Star Wars #10 Review

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Adventure. Heh. Excitement. Heh. If you crave these things, this is the ish for you.

This article contains spoilers for Marvel’s Star Wars #10.

Star Wars #10

Writer: Jason Aaron | Artist: Stuart Immonen | Inker: Wade von Grawbadger | Colorist: Justin Ponsor | Letterer: Chris Eliopoulos | Cover: Immonen, von Grawbadger, Ponsor

This issue opens with Han Solo and Princess Leia firing at TIE Fighters while aboard Sana Solo’s ship, the Volt Cobra, which Sana declares is even faster than Han’s Millennium Falcon . Han continues to vehemently deny that Sana is his wife while they flee from the Empire. After more banter between the trio, they successfully escape to hyperspace. On Nar Shadaa, Chewbacca and C-3P0 have arrived in an attempt to locate and rescue Luke Skywalker, who has been kidnapped by Grakkus the Hutt. Chewbacca, with Threepio’s assistance, roughs up droids and thugs as they attempt to track down the wayward Jedi-to-be. In the meantime, Luke Skywalker is lead to an arena where a new character, the “Gamemaster,” informs Luke he will be training him so that he can perform in gladiatorial style combat. Grakkus is arranging for a performance for the crime lords of Nar Shaada, and Luke is the main event. Aboard the Volt Cobra, while Han and Sana argue about the state of the alleged marriage, Leia receives news that Luke is in danger on Nar Shadda. Over Han’s objections, Leia hires Sana to provide passage for them to Nar Shadda. Finally, a bounty hunter with a reputation that doesn’t quite rival that of Boba Fett or Bossk is informed that Chewbacca is running loose on the Smuggler’s Moon.

Issue ten is another piece of the overall Star Wars story that is more about swashbuckling adventure than it is about explaining events in the larger galaxy. The Volt Cobra’s escape from the Imperials at the beginning of the issue is a scene that would be at home in either A New Hope or The Empire Strikes Back. Han and Leia manning the ship’s cannons conjures feelings of excitement similar to experiencing the crew of the Falcon’s escape from the Death Star in A New Hope. Similarly, the desperate wait for the navicomputer to plot the jump to hyperspace is reminiscent of the Falcon’s many escapes from Imperial pursuit in The Empire Strikes Back.

Chewbacca finally make good on the Wookiee reputation for pulling droids’ arms out of their sockets in this issue. In fact, Chewbacca displays an aggressive side not yet seen in Star Wars. He doesn’t hesitate to knock heads together in his mission to locate Luke. Unethical droids (who knew there was such a thing), hooligans, and sleazy cantina bartenders all suffer under his wrath when they fail to give him the information he needs, or worse, get in his way. C-3P0 is the perfect foil for Chewbacca’s savageness. Aaron did a wonderful job in recapturing the juxtaposition of the brute force that is Chewbacca in The Empire Strikes Back with the refined etiquette of the protocol droid.

Luke’s unconventional Jedi training continues. The mysterious “Gamemaster” informs Grakkus that Luke has received a cursory training at best. However, in order to provide a good show for Grakkus and his guests, the Gamemaster starts to teach Luke some finer points of saber dueling. He even foreshadows potential developments in the series by informing Luke that the Jedi Temple on Coruscant is gone, and it has been replaced by the Imperial palace. All the Jedi temples in the galaxy are similarly no longer in existence. He teases Luke with the carrot that whatever Luke wants to know about the Jedi, the Holocrons in Grakkus’s warehouse can answer. Given that Luke does not appear to have the answers he seeks by the time of The Empire Strikes Back, it is a good bet that the Jedi artifacts in Grakkus’s possession are either destroyed or pulled out of reach by the end of this story arc.

Finally, more hints are provided about the marriage between Han and Sana. Han continues to insist that he and Sana are not and never were married. Sana alludes to some event that occurred on a planet named Stenness that resulted in their marriage. Han argues that wasn’t a marriage, but before he can elaborate, Leia interrupts to inform them of the news she has discovered about Luke. The answer to this storyline will have to wait for at least one more issue. Overall, this story can best be summarized as fun. It doesn’t provide a lot of answers, but it doesn’t need to. The adventure takes center stage.

Favorite Panel:

Immonen is an amazing artist. His style is perfect for telling a cinematic story such as Star Wars. His work with von Grawbadger and Ponsor is truly first rate. The best part of this issue was the team up of Chewbacca and C-3P0 as they looked for Luke on Nar Shaada. It was hard to pick just one panel featuring these two that stood out, so I picked one that provided a good look at both. I hope these two get to team up more in the future. It is worth it.