Star Wars #19 Review

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In Star Wars #19, The Invader of Sunspot Prison gives Leia a Choice…

Warning: this article contains spoilers for Star Wars #19. ADDITIONAL WARNING: There is a major spoiler involving a twist in this review. Please read the comic first if you do not wish to have this twist revealed in advance.

Star Wars #19

Writer: Jason Aaron | Penciler: Leinil Francis Yu | Inker: Gerry Alanguilan | Colorists: Sunny Gho & Java Tartaglia | Letterer: Chris Eliopoulos | Cover Artists: Yu & Gho

The current story arc for Star Wars, Rebel Jail, explores two theories for fighting a war. On the one side, there is the theory of the mysterious warrior that has invaded Sunspot Prison. His desire is to teach Princess Leia. That lesson is that in order to win a war against the Galactic Empire, the Rebellion must be prepared to declare total war. They cannot coddle Imperial prisoners. They cannot forgive the sins and brutalities committed by Imperial soldiers and officers. Their justice must be absolute. To defeat the Empire, the Rebellion, lead by Princess Leia, must be willing to adopt the methods of the Empire.

On the other side is Princess Leia’s beliefs. She has spent nearly her entire life fighting against the Empire and what it stands for. She is not about to sink to the level of the Empire. She won’t murder Imperial prisoners. She will not become, and she will not allow the Rebellion to become the very thing they are trying to defeat. The invader throws it into Leia’s face that this puts the Rebellion at a disadvantage, and it will fail. Leia’s counter: they will find another way.

Interestingly, this invader tests and tempts Leia much the same way that the Emperor and Darth Vader will test and tempt Luke Skywalker in Return of the Jedi. The Sith lords presented Luke with a choice: take up the dark side of the Force or watch your friends die. Those were the only options they gave Luke, and ultimately, he rejected them both. He chose love for his father, and it was that love that provided for the defeat of the Emperor. The invader gives Leia a choice as well. Either adopt the Empire’s methods or watch as the invader executes Luke and Han. Much like Luke will do later, chronologically, she chooses neither, and in doing so, stays true to herself and the ideals of the Rebellion.

The invader demanded that Leia execute Dr. Aphra, whom had been assisting Leia and Sana in an attempt to regain control of Sunspot Prison. Failure to do so would result in the invader executing Han and Luke. This is the type of choice the Empire presents to its subjects all the time. Leia rejects the choice, and with some assistance from R2-D2 and C-3P0 manages to subdue the invader. As she had declared earlier, she found another way. Like her twin brother in his confrontation with the Emperor, she stays true to herself, and true to the light. After a fight in which both Leia and the invader argue their respective positions (in true comic book style), the invader is subdued.

The biggest criticism of Star Wars #19 and this story arc as a whole that it wasted panels on Luke and Han. Their entire function in this arc was to show up at Sunspot Prison just in time for the invader to capture them and use them in his trap for Leia. Han’s failure to successfully cheat at sabacc and the resulting nerf smuggling mission may have been amusing, but in the end, they didn’t add anything to the overall story or the development of the characters. In fact, those scenes managed to tie Luke and Han down during this part of the chronology and prevent some other author from providing a more interesting story for the pair. If their purpose was to be bait in a trap for Leia, that could have been accomplished without the misadventure.

After Leia manages to defeat the invader, there are some loose ends to tie up. The Rebellion restores Sunspot Prison long enough to begin an evacuation of the survivors. Luke and Han realize they are lousy at rescue attempts, which is hardly fair after they rescued Princess Leia from the first Death Star. Dr. Aphra attempts to make her escape, but is confronted by Leia. She informs Aphra that she cannot just let her walk away and warns her about Darth Vader. After pleading to be released, Sana kicks Aphra into an escape pod and launches her into space. Prior to Aphra’s departure, Leia advised her to look the Princess up once she came to accept the truth about her usefulness to Vader. The final pages tease a past personal relationship between Sana and Aphra that may have resulted in Sana’s eagerness to dispatch Aphra. The issue ends with a peculiar Stormtrooper leading a squad onto Sunspot prison with the promise of killing Rebels in an upcoming story.

Overall, this was an enjoyable story arc. Luke and Han’s side adventure was purely fluff. However, Leia’s story continues to explore her character and development as a leader. Aaron did a wonderful job capturing Leia’s ability to lead, her charisma, and her commitment to her ideals. The Princess Leia mini-series, the Vader Down crossover event, and this story arc have done an excellent job in telling how Leia grew from former Imperial senator to Rebellion leader.

Star Wars #19 SPOILER WARNING: In a previous review, I speculated as to the identity of the invader of Sunspot Prison. The identity of the invader was revealed fairly early in this issue. If you do not want to be spoiled, please skip ahead to the next part of this review. After the invader presents Leia with the choice of either executing Dr. Aphra and thereby saving Han and Luke or watching as he has Han and Luke executed, Sana takes up her rifle and is ready to carry out the execution. Leia demands that she put her blaster down and begins to make a demand on the invader. She is interrupted by the invader as he pulls off his helmet to reveal that he is Eneb Ray, the spy from Star Wars Annual #1 (which is what I predicted). It appears that Eneb’s encounter with the Emperor left emotional, psychological, and physical scars as he is terribly disfigured. His confrontation with the Emperor taught him that the only way to defeat the Empire was to fight like the Empire. The Rebellion takes him from Sunspost prison in handcuffs, but he pulls a false tooth that has some sort of key or lock picking device inside. Chances are that he will emerge in a later story.

Star Wars #19 Favorite Panel:

I’ve been very impressed with the new characters that Marvel has introduced into the Star Wars galaxy. Most of the characters have been women, which is a welcome development for a fictional universe that has largely been dominated by male protagonists up until the past year. Evaan from Princess Leia is a personal favorite. However, Aphra and Sana have been excellent additions as well. As I previously mentioned, Marvel has done well with their focus on Leia’s story and how she has developed from a diplomat and political figure into a leader of the Rebellion. For this issue’s favorite panel, I chose an early panel depicting Leia, Sana, and Aphra drawing down on the invader of Sunspot Prison. It highlights the three different women that this story focuses on and all three look great (although I prefer Aprha’s traditional gear to her prison outfit).

Star Wars #19