Thor (2014) issues 1-3

Greetings, citizens, and welcome to the final installment of the Couchman Birth Month Spectacular!

I’ve always been a huge fan of mythology. I remember being in third grade and reading everything I could find about the Egyptian gods and goddesses. Eventually I moved on to Grecian and Roman myths, some Native American ones, a select few Japanese, Chinese, and Indian ones, but my favorite ones of all were the Norse myths. They always had a lot of great action, more relatable characters, and a better sense of narrative flow than other myths. It’s no surprise that when I started getting into comics, I wanted to read about Thor. Fortunately, at that point in time, Marvel also decided to launch a new Thor title focusing more on the mythological aspects of him rather than the superhero ones, appropriately titled Thor: God of Thunder.

However, much as I love that series, that’s not the one I’m going to be discussing today. No, I’m going to be discussing the series that replaced it, simply titled Thor. Why this one and not God of Thunder? Well, there are a few reasons. First, I’ve been seeing a lot of negativity towards female comic characters lately, mainly regarding the new costumes of Wonder Woman and Spider Woman. While I am not very vocal about it, I do consider myself a feminist and this sort of thing bothers me. Women get the short end of the stick in comics way more often than they should. Every time a costume change comes up in regards to a female character, people flip their shit. Wonder Woman getting pants, covering up the boob-hole in Power Girl’s outfit, and now the new costumes I mentioned earlier. A whole bunch of DC’s characters are getting new costumes, but who gets most of the attention (and scorn)? Wonder Woman. So what does this have to do with Thor? Well, the big reason for this re-launch of Thor is that the mantle of Thor has been passed to a woman, and when it was announced, people lost their fucking minds. It baffled and angered me. It isn’t like this was the first time someone else had picked up Mjolnir and gained Thor’s powers;

But because we had a woman wielding the hammer, and calling herself Thor, it was freaking Ragnarok! I thought that it was an interesting idea, something new to do with one of the major superheroes of the Marvel universe, instead of just re-hashing the same thing over again.

The second reason is… well… I was actually kind of upset about the re-launch. I had been loving God of Thunder, looked forward to picking up the new issue every month, and that series was being cancelled. I didn’t think that there was any way that the new series was going to be as good as God of Thunder. I was wrong, and happy to be proved so. Jason Aaron, the writer for God of Thunder, was still the one writing the series, and one of the things I especially liked about how he wrote Thor was that he got how metal writing about a Norse god should be, and he kept that same tone in the writing for the new series. I love trying new things and falling in love with them, and this was an instance where I got to do just that. So, without further ado, THOR!

This cover has some good elements, but overall I think it’s lacking. I like the Thor logo, using Mjolnir as the O and the cross of the H, and it’s got a nice simplicity to it. The lightning on the T and going all over the rest of the cover is also neat, and adds some energy to the cover.

Truly, my wit is unrivaled, if only because few would stoop so low. Last bit of praise I’ll give to the cover is that it’s well-drawn and colored. There are some nice little details, and it’s got a solid amount of realism (though it’s not perfect, but I don’t usually care about that). However, beyond the lightning, the cover is dull. It’s just a portrait of our hero. You would think that if you’re trying to sell this new person as Thor, you’d have her doing something badass like smiting a dragon or something. Instead, it’s just her. Hell, it’s less of her than most people have seen. There was a lot of media attention surrounding this thing, including pictures of what the new Thor looked like, save for her face (more on that later). It feels like the cover was just an afterthought, like they were hoping all the media exposure and word of mouth would sell the book. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but speaking as someone who looks for new books based on their covers, it’s not a perfect strategy. If this hadn’t been a title I was looking forward to, I probably would’ve overlooked it on the shelf.

Oh, one more problem with the cover; the new Thor is barely in this issue. Seriously, she shows up on the last page, and not a moment sooner. Because of this, I’m going to do a very brief summary and give the necessary backstory for why Thor isn’t Thor anymore.

At the end of the 2014 event Original Sin (which I barely followed), Nick Fury is imbued with the powers of Uatu the Watcher or something like that, and whispers something in Thor’s ear. Whatever it was he whispered caused Thor to no longer be worthy of wielding Mjolnir, and he spent a good long while moping on the moon next to where he dropped it. Odin returns from wherever he’s been for a long-ass while, and starts trying to go back to being a dictator, in spite of the fact that they had a perfectly good system of government set up in his absence. Meanwhile on Earth, a company called Roxxon has discovered the Skull of Laufey, and the frost giants want it. Malekith, king of the dark elves, has allied with the giants and aids them in attacking a Roxxon facility in search of the skull. Thor goes to stop the giants and Malekith, but without Mjolnir, he’s defeated and has his left arm severed. Back on the moon, a woman shrouded in darkness is deemed Worthy and picks up Mjolnir. Okay, onto issue two.

This is a much better cover. It’s our new Thor about to smack a frost giant in the face with Mjolnir while lightning arcs outwards. The image even covers up part of the Thor logo, because it’s obvious exactly what book this is, and if you don’t recognize it, it doesn’t matter because it’s clearly about some badass who smashes giants in the face and commands lightning. Why would you not want to read about that?

So, I suppose now it’s time to talk about our new Thor, starting with the costume. I personally really like it. It’s really simplistic, with very little actual armor, only a breastplate, helmet and a single bracer. Oh, and the big-ass belt is technically also armor, I suppose. Her cape is a tad on the long side, and she’s also got one of those combat skirt things that’s open in the front for mobility, but those both add a nice, dynamic flair to the figure while fighting, and help frame the character while still. There’s a good balance if color to the design, different from classic Thor, but close enough to be recognizable. One of the most noteworthy things is that the helmet, unlike with classic Thor, conceals her face. One of the big things with the story so far (through issue six that is) has been that her identity is a mystery to all, save for Mjolnir. In the first issue there was some hinting at Freyja, Thor’s mother, was a candidate, but pretty much from the get-go of issue two I was ready to rule her out, and I’ll explain why.

The issue opens with our new Thor surrounded by lightning, completely awestruck by the power she now wields. Her thought balloons and her speech balloons are somewhat at odds with each other; her thoughts are worded as most people’s would be, the font representing that by being whatever the standard comic font is. Her words however are more dramatic and archaic (y’know, thee, nay, dost, that sort of thing) and the font is the Asgardian font. The thoughts are what eliminated Freyja as a possible identity of our mystery Thor, because the Asgardians thoughts are the same style as their words. The difference that this illustrates made me think that it was a human, and clearly someone familiar with Thor.

Our hero doesn’t let the overwhelming power distract her for too long though, for Midgard is in peril! She flies off towards Earth, only briefly wondering how in Hel’s name you steer. It turns out that Mjolnir does the steering, which is something that I’ve always wondered, but seems obvious in retrospect. She lands on the Pacific ocean, but in a surprising turn of events, it’s completely frozen for as far as the eye can see, and features a tower of ice sticking up from it. Thor begins climbing it, and inside she finds not only an army of Asgardians frozen within, but Earth’s Mightiest Heroes as well. She begins to feel that she’s in over her head, but her introspection is interrupted by a patrol of frost giants. What follows is four pages of Thor being a badass and fighting the giants as well as a couple of their hounds, bringing the thunder and wiping the floor with them.

Sadly, we have to cut away to the top of the tower, where we see one of Roxxon’s floating islands under assault from the frost giants. The CEO of Roxxon, Dario Agger, is adamant about defending the place, regardless of how many of his employees he has to sacrifice. In spite of this, Malekith is able to make it to Agger, and we see that he’s wearing Thor’s severed arm as some sort of grotesque fashion accessory.

He states his demands, but Agger’s got personnel to deal with people, so he heads down to the vaults. Unfortunately for him, however, there are already giants down there attempting to find the skull. Agger’s about to turn into a minotaur (which is sort of his thing), but Thor bursts up through the floor. While she begins beating the crap out of the giants, Agger heads into one of the vaults, and accidentally seals Mjolnir inside it with him. Normally, that’s not much of a problem, but this vault is constructed of vibranium and coated in adamantium, so the hammer is trapped and our issue ends with Thor facing down the giants without the hammer.

Issue three’s cover isn’t bad, but it lacks the punch that issue two’s had. Still, it’s some good symbolism, Thor breaking through the ice representing her defeat of the frost giants. Kinda spoils what’s going to happen though.

The issue opens with a flashback of Malekith convincing Skrymir, king of the frost giants, to launch an invasion of Earth. Back in the present, Thor is surrounded by giants, but before the fighting begins, we get a bit of verbal sparring between her and Malekith. I said it a couple weeks ago when looking at Star Wars, but Jason Aaron writes some good dialogue. His version of Malekith is easily my favorite that I’ve seen. He’s slimy and arrogant, and significantly more threatening in how casual he is about atrocities. He’s so loathsome, but entertaining to read at the same time. Thor meanwhile has a good amount of archaic speech, but not so much that it feels forced. I also love the juxtaposition of her inner thoughts being doubtful, but her words being filled with bravado.

So Malekith lets the giants have at her, and they screw around trying to just kill her with their spit until Skrymir freezes her and swallows her whole. Well… that certainly could’ve gone better. I uh… guess we’ll just watch the giants and Malekith break into the vaul-

Oh wait, this is THOR, of course getting eaten doesn’t deter her. She fights with the giants (using Skrymir’s jawbone as a weapon) while Malekith magics his way into the vault, where he and Agger begin fighting. Thor’s power is draining away, but she does manage to smash a hole in the floor and all the way through the floating island, sending most of the giants plummeting. With them out of the way, she attempts to pry the door to the vault open while Mjolnir continues to pound at the other side. She gets it open just before the power fades from her entirely, and Mjolnir finishes off the remaining giants before returning to her hand. Tired of all this bullshit, she decides to just smash the damn skull so nobody can have it. Malekith promises her a war, but his threat is interrupted by the original Thor, wielding his axe, and with a metal arm to replace the one Malekith took. Now, a sensible man would go straight for the guy who cut off one of his limbs, but Thor is kind of an idiot, so the issue ends with him about to throw down with our new Thor.

These issues are an excellent start to the series. It begins with high stakes to test our new hero and prove that she’s truly Worthy, and she rises to the challenge like a champ. I already went into the dialogue a bit, but every exchange is equally well done, and the pacing for each issue is fast, but not rushed. I didn’t really touch on the artwork much, but it’s pretty solid all around. The action sequences are executed well, with a lot of detail and just enough chaos to make it seem like an actual fight. Best of all, Aaron is clearly taking our new Thor just as seriously as the Odinson. I was worried at first that the tone would be very different from what I’d come to expect, but damned if I wasn’t pleasantly surprised. This Thor is every bit the badass that the previous one was, and I look forward to whatever adventures she faces.

Well, this wraps up the Couchman birth-month celebration! As much fun as it was looking at these things that are (at least tangentially) dear to my heart, I’m looking forward to getting back to the previously scheduled stuff. The main reason is because we’re very near the end of Superior Spider-Man, and I’ve got something special planned for that. Until next week, citizens!

Mice and Mystics

Greetings, citizens! The birthday celebrations continue here at The Corner! Today, I’m taking a look at something I’ve never looked at before; a board game!

I considered myself a gamer for years, but ever since I started college, I began drifting away from video games. There’s a bunch of reasons for it which I don’t want to get into right now, but the main thing is that I’ve always really considered gaming to be a social thing, and there haven’t been as many opportunities for me to get that sort of experience with video games. Tabletop gaming, however, does provide that experience. I’ve already talked about how much I love D&D, but that’s hardly the only game I play. I play Magic and the Dresden Files RPG, along with any number of board games. I only have a small collection (being unemployed isn’t conducive to feeding hobbies), but the ones I do have I love, and I’m always looking for new ones to acquire.

Today, we’re looking at Mice and Mystics, a cooperative game for 1-4 players by Plaid Hat Games. Plaid Hat is a smaller game company, whose games focus more on the narrative experience. Mice and Mystics is one of their bigger successes, along with the newish Dead of Winter (which I’ll probably look at somewhere down the line).

The concept of the game is pretty simple. King Andon, ruler of the land, has fallen ill. His son, Prince Collin, as well as his closest advisors believe that this is all part of a plot by the King’s new wife, Vanestra. Collin and the advisors are imprisoned when they meet to discuss their concerns, and are jailed for treason. Maginos, one of the advisors and the court wizard, transforms everyone into mice so that they can escape from prison, but they’re stuck as mice. They must then try to thwart Vanestra’s evil plans and find a way to return to human form.

The game is played from one chapter to the next. The base set (Sorrow and Remembrance) has eleven chapters, each one with it’s own unique rules and goals. Every chapter has a victory condition which must be achieved in order to win and proceed with the story. The victory condition are things like defeating a particular enemy, rescuing someone, or gathering information about Vanestra’s plans. While victory is a variable, defeat is pretty consistent; if everyone is captured at the same time, or if time runs out, then you lose.

Each player chooses a character from one of the following:

Prince Collin: Son of King Andon, Collin is a skilled but inexperienced warrior and leader. His abilities can make him an excellent tank, a serious damage dealer, or just the most helpful guy ever. Collin's versatility makes him a really fun character to play, and as the only leader character, he gets exclusive access to some really useful powers.

Nez Bellows: Nez is a blacksmith, but also a skilled warrior. His abilities can make him a truly formidable damage dealer, or serve in more of a support/crowd control role. Nez is one I don't get to play much, since everybody wants to be the guy what does the smooshing. I'd personally like to see someone explore his more techy side.

Tilda: Tilda is a healer, and if you’re a veteran RPG player, you know how useful she is just from those four words. However, she’s also got some good (if situational) damage potential. As is common, nobody wants to be the healer, in spite of the need for her. I actually really want to try out playing her as more of a damage dealer.

Maginos (see below for picture): Maginos is a venerable wizard of some skill. His spells allow him to do a number of things. His versatility makes him probably my favorite character to play as. But that might also just be because I love roleplaying my headcanon of him.

Filch: Filch is a dastardly thief. Unlike the previous characters, he’s not actually one of King Andon’s advisors, but instead was just in the same cell as the others and got caught up in the spell. While he acts selfish, he does help the rest of our heroes without (too much) complaint, and his roguery is a great boon to the party. While he doesn’t hit as hard as Nez or Collin can, he’s got his own way of felling foes.

Lily: Lily is another odd one. She’s actually a real mouse, part of a town that lives in a tree in the courtyard of the castle. She joins the others after they rescue her. She’s probably my least favorite character, if only because I feel like she doesn’t do anything that other characters can’t do better. Also, I dislike archers.

Certain chapters either require or forbid certain characters. Regardless of how many people are playing, most chapters require four mice, so players can double up on characters if needed. Personally, my gaming group and I really like using Filch, Nez, Tilda, and Collin. Filch’s mobility lets him get around the board with ease and take out the weaker enemies, Nez can take out the tougher enemies with little problem (other than being slow), Tilda keeps everyone from going down, and Collin can pitch in and help out with any of the above, depending on how the battle is going.

Each character starts off with one ability, which they can use by spending cheese (more on that in a moment). You choose an ability based on which class(es) your character has. The abilities all do different things, sometimes letting you do a special kind of attack, letting you move in a special way, or just boosting your attack or defense. You gain additional abilities by spending six cheese to level up (again, more on cheese in a minute). One of my favorites is a mystic ability called Invisibility. Pretty straightforward, but it prevents your character from being targeted by attacks for one turn. It’s a great defensive ability for Maginos, whose defense is not very good. Characters also begin play with particular gear. Everyone starts play with a signature weapon (except Filch, who just has a nondescript dagger), and maybe some armor. As you journey through the cavernous castle, you can find even better gear, in standard RPG fashion. However, you’re only allowed to keep one item that’s not part of your starting gear when going from one chapter to the next.

On your turn, you obviously have different things you can do. Each character is allowed to move, use an action, and do free actions. Moving is pretty straightforward, you roll one of the dice and add the number to your mouse’s speed value, and that’s how many spaces you can move. Terrain, such as water or having to climb something, can alter how far you can move, but most of the time it’s not an issue. Free actions are mostly limited to equipping/unequipping items, and trading items/cheese with other nearby characters. Finally, there are a number of actions that you can perform. You can take another move (called a scurry action), you can search for items, you can recover, you can explore, and of course you can attack something.

Searching for items it pretty simple; you roll one of the dice, and hope to get one of the faces with a star burst symbol on it.

If you get that, then you find an item. Sometimes, a tile will have areas where you can find specific items, but most of the time you’ll just draw a card from the top of the search deck. Usually, this will be an item, but it could also be a trick, fortune, or treachery card. Tricks are special moves that you can do, such as taking down an enemy without having to roll. Fortune cards grant a boon to you and the rest of the party such as healing. Treachery cards are… well, treachery. They cause something bad to happen, sometimes just for you, others for the entire party. Treachery cards suck.

Recovery is pretty simple as well. When you’re afflicted by a condition (being webbed, stunned, or on fire), you take a recovery action to attempt to end the condition. Stunned just goes away, but being on fire or being webbed requires rolling the dice and hoping for a star burst symbol seen above.

Exploring is a more dramatic way of saying “moving to a new tile.” If you’re in the proper space, you can use an explore action to move the entire party to a new tile. Unfortunately, you can only do this if there aren’t any enemies on the board. So, if a fight isn’t going well, you can’t just run away.

The battle action is probably the most used one, because what kind of RPG doesn’t involve lots of stabbing of enemies?

Battle is pretty simple; every mouse has a battle value on their character card. That value can be enhanced by abilities or equipment (weapons usually give a bonus). You take a number of dice equal to your mouse’s battle value (including all the modifiers) and roll them. If you’re doing a melee attack, you’re hoping for the sword or sword/shield symbols.

If you’re doing a ranged attack, then you’re hoping for bows and arrows.

You add up the number of attack symbols you get, and that’s the number of potential hits. The player to your left then rolls defense for whatever minion you’re attacking. They’re “trying” (only half-heartedly if they’re good teammates) to get the symbols with shields. If you got more hits than they got blocks, then the minion takes wounds equal to the difference. Most enemies go down after taking one wound, but others (like bosses) are more resilient. If you roll cheese while either attacking or defending, then you receive a piece of cheese for each die it shows up on. Cheese is important because, as mentioned before, that’s what powers your abilities, and also allows you to level up in order to gain more abilities. The dice are six-sided, each with a different face. There's 3 faces that have the star burst symbol and three that don't. There are 3 faces that have a sword, 2 of which also have a shield, 2 faces with a bow, and 1 with cheese. So, on any given die, you have a 50/50 chance of scoring a potential melee hit, a 1:3 chance of getting a ranged hit or a block, and 1:6 chance of getting cheese.

Those are the basic rules of the game. Each chapter has specifics that are detailed within the story book, and there's some stuff I didn't get into for the sake of brevity. With that out of the way, let’s talk about the pieces of the game. The board is comprised of 8 double-sided tiles. Each chapter uses a different tile setup, usually utilizing both sides of each tile, and requiring you to explore to the other side during the game. The tiles are all nice and uniquely designed, with some good artwork to really immerse you into the story. My only complaint about the tiles is that they’re not the most robust game board I’ve ever seen. Mine have gotten a decent amount of play, and they’re all dinged up with indents on them and an annoying amount of damage to the corners.

There are a bajillion little bits representing various things in game; achievement tokens, party items, condition markers, cheese, enemy marker things and more. I highly recommend using a bunch of tiny bags to keep the various different kinds of pieces separate. Sadly, the game doesn’t come with a bunch of baggies, so you’ll have to get them yourself. I didn’t have any baggies for awhile, and it was a huge pain sifting through the giant pile to find the pieces we wanted when we wanted them.

The best component of the game in my opinion is the miniatures. I’ve never really been a miniatures gamer, since minis games generally require a bank loan in order to get into, but I love minis. I started collecting them for D&D several years ago, so I’ve seen quite a few minis. The ones for Mice and Mystics are great. Every mini was made from a quality sculpt, and the details are nicely preserved in spite of them being mass-produced. Each of the heroes has a nice, unique look to them, and there are some nice details to each one, like little tools in Nez’s apron, a clasp on Colin’s cloak, etc. The minis are unpainted, however, which is a turn-off for some people. I, however, loved it because it gave me an excuse to do some painting (something I hadn’t done in entirely too long before getting the game). Minis painting is a lot of fun to me, and if you don’t like how a character looks in the artwork for the game, this is a great opportunity to change it.

Speaking of artwork, I absolutely love the artwork. From the tiles, to all the cards, to the illustrations in the story and rule books. The artwork is reminiscent of the artwork from Redwall illustrations that I’ve seen (not the cartoon though), which is fitting because it does have a similar sort of feel. There’s a great balance between detail and simplicity, realism and stylization. The colors are all warm and inviting, much like the illustration from an old fable might be.

Likewise, I also really like the writing for the story. Some would say that it’s childish, because it’s about a group of adorable mice. While I agree that there are some elements that are rather simplistic (particularly the names of things), it really doesn’t bother me. It just has a feel of an old fairy tale in my opinion. Not as dark as the Grimm tales, but it’s darker than any of the stuff I was exposed to as a kid. It’s serious and somber at points, and also has some really epic moments if you have the imagination to envision them. The pacing of the story is kind of slow, with the heroes taking longer than they really should be in getting shit done, but it just reminds me of the beginning of Fellowship of the Ring. Get off your ass and GO FRODO!

Ahem. With all of this in mind, what are my overall thoughts on the game? Well, I love the flavor, with it having a similar feel to Mouseguard, if smaller in scope. The aesthetic is also solid, as I explained up above. The writing has its fault, but is overall still pretty good. Hell, I read through the stories for no other reason than wanting to know how things played out. The gameplay is pretty good and if you’re accustomed to turn based RPGs, you’ll get used to it real quick. My only complaint is that there are some chapters that are very difficult. Chapter 3 is notorious for crushing the spirit of every group I’ve played it with. If you get really unlucky with rolls, then an otherwise alright chapter becomes a nightmare, although you could say this argument applies to many RPGs as well. Another point that some people might have a problem with is the price; at $75, it’s on the upper end of board games when it comes to cost. However, just playing through the game will take several sessions (each chapter takes an hour to an hour and a half), and each play-through can feel different. Just like any RPG, there are choices you can make in chapters to get a different kind of play experience.

There’s currently two expansions available for Mice and Mystics as well; Heart of Glorm and Downwood Tales. Heart of Glorm adds six new chapters to the story, as well as a new character, and the ability to be lit on fire! Downwood Tales introduces ten new chapters, and three new characters (two of which aren’t even mice). Heart of Glorm didn’t thrill me too much, but Downwood Tales I am incredibly excited to play (sadly I haven’t gotten to do so yet).

Overall, I say the game is worth it. It’s mechanically simple, but there’s depth and complexity to it as well, and an enjoyable story driving the action. If you’re not sure about it, I’d suggest trying to play a demo of it at a convention or your local game store if they’ve got it.

Next week will be the final entry of the Couchman birthday spectacular. Join me next week, as we wrapped things up in a mythic fashion! Until then, citizens!

Star Wars (2015), issues 1-3

Greetings, citizens! We continue the month-long Couchman birthday celebration with a look at Star Wars!

One of my earliest memories was of going to see my aunt and uncle in Chicago when I was three or four. I have various memories of the trip but one such memory was of playing with my aunt’s vintage Star Wars toys. I loved Star Wars even then, and knew the movie well enough to pick out some of the minor characters. I only mention this because I have no memory of ever actually having watched Star Wars before up to this point (they hadn’t done the theatrical re-release yet, and my family didn’t have any VHS copies yet). I somehow absorbed knowledge of Star Wars through the Force itself. Or from my mom, who was also a huge Star Wars fan, one of the two.

For as much of a fan of the series though, I have consumed very little Expanded Universe material. I’ve played a few of the games (most notably Knights of the Old Republic and its sequel), read some sections of books, and have browsed a decent amount on Wookiepedia. One of the things I had never done was read any Star Wars comics. Every time I’d gone to the comic shop and perused the Star Wars titles, I felt so clueless. I’d heard mixed things about all of the ones that Dark Horse had put out, and I didn’t have a good reference point of which ones would be good and which ones would suck, and until recently I was much less willing to pickup a comic without having an idea of what I was getting into.

After Disney purchased Star Wars, everyone knew it was only a matter of time before Marvel (also owned by Disney) took over the publishing of Star Wars comics. That time came in January. When I’d heard it was coming, I was curious, but not really excited at the prospect. But then I saw a solicit for it and my mind was changed, primarily because of the writer of the book, Jason Aaron. Aaron is the writer behind Thor: God of Thunder, as well as the current Thor ongoing series with the female Thor, both of which I absolutely love. So, with a writer whose work I enjoyed attached to the book, I added it to my pull list.

The cover is pretty bland, unfortunately. Group shot of Luke, Leia, Han, Chewie, R2 and 3PO, a few TIE fighters and X-wings over head, all in front of a silhouette of Vader’s head with the hyperspace effect surrounded by a white void. It doesn’t show anything of what is actually in the issue, save for the characters, and even that we could’ve gleaned just from the title. Even working on the ludicrous assumption that someone looking at this had no idea what Star Wars was, it’s not terribly interesting. It’s drawing entirely on the iconography and name to actually sell the issue, which is unfortunate considering how much more interesting one could make the first cover of a Star Wars comic.

Appropriately though, the comic features the “a long time ago…” line, followed by a two-page spread of the Star Wars title, and even a one page “crawl.” On the one hand, it is kinda wasteful using up four pages of the comic for all of this instead of giving us more story. On the other hand though, these elements all help to set the tone. They’re things that every movie and at least some of the expanded universe material has used. They help to acclimate us to what is to come, to take us back to the first time we saw the films. Much as I would have liked to see the pages be used to tell more of the story, I think they were well used to help set things up.

The faux-crawl is pretty straight-forward, lacking some of the more flowery prose and extra details that most of the movie ones had. It sets up the timeframe of the story, shortly after the first Death Star has been destroyed, and tells us that the Rebels are on the offensive against the Empire. Short, sweet and to the point. We get another often-used element from the movies on the following page, where we see a ship pass-by from a low vantage point. It’s not as large and imposing as a Star Destroyer though. It’s just a simple shuttle, and it’s landing at a weapon factory on Cymoon 1. There’s a pretty heavy Imperial presence here, as we see two Star Destroyers in the sky above, along with several TIE fighters.

Let’s take a moment to talk about the artwork. Put simply, it’s great. Everything’s got a nice realistic look to it, which makes the familiar elements identifiable to us, and helps the new stuff feel like it certainly belongs. There’s a nice level of detail, lending to the realism, but it’s balanced out to not seem too busy. The linework, and colors are clear and consistent, so nothing blends together in ways that it shouldn’t, and the compositions of the panels all work well. Props to John Cassaday and Laura Martin, the artist and colorist respectively, for their excellent work.

Back to the story, we see that aboard the shuttle was Han Solo, along with R2-D2 and a pair of people dressed in the uniform of bodyguards of Jabba the Hutt. Han introduces himself to the overseer of the plant as an emissary of Jabba here for negotiations. The group is required to hand over their weapons, which they do without hesitation. We see that Chewbacca is looking over everything from above with a sniper rifle. Leia (disguised as one of the bodyguards) tells 3PO over a comlink that the plan is going well, and they’re brought inside the factory. In a nice subversion of the trope, 3PO says that he has a good feeling about all of this.

Inside the factory, we learn that the Empire is trying to get new suppliers, since the destruction of the Death Star consumed a few billion tons of resources that the Empire could’ve otherwise used to make TIE fighters, blasters, etc. Y’know, things that are useful to have in a time of war. The overseer of the factory is pretty blunt about the negotiations just being a formality, saying that the Empire will get what it wants at the price it dictates is acceptable. If Han and the others were actually here to negotiate, that might be a problem. However, the group just kicks the asses of the Stormtroopers that are with them, take their blasters, and then threaten the overseer with R2’s shock probe to get the location of the power core. While our heroes start making their way to the core, we learn that 3PO is aboard the Falcon, waiting for the right time to engage the autopilot to go pick up the group.

While Han, Leia, and R2 get to work causing a meltdown, Luke decides to try and practice using the Force some more, and manages to get a feeling. He’s guided to a cell, containing an impressive array of many of the more well known non-human species of Star Wars. A guy who could not be confused for anything other than a slave driver appears and tells Luke to not reach for his blaster, which Luke agrees to. However, Luke decides to bust out a move that Obi-wan never officially taught him;

So with the meltdown enabled and the slaves freed, our heroes call to get the Falcon over there to pick them up. However, Chewie informs them that a shuttle is landing. And aboard the shuttle is none other than Darth Vader, who was supposed to be negotiating on behalf of the Emperor. Leia orders Chewie to try and shoot Vader, but… well, it’s Vader. He deflects the first shot with his lightsaber, and then uses a pair of stormtroopers as human shields from subsequent shots. Chewie does manage to kill several of the stormtroopers with Vader, which is pretty impressive, but Vader uses the Force to take down the sniper nest Chewie was using, but not before Chewie flees. The factory goes on high alert as Han calls for the Falcon again, but it turns out a bunch of salvagers have decided to start taking the nicer parts from the ship. Han and Leia find their way into a hangar housing several AT-ATs, and figure that’s probably their best way out. Luke however has wandered off and starts following Ben’s voice, leading him directly to Vader and the end of the comic.

The cover for issue two is much better than issue one. Vader in the center, and behind him AT-ATs, AT-STs, and a whole bunch of stormtroopers. In the foreground, Han and Chewie are hiding behind a pile of junk, with Han making a shushing gesture to Chewie. My only complaint is with the second printing version (which is the one I have, unfortunately). The first printing has the background looking like the atmosphere of Cymoon 1. The second printing instead has a field of stars, making me think that this is taking place on top of a Star Destroyer.

The issue picks up right where the last one left off with Luke and Vader. They have a brief confrontation, with more verbal jabs than physical ones, but it’s pretty one sided. Vader even takes Luke’s lightsaber away from him, and is about to cut him down when he recognizes the lightsaber as his own. And then the roof caves in.

Hah, take that Kool-Aid man!

This is, of course, the AT-AT that Han and Leia are stealing. Sadly it seems the thing didn’t have room for all the slaves, because a bunch of them are running along behind/beneath the thing, fighting the stormtroopers who are trying in vain to take the walker down. Vader isn’t one to take this shit lying down though, so he starts cutting through the slaves, and rallying the stormtroopers to him. Han and Leia would be contributing more, but apparently the weapons systems hadn’t finished being brought online yet, so while R2 and a couple jawas work on that, Han’s just trying to step on stuff. Leia gives 3PO another call, telling him to try and get rid of the salvagers. He takes a blaster that had been left in the cockpit and goes out to talk to them. If this had been just about anyone other than 3PO, it may have been a good idea. But of course, 3PO drops the blaster, one of the salvagers picks it up, and then blasts him. Show of hands, who’s surprised?

Back with the action, Luke has a “what the hell am I doing” moment, realizing that he’s completely outclassed by Vader. This is what happens when a low level fringer tries taking on a high level Jedi guardian/Sith lord. Fortunately, look finds a bunch of swoop bikes and decides that he’s got a need for speed. He plows through a group of stormtroopers and leaves Vader eating his dust. Immediately afterwards, Han tries to stomp Vader using the walker, but again, this is Vader. He not only keeps the foot from crushing him, but also starts crushing the thing himself. They manage to get the guns working just in time though, and fire a salvo at Vader, saving their hides. With the tides turned, our heroes start heading back towards the Falcon to try and finally get out of here, Luke managing to recover his lightsaber. After Luke speeds off, Vader emerges from the wreckage that the walker created, and the issue ends with him and a group of stormtroopers on speeder bikes heading after our heroes.

I love the cover for issue three. This is Luke at his most badass, riding on a speeder bike, plowing through stormtroopers, firing wildly and wielding his lightsaber. It’s like some kind of fusion between Star Wars, and the Bat out of Hell album cover. It is glorious. Side note; holy crap, I’m reviewing something that came out this week!

We begin amidst the chaos of battle, with stormtroopers firing in vain at the stolen walker, slaves being shot up by the stormtroopers on speeder bikes, Luke mowing down stormtroopers like on the cover, and Vader just… walking through all the destruction. Like ya do, I guess.

We cut over to 3PO, who’s fallen to pieces in the grand fashion of the series. Fortunately, Chewie shows up and starts showing people what a badass a wookie can be, taking out the scavengers.

Back at the battle, we see that the Empire has finally gotten their shit together and has a group of tanks, AT-STs, and speeders all firing at the stolen walker, but damned if that thing isn’t a bullet sponge. Er, laser sponge, I guess. Anyway, Luke finally catches up, even though he’s in a much faster vehicle and logically should have caught up almost immediately, and continues to defy my expectations by being a badass. Amazingly, it seems like Vader is not far behind because on the next page we see him stalking up to the walker with his lightsaber. We also learn that the technicians back at the factory managed to avert the meltdown. Vader then proceeds to hack off one of the walker’s feet, causing it to come crashing down.

Luke swings back around (what is he doing, making victory laps?) and takes out the first wave of stormtroopers that try and assault the survivors. Luke and Leia both realize that the meltdown must have been stopped, so Luke goes off towards the factory to try and blow the damn thing up. Wait, shouldn’t he have to pass right through Vader and the squad of stormtroopers? The walker came directly from there, and Vader was following right behind it. Did he decide to move? Because that seems like a dumb idea, since if he stayed right behind it, the rebels would be flanked with him on one side, and all the tanks and stuff on the other.

Anyway, Vader decides to hop into a speeder and give chase to Luke. However, Luke manages to make it to the core and blast the whole thing a bunch, once again initiating a meltdown. Vader manages to shoot the speeder bike on the way out, and Luke thinks he’s not going to make it. Of course, he does get out, because otherwise we never would’ve gotten Empire Strikes Back or Return of the Jedi. Vader didn’t make it out, but yet again, it’s Vader. He just emerges from the burning wreckage and watches as the Falcon flies off. I was going to complain about how quickly it seems that the Falcon got back into the air and had everyone loaded onto it, but it’s not exactly clear that this is immediately after the factory blew up. Vader could’ve been unconscious for a while before we see this happen.

So, the Falcon manages to jump to light speed, running through the blockade of Star Destroyers. Vader chokes the captain of one of the Star Destroyers to death, and says that he’ll be the one to train Luke since there’s nobody else to do so. Luke mopes for a bit about how he’ll never be a true Jedi since there’s nobody to teach him how to Use the Force, and the issue ends back on Tatooine in Obi-wan’s old shack, focusing on a box that reads “For Luke.”

All in all, these issues were pretty good. Jason Aaron is a good writer, managing to craft dialogue that fits all of the characters, and move the story along at a good pace. It’s nice seeing Luke at this stage, where he’s trying to use his limited Jedi abilities, but mostly relying on his other skills. It helps us see him grow more gradually as a warrior, instead of going from someone barely trained in A New Hope to a legitimately skilled soldier in The Empire Strikes Back. I would’ve liked to have seen more with Han and Chewie, but I’m betting we’ll get more of them soon enough. The artwork is, again, excellent. I would say more, but honestly, I’ve more or less said everything there is to say about that earlier. There wasn’t a single panel I could pick out where there was some sort of weirdness I had to point out, but several that were pure awesome.

That’s all for this week. Join me next week, as I take a look at something in a medium that I’ve never looked at before. Until then, citizens!