Star Wars #32 Review (The Screaming Citadel Part IV)

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An unusual source causes Aphra to struggle with her conscience.

This article discusses plot details for Star Wars #32.

Star Wars #32

 Writer: Jason Aaron | Artist: Salvador Larroca | Colorist: Edgar Delgado | Letterer: VC’s Clayton Cowles | Cover: Marco Checchetto | Assistant Editor: Heather Antos | Editor: Jordan D. White

Summary

Star Wars #32, Part IV of The Screaming Citadel, opens with Black Krrsantan defeating Bombinax, the Queen of Ktath’atn’s lead enforcer. Before Krrsantan turns on Leia, Sana, and Aphra’s droids, Triple Zero points him to the Citadel. Meanwhile, the Queen upholds her end of the bargain with Aphra. She activated the Rur Crystal housing the essence of an ancient Jedi Master. After acquiring what she came for, Aphra leaves as the Queen casually absorbs the essence of Luke Skywalker. The Queen is treacherous though, and she instructs her minions to follow Aphra and insure she never leaves the planet.

Luke isn’t the only one in the Queen’s custody. In the previous issue, the Queen subdued Han Solo with her powers. She then uses an Abersyn symbiote on Han and adds him to her hive consciousness. The Queen intends Han as a replacement for Bombinax. Before long, Han, now the Queen’s servant, corners Leia and Sana. At about the same time, the Rur Crystal activates and counsels Aphra. The crystal senses her regret and tugs at her conscience.

Sana then strikes a deal with Triple Zero and BT-1. If they help her rescue Leia, Han, and Luke, then she promises to help them kill Aphra. Luke frees himself from the Queen’s clutches, but he discovers the Queen has even more tricks up her sleeves. Aphra arrives and infects Luke with a symbiote. Since he is the strongest Force user, he takes control of the hive mind as Star Wars #32 concludes.

Story Development

One of the best features of this crossover event is the story development. For instance, the story introduced the Queen in issue one. However, Jason Aaron and Kieron Gillen only introduced her full powers gradually. This issue begins tying all her powers together as a function of the Abersyn symbiotes. Then, just when Luke challenges the Queen, she debuts a new teleportation power. As with many great stories, the answers always give way to more questions.

The Queen

The Queen of Ktath’atn is the Count Dracula of the Star Wars galaxy. She thirsts for the life essence of others. She enthralls her minions. Aaron and Gillen cleverly added a science fiction element to this horror story though. In addition to the Count Dracula influence, Alien plays a factor. The symbiotes bear a resemblance to the xenomorphs and face-huggers from the Alien saga of films. The combination of Dracula, Alien, and Star Wars tells a unique gothic horror story.

Dropped Story Elements – The Menagerie

Part II of The Screaming Citadel ended with Luke and Aphra encountering the Queen’s menagerie. There were sentient beings grotesquely modified. For example, one Ithorian had a second head grafted on to his body. The menagerie appeared in a single panel in Part II. The menagerie next appeared in a single panel at the beginning of Part III of The Screaming Citadel. That was before Han Solo crashed Aphra’s ship into the Citadel. The menagerie hasn’t been heard from since. If they were only going to feature in two panels of the series, what was the point of their inclusion?

A contingent of the Queen’s guards could have replaced the menagerie. If the writers simply needed something for Luke and Aphra to flee from, they didn’t need a new threat. Perhaps adding another layer to the gothic horror story is their purpose. If so, they presented a conflict that comes off like an afterthought.

In addition, Princess Leia and Triple Zero bantered about Leia’s outlook on Han and Leia in the previous installment of The Screaming Citadel. Triple Zero remarked that Leia desired efficiency and was happiest when Luke and Han followed orders. It caused some introspection on Leia’s part. Of course, the difference between Triple Zero and Leia is that Leia cares for Han and Luke. Efficiency is not all she hopes for from them. On the other hand, Triple Zero is a murder bot with a loyalty to his own programming for torture and mayhem. One might argue that Leia’s drive to rescue Luke and Han furthers this story, but there is no reference to the argument from the previous issue.

The Art Combination

Overall, Salvador Larroca’s art shines in this issue. Han and Luke look very much like younger versions of Harrison Ford and Mark Hamill respectively. In addition, the coloring by Edgar Delgado is well done. However, the coloring on the faces of the main characters seems a little off compared to the rest of the art. This is particularly noticeable in Han and Luke. While their faces seem photorealistic, their bodies look much more like a comic character. The mismatch is slightly distracting. Interestingly, the women, most noticeably Sana, do not suffer from the same issue nearly as much.

Conclusion

The Screaming Citadel is a fun crossover event. It successfully combines the lead characters from Star Wars (Han, Luke, and Leia) with the lead character from Doctor Aphra (Aphra) while largely eliminating redundant characters (Chewbacca, Artoo, and Threepio) with their counterparts (Black Krrsantan, BT-1, and Triple Zero respectively). In addition, it adds Sana Starros, who has a past with characters from both books. Her addition further ties the story together.

This adventure started when Aphra recruited Luke for the trip to Ktath’atn. She lured him with promises of furthering his Jedi training. Several of the stories in the new Star Wars continuity use Luke’s desire for training as a starting point. At some point, Luke needs to set aside his pursuit of training for the good of the Rebellion. Otherwise, he accumulated experience will surpass his ability in The Empire Strikes Back. Until then, stories such as The Screaming Citadel are entertaining side adventures.

Favorite Panel of Star Wars #32, The Screaming Citadel Part IV

Salvador Larroca once again provides the art in Star Wars #32. Other than the earlier mentioned facial coloring, the art shines as it usually does. Larroca and Delgado combine their talents in producing an interesting effect on the Queen’s eyes. Whenever she uses her machines to drain some of Luke’s essence, the pupils and irises of her eyes turn white. In addition, a blue energy escapes from them. It is an interesting element to her powers.

Despite this, Aphra features in the favorite panel. Rur’s essence just activated, and it quickly develops a habit of arguing with Aphra and toying with her conscience. It also sees through the lies she tells herself. Aphra refutes the accusations and observations Rur makes, but the essence of Rur refutes her claims. One panel of Aphra talking back to the crystal is well illustrated and makes great use of color to reflect the crystal’s glow. That is the favorite panel of Star Wars #32.