Star Wars: Underworld takes place shortly before Episode IV: A New Hope. The series is available in two sets of covers: one art and one photo. [For the scoop on Underworld and other Star Wars comics, you can check out an interview with Editor Dave Land here.]

The Story:

Three Hutts pit themselves and their "management techniques" against one another in a race to find the fabled Yavin Vassilika, a long crystalline statue etched with Massassi hieroglyphics and made from a corusca gem. Each of the Hutts think the way they handle their underlings is the most efficient, so they contract three persons each to send off in search of this treasure. Jabba hires Han (and Chewie but he doesn't count for some reason) and Lando, thought they aren't aware of each other in the beginning. Jabba's third is supposed to be a surprise for the end of the first issue but anyone with half a brain can figure out who it is. [Take a gander at the cover] Malta the Hutt hires Bossk, Dengar and IG-88 and sends them off as a group. And Embrathe Hutt uses Zukuss, 4-LOM, and somebody I've never heard of before, Sardu Sallowe (anyone?) And then the hilarity ensues ...

Well it tries anyway. Kennedy tries real hard to make readers laugh by punching up the weak script with lots of visual humor and "inside" jokes for anyone who has seen the movies. But it just doesn't work. It's becoming commonplace for authors to try and reference as many possible other Star Wars events, and Kennedy certainly does his share. We are reminded of Han's disaster with the Besadii, Lando's penchant for gambling away used starships, the trouble with the Falcon's hyperdrive, Dengar's swoop race against Han, Bossk's hatred for Wookies and Chewie in particular, and a little foreshadowing to Greedo's eventual fate. Kennedy takes us on a trip across familiar worlds, Tatooine, Nar Shadda, Calamari, but it's boring. There are so many characters running around that you lose track of who is working for whom and very quickly don't care. You just want the whole thing to end ... but it's a five issue miniseries.

The Art:

The one thing that helps you pass the time is Carlos Meglia. While Kennedy's storyline bores, you can't help enjoying the rather unique style of Meglia. It's very cartoon-y but in an unconventional way. It will surely turn off many readers who prefer the art a little more straightforward. Star Wars fans are particularly finicky and this artwork is sure to irritate them. But you can't argue Meglia's talent. He moves the story along very well with unusual panel shapes and sizes. And he likes to show movement within a panel by repeating the same characters in different positions. It works very well. And he fills the panels up, no scrimping on backgrounds here. While you may not care where Han and the rest are, you can't help looking around trying to spot a familiar species or two, amid all the ones you won't know. That's actually my one complaint against Meglia in particular. While he loves to fill up the cities and streets with people, it is always a huge diversity of species. If you're going to do a scene on Calamari, the predominant species in these scenes should be Mon Calamari and Quarren. But in issue three they are just one or two of the multitude shown. If you weren't told which planet our heroes are on, you'd never know it by their surroundings. I appreciate the variety he shows but wish it was tempered with a little logic.

But absolutely the lamest thing about this entire story though is that it centers around the Yavin Vassilika, which in issue one was described as a long crystalline statue etched with Massassi hieroglyphics and made from a corusca gem. Yet when they finally find the thing in issue four, it a glowing blue ball with a hollow carved design. I don't know, do those two things sound similar at all?

Issue five has a nice change from the first four covers. Those were done by Andrew Robinson ... and done very well, especially issue one. But I'm a big believer in the interior artist drawing the covers as well, although there are exceptions. Well Meglia gets to strut his stuff for issue five's cover and it's great! I can't imagine why he didn't get to do the first four. Unfortunately Kennedy is still plugging away with Three Stooges type humor -- maybe that's why the Hutts choose three people each, a nod to Kennedy's inspiration for these antics -- too bad he didn't do them justice. Not to be outdone by his movie references, this issue Kennedy starts pulling stuff from Crispin's Han Solo Trilogy. We get references to the Besadii and an actual appearance by one of Crispin's characters. Not that it is any good or ends up being particularly relevant ... but it's there just the same. The only surprise came near the end when Kennedy actually killed one of his main characters. Did I say killed? I meant blasted in the back and fell down. If Kennedy gets another shot [pun intended] writing in George's universe, I'm sure that face will be back to haunt me.

For those of you who have already read this series ... I assume you liked the art as much as I did. Unfortunately for those of you who hoped to read it -- it's another meandering, irrelevant tale from Dark Horse. Another forgettable mini-series that they have somehow slipped by LucasFilm's approval. Even with the vast repertoire of characters, planets, timeframes and huge story potential, Dark Horse continuously produces boring, bland comic books with little or no interest to the monstrous fan base available to them.

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(Chad Clark is an avid fan of both comics and Star Wars. He's currently trying to live through a deadly case of boredom running rampant through the state of North Carolina. Help him survive by emailing him something interesting and well written at chad@echostation.com.)