Star Wars (2020) #13 Review
Writer: Charles Soule
Artist: Ramon Rosanas
Letterer: VC's Clayton Cowles
Publisher: Marvel
The War of the Bounty Hunters tie-ins begin this week with the latest issue in Charles Soule's run on the main Star Wars comic. With Leia distracted by Operation Starlight, Luke and Chewbacca set off for Nar Shaddaa together to follow a lead that could bring them to Boba Fett and the frozen Han Solo. Their search puts them right on the bounty hunter's tail in the aftermath of the recent War of the Bounty Hunters Alpha issue, leaving them to deal with the problems that Fett has left in his wake.
As far as tie-in crossover issues go, this one does its job fairly well. This is definitely the series most lined up to participate in this crossover; the other three series will all have to justify why its protagonists have any investment in the hunt for Han Solo but this one makes perfect sense on its own. That gives the issue a little more freedom than I imagine some of the other tie-in issues will have and allows it to further the series' own character arcs. Giving Luke a Temple Guard saber in this time period is still a cool idea on how to let him fight like a Jedi in this time period, not to mention how it makes for some good covers.
The issue does have a couple of moments that make it feel like it might suffer a bit from Soule's divided attention, between all of the High Republic work and the rest of this crossover itself. One moment towards the end feels especially like it comes out of nowhere and could use some more development, though it is an idea with a lot of promising story potential. Rosanas' art suits the aesthetic of Nar Shaddaa and the tone of the crossover well, with a couple of particulaly memorable panels. I'm glad to have him on board for the length of the crossover in this run.
The connections with the Alpha issue of the crossover are executed well enough. It feels like they would work whether you've read that issue or not, which is the biggest challenge these crossovers have to avoid alienating the many readers who don't follow everything. The biggest criticism I have with it is it doesn't feel like it moves the story forward very much, since the heroes leave Nar Shaddaa without really learning anything more about Boba Fett. That's offset somewhat by the addition of Sagwa to the cast, which is a very cool tie-in with Solo and I hope to see him in this series for the long run.
This crossover hasn't bought my full confidence yet and I think whether it will end up working in this series' favor or not remains to be seen, but this issue slots into both the series and the greater picture fairly well. It definitely doesn't reach some of the highs the series has reached in the past but it didn't let me down either, and I'm looking forward to seeing what else the crossover has in store for these characters.
Artist: Ramon Rosanas
Letterer: VC's Clayton Cowles
Publisher: Marvel
The War of the Bounty Hunters tie-ins begin this week with the latest issue in Charles Soule's run on the main Star Wars comic. With Leia distracted by Operation Starlight, Luke and Chewbacca set off for Nar Shaddaa together to follow a lead that could bring them to Boba Fett and the frozen Han Solo. Their search puts them right on the bounty hunter's tail in the aftermath of the recent War of the Bounty Hunters Alpha issue, leaving them to deal with the problems that Fett has left in his wake.
As far as tie-in crossover issues go, this one does its job fairly well. This is definitely the series most lined up to participate in this crossover; the other three series will all have to justify why its protagonists have any investment in the hunt for Han Solo but this one makes perfect sense on its own. That gives the issue a little more freedom than I imagine some of the other tie-in issues will have and allows it to further the series' own character arcs. Giving Luke a Temple Guard saber in this time period is still a cool idea on how to let him fight like a Jedi in this time period, not to mention how it makes for some good covers.
The issue does have a couple of moments that make it feel like it might suffer a bit from Soule's divided attention, between all of the High Republic work and the rest of this crossover itself. One moment towards the end feels especially like it comes out of nowhere and could use some more development, though it is an idea with a lot of promising story potential. Rosanas' art suits the aesthetic of Nar Shaddaa and the tone of the crossover well, with a couple of particulaly memorable panels. I'm glad to have him on board for the length of the crossover in this run.
The connections with the Alpha issue of the crossover are executed well enough. It feels like they would work whether you've read that issue or not, which is the biggest challenge these crossovers have to avoid alienating the many readers who don't follow everything. The biggest criticism I have with it is it doesn't feel like it moves the story forward very much, since the heroes leave Nar Shaddaa without really learning anything more about Boba Fett. That's offset somewhat by the addition of Sagwa to the cast, which is a very cool tie-in with Solo and I hope to see him in this series for the long run.
This crossover hasn't bought my full confidence yet and I think whether it will end up working in this series' favor or not remains to be seen, but this issue slots into both the series and the greater picture fairly well. It definitely doesn't reach some of the highs the series has reached in the past but it didn't let me down either, and I'm looking forward to seeing what else the crossover has in store for these characters.
A Look Inside
