Star Wars #4 Review (Marvel)

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Tracking Bantha Tracks, and thorns in Hutts’ sides.

Spoiler Alert: This article discusses plot details for issue #4 of Marvel’s Star Wars series and contains minor to major spoilers for this series and other Marvel Star Wars series.

Star Wars #4

Writer: Jason Aaron / Artist: John Cassady / Colorist: Laura Martin / Letterer: Chris Eliopoulos / Cover Artists: Cassady & Martin

Princess Leia isn’t the sort of hero to wait around after successfully destroying the Empire’s biggest weapon’s factory. Fresh off their successful mission to destroy the Empire’s weapon facilities in issues one through three, Star Wars #4 tells the story of the aftermath of those events and resumes the story started in Darth Vader #1. After conducting his personal business with the Hutt crime lord, Vader has returned to Jabba’s palace in a show of Imperial might to present the Emperor’s demands for resources. Vader is to the point – give the Empire the resources it requires, and Jabba will continue to live. Jabba acquiesces to the Empire’s demands, but there are veiled threats that if he is not paid well, the resources might be intercepted by pirates. The opening scenes are excellent. Aaron captured Vader’s voice perfectly and the Imperial legion, complete with dewback mounted stormtroopers, waiting for Vader outside of Jabba’s palace was a nice touch.

Although indirectly, Jabba and Vader’s negotiations answer the question of how the Empire dealt with the publicity of the destruction of the Death Star. Jabba, despite being informed that he had no room to negotiate, makes a minor power play by noting to Vader that even on a remote world such as Tatooine, they have heard of the unfortunate news of the destruction of the Death Star and the weapon’s factory on Cymoon 1. Vader dismisses Jabba’s concerns as “Rebel lies and propaganda.” The Emperor had noted to Vader in issue one of the Darth Vader series that the Empire was in peril and on the brink of disaster with the destruction of the Death Star and that was why General Tagge, with his plan for regaining stability by increasing the size of the fleet, was being elevated in rank. Denial appears to be the second arm of the Empire’s strategy.

Han and Chewie are found atop the Millennium Falcon as they continue to make repairs following the damage done by scavengers in the previous issues. As the pair banters, Han, stubborn as he is, notes that he still doesn’t believe in the Force despite having witnessed Vader’s power first hand. As they discuss the state of the Falcon, Han is in awe that it managed to fly at all given the state of the ship. It appears Chewbacca had been in such a hurry to make repairs that he grabbed whatever was on hand in the junk fields to make it work. These panels may be foreshadowing the Falcon’s many issues seen in The Empire Strikes Back.

While Han and Chewbacca work on their ship, Leia implores the Rebel leadership (Ackbar, Mon Mothma, and Dodonna) to allow her team to engage in more missions against the Empire because she doesn’t feel the Rebellion is doing enough to back up their recent victories. This scene appears to offer a hint to a successful conclusion of the the Princess Leia series. Where the Rebellion attempted to hide and protect Leia before, the Alliance leadership is taking Leia more seriously now. It is noteworthy that Dodonna does not speak during this meeting as he was the representative of the leadership that attempted and failed to keep Leia sequestered with the Alliance fleet. Mon Mothma and Ackbar take great effort to attempt to reason with Leia as she pleads the case that the Alliance should continue to strike against the Empire with more ferocity. Mon Mothma cautions her not to push her team too hard as they just made it off of Cymoon 1 alive. Although, Evaan’s absence has me a little worried.

At the conclusion of the previous issue, Luke despaired over his lack of progress as a Jedi and his inability to call on the Force to the extent he would like. He believed that his lack of abilities with the Force, and a complete absence of a Jedi mentor, made him a hazard to those around him. Luke is next seen in this issue training with remotes while wearing a helmet with the blast shield down. While I’m not a fan of sulking Luke, I did like the call back to the scene from A New Hope where Luke trains against a remote aboard the Millennium Falcon and has his first success in calling on the Force. However, unlike his training under Obi-wan, Luke is not faring well on his own. Frustrated, Luke destroys the remotes with his lightsaber. When Leia arrives to recruit him for a mission, Luke refuses and begs to be left alone. Despite his heroics on Cymoon 1, he still believes he is a liability to the Rebel Alliance and that he nearly cost the team their last mission.

The book then shifts to events on Tatooine. A new character meets a gang of Rodians in Mos Eisley. While the identity of this character is not made clear, it appears to be a woman based on her body shape and her eyes. The rest of her face is cloaked, and I was reminded a little of Zam Wessel from Attack of the Clones. She is looking for someone and offering a large reward for information. When the Rodians attempt to take the reward without providing anything in return, a “voice-activated smart-targetting scatterblaster” takes each of them out at the knees thus continuing the rich tradition of Rodians being shot from underneath the table in the Star Wars universe. Whether or not she is a bounty hunter remains to be seen, but this rogue departs stating her intent to track down Han Solo.

The story returns to Jabba’s meeting with Lord Vader. Having concluded the primary business between the Hutt’s crime syndicate and the Empire, Jabba and his cronies entertain Vader on Jabba’s sail barge while slaughtering banthas. If he wasn’t already before, Jabba becomes extremely unlikable and despicable. Vader and Jabba discuss the adequacy of the bounty hunters Jabba sent to Vader, and the conversation turns to Vader seeking information on Obi-wan Kenobi. Jabba knows Kenobi by name. Even more interesting, Jabba has tales of how Kenobi was a thorn in his side over the years. This has me excited, and I hope someday we get those stories.

Luke finally decides to do something about his lack of training and sets off for Tatooine. He hopes to find answers about “who he is.” In reality, it took less than two issues, but the brooding is finally giving way to action. Han and Leia caution Luke against this course of action. Even Han thinks it is crazy as Luke is certainly headed straight for danger. The peril is compounded by the conclusion of the book, which finds Boba Fett questioning the same hapless band of Rodians that were shot up by the mysterious rogue for the whereabouts of Kenobi and whatever it is they know about him.

This book has set the table for the next arc in this series. Luke is headed to Tatooine, and given  the foreshadowing that has taken place in this series, we know he is headed to Old Ben Kenobi’s hut. In an unfortunate coincidence, Darth Vader just happens to be on Tatooine asking about the old hermit.  Furthermore, Boba Fett is stalking the streets of Mos Eisley looking for information on the “crazy old wizard.” It appears that a major conflict is on the horizon. The prospect of Boba Fett and Luke having an encounter while Luke is still a fledgling Jedi is intriguing and it would add new depth, unfinished business perhaps, to their encounter in Return of the Jedi. However, I’m hoping that Luke and Vader miss each other. The encounter earlier in this series struck the right tone for a Sith Lord and a Jedi trainee. Their next encounter should be their conflict in Cloud City.

Favorite panel

The art in this issue was immensely enjoyable. The panels with Luke training were well done. The colors of the Tatooine sunset reflecting off of Vader’s helmet and eye pieces were striking. However, the Boba Fett panel that took up the entire last page of the issue was my favorite of the issue. For a man who hides his face behind a helmet, Fett comes across as very intimidating. Of course the EE-3 carbine that Fett is aiming at the off panel Rodians has something to do with that.

Upcoming Comics

• April 29, 2015—Princess Leia #3
• May 6, 2015–Kanan: The Last Padawan #2
• May 13, 2015–Darth Vader #5
• May 20, 2015–Star Wars #5