Lando #5 - Marvel Comics

LANDO No. 5, December 2015

The script to Issue Five of “Lando” brings a very noticeable change to this mini-series’ usually somewhat cavalier atmosphere, as the smart-mouthed space-faring gambler’s almost blasé personality is abruptly replaced firstly with that of a serious cold-blooded killer, and then later as an apologetic, even remorseful, chancer who realises that his “time for cunning and guile” may well have finally come to an end having cost his “long-time cohort” Lobot their humanity. Indeed once Chanath Cha sets her plan of “blowing up this ship” into motion there really isn’t a great deal of humour to found anywhere within this publication’s remaining pages, and even Calrissian’s habitual witticisms are kept to a minimum.   

This surprisingly sudden dramatic shift in tone does wonders for the quality of Charles Soule’s writing, and genuinely makes it hard for the reader to anticipate which character is going to live or die as the tale unfolds. Such tangible tension is especially noticeable once Lando and “Emperor Palpatine’s hand-picked bounty hunter” ‘pair off’ against the “corrupted… elite warriors Aleksin and Pavel”, and Sava Korin Pers is mercilessly dispatched with a lightsaber despite the “antiquity specialist” changing her allegiance to the Sith. This almost nonchalant precipitous slaying of one of the title’s main cast is rather disconcerting and results in each subsequent death increasing the narrative’s tension quite palpably panel by nerve-wracking panel; “It’s time to be selfish. You do know we’ll need to kill them all.”

Sadly the Milwaukee-born author’s storyline does still struggle towards the end of this concluding instalment however, with the Stan Lee Excelsior Award-winner turning Lobot into little more than a mute zombie simply because he plugs himself into the Imperial luxury yacht’s interface and turns “the… escape… pods… back on”. So depressingly fantastical a fate seems rather contrived and in some ways makes this five-issue long adventure feel as if it should have focussed centrally upon Calrissian’s heroic companion and his tragic lobotomization, rather than seemingly add it to the end of the tale as a mere bolt-on.

Alex Maleev’s artwork is also disappointingly poor throughout this comic, with Chanath Cha and Lando both appearing as little more than inconsistent stiff-looking figures whose facial features worryingly distort from one picture to another. Most disheartening though has to be the Bulgarian illustrator’s apparent inability to breathe any sort of animated life in to his drawings, with the wooden malformed arm movements of this book’s primary villains as they wield their lightsabers being particularly poor.

Writer: Charles Soule, Artist: Alex Maleev, and Colors: Paul Mounts

Lando #4 - Marvel Comics

LANDO No. 4, November 2015

Reportedly “cooler than ice cold”, at least as far as writer Charles Soule is concerned, this issue’s titular character takes something of a back seat role within the narrative in order to allow the New Yorker more time to focus upon the corruption of the Dark Side of the Force. In fact, apart from having Lando hastily flee the scene of Aleksin’s abrupt betrayal and then argue with Korin Pers as to whether they should escape the Emperor’s “luxury yacht”, the “one-time owner of the Millennium Falcon” is noticeably absent from much of this comic’s main storyline.

Instead, the 61,542 readers who made this particular twenty-page periodical the eleventh best-selling comic of September 2015, are presented with a harsh lesson as to just how persuasive and overwhelming the Sith Order can actually be. Especially when one is an alien clone warrior who has been potentially hypnotised by a robotic-looking head purportedly crafted by the ancient Lord Momin. For within just a handful of panels since first staring at the “treasure trove of ancient Sith artefacts” the black panther-headed Aleksin has not only ignited a red double-bladed lightsaber similar to that famously used by Darth Maul. But has used the saberstaff to sever the right forearm of his former “love” with whom he was planning on bringing up his offspring with; “Has something happened to me? I hadn’t noticed.”

Not quite so surprising and somewhat less shocking, is the fact that Palpaltine’s “personal fixer” Chanath Cha is presumably a former love interest of Calrissian. The “merciless hunter” had been, up until this revelation, stealthily stalking Lando and his antiquity specialist since arriving on board the Imperialis through the spacecraft’s “access hatch just aft of its rear sensor array”, and generating a fair bit of moody suspense as a result. Sadly though all of this nicely developed anticipation quickly evaporates as soon as the “lady” mercenary holsters her blaster, removes her odd retro-looking helmet and is greeted by “the galaxy’s greatest fool” with a “Well, hey, hey, hey.”    

Just as unconvincing as Soule’s attempt to capture the “incomparable” silver screen performance of Billy Dee Williams with his supposedly witty writing is Alex Maleev’s drawings of Aleksin using a lightsaber. Not only does the Bulgarian illustrator depict the tall lithe fighter as little more than an awkward cumbersome killer. But the alien’s confrontation with his “dear Pavol” disappointingly lacks any sort of life or vibrant energy whatsoever. Something which is actually quite astounding considering the penciller’s dynamic depictions of Lando as the ‘scoundrel’ races through the yacht’s dark corridors.

Writer: Charles Soule, Artist: Alex Maleev, and Colors: Paul Mounts

Lando #3 - Marvel Comics

LANDO No. 3, October 2015

Perhaps unsurprisingly, given that this mini-series’ author actually thought the titular character’s first appearance in the “Star Wars” film franchise was “A New Hope”, Issue Three of “Lando” noticeably strays away from exclusively focusing upon the “prodigious gambler” and instead attempts to fill in some of the gaps as to the background of his “long-time friend Lobot”. Regrettably however, whilst such a change in direction is laudable, especially after Charles Soule’s disappointingly dire previous attempts to capture Billy Dee Williams’ wonderfully charismatic ‘silver screen’ portrayal of Calrissian, the Columbia Law School graduate’s depiction of the future Cloud City Chief Administrative assistant is arguably even worse, with the cyborg apparently proving to be little more than a living “locomotive system” for his neurocortical implants”.

Indeed, having been badly wounded by “the full force of an Imperial Guards’ staff” “Lo” is swiftly consigned to being little more than a piece of disorientated mumbling baggage who needs carrying to “a medical bay one deck down.” This clumsy use of “Lando’s aide” as a mere plot device is made all the more frustrating when its revealed that the man is apparently in more danger of allowing his implants… to take over his mind” and “lose himself” than bleeding to death from his substantial wound; “If my body is healing… I can hold back… the implants.”

Just as disconcerting is the “New York Times best-selling comic book” writer’s usage of this comic’s supporting cast members, most noticeably the “alien clone warriors Aleksin and Pavel”. These “baddest blades in the galaxy” genuinely seem to have been included within the narrative solely to provide some worthy opposition to “the Emperor’s personal protectors” and appear unworthy of being bestowed even the simplest snatches of dialogue. The inclusion of “antiquity specialist” Korin Pers” is equally as perplexing, especially as the female Ugnaught lost her eye as a result of one of Lando’s smuggling schemes. Galactic credits clearly mean a lot to the diminutive Sava or else its hard imagine why the armed ‘historian’ would accompany a man she so clearly despises on any sort of adventure, perilous or not… But then again Soule clearly needs someone within Calrissian’s contrived crew to recognise the true treasure within Emperor Palpatine’s luxury space yacht and inform both the romantic smuggler, as well as the reader, that all the valuable artefacts stored within the stolen vessel’s “central chamber” belong to the Sith.

This book’s biggest drawback though has to be the indistinct, hastily sketched and overly dark artwork of Alex Maleev and colorist Paul Mounts. The Bulgarian illustrator’s drawings are particularly difficult to endure during the fight scenes between the writer’s panther-people and the Emperor’s red-garbed finest, due to the horribly wooden and unnatural poses given to the combatants.

Writer: Charles Soule, Artist: Alex Maleev, and Colors: Paul Mounts

Lando #2 - Marvel Comics

LANDO No. 2, October 2015

Following the disappointing depiction of an arguably somewhat unrecognisable and unappealing Lando Calrissian stealing “an imperial luxury yacht undergoing a refit at the Siernar Fleet Systems shipyard” in his mini-series’ previous issue, writer Charles Soule disheartening demonstrates an even greater lack of knowledge of George Lucas’ smooth-talking charmer within this twenty-page periodical. For having succeeded in his heist, thanks in large to “the aid of two cloned alien warriors (Aleksin and Pavol) and an Ugnaught antiquities expert”, the galactic adventurer lamentably spends the entirety of "Lando - Part Two" sat within the vessel’s cockpit issuing orders so as to evade the tractor beams of three pursuing star destroyers.

Such a somewhat sedentary plot, whilst admittedly being slightly reminiscent of the Millennium Falcon’s thrilling flight from the Imperial forces orbiting Hoth in the 1980 motion picture “The Empire Strikes Back”, is a far cry from the action arguably anticipated for a title featuring so swashbuckling a rogue. Indeed it comes as little surprise that eventually even the Brooklyn-born author himself apparently tires of the tiny ship tediously dodging gravity-based mines in outer space and instead rather randomly ‘whisks’ the reader away to the watery-world of Amethia Prime in The Inner Rim so as to witness the superman-like caped bounty hunter Chanath Cha capture a local, unimaginatively named crime boss called Big String.

This somewhat lengthy, though thoroughly entertaining, high-speed boat chase lasts for almost a third of the book and provides ample evidence that when he puts his mind to it the New York Times best-selling author can script an enjoyably competent sci-fi sequence. Discouragingly however even this scene is worryingly unoriginal and strongly reminiscent of an old Thirties Buster Crabbe Hollywood serial as the armoured recovery agent ‘socks’ his way past his frog-faced fugitive’s masked minions; “Whatever they’re paying you for me, I can beat it.”

Undoubtedly adding to this publication’s palatable atmosphere of disappointment and disenchantment is Alex Maleev’s irrepressibly robotic-looking drawings. In fact the artwork of the Bulgarian painter has probably seldom looked worse, with Billy Dee Williams’ likeness constantly being depicted with ‘the shiniest nose in space’. Whilst the Emperor’s sharpest “needle” Chanath Cha looks like some bizarre amalgamation of every superhero costume conceived during the Golden Age of Comics.

Writer: Charles Soule, Artist: Alex Maleev, and Colors: Paul Mounts

Lando #1 - Marvel Comics

LANDO No. 1, September 2015

Despite featuring a titular character “chosen” as the eleventh top “Star Wars” character by “Image Games Network” it is hard to imagine that this opening instalment of a five issue “Marvel Worldwide” mini-series managed to sell an astonishing 192, 949 copies upon its release in July 2015. For whilst actor Billy Dee Williams imbued the Cloud City administrator with both the wily charm and dazzling charisma of a space-faring scoundrel, writer Charles Soule disappointingly depicts the “man trying to make his way through an uncaring universe” as little more than a weak-willed cowardly loser who supposedly believes that “Blasters are for suckers. People with no imagination.”

Admittedly the New York Times best-selling author’s incarnation of the “prodigious gambler” isn’t necessarily unlikable or disagreeable. Indeed Calrissian demonstrates all of his silver screen counterpart’s simmering magnetism by wooing a murderous Imperial Governor into giving him one of her valuable trinkets; "I'm betting that the woman I love is real. That she can be more than just a tool [of the Emperor]."

Dishearteningly however, the kind-hearted thief then simply ‘gives up’ the prize he’s just ‘bet his life upon’ rather than confront the double-crossing gangster Papa Toren and instead agrees to steal a “pleasure craft for some rich imperial” in order to finally ‘clear his debt’. Such an easily rattled weakling is most definitely unrecognisable as the man who would approximately three years later bravely battle against both Darth Vader and the full might of the Galactic Empire.  

Unfortunately such a disappointing interpretation of this roguish adventurer is disconcertingly the actual highpoint of Soule’s sedentary script, as the book’s final third suddenly resembles a narrative ‘stolen’ from the imagination of Akira Kurosawa. In fact the Brooklyn-born attorney’s decision to have Lando, along with long-time friend Lobot, suddenly be accompanied by a pair of ninja-like black panther people and a cybernetically-eyed Ugnaut in their act of piracy is easily as bizarre a plot-twist as their mission to steal Emperor Palpatine’s space vessel is depicted as being unforgivably easy.

Equally as substandard has to be the amateurish-looking artwork of legendary “Daredevil” illustrator Alex Maleev. The Bulgarian painter’s panels lack any appreciable vitality, with Calrissian’s physical appearance in particular most notably suffering from wooden, robotic poses and even the occasional missing facial feature.

The regular cover art of "LANDO" No. 1 by Alex Maleev and Edgar Delgado