Star Wars #2

In the second "episode" of the new Star Wars comic book, Princess Leia assembles a team of X-wing pilots to search for a new Rebellion home base. Meanwhile, Han Solo evades pursuit by an Imperial Star Destroyer, Luke "gets cocky" after showing off his piloting skills in a simulator, and Vader's Elite Star Destroyer comes under new management.

One thing that the Star Wars comic has going for it is that it de-centers the story-telling process. Instead of having Luke Skywalker (IV-VI) or Anakin Skywalker (I-III) as our main protagonist, we see things from the perspective mainly of Leia Organa (#1) and Han Solo (#2). This is both a good and bad decision on the part of the creative staff. It is good because these characters need to be better developed, and not just by non-canonical writers. When you release a comic called Star Wars without hyphens or colons, and this close to the announcement that there will be more films, you tease the possibility of their stories being canon, and what the Star Wars universe is lacking is canonical stories from the perspective of Leia, Han, Chewie, and friends. It is bad because there is no singular focus. Already by issue two, the Leia story, which is by far the most intriguing that the comic has to offer, has been pushed into the background, and Han, while fun, is not as interesting. A run-in with Jabba has been teased, but we've all seen the remakes of the original trilogy. The romance of Han and Jabba leaves a bad taste in our mouths, a taste of CG and the destruction of our childhood.

Of course, Leia's mission to find the mole in the Rebellion is still under way, and we see it develop ever so slightly with the creation of her rogue X-wing team. I hope that I am following a red herring on this, but I think that the conclusion of this story is pretty clear. It will be frustrating if I am correct. Leia has spent a lot of time in the last two issues mourning her lost planet Alderaan, and now we find a starfighter pilot from Alderaan on her team. Certainly, she will be looking for someone who has experienced Alderaan, who remembers the joys, who can share her sorrow. She will grow close to the Alderaan pilot, and he will be the mole. Maybe I'm being stubborn. Maybe there's a much more interesting story to be developed here. I just don't think so.

The second issue is not nearly as interesting as the first. We need to hear more from Princess Leia, to understand her more fully, because the other characters (with the exception of Vader) are a little too flat in this comic (mainly because they're fully developed elsewhere). I want to keep reading this comic, but if we get too many more issues like this second issue, I might have to stop.

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