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| JOURNEY TO STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS - SHATTERED EMPIRE No. 1, NOVEMBER 2015 |
Set within the last act of the 1983 “American epic space
opera film directed by Richard Marquand”, this twenty page periodical not only
depicts “the final moments of the Battle of Endor” as “the Rebellion’s capital
ships… buy enough time to rescue victory from the jaws of defeat…” But also
introduces two new characters to George Lucas’ galaxy far, far away in the
shape of Sergeant Kes Dameron and his wife Lieutenant “Green Four” Bey; one of
General Han Solo’s Pathfinders and an ace A-Wing pilot who inadvertently almost
dispatches a certain Imperial shuttlecraft fleeing the destruction of the
Second Death Star; “This is Commander Skywalker, repeat, vessel is under
friendly control.”
The inclusion of, and subsequent focus upon, two such
newly-created “Star Wars” personalities is a somewhat disappointing move by
writer Greg Rucka, as this “new chapter in the Star Wars saga” was advertised
by “Marvel Worldwide” as one of “a series of canonical projects” which would
“explore the aftermath of Return Of The Jedi” and as such seemed destined to
follow the exploits of Luke, Leia, Han and Chewie in a post-Palpatine universe
rather than any “new addition[s] to the Star Wars canon”. Fortunately however “the
acclaimed writer” of “Wolverine” has been very careful not to solely
concentrate upon the actions of the two rebel fighters, and instead has weaved
them throughout the Emperor’s final moments.
As a result there are some nice scenes shared with the
more recognisable ‘heroes of the Rebellion’, such as C-3P0, R2-D2, Nien Nunb
and plenty of fuzzy Ewok warriors. Indeed one of the highlights of the
narrative is Bey’s interruption of General Solo as he berates a smirking Lando
Calrissian for damaging the Millennium Falcon during the space battle as the
San Franciscan’s script absolutely nails the smooth-talking smiling former
administrator of Cloud City as the “connoisseur of beauty in all things…”
The three-time Eisner Award-winner is equally as
successful in producing a storyline which genuinely increases in tension with
each and every turn of the page. Having spent the best part of the comic
searching to see if her husband still lives after the Death Star’s demise,
Green Four then accompanies the Corellian and Chewbacca on a “hot” raid upon “an
imperial holdout on the far side of the moon…” and spends a nervy few panels
watching the enemy base Dameron is fighting within, waiting to see if the
sergeant will return to her arms alive…
Quite possibly this book’s greatest asset though is the
incredibly detailed artwork of Marco Checchetto. Rucka’s collaborator on “The
Punisher” really manages to ‘nail’ both the grandeur and dynamism of this “untold
story”, and additionally captures all the trademark looks and gestures of trilogy actors Billy Dee Williams and Harrison Ford.
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| The variant cover art of "JOURNEY TO STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS - SHATTERED EMPIRE" No. 1 by Pasqual Ferry |
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