Star Wars #7 Review


As the Star Wars saga mixes with espionage elements one has to wonder: is there enough to the story to make it worth following?  Read on to find out.

The official description from Dark Horse:

Princess Leia takes the Rebels’ secret mission to the next level! Playing it safe has gotten them nowhere, and they are running out of resources and time. What’s the fastest way to get inside info on the Empire? Have your top pilots get themselves captured!

The Empire has a spy within the ranks of the Rebel Alliance, and as our heroes attempt to continue their battle for freedom there are a few questions left up in the air.  And that right there is the beauty of this package, as the creative team creates a very human high stake yarn set in a galaxy far, far away.

Brian Wood finds the words to make this complicated and yet somewhat by the numbers tale of covert action accessible in a way that should delight eager fanboys and fangirls.  From the first page to the final panel the author pens a script that’s full of intense dialogue that, despite knowing the ultimate outcome of the original trilogy, gives enough weight to put our chief characters in mortal danger.  Because of that pressure and the realization that at any moments something bad, not necessarily life threatening, could befall them makes for an excellent read unto itself.

The art by Ryan Kelly is a bit of a mixed bag, but it certainly does enough right to more than birth the visual component of this intergalactic jaunt.  I found the depictions of the classic characters to be more foreign than familiar, as faces seemed off from their movie counterparts.  That being said I was in awe of the ship and background designs as the artist quite handily brought this layered and mechanically intense universe to bare with exceptional ease and skill.

Star Wars #7 continues to draw from what some might have seen as a depleted source, but the end results speak differently as the comic book yields an excellent narrative.  Recommended.

4/5

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