#art book was a tad underwhelming unfortunately

[zymple]

played a bit of frontiers today! twas fun. got snuck up on by a giant metal thing and thought there was a spaceship crashing into me. turned out to be an arm

[rebelsofshield]

Panels Far, Far Away: A Week in Star Wars Comics 6/19/19

The rebels may be warriors for justice and galactic revolution, but that can’t always be the case, right? Three different Star Wars comics from Marvel explore the gray areas of galactic war this week.

Star Wars #67 written by Kieron Gillen and art by Angel Unzueta

After nearly thirty issues and four years of story, Kieron Gillen’s wild run on Star Wars comes to a close with the climactic finale to “The Scourging of Sho-Torun.” 

With Queen Trios dead and the partisans having turned Leia’s tactical strike into a potential worldwide cataclysm, our band of heroes desperately attempts to escape with their lives and prevent disaster.

Gillen and artist Angel Unzueta aim for fun and excitement here and the results undeniably deliver. After a run that at times tread rather close to being somber and tragic, it is a bit jarring to see Star Wars make a marked turn towards the lighter and playful here at the end of its latest incarnation, but the creative team here operates at such a fast story telling clip that it’s hard not to get caught up in it all. Whether its TIE fighter chases through the depths of Sho-Torun or surprising acts of heroism by unexpected characters, Gillen keeps the creative twists and turns flying.

The result does end up feeling a tad anticlimactic and thematically confused though. While Gillen does write some great interactions between him and Han, Benthic Two Tubes and his partisans end up being the largest problem here. When their involvement in Leia’s strike on Sho-Torun predictably turned into a mission of vengeance, Benthic became an entertaining wild card to an already complex story. Unfortunately though, Gillen pivots maybe too hard to making Benthic’s revenge responsible for the mission’s hiccups and takes away from the intriguing character study of Leia that this arc originally seemed set upon. Leia does get to put the pieces back together of her mission, but any message that was trying to be said about her flirtations with darkness feels lost in the midst of all the chasing and escaping.

Angel Unzueta’s potential final issue of Star Wars proves to be one of his strongest. Although his detailed and expressive faces at times still feels a little uncanny or separate from their bodies, this action heavy issue feels dynamic and energetic. The explosive collapse of Sho-Torun feels suitably apocalyptic and scenes of the Falcon diving through molten magma and collapsing super structures are a visual treat.

At the end of it all, it will be sad to see this creative team go even if “The Scourging of Sho-Torun” proved to not be the strongest story they would produce. Gillen in particular proved to be one of the most influential and inventive voices in the new canon and its hard to undersell how important some of the creative choices he made on Darth Vader and Doctor Aphra have shaped not only the Marvel line but the franchise as a whole. I would be happy to see him back someday.

Score: B

Star Wars Doctor Aphra #33 written by Simon Spurrier and art by Wilton Santos, Caspar Wijngaard, and Andrea Broccardo

Conceptually, “Unspeakable Rebel Superweapon” is shaping up to be one of the strongest story arcs that Simon Spurrier has envisioned for this series to date. It’s premise blends elements of Rogue One, Indiana Jones, and Killing Eve style spy thrillers into a strange and colorful character piece that feels up the series’ alley and fits Spurriers particular sense for the weird side of the galaxy.

Turns out that magic Jedi gun that Aphra snatched last issue is more than just a valuable artifact. It may contain the design blue prints to an off the books rebel superweapon that may be useful in assassinating Emperor Palpatine. Also turns out that stealing this artifact combined with her recent actions on Milvayne landed her on the Empire’s most wanted list. Also turns out that Aphra’s ex-Imperial lover, whom she brain washed with a telepathic squid, is now a member of one of the rebellion’s most ruthless espionage units. Combine that all with some thematic throughlines about morality and motherhood, we are on track for another rich arc of Doctor Aphra.

Throwing Aphra into a sect of the rebellion that not only makes use of the archaeological plot points of her career but also stretches traditional ethics is a great move by Spurrier. While the flashback sequences with Aphra and her mother may lay it on a bit thick, making Aphra (and the reader) enter into a morally sticky faction of normally heroic characters is fruitful playing ground for writer and character. If past arcs of Spurrier’s run were about reinforcing Aphra’s chaotic and dangerous character, maybe the future of her story is finding out how that character may still be used to do some good.

Making Tolvan a prickly rebel spy is also a great twist and it’s nice to see her evolve as a character outside of being the object of love and misfortune for Aphra’s latest schemes.

Unfortunately, “Unspeakable Rebel Supreweapon” is still struggling visually. Wilton Santos, Caspar Wijngaard, and Andrea Broccardo all take on pencil duties here with Chris O’Halloran and Stephane Paitreau doing colors. That’s a lot of hands in the visual pot and the result is rather underwhelming. Of the three main pencilers, Wijngaard is again the most successful. While there is little apparent editorial logic to who draws what, Wijngaard handles most of the flashbacks and expository panels and these are often the most striking and fun images of the book. Whether it’s Jedi Apostate Oo’ob striding a starfighter and shouldering his experimental weapon or Tolvan and her team of spies letting loose on a group of hapless Imperials, Wijngaard’s moments in the spotlight are stellar. Santos struggles however. In particular, his decidedly sparse and underdetailed environments, which are done no favors by the coloring, lack the diverse and lived in aesthetic that one would expect from Star Wars or even past arcs of this title. It’s disappointing as the script for this story is so strong that its underwhelming visuals become all the more of a letdown.

Score: B

Star Wars TIE Fighter #3 written by Jody Houser and art by Roge Antonio and Geraldo Borges

Last week saw the release of Del Rey’s latest Star Wars novel, Alexander Freed’s Alphabet Squadron, which harkens back to the military procedurals of the 90’s X-Wing series. I’m only about 100 pages into the book, but so far Freed has managed to bring to life rebel aces in a way that hasn’t been felt in sometime with characters that are exciting but also heartbreakingly human. Jody Houser has a much shorter and very different mandate with TIE Fighter, but so far the book and comic are managing to be fitting pairs.

Perhaps Houser’s biggest success so far is making us naturally root for “the bad guys.” It may help that that the forces Shadow Wing are fighting are mostly other Imperials, but this makes one of the few pieces of current canon with Imperial leads that doesn’t actively feature defectors among its protagonists. Shadow Wing are loyal to the Empire, but Houser so far has done a decent job of setting up these five pilots as relatable “everymen.” They aren’t necessarily blameless individuals, but they are understandable as people and it makes them engaging protagonists all the same.

This third issue of TIE Fighter explodes the central conflict and as a result Houser and artist Roge Antonio really get to let loose with well-crafted dogfight set pieces. Antonio captures the chaos of starfighters chasing each other through space with the appropriate intensity, but also thankfully, never loses sight of the central cast. Action scenes are clear, intense, and exciting.

That being said, there are some emotional beats here that TIE Fighter fails to fully sell. Whether it is the suddenness that they happen or that Houser hasn’t yet earned the emotion for these moments, there are beats that should sting or surprise but instead slip by quickly and passively. Maybe TIE Fighter would have benefited with just a bit more downtime for its cast before throwing them into this chaos? Who knows, but it’s hard not to leave this issue without feeling kind of hollow.

Score: B-

[thenorburghadventure]

Good Morning Vietnam!

It's all got a tad crazy...after winning £50 of food vouchers in the hostel on 17th January the food stupor obviously sent me into a none blog mode! Walking Wednesday from Coogee to Bondi Beach was incredibly beautiful. I stopped at a site where Mary had appeared, saw where a shark swallowed a human arm and the Waverley Cemetery. Thursday was an admin day, tracing around Paddy's market and Friday I embraced the Sydney Arts festival and refer you to the ball pit extravaganza! As well as another trip to the MCA taking in works from; Abdul Abdullah, David Mellor, Nell and many more. Ending in the oldest pub in Australia. That was a great end to Australia... 21st or Saturday I travelled to Vietnam and met Norris and Alex. We embraced and started our warm stay at Supe Homestay with and a warm beer and street food on day one of the mini adventure....Norburgh becomes...MorNorBurgh... The first real day of the MorNorBurgh holiday was steeped in culture at the Toasit temple (Jade Emperors pagoda) which was a little underwhelming given lonely planet spoke so highly of it before filling up on veggie food...and really enjoying exploring HCMC. A hugely busy but vibrant city. Better than Bangkok and really good food! The 23rd was Vietnamese cooking school, were we all received a certificate of "very good"! It was great to cook and really see the markets and the ingredients we used. The Ho Chi Minh city mooch in the afternoon followed and we visited the remnants war museum which was very well done and laid out all the horrible facts to see and the aftermath of the Vietnam war. It demonstrated the horrible things that a huge country can do to another small country..... The bus journey to cat tien to see the rainforest took a solid part of the 24th. The pictures describe the beautiful rainforest we explored on the 25th. We had some run ins with leeches though.....before we set off to Nha Trang on the east coast. Here Alex was keen for some diving so we booked with one of the few PADI recommended schools in Nha Trang (avoiding other cheaper places where stories of people sharing air tanks emerged!) and she undertook her Open Water diving course. On the first day whilst she dived we went to the Cham towers (Cham referring to Chinese and Japanese inspired sculptures across Vietnam) and saw the remainder of these towers built between the 7th and 12th Centuries. We partook in some diving ourselves with Alex taking in a great boat ride in the sun. Visibility was only a few metres (though way better than had been) though we saw some nice examples of hard corals as well as lion fishes! The 28th saw us embrace the beach at Nha Trang in between Russian sunbathers. Nha Trang is a very popular beach resort with white pasty Russians who don't know about the existence of sunscreen. We sat with our iced chilled coffee as a tiny Chinese girl built an impressive fort and a Russian man tried out the various adult climbing frame or gym equipment! Later we headed to a local gallery presenting photographs from the internationally renowned artist Long Danh. We even met the artist! Very nice and spoke excellent English. It provided an excellent insight into everyday life of Vietnamese people. We then then headed to a local restaurant called Lanterns who made some excellent food and also provided free food for local homeless people. After this we had a few beers and then headed to the train station to take an overnight train up the coast to Da Nang. Unfortunately despite us buying a ticket from the train station the day before, the woman gave us a ticket going the wrong way! We had booked a cabin to sleep in but now we had to buy more tickets (sorry, no refunds!) in a soft train seat (basically a normal train seat). It was an experience with an overzealous air conditioner, so out came the sleeping bag and Alex and I curled up. On the 29th we arrived in Danang. A growing coastal city with loads of building works and embraced a fire breathing dragon bridge....I refer you to the video! We felt like we had stepped back into China 300 years ago as the 30th saw us explore the old town of Hoi An. We loved the tiny lady's carrying fruit, the Japanese monkey and dog bridge and the many Chinese temples, I hope that the pictures convey a little of the intrinsic beauty. The 31st January saw us say goodbye to the MorNorBurgh part of our trip. Embracing the last of the beach in the morning and peering at the round circular fishing boats. We grabbed the mopeds to the bus station and Alex the taxi to the airport. She was returning to HCMC and then home. We were off to Hue for greater adventures and more Saigon Beer and condensed milk coffees.