Star Wars #1 (January 1): Soule summons the same movie-esque experience that made the initial arc of the previous series so spellbinding.
He begins right where "Empire Strikes Back" ended, with Lando (not completely unreasonably) arguing that they shouldn't rush after Han because they know where Boba Fett is taking him (Jabba's). Chewie and Leia (also not completely unreasonably) argue that Lando doesn't get a vote in the matter since he's a traitor. For his part, Threepio remains consistently and hilariously unhelpful, pitching for sympathy that he lost his arms and legs ("for a bit, anyway") and observing that Jabba is going to kill Han the first chance he gets. In showing us this multifaceted argument, Soule passes the critical test for portraying these characters, namely the fact that I could hear the actors' voices in my head.
The same is true with Leia's subsequent conversation with Luke, who's still reeling from his confrontation with Vader. Saiz and Prianto do an excellent job here making Luke look as sickly and dazed as he does in the corresponding sequences in "Empire Strikes Back." Soule has Leia and Luke update each other on the events that they didn't witness in Cloud City. Leia explains that Vader froze Han in carbonite meant for Luke and Luke tells Leia that he now realizes that he passed right by Han when he arrived on Cloud City. It's a great callback to the movie, as I can see this scene -- of Luke seeing Boba Fett from his hiding place in the corridor -- in my head. Soule also reminds us that Luke hasn't yet told Leia about what Vader told him.
Leia tells Luke that, if they can't save Han, they can save everyone else, and Soule makes it clear that she's throwing herself into work to distract herself. She tells Chewie to bring them to the rendezvous point with the Rebel Fleet. Lando (again, not completely unreasonably) argues that they should lay low, noting -- in , another great callback (this time, to his own limited series) -- that he knows someone on Nar Shaddaa that owes him a favor. ("I'm sure she does, Calrissian," is Leia's dry response.) Leia again tells him that he's a traitor and doesn't get a vote and Lando reminds them that he did technically save them all.
As if this sequence isn't good enough, we're then treated to one of the best battle scenes I've seen in a comic. At Mid-Rim Rendezvous Point Delta-Three, the Rebel Fleet (Fourth Division) is pinned between a star and four Star Destroyers. The scene is so impressive because Saiz and Prianto flood the background with green laser fire, something they do throughout this sequence, showing the care that they're taking here. The Star Destroyers take down one of the Rebels' Nebulon-B frigates, and Commander Zahra is pleased with this development aboard the Tarkin's Will. In Zahra's conversation with her lieutenant, we learn the Empire has a group of Rebels locked down near Malastare. Meanwhile, aboard the remaining Rebel frigate, Kes Dameron (Poe's father) is focused on the battle as his wife, Shara Bey (Poe's mother), is out there fighting.
(I recognized Kes and Shara only because they appeared briefly in "Star Wars: Empire Ascendant" #1. Otherwise, I had to go to Wookieepedia to learn I know them from "Shattered Empire." Confusingly, I thought I was supposed to know Zahra (possibly as Kanchar's lieutenant from the later Shu-Torun arc), but it turns that she's a new character, despite Soule expositing that she has beef with Leia. At this stage, one challenge of following as many Star Wars titles as I am is that it's getting harder and harder to keep the new, comic-only characters straight.)
As Kes and Shara seem to be on the verge of losing hope, the Millennium Falcon appears. Leia touches base with the Fleet and someone informs her that they can't jump to lightspeed until someone breaks the blockade. Of course, Leia orders Chewie to head to the Imperial cordon, and Zahra dispatches a squadron of TIE fighters after them, thrilled at the possibility of ending the Rebellion with Leia's death. Lando convinces Chewie to let him fly, and Leia and Luke man the guns. Lando continues to express disbelief with this crazy plan, though he's somewhat comforted when he learns from Chewie that he and Han installed two ST2 missile launchers on the Falcon. I totally approve of this role for Lando, not yet believing in the incredible things that this team can do. (I also want Lando to say "star destroyer" as many times as possible so I can hear it in Billy Dee Williams' voice from "Return of the Jedi.")
Proving why Lando needs to believe, Luke struggles with using the gun with just one hand (and with his burgeoning fury over the fact that Ben clearly lied to him about his father) and surprises even himself when he uses the force to collide the TIE fighters into one another. Lando than fires the missiles into the Imperial battery and 90 percent of the Fourth Division manages the jump to lightspeed. Later, Zahra informs Vader, and he's obviously displeased. But, he's most unhappy when he learns Zahra tried to destroy the Falcon. It's here we learn of Zahra's "hatred" of Leia, but Vader makes it clear that the ship can't be destroyed due to Luke's presence on it.
Meanwhile, at Backup Rendezvous Point Gamma-Nine, Leia and the other Rebel leaders realize that the Imperials have broken their codes, since the Fourth Division made contact with the Eighth Division near Malastare right before the Empire attacked. (In her conversation with Vader, Zahra reveals to us that she designed the signal-analysis protocol that allowed the Empire to break the codes.) Leia and the Rebel leaders are at a loss as they know they can't contact the other Rebels to switch codes since that'll reveal everyone's location. Lando helpfully points out everyone else may already be dead. (Way to win over the skeptical crowd, Lando.) The issue ends with Luke questioning his future since he now believes that Ben and Yoda didn't want him to be a Jedi.
All in all, I have to say I'm pretty excited about this series. It's honestly why I returned to comics after this long break, and I'm glad to see Soule capture some of the magic that we saw in Aaron's first arc of the previous series. Although some of the magic is missing due to Han's absence, I'm not sure it's a bad thing in the long run as I think we're going to see Leia and Luke able to stretch their wings a bit. At any rate, it's good to be back in the galaxy far, far away.
Star Wars: The Rise of Kylo Ren #2 (January 8): We learn a lot about the Knights of Ren here, though we still have some questions on the table. First, we learn that Luke and Ben encountered the Knights when seeking out lost Jedi treasures on Elphrona. Ben marvels as Luke quickly disarms the Knights. Ren realizes that they're outmatched, but he notes that Ben has the same shadow in him that Luke earlier mentioned that he sensed in the Knights. Here, we get confirmation that the Knights might be Force-sensitive on the Dark Side, but they're not Sith. The confrontation ends with Ren throwing his helmet to Ben, saying that he should seek out the Knights if he wants to explore his "shadow" one day. Ben does exactly that as this issue ends, but his "friends" from the Jedi Temple find him before he can leave to meet them. It seems like we're going to learn that "Ren" is really the title of the Knights' leader, since I'm assuming the "Long ago" title that we saw last issue introduced a different set of Knights. But, it's still unclear what their mission is, which I'm guessing we'll learn next issue. After years of a question mark hanging over this group, it really is nice to start getting some answers here.
Dragon Age: Blue Wraith #1 (January 15): I really could use a "Previously in 'Dragon Age...'" introductory page here, because I only vaguely remember most of these characters and I really don't remember how they've come together as a group. At this point, DeFilippis and Weir are pulling together characters from the previous three mini-series -- "Magekiller," "Knight Errant," and "Deception" -- which means we're going back four years. I know that he's obviously writing for the trade at this point. If you're reading the actual comics, though, you're missing a lot of the the nuances of the various relationships between the characters, on which the plot unfortunately turns.
Undiscovered Country #3 (January 15): This issue is more linear than the previous two issues, as we're witnessing two fairly straight-forward plots unfold.
Two weeks before the team entered America, Ace was in a van in the "neo-Canadian wilderness." He's preparing to release a bird named Prince into the wild. Prince has a harness in which Ace has inserted an Eisenhower dollar, which he informs us will reveal "the truth." Before he can release Prince, someone named Warren and a team of shocktroops surround Ace's van and take him into custody. Warren later interrogates a restrained Ace in a padded room, showing us that Ace may be a little crazier than we've so far seen him.
We learn that Ace is in trouble because he swiped some moon rocks from a research facility outside Geneva and wired them to a helmet, which he says allows him to receive signals from America. Before we think he's too crazy, though, Warren shows us the map that Ace developed, which fairly accurately depicts the Spiral. Warren exposits that Ace's theory is that America became not only physically but chronologically separated from the rest of the world, something Ace calls a "time dilation" he inferred from the varying broadcast frequencies. As such, Ace (as we now know, correctly) predicted that America has a "distinct biome with flora and fauna completely independent of eco-logic" as well as different creatures, social structures, and landmasses. Ace has been forced to post these thoughts on the "gray wires" because he's been clearly shunned by academia (and fired from the institution that Warren runs.)
Warren dismisses Ace's helmet as a tin-foil hat, and Ace doesn't win any sanity points when he explains that tin-foil hats block transmissions. Ace's plan was to send the bird -- an Arctic tern, which has excellent migratory impulses -- through the United States. He'd retrieve the bird on the other side and measure the oxidation rate on the Eisenhower dollar's silver to check how much time passed. As Ace begs to release his bird, Warren informs Ace that he wants him to go on the diplomatic mission to return to himself by seeing he's wrong. Ace calls bullshit. He knows Warren wants to go as much as he does, but he knows Ace's right and he's a coward.
In the present, the team is making its way through a market within the Destiny Man's moving city. (Ace thinks it's a Wal-Mart converted to "Amazon Browse" after the "Great Absorption" in 2024. Heh.) Daniel is in communication with Dr. Elgin, who informs him that they have to get to the city's top floor, the Neon Throne Room, to steal the key. Ace informs the team that Congress passed a law, called the Liberty Bill, that required companies over a certain size to install emergency exists, escape routes, and safe rooms. (This part is a highlight, as Ace notes Congress passed the law because of mass shootings - or "unofficial private military actions" -- and it was a "complicated solution to a simple problem.") Ace points out the ladder to the roof and notes that there should be an alarm system, which Daniel figures they can use to create a distraction. As they make their way to the back, Valentina tells Ace that his work is brilliant and encourages him just to keep doing his thing, even though Chang is losing his shit and criticizing him. When the team arrives at the ladder, they learn the alarm is busted, so they split the party. Daniel takes Lottie with him to get the key and tells the rest of the group to stay off the radar. Valentina again compliments Ace, which makes him suspicious and she admits that she has her reasons for being nice to him. Ace goes to test his coin when he realizes that it's gone, causing him to panic.
Meanwhile, Daniel and Lottie arrive on the second floor, the "parking lot," where the Destiny Man keeps the vessels that he uses to try to breach the borders that the key will allegedly open. They climb into a ship and Lottie sees a photo of her and Daniel as kids and realizes that they're in Daniel's submarine. They then get into an argument, as Daniel claims that Lottie wanted to pretend his parents never existed and became a saint as a doctor while dismissing him as a villain. Daniel is searching for something and Lottie is appalled when he finds it: the ship's detonator, which he originally planned to use if he were caught. She thinks Daniel's going to use it to blow up the city, telling him that his plan confirms that he's a villain. Daniel explains that he didn't try to break into America; he succeeded, because their father gave him instructions. Lottie refuses to believe him, and Daniel again tells her something that he's apparently repeatedly told her, that their father sent him a message when he was 16 years old. Lottie begins to argue, but Daniel cryptically tells her that her Sky Virus cure and their parents are at the center of "the whole thing." Daniel apologizes, admitting he's been to the moving city before as the Destiny Man's goons arrive.
In the market, Daniel finds out one of the hawkers stole his coin and he trades his watch for it. He applies the solution to the coin and tells Valentina that he should be able to use the result to calculate the rate of time in this zone so that he can find the right path for them to leave. However, the Destiny Man's goons find them and take them into custody, forcing Daniel to drop the coin. Daniel struggles long enough to see it turn red, realizing that they've been inside "so much longer" than 50 years. He then tells Valentina that they can never leave.
At this stage, I think we've got the following main questions that need answering soon. First, how did Ace know to build the helmet to listen for transmissions inside America? Moreover, how did Daniel's father know where to find him and how to reach him? Both instances -- if true -- prove that electromagnetic shield over America isn't as powerful as thought. Next, how did Ace figure out time ran differently in America and all the information that he has about the Spiral? Time seems to run different in each specific zone, exemplified by his discussion with Valentina. My head hurts just thinking about it.
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