Star Wars: The Last Jedi #3 - Marvel Comics

STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI No. 3, August 2018

Whether the majority of this motion picture adaption’s 19,337 readers were actually fans of Rian Johnson’s 2017 American epic space opera “The Last Jedi” or not, one thing they could probably all agree upon was how outwardly divisive the flick’s Canto Bight storyline was with the highest-grossing film of 2017’s audience, especially when Rose and Finn’s mission ultimately proves unsuccessful and arguably therefore “made that entire section of the movie redundant.” Fortunately for this twenty-page periodical’s narrative however, Gary Whitta seemingly steers clear of such hullabaloo by reducing the “secret mission from Poe Dameron to the casino planet” down to little more than half a dozen sides, and instead focuses far more upon Luke Skywalker’s frustrating refusal “to train the young hero Rey in the ways of the Force” and the Jakku scavenger’s strange ever-growing connection with his nephew, Kylo Ren.

Of course, that doesn’t mean that Phil Noto’s fantastically framed cover illustration featuring the former Stormtrooper, Tico and their nefarious double-dealing master code-breaker, isn’t necessarily misleading as to just what this mini-series’ third instalment is actually about, as there can be little doubt that most of this comic’s action stems from the English-born American screenwriter’s coverage of the Resistance members' exploration and subsequent flight from the desert planet’s coastal city. But in book-form at least, the fathiers conveniently-distracting stampede through the gambling destination’s grounds and surrounding streets is only given as much ‘screen time’ as Rey’s lightsaber practice; “Impetuous. Foolish. Her impatience is telling her that she’s ready. All too familiar. Any moment… now. I think it’s time for lesson two.”

Lamentably though, what this publication is missing is any real sense of emotional energy or animation, courtesy of some sub-standard interiors by artist Michael Walsh, whose tiny, multiple panelled pencilling at best simply provides an adequate depiction of the various characters' movements, whilst presumably providing letterer Travis Lanham with ample room within which to squeeze some incredibly word-heavy dialogue bubbles. In fact, whenever a dramatic drawing is desperately required, such as the Jedi Master’s franchise-changing confrontation with Ren inside the youth’s sleeping quarters, the OCAD University graduate’s sketches disappointingly bear more resemblance to a student’s sadly unrecognisable school book scribblings than a professional’s portrayal of an instantly recognisable actor.

Writer: Gary Whitta, Artist: Michael Walsh, and Colorist: Mike Spicer

Star Wars: The Last Jedi #2 - Marvel Comics

STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI No. 2, July 2018

Whilst Gary Whitta’s treatment for Issue Two of “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” valiantly tries to portray all the sense-shattering shenanigans of the “2017 American epic space opera film written and directed by Rian Johnson” with its depiction of the First Order preparing "to crush the rebels once and for all” courtesy of Snoke’s formidably-sized fleet, its arguably lifeless storyboarding and ‘by the numbers’ plodding pace must have made many of its 22,281 readers wondering just why they bothered purchasing the official “Marvel Worldwide” movie adaptation. In fact, due to this publication’s battle scenes set around the Resistance Cruiser the Raddus lacking much in the way of sound effects, momentous motion or more than a pair of attacking Tie Fighters, it is actually difficult to even glean just why General Organa’s flagship was so disastrously damaged by enemy “torpedos inbound”, or how in the preceding panels Po Dameron’s X-Wing is literally blown to smithereens whilst still inside its hanger bay without Leia’s forces apparently ever firing a single shot in anger..?

Certainly, this brief summarisation of the wider conflict, somewhat amateurishly-pencilled by Michael Walsh, makes Admiral Gial Ackbar’s shocking death debatably all the more ignoble, as its brevity seemingly shows “the foremost military commander of the Rebel Alliance” panicking in the face of only three enemy fighters to the point where he commands “all craft full ahead! Concentrate rear shields” so as to supposedly neutralise their threat, and subsequently then sees his opponent fatally penetrate his presumably undefended bridge with a couple missiles; “It’s been an honour serving with you all.” Such ludicrously-poor decision-making is hardly the sort of strategic thinking one would expect from a Mon Calamari who lead “a small under-equipped navy” to successfully defeat the might of Darth Sidious’ Galactic Empire.

Fortunately, the “English-born American screenwriter” does manage to at least inject a few “added parts that we didn’t see” on the ‘Big Screen’ into this twenty-page periodical’s script, most notably Organa’s steel-willed determination not to have her “lifetime spent fighting, resisting, surviving” suddenly ended in the vacuum of outer space. This particular ‘insight’ is pure Carrie Fisher’s character, and it’s resultantly easy to hear the Saturn Award-nominated actress’s voice defiantly shouting out the line “The End? Like Hell” as she briefly considers whether this is indeed to be her fate, and emphatically decides to utilise the Force to float “back to the ship” safely.

Writer: Gary Whitta, Artist: Michael Walsh, and Colorist: Mike Spicer

Star Wars: The Last Jedi #1 - Marvel Comics

STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI No. 1, July 2018

Positively publicised by “Marvel Worldwide” as an adaption which features “never-before-seen scenes of your favourite characters”, this opening instalment to “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” arguably must have delighted the vast majority of its audience, including those who had already watched “the highest-grossing film of 2017”, with its noticeably new sequences and ‘extended shots’ from an earlier version of the movie’s script. Indeed, such is his narrative’s focus upon Luke Skywalker’s desperate desire to “achieve true solitude”, that Gary Whitta’s main aim for this over-sized thirty-page periodical would actually seem to have been to provide readers with a much deeper insight into the personal demons of actor Mark Hamill’s character, and the all-powerful hermit’s surprising, long-term aim to close himself “off from the energy that binds me to all living things everywhere.” 

Of course, this comic's innovatively intimate opening insight into the Jedi Master’s heavily-troubled mind, which depicts a sullen-looking Vader's son suddenly realising "someone... has found me" despite his self-imposed solitude, soon pales in comparison to the author additionally taking “full advantage of the comic book medium” by providing Luke a ‘genuine’ opportunity to mourn “the death of his close friend Han Solo” courtesy of a grief-sharing embrace with Chewbacca. But the entirely original introspective look at Obi-Wan Kenobi’s aging apprentice undoubtedly makes the Force-sensitive’s subsequent shocking refusal to acknowledge Rey’s presence on Ahch-To slightly more understandable; “Um… Master Skywalker? Master Skywalker? I’m from the resistance, your sister Leia sent me. We need your help. Hello?” 

Fortunately however, the former “ACE” magazine games journalist doesn’t provide this extra exposition at the cost of the publication’s pulse-pounding pace, and still manages to capture plenty of the sense-shattering shenanigans seen during the Resistance’s evacuation of the planet D’Qar. In fact, Po Dameron’s questionable decision to ignore his general’s direct order and ‘sacrifice’ the lives of numerous pilots in order to bring about the destruction of a spaceship with “more firepower than a dozen destroyers” is one of this magazine’s highlights.

Sadly, the same cannot be said for Michael Walsh’s irregular-looking, amateurishly-angular artwork, which disconcertingly fails to attain a level anywhere near that of Whitta’s notable writing success. Clearly able to pencil an excellent Gial Ackbar, as well as an explosion-packed, intergalactic space battle, the Canadian’s somewhat cartoony drawing style disappointing fails to capture a lot of the plot’s tension and suspense, especially when an enraged Kylo Ren continuously smashes his infamous combat helmet into a wall or an irate Leia Organa physically slaps a certain "skilled X-wing fighter pilot" around his 'arrogant flyboy' face before demoting him to Captain.

Writer: Gary Whitta, Artist: Michael Walsh, and Colorist: Mike Spicer