A Not-so-New Hope: A Review of Star Wars (The new comic book series) #s 1 to 3

written by Jason Aaron
drawn by John Cassaday
colored by Laura Martin

I suppose an inevitable consequence of both Marvel Comics and Lucasfilm belonging to the Walt Disney Entertainment Company (or whatever its corporate name is), is the publication by the former of comics about the filmed properties of the latter, specifically, a little old property known as "Star Wars."

Appropriately enough, the first ever comics based on George Lucas' "Star Wars" were published by Marvel Comics back in the 1970s, before either company had been assimilated by what is arguably now the largest entertainment conglomerate in the world.

This series apparently takes place immediately after the conclusion of the very first Star Wars film, otherwise titled Episode IV: A New Hope. The Death Star has just been destroyed, and the Rebel Alliance is looking to an even greater dent in the Galactic Empire's chokehold on the galaxy. This three-issue story arc features all of the rebel protagonists from that film, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia, Chewbacca, C-3PO and R2D2, on a mission to destroy an empire weapons factory. Things go awry when it turns out that Darth Vader is at the very same factory.

I never read any of the old Star Wars comics, but knowing that they were published, and trying to figure out where this particular episode fits in the scheme of nearly forty years of publication history is a bit of a headache, so I tried as best I could to appreciate the story on its own terms. It was a little awkward reading a contemporary story featuring characters that appeared in the 1970s, especially since Cassaday quite accurately captures the likenesses of Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher as they actually appeared in the first Star Wars movie. Han and Luke, in particular, look as if they've embarked on this mission immediately after the ceremony at the end of Episode IV, as their clothes are identical.

The good news, though is that once I got past the sense of something overly familiar I was able to enjoy the story, both for Aaron's script and for Cassaday's (and Martin's) eye-popping art. The highlight of Aaron's script is, of course the banter between Han and Princess Leia, but it is still, overall, a good read, though for all of the official trappings it still reads like very pretty fan fiction. In a sense, I suppose, it can be considered fan fiction considering that the authors are clearly quite fond of these characters and this world. Cassaday, pardon the pun, is the real draw here, and the fact that he's on this book augurs very well for this series in general; for the time being at least, Marvel is putting its big guns to work on its "Star Wars" line of comic books.

I was particularly entertained by temporal "mashup" of sorts in which Episode IV characters went around on speeder bikes (not introduced to the film world until Episode VI) and walkers (introduced in Episode V), as well as those floating tanks that were introduced in the prequels. Storywise, though, there's really precious little these three issues add to such a long-running, revered canon. It's not quite as engaging as the Disney's new ongoing animated series "Rebels" but the good news is that the potential for some interesting interstitial narrative is laid.

As a first effort, from creators who clearly have affection for this universe, this story isn't bad.

8/10