Tales From The Dark Side:
Horse Sense about the Star Wars Comics Universe
by Steve Almond

THE SUMMER HEATS UP 
After a trying month of June (only one Star Wars title shipped), July was a bit more exciting. The first of Dark Horse’s Star Wars Handbooks and Tales of the Jedi: Redemption both premiered, as well as A New Hope: Manga after a few weeks of delay. At starwars.com, Mara Jade was debuted in the Shockwave-enhanced #0 prelude to her upcoming series next month. July also saw the conclusion of X-Wing: Rogue Squadron: Masquerade and The Last Command while the first issue of the final X-Wing arc, Mandatory Retirement, was bumped back a few weeks to the beginning of August. Here’s a rundown of July’s titles: 
  

STAR WARS HANDBOOK, VOL. 1: X-WING: ROGUE SQUADRON 
This is a wonderful companion to the X-Wing comic book series. Using the typical 32-page, $2.95 US comic format, the Handbook is something of an Essential Guide to X-Wing: Rogue Squadron. Full page biographies of major characters (such as Wedge, Fel, Tavira, Isard), shorter entries on all the members of the squadron, enemies they’ve faced and the ships which have been portrayed make up a handy body of reference if looking for details from the series. All this is accompanied by original art of the characters, ships and even equipment such as blasters and flight helmets.  

With an introduction by Michael Stackpole and conclusion by editor Peet Janes, insight on the creative process of the series is more icing on the cake. A salute to Corey Stephens for an excellent design job!  
Grade: A+ all the way. 
  

X-WING: ROGUE SQUADRON: MASQUERADE #4 OF 4 
A rather disappointing issue in an already average story arc. This should have been the climax to the mini-series, but lacked an element of excitement. The truly interesting developments occurred over the course of a few panels, with the rest serving as filler. The art was pretty poor, lacking details and for a comic containing space battles, the ship depictions are unacceptable. A few things, though, are setup so that hopefully the next arc will be a fitting finale to the great series.  

TALES OF THE JEDI: REDEMPTION #1 OF 5 
After a very poor showing in Golden Age of the Sith and Fall of the Sith Empire, Redemption #1 restores the faith in the Tales of the Jedi line that has been missing since the earlier series. This issue is more of a setup for the rest of the story, but does a great job getting the reader re-acquainted with the important characters and establishing the mood. The art is just fabulous! Chris Gossett does a superb job bringing us back to the ancient Star Wars universe; he is definitely the TOTJ artist of choice!  

A NEW HOPE: MANGA #1 OF 4 
From early indications, this is the best and most faithful adaptation of the original film we have seen to date. While the characters may look a little different, they lend themselves well to the style and are easily recognizable. The script is almost line by line accurate to the movie, which gives a comfortable pacing (what this 96 page issue covers, the Special Edition version by Dark Horse last year did in a mere 16 pages or so). The art is very exciting and fluid-like, which I assume is typical of the genre (since I’m not really familiar with it), and makes for a wonderful translation to comic book form. The black & white is odd at first for someone not used to it, but color is certainly not needed with this fine work. The price of $9.95 US per issue may be the only turn-off.  

MARA JADE #0 
For the reader unfamiliar with Mara Jade, this short little intro covers all the bases and captures the essence of what makes her such a favorite among fans. Otherwise, there’s not much to the story. I wasn’t impressed with the art, as it seemed pretty plain. Perhaps the bland coloring was an influence there. The use of Shockwave is much improved over Crimson Empire #0, and there are some pretty impressive scenes shown from multiple panels. Ignore the sound, and the format works pretty well. Overall, it’s not too bad for something that is essentially a promotional tool, and I won’t hold judgments of this story or the art against the forthcoming Jade series.  

THE LAST COMMAND #6 
We’ve come to expect great work from this series, and the final issue is no disappointment. Mike Baron again delivers a story adaptation that gets to the important details without making you feel there is something missing. As with the past few issues, the art is once more fantastic, which isn’t new from Edvin Biukovic, a great one when it comes to small, scene-enhancing details. Some great scenes in this part of the story come across perfectly in the comic format. All in all, a great conclusion fit for the classic novel it adapts.  

(Steve Almond is a regular Star Wars Lit junkie.)

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