Star Wars

The Rise of Skywalker #2 arrived last week to an exceptionally quiet reception. Once again, this issue is a passable comic adaptation of the film with basically nothing in it to write home about. In its defense, most screen-to-comic adaptations are not going to wow you. And why should they? It’s a story we know and know well. The purpose of the exercise is to see the narrative in a new medium and, if it’s done particularly well, perhaps glean some new and surprising contextual details that weren’t privy to the audience in the story’s original form.  Unfortunately, so far for The Rise of Skywalker, we haven’t learned anything new. I was somewhat critical of the writing in the first issue, bemoaning the predictable inner monologue of Rey and Kylo Ren. However, in a departure from that fir...

This new era of Star Wars comics is the gift that keeps on giving. Marvel has added another ongoing series to its ranks with the unsurprising return of its Doctor Aphra line. Coming this June is Cherise Chen’s Doctor Aphra: Chaos Agent. Also on the way, the First Order attacks Naboo, Luke goes on a dangerous mission, the Bad Batch must outwit Asajj Ventress, and The Rise of Skywalker‘s Battle of Exegol. Meanwhile, the biggest story of the month has been over four years in the making. The High Republic publishing initiative ends in June. Assuming the ever-changing Dark Horse schedule holds, The High Republic Adventures closes with issues #19 and #20. Marvel wraps its High Republic run with a climactic Fear of the Jedi #5. The comics seem to be coalescing around the Battle of Eriadu, and ...

For as little effort as Disney-Lucasfilm Press has put into marketing these Star Wars Audible originals, they have quickly become something worth looking forward to. Last year’s Padawan’s Pride was a nice Obi-Wan and Anakin story. Then the High Republic publishing initiative came in and released Seeds of Starlight. That was the first part of a two-part story, revealing the dark secrets hidden inside the sunken wreckage of Starlight Beacon. In case you missed the Phase 3 memo, the Drengir are back. The recently released Haunted Starlight is the second half of this “audio-saga.” Writer George Mann has been on a tear lately, and he’s once again left his mark. Seeds of Starlight was a tightly crafted story that had several noteworthy moments. Haunted Starlight takes a little while to get go...

Nien Nunb is the focus of this week’s Star Wars Character Spotlight, the Sullustan rebel pilot mostly famous for being Lando Calrissian’s copilot in the Battle of Endor. The Sullustan pilot has a surprisingly fleshed out backstory, with a rich history as a rebel fighting against oppressive regimes, going all the way into the sequel trilogy era.  Joining the Rebellion  We don’t see exactly how Nien Nunb joins up with the Rebel Alliance, but the updated and expanded Star Wars Character Encyclopedia and Princess Leia comic miniseries tell us about Nien Nunb’s early missions with them. Nunb learned how to fly when he joined the SoroSuub Corporation, but became disillusioned with the company once it started cooperating with the Empire.  He stole his freighter from SoroSuub and handed it over...

The eighth and final issue of the Ahsoka comic adaption covers the entirety of the season’s final episode, as you’d expect. The issue is a very competent retelling of “The Jedi, The Witch and The Warlord”‘s story, and there’s not really much more to say about it on that front. As ever, the comic doesn’t offer any extra insight into the events of the episode and there’s no extra content, which is usually the case with these adaptions.  Rodney Barnes (W) • GEORGES JEANTY (A) • Cover by DAVID NAKAYAMA If you somehow missed the Disney Plus series and are reading the story for the first time, then all the story beats are well laid out and easy to follow. There are times when certain dramatic beats are lost — the moment that Morgan is given the Blade of Talzin gets glossed over and Sabine’s b...