Review: ‘The Rise of Skywalker’ #3 Shakes Out of Its’ Slump and Picks up the Pace

The Rise of Skywalker Issue 3 released yesterday and finally offered readers a bit more narrative heft. So far in this comic run, there’s been little to nothing added to the story. What additional inner monologue or extraneous story details were added were obvious or superfluous. Today’s issue however, while not totally kicking the adaptation into overdrive, does benefit from the extended time following the release of the film and added canonical details that have since sprouted.

 

Artist, Will Sliney, does a fantastic job in this issue of balancing the myriad of jump shots in the film communicating various reactions felt through the Force, as well as the generally fast pace of the film. So far the entire team, and Sliney in particular, has completed a very competent job of tightening the narrative of a chaotic and fast-paced movie into a neatly contained comic run. Sliney manages to organize the panels and the art in a way that communicates an expansive message–flashbacks, Force visions–without it feeling tedious for the reader.

 

 

The issue begins with the deflection of General Hux and only picks up speed from there. Rey and Kylo’s critical moment where Rey’s familial line is revealed to her is up next and this page expertly demonstrates the quickfire back and forth, and raw emotion of the scene. I also appreciate that the team cut back a bit on the Ajan Kloss cuts interspersed in the film, choosing instead to focus on the primary characters at hand–Rey and Kylo. Lineage is a continuing theme in Rey and Kylo’s pages, as in the film, and Sliney’s decision to superimpose or underlay images of Palpatine, Leia and Rey’s parents next to our respective characters really hammers the message home.

 

 

Perhaps the most notable moment of this adaptation is Finn’s conversation with Jannah on Kef Bir. Houser takes the crumbs we get in the film concerning Finn’s potential Force-sensitivity and dials it up. It’s well known now that Finn is Force-sensitive so why not explore this further? Houser adds valuable input here that serves to flesh out Finn as a character and only improves upon this lack of detail in the film. I really enjoy that it’s so explicitly stated.

 

 

Once Rey arrives on the Death Star, again the team risks the addition of assumed detail, but here I think it pays off. The underlying image of Luke and Vader’s duel in The Return of the Jedi, Rey’s inner monologue expressing her motivations–it all works well for the medium and with these emotionally pregnant scenes. In the film, you wouldn’t want these obvious inclusions that are better achieved with the subtlety of music and focused shots on Rey’s face, but in a comic, it helps maintain pacing and adds an interesting new element by giving you something new, however obvious.

 

 

The issue ends right as Rey and Kylo’s duel atop the fragments of the Death Star starts to really heat up. This is one of my favorite moments in the entire sequel trilogy and I’m looking forward to seeing how it plays out in the next issue. So far, the team has handled the more emotional scenes in the film well and I’m confident they’ll be able to adapt that pivotal moment in a unique way. I was hoping this issue would deliver given the increase in important narrative moments and I’m so relieved to say it did not disappoint! Let’s carry this momentum forward.

 

 

Rating: 7/10