with Leia's attendant droid looking the same.

It was a wonderful issue overall. The only criticism I have is IDW's constant scheduling delays with the series. Every issue seems to be postponed months and it's a coin toss on if an issue will come out even the week before the announced date. As of right now the next regular issue of the series is scheduled for next week. Time will tell if that actually happens, but I hope it does. It's our first of three Sequel trilogy-based stories and stars a Poe who is still with the New Republic, which is something we haven't seen much. Can't wait to read it!