Star Wars Adventures (2020) #2 Review

by NumidianPrime on November 29, 2020

Writers: Michael Moreci, Sam Maggs
Artists: Ilias Kyriazis, Davide Tinto
Letterer: Jake M. Wood
Publisher: IDW

This quarter's issue of IDW's relaunched Star Wars Adventures title concludes the two part story that was started by the first issue, featuring Rey, Finn, and Poe after the events of The Last Jedi when a training mission goes awry. Meanwhile, the backup story is a self contained tale showing what Kylo Ren was up to around the same time. 

The main story is a fun if not particularly memorable second half, I enjoyed it about as much as I did the first half. It's always nice to see Finn and Poe play off of each other and the premise fits pretty well, but I do feel like we've gotten a lot of Adventures stories about Rey training at this point. The art of the story feels like a fairly different style than what I normally expect from the series (the backup is much closer in that regard) but it was all pretty well done. The pirate crew served their purpose and had some pretty solid designs among them. 

The Kylo Ren story had its ups and downs. I wouldn't have minded seeing a bit more of a lighter side to him, considering the time period and context, but there were still some moments of memorable characterization. The art in the second story was definitely a highlight, it was really pretty to look at and did a great job conveying the action. Kylo having his helmet after the events of The Last Jedi is a little weird and jarring, but Galaxy's Edge already opened that box and the helmet is so iconic that it's probably the right choice for an introductory kids comic. 

I'm a little torn over the decision to remove the framing story for the backups that the series has had since launch. On one hand, they had been going for a long time and removing them gives the actual stories more room to breathe. On the other, they were a staple of the comic and I liked how they gave it a throughline as it jumped around the timeline. I'm looking forward to seeing what the series will do without them but part of me will also miss them. 

Next issue brings us a new story about Obi-Wan Kenobi in the depths of Kashyyyk, which is an exciting premise. I'm looking forward to seeing what this team comes up with next! 

Our Score:

7/10

A Look Inside