Marvel Comics

Richard_H said:

So, Leia. A little later than I'd planned but I've been quite busy....

Only 5 issues and I have the JTC variant for #1 which is a great rendition of the card.

The comic starts at the end of ANH at the Yavin ceremony. I really don't like the artwork here. The faces look like melted wax sculpts. Leia is being cast as a stone faced Princess and the surviving pilots from the battle are not happy with the brief speech to acknowledge the destruction. A new female pilot is introduced who flew in Yavin and is also an Alderaanian survivor. The Rebels have a mission - flee Yavin before the Empire comes full of wrath. Ackbar is introduced and he has some attempts at humour which fall terribly flat. Making jokes about human hands and eyes makes him come across as a complete twat that nobody would respect. Leia is annoyed she is not giving any meaningful roles and the Empire has issued a bounty on her head. She wants to help with scouting missions but the Rebels refuse - is it because they are concerned about her state of mind or are they worried about her capture? Leia meets the Alderaanian pilot who dislikes Leia's uncaring attitude. She is however a Royalist and vows to protect her Queen (first time Leia is called Queen?) This is clearly written by someone who doesn't understand any kind of monarchy as Leia's mother is given the role of a teacher to some select Alderaanian students about heritage and values. New plot twist - Leia leaves with her pilot on a mission to find and rescue all of the Alderaanian survivors. This is an awful and out of character plot as I don't think Leia would ever leave the Rebellion and sees the bigger picture. R2 (which is drawn solid and then becomes a hologram in another poor plot) informs Dodonna of Leia's descision and then we pick up with Leia in space. Luke and Wedge give chase - Luke seems to imply that Leia is no longer part of the Rebellion and Leia is determined to escape. Another daft plot point in that the maneuver that Luke and Wedge are using is new but the pilot overheard their plans and uses a ludricous plot point to fool Luke and Wedge into thinking that their ship was damaged. Leia escapes to Naboo. We see a serious of flashbacks which shows Leia as a tom boy who wants to be a warrior and who hates her Royal Duties - not something that I find believable as I was always under the impression she was groomed for the role. On Naboo there is a secret Alderaanian settlement - too coincidental with the links between Padme and Leia? A nice moment between Leia and a stained glass window of Padme, but then within 30 secs of landing on Naboo she is recognised by a friend from Alderaan. You couldn't make this up. Leia asks to be put in contact with the secret group. A trap was laid by her 'friend' although Leia and her pilot defeat the heavily armed thugs. She asks the Alderaanians to join her as they travel the stars in such of rescuers. One of them is a sister of an Imperial Officer and sends a message explaining what shes upto. As if anyone can just Skype an Imperial on duty! Leia et al. arrive on Sullust to find another group of Alderaanians. Leia disarms their leader by wrenching his weapon away from his grip :roll: However, it's not long before the Imperials arrive thanks to the information being shared from the sisters and Leia thinks there is a traitor. The Stormtroopers arrive but R2 saves the day as he flies a transporter and gathers a group of beasts who just happen to enjoy stormtrooper armour but not humans :roll: :lol: Leia departs for another planets and the Empire follow. The traitor is found but Leia using her Sixth Sense knows she's not a traitor and makes her a cup of tea :roll: She understands how the Empire has been following them. Leia agrees a trade - her life for the Sister on the Imperial Destroyer now that the plan has been discovered. So after escaping one detention facility she does her best to go into another. :roll: However, during the trade the Imperials did not predict that Leia would have backup :roll: so she escapes back to her Alderaanians. The Empire send a Star Destroyer after her, big battle and the Alderaanians win. Leia then leaves the main plot (guess all the Alderaanians in the galaxy were hiding on 3 planets which Leia found very quickly) to go back to the Rebellion.

So in summary. A load of crap which adds nothing to the main story.

Click to expand...

I gave up after the second issue, it was just so bad. Badly written, poor art, and just boring.

No fans of Leia then, I must admit I don't think it's the worst series to date. Moving onto Lando next - get reading

Didn't want to say too much until something actually happened, but I'm now doing reviews on the Poe dameron series
http://www.jedinews.co.uk/literature/articles/comic-review-poe-annual-1/

Awesome Marc welcome to the club

Pretty encouraged that this has 835 views! Come on guys join in....

Lando.

It's always a worry when you hear of a Lando series as the 1980s trilogy was shockingly bad and ever since then he's always been a not quite Han. You know that there's going to be girls, sabaac, debts, danger, treasure and him saving the galaxy somehow. He's also likely to win a card game against impossible odds. 50/50 as to whether he is cheating or not.

This is set around the events of ANH

Here we go... it begins with Lando was has clearly had a good time with a woman who has close relations with a local Moff. He steals an object which he needs to pay off some gambling debts (that's two points covered from above) and meets his backup who is Lobot. He takes the item to his creditor who communicates through a tiny winged... er goblin looking thing. The creditor accepts the item as 10% of his overall debt and gives Lando another job to do to clear the balance. We learn that the Imperials put Lobot's implants in his head to perform calculations for military campaigns on duty. On a side note this artist sure likes purples. We are introduced to a pair of assassins who Lando hires and then an ugnaught (c'mon really) who happens to not only speak but also be an academic. We then learn that the plan is to steal a ship which is currently docked for repairs. This appears to be the Emperor's personal shuttle. Have I covered all the points from above yet?

Issue 2 starts with 3 Star Destroyers appearing, destroying the shipyards (seemed a waste of money) and trying to capture the ship. However, the ship has auto defense capabilities. Then in a piece of stupidity the Star Destroyers lock tractor beams on each other and crash. Lando's vessel escapes :roll: and he leaps to the amazing conclusion that there's something valuable on the ship otherwise they'd have blown it up. Is that the points above covered twice yet? We meet a Bounty Hunter who the Emperor instructs to hunt down the ship. We explore the ship to find some valuable art and a sealed door. Inside the door are two Royal Guards who were... hiding?... who run a force pike through Lobot. It's now a race to heal Lobot in bacta before his implants take over and turn him into a.... android?.... the two twins who make a reappearance are duelling with the ERGs. The twins win as Lando takes a calm stroll :roll: from Lobot's bacta tank to find out how the fight is going. The twins have won and they unmask the ERGs to reveal ancient creatures. They were protecting a Sith chamber and we see a helmet in the centre of the room. This is getting interesting now and the eyes on the helmet light up. One of the twins becomes possessed and lops off the arm of the other as Lando and the ugnaught leg it. They run into the BH who surprise surprise is an old friend of Landos. Both twins are now possessed by the Sith spirit and come out looking for a fight. They kill the ugnaught, for some reason they thought they needed to trick and unarmed midget when they both have lightsabers. The BH sets a self destruct alarm off and heads for the exit. Lando goes for Lobot first and the evil twins split up. Lando convinces the twin to disengage the lightsaber and then shoots him :roll: :lol: :roll: The BH kills the other twin but they can't leave the ship as the one that the BH arrived on has flown off due to a droid. Lobot starts to become 'androidy' again and he's used to make some escape pods work. We learn the BH is an ex-lover of Lando :wink: :roll: :roll: and they escapes. The ship explodes at the end.

Not as bad as Leia but it is pretty bad. The heroes are untouchable, the Empire incompetent and yet more destroyed Star Destroyers, shipyards and Sith artefacts. Come on now it's time to change that crap.

Star Wars Droids - Unplugged Issue 1. This is a reprint of stories already featured in other series with minor additions.

This is a set of three short stories inside one comic book. The cover features one of those Darth Maul flying probes, BB8 and R2.

Probe Droid Problem

Set on Tatooine during TPM. I kind of like the idea of this as it's a pretty much untouched period of time.
We start with the Darth Maul probe who rescues a droid which had been crushed by a rock. Lots of vroooms, vrrrrrrsssss and bleeps. We don't know why but the droid flies off and then is zapped by a Jawa. It 'wakes up' on a sandcrawler next to a Power Droid. The previously rescued droid blows a hole in the sandcrawler and rescues the probe. No idea what 'va-da' means but I'm guessing that they are now friends. Two more probes arrive and encourage the 3rd to return with them to their ship. It decides not to go because the other droid would be 'vlonely' :roll: they are now 'vfriends' :roll:

Verdict - totally pointless story.

Droid Dilemma

I'm guessing this is set immediately after the events of the Battle of Yavin. This is dedicated to Kenny Baker.
The artwork is not great. Leia reminds me of one of The Raggydolls from the old cartoon show.
Luke is given a job by Leia - find a missing ship that contains medical supplies. R2 is ordered to prep the X-Wing. On his way he meets several droids and for some reason electrocutes one when they have a disagreement. He then has an argument with C-3PO when he almost crashes into him, then bumps into several droids in his hurry. When he arrives at the X-Wing he's told the mission is cancelled and not to worry.

Verdict - totally pointless story.

SaBBotage

Set before TFA? We meet a pilot who is in love with another pilot. BB8 notices the two pilots have affection for each other and keeps sabotaging their ships so they can't fly off. He trips the female pilot who lands in the other pilot's arms. They agree to have lunch.

Verdict - totally pointless story.

I've just reviewed this for Jedi news, waiting for it to go up...I agree. Quite liked the last story but there is no point to them. And these are just reprints from some if the issue 1s extras, so the whole comic is pretty pointless!

Ok - main SW Title Issues 7 - 12

We left this series as Han Solo was trapped by his wife, Vader first hears the word 'Skywalker' and Luke has found Ben's holocron/journal.

Issue 7 is a standalone story told from Ben's journal. It basically describes Ben's struggle in how he has given up his powers and yet Jabba's thugs are stealing water from the Tatooine farmers causes deaths. It explains how he is protecting the Lars homestead and ends with him rescuing Luke from a kidnapping attempt when Luke attempted to steal the water back. It is an excellent stand alone and it really explains how hard Ben must have had it. Alone with no assistance, no force and no communications - looking after a boy even though his Uncle refuses him permission to assist or train him.

Back to main story - we start with Han/Leia/Sana triangle. Are they married? Han says no. Leia is unsure. Sana wants Solo back but understands that Leia is valuable and could raise some money. She's clearly trying to drive a wedge between them. The Empire cannot find them so proceed to bomb the entire planet. Leia gets more and more suspicious as to Han's motives, after all she doesn't really know him. The Empire arrive. Meanwhile Luke heads off to Nar Shaddaa in an attempt to find a ship that'd take him to Coruscant. He doesn't see the journal as having any value. Predictably he gets into a bar fight and his lightsaber is stolen. Luke chases the thief, performs a ridiculous leap and falls from a great height to survive and rescue the saber. Can you believe that he lands on those awning type things that you see in those crappy US movies of the 70s to break his fall as he goes go passed a hotel on his drop. :shock: :lol: :roll: Luke's powers were weak before, now he's heading towards superhuman. Back to Han as the TFPs land and have them covered. Leia fires her blaster and predictably all the shots from the Imperials miss Han and Sana who are standing there arguing. Luke is now attacked by some Magna Guards who are under the control of a Jedi relic collecting Hutt. He captures Luke and takes him to a Jedi Museum in his private collection. Yet another Jedi museum and what a coincidence! Luke proves to the Hutt that he can open Holocrons and we see more Jedi come to life - is one of them Ahsoka? Luke is referred to as The Last Jedi by the Hutt 8) Wonder if that means something? R2 sends a message to the Rebellion that Luke is in trouble. The message is picked up by Chewie (after Mon Mothma says it's too dangerous to help) and a fleeing Solo. Luke is being trained by a swordsman called The Gamesmaster. Seems the Hutt is hoping to make money by using Luke in the fighting pits. Luke is easily defeated many times in training which is better. Some really funny dialogue and panels with regards to the Solo triangle and Chewie interrogating the locals about the whereabouts of Luke. We then find Dengar on the trail too, after talking to a Gungan :roll: who is hopefully not JarJar but talks exactly like him. Dengar has been sent by Jabba - he wants Solo. He defeats Chewie by using bombs and explosives as Luke battles a huge beast with lightsaber deflecting armour in a pit. Han explains that the marriage to Sana was an undercover operation that Sana has taken too seriously and it was all a sham as far as he's concerned. The Beastmaster turns out to be an Imperial Spy - this is odd. Why would an Imperial be training Beasts for a Hutt? Seems to be that the empire were concerned with the collection of Jedi relics and thought it best to keep a close watch. Luke is getting his ass kicked in the pit and Han arrives to shoot Dengar in the back to free Chewie. Dengar is then thrown off a building and bombed too. Yet he still survives for Empire? :lol: Makes you wonder if some of these writes have seen the movies. The Imperial Spy stuns the beast by triggering its shock collar and the Empire move in to arrest the Hutt. However, the Hutt releases an EMP which kills the Imperials guns. R2 arrives with 1/2 dozen or so lightsabers and we see Luke, Leia, Han and Chewie wielding them. Stupid, stupid, stupid idea. Our heroes escape and Sana admits she knows the marriage was a sham. Han and stolen her share of a deal year ago and wanted her cut back. We end by finding out that the Imperial Spy was a Stormtrooper from Vader's Fist. He is interrogated by Vader who is wanting to know more about the Young Jedi.


Good points - The Han Solo is he/isn't he married twist is great. Leia is really questionning his motives. The Journal is a great idea and I can see some good stories coming from this to break up the main narrative. There are a lot of funny moments in these issues. C3PO, Chewie and the Solo triangle in particular. Luke is still very weak and is no match for a trained fighter.

Bad points - Does Luke really need to get into a bar fight and then draw his lightsaber like Ben did? All attention now on Luke. He also announces that he wants to go to Coruscant to a packed bar. :roll: Luke is too strong a force user at times. The fall from the great height should have killed him and yet he gets up without a scratch. Too many Aliens that we've already seen. At one point we have a Snaggletooth, a Rodian, A Gran, A Twi-lek all sitting together watching the fights in the pits. What happens to Chewies, Leias and Han's lightsabers? Why are they even allowed to have them?

Overall - a good continuation but some silly elements are starting to creep in.

SW Main Title Issues #13-18

This starts with part 3 of Vader Down which was a cross over story with some issues of the first Darth Vader series. It's initially a little confusing for those who've only been following the main title.

We start with Luke who looks unconscious having been captured by Dr Aphra, Triple Zero and Beetee who are Vader's new team. The two droids work very well in that they are extremely vicious and have no qualms with torture or attacking other droids. There's no way that Beetee could hide the astonishing arsenal of guns and rocket missiles in its body though! Luke is rescued with a fantastic little interaction when Han and Chewie arrives and they beat Aphra. Triple Zero looks utterly destroyed as a droid but is still functional so may make a come back later. On a side quest Leia is leading a group of Rebels in the hope of defeating Vader once and for all. Vader captures Leia just as a group of Stormtroopers arrive who are led by a Mon Calamari who is working for the Empire and looks like a rival to Vader. He sends the Troopers to find Luke by Vader uses his truth strength and defeats them showing no mercy. However the Mon Cal has robotic arms similar to General Grievous and has four sabers :roll: Not sure how Han and Chewie are battling a Black Wookiee - this must be as the series jumped back to the Vader comics for an issue or two and then back again. Luke is ambushed by the Stormtroopers but the recently fixed Triple Zero and Beetee defeat the Troopers as they want Luke for themselves under Vader's orders. Luke, Chewie and Han are all in danger. Leia has Vader in her crosshairs and is ready to shoot as he is battling the rival. We then move to another standalone story from Ben's journal.

We meet young Luke and Biggs (aged 10-12 or so) who are racing through Beggar's Canyon. Luke isn't successful and Owen is furious with his wrecked Landspeeder and grounds Luke - literally!. Ben recognises the need for Luke to practise his flying skills so he makes a deal with the Jawas - he'll protect them from Sandpeople in return for the parts to fix Luke's speeder. The Jawa gifts the parts to Luke but Owen finds them and returns them to Ben later. I like this, a great part of the story. The exchange between Ben and Owen is very good and hard hitting.

We move back to present day as the Black Wookiee arrives on Tatooine and promises Jabba to hunt the person who is hiding in the dunes and causing so much trouble.

We don't know how (without reading the Vader books) how Luke, Han and Leia escape or have captured Aphra but they have done and escaped from Vader. Aphra proves problematic and has escaped from her binders several times as the ship tries to deliver her to a secret prison which I guess houses dangerous criminals and imperials. Sana Solo is with Leia as esort - it seems that her and Aphra have had history. Han and Luke are supposed to be buying supplies but Han loses the money when he is caught chearing at Sabacc (well it's been a few issues!) Despite being super secret and secure the prison is broken into a group of droids led by a mysterious character kill some prisoners who are deemed to murderous to Leia. Leia is unhappy with the 'justice' and then is forced to kill some prisoners herself after they are released from their cells by the droids. She manages to capture then and send them back to their cells before the mysterious character kills them all. Leia sees no choice but to free Aphra so that she, Aphra and Sana can hunt the madman. They send a message for help.
Han and Luke are forced to take a smuggling job to replace the lost money (Kessel Run speech again... :roll: ) Han isn't happy they are flying Nerfs. The Imperials are suspicious and ask to board the Falcon. Luke takes them out and they deliver the cargo. They pick up Leia's message and arrive at the prison to help. We end with the madman's mystery still a secret and i guess all prisoners are killed.

Good - some good writing and the cross over story is a good idea to introduce characters from the Vader series. I think the prison is a good idea although it is too easily found, broken into and taken over. Some of the Aphra/Sana dialogue is fun and it is clear there was a boy between them at one point.
Bad - again too much lazy writing such as the 4 armed Mon Cal / General Grievous copy. Also, if a reader does not wish to read the Vader series then it is confusing and the story could have been developed better.

Overall - still a strong series and I'm enjoying it.

I read the Star Wars series and Vader / Vader down series twice. Certainly helped!