Three-Month-Old Comics: The June 22 Edition - Part Two (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Newburn #8:  To save Emily, Newburn has Sumire's boyfriend (i.e, the Yakuza head's actual murderer) take the fall for the Albano nephew's murder and turns over Sydney (i.e., Emily's academy classmate involved in the death of said nephew) to the Albanos to satisfy their need for revenge.

To be honest, I'm not sure I buy either outcome.  The Yakuza head's (i.e., Sumire's husband's) murder remains unsolved, and it seems weird the Yakuza would be OK with the other criminal elements believing that they just let their head's murder go unavenged.  Moreover, the Albano head seemed pretty bound and determined in both this issue and last issue to get both Sydney and Emily.  The Albano family even sent guys to kill Emily outside the police station, which, as I said last issue, was reckless at best (and ridiculous at worst).  Newburn watches the Albanos torture and presumably murder Sydney, so maybe he struck some sort of a deal with them.  But we're never told why they would accept it.  For that matter, we're never actually told how Emily and Sydney were involved in the nephew's death.  Emily claims that it was an accident, but we have no further details.  [Update:  I eventually realized that I somehow missed issue #6, which shows us how Emily accidentally kills the Albano nephew to protect Syd.]

Along the way, Newburn loses his shit on McGinty when she balks at the deal he strikes with Sumire's boyfriend.  With Newburn telling her that he runs the town, Zdarksy definitely seems to imply that Newburn may have officially gotten too big for his britches.  I don't see the upcoming next volume as going well for Newburn.

New Mutants #26:  Now this issue I love.

Following Rahne as she hears combat sounds, the team (such as they are) comes across an aged Illyana wielding a Warlock arm.  As the team watches, she takes out a horde of demons infected with the techno-organic virus and then invites the team into her fortress.  

Inside, aged Illyana reveals that she's from a future where S'ym breaking the Soulsword left her and her teammates indefinitely trapped in Limbo.  Her versions of Dani, Madelyne, and Rahne have all died, though she's survived because Warlock arrived from Earth after Krakoa fell.  She discovered that Warlock's essence wounded the demons who attack her fortress every few weeks, so she crafted a spell around that.  Both she and Warlock are weakening, though.  She hopes to take out the horde's mysterious leader and return to Earth, but she doubts she can do that given the current state of their powers.

Our Illyana sees the flaw in her plan.  She has aged Illyana challenge S'ym (the horde's "mysterious" leader) and use Warlock to take control of his techno-organic virus when he touches her.  She destroys S'ym and de-viruses the horde.  Our Illyana uses S'ym's core to create a Soulsword temporarily, and she and the team decimate the de-virused horde.  

In the epilogue, aged Illyana declines to go with the team so she can address her own losses.  The team goes to find a way to fix what's preventing Illyana from summoning the Soulsword permanently.

In addition to the excellent plot, which finally does something with Illyana as a person for the first time in a long time, the art is excellent.  This arc is really righting this series' footing after it's spent so much time adrift lately.

Star Wars:  Crimson Reign #5:  Soule is smart enough to make clear that Qi'ra didn't think that she was going to defeat the Emperor in a fair fight.  

As Qi'ra knew he eventually would, the Emperor puts two and two together and realizes that Crimson Dawn is responsible for his and Vader's recent setbacks:  the Hutt Council's attack on Vader's flagship, the Syndicate War, Zahra's failure to take out the Rebel Fleet (a stretch), his Royal Guards' assassination.  The Emperor brings in Director Barsha, the head of the Imperial Security Bureau division focused on the criminal gangs, to confirm that Crimson Dawn is behind these moves.  (It's clear Barsha will play an important role in the next event because his face is covered in shadows.)  The Emperor then launches his counterattack.

Knowing said attack was coming, Qi'ra puts into action her next plan.  She sends the Knights of Ren with the Archivist to use the Screaming Key they took from Vader's citadel to activate some sort of creature, which I'm guessing will provide Qi'ra with a connection to the Force, either directly or indirectly.  (Based on the Emperor and Vader's conversation, Maul told Qi'ra about the creature.  The Archivist herself didn't believe it was real.)  Qi'ra then activates her network to create chaos for the Empire, announcing it as her Hidden Empire.

I'll be honest, I'm not sure this story need a third arc.  Sure, it was interesting to see what Qi'ra had planned after "Star Wars:  War of the Bounty Hunters."  It seems difficult to believe, though, that she's going to accomplish anything more than annoying the Emperor with guerrilla-war tactics now that he's focused on her.  I guess we'll see.

X-Men #12:  This issue is pretty great.  

I love the possibility that Dr. Stasis isn't Mr. Sinister but Nathaniel Essex, who despises Mr. Sinister for taking Thunderbird's DNA and polluting himself with mutant genes.  (Did we know that he took Thunderbird's DNA?)  Of course, as Cyclops says, I use "the possibility" here because it's anyone guess whether this guy really is Essex.  That said, it doesn't really matter; he thinks that he is.  To be fair, he does seem significantly less crazy than Sinister.  He apparently also has a secret mission to save a boy, but he'll get to that after he destroys the X-Men, natch.  

Later, Cyclops and Synch meet with Ben Ulrich to give him back his notebook and confirm that mutants are immortal.  As Scott said, if the X-Men don't stand for the truth, they're just another Council "and the world has enough of those."  Heh.  Cyclops is anticipating his actions may cost him a spot on the roster, which prompts a discussion about who'll stand for re-election at the upcoming Gala.  At this point, it's Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Synch, and maybe Wolverine.  Meanwhile, Essex has his own plans for the "fall of the mutants" at the Gala, which involves a woman. 

Oh, also, the ladies defeated Cordyceps Jones and saved trillions of lives in the process.  Lorna may have found a handsome man to kiss and/or slap.  You should really read the issue to see why that line is so fucking funny.

Man, it's a good time to be a X-Men fan.

Three-Month-Old Comics: The May 25 Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Amazing Spider-Man #2:  Jesus fucking Christ.  I thought I was going to spend this review complaining about how Mary Jane is now a step-mother or something else related to last issue's revamping of Peter's status quo.   But Wells makes it clear that these concerns really pale (heh) in comparison to the fact that Tombstone might really just kill Spider-Man after he tricks Peter into a trap.  Underlining that Tombstone is playing for keeps, Wells has Tombstone send away Janice because he's going to become the man that he's never wanted her to see.  It's...a lot.  As disappointed as I am about the Mary Jane situation, I am more and more excited that Wells is going to meet my (high) hopes for him taking over the title.

Moon Knight #11:  Zodiac goes full Joker here, revealing his goal is to take away everything from Marc so that he can become "self-actualized."  To Zodiac's mind, that means Marc killing everyone all the time.   His plan was to lure Marc to where Jigsaw was holding Dr. Sterman.  While Jigsaw killed Dr. Sterman in front of Marc, Zodiac would kill Reese at the Mission.  

Thankfully, Jigsaw is an idiot, so Marc, Tigra, and Winner manage to save Dr. Sterman.  That said, Zodiac isn't an idiot, so he's definitely got time to kill Reese and at least a few neighbors before Marc and/or the police arrive.  In order to get there in time to prevent that outcome, Marc asks for Khonshu's help.  

I haven't gotten over the PTSD I feel from reading "Avengers:  Age of Khonshu;" I still don't understand why Marc sold Khonshu down the river when Khonshu was right about Mephisto.  But Khonshu doesn't seem angry enough about it to let Marc shirk his responsibilities as Moon Knight and opens a path for him and Tigra to get to the Mission as quickly as possible.  Because it's "Moon Knight," Khonshu makes it clear that it's going to get bloody.  

Meanwhile, Soldier dresses as Mr. Knight and goes with Reese to confront Zodiac to buy Moon Knight some time.  (I'm worried about Soldier's handsome face.)  Given his and Reese's dedication, Zodiac makes an excellent point about how Khonshu isn't the only one with Fists.  Let's see how they fly!

Newburn #7:  The series takes a turn as we learn that Emily was a former cadet who left the academy after she and another cadet were somehow involved in a murder.  Unfortunately, it turns out the murdered person was the nephew of the Albano family's boss.  When the other cadet - now a police officer - gets in too deep to pay off his gambling debt, he sells this information to the guy running the den who in turns sells it to the Albanos.  

Emily bumps into her former classmate as she's helping Newburn investigate the murder of the Yakuza boss.  Her classmate arrests her to prevent her from leaving HQ since he knows that the Albanos are going to kill her.

I don't entirely get how he knew the Albanos chose that moment - while she was in a police station - to kill her, but I'm hoping Zdarsky explains that later.  It borders on pet peeve #3 by having one of the hitmen complain about taking out someone at a police station, which, you know, doesn't seem the best idea.

Past the Last Mountain #3:  If this series' main story has so far been about the sacrifices necessary to maintain hope and innocence in the post-war era, the War Stories have been about the war's brutality - emotionally, physically, and socially.  These themes converge in this issue, as Simon is driven to murder.

In fact, the main story's theme this issue is on the "peace's" brutality.  Neil brings three Goblins with him as he searches for the companions.  On the way to where they think the companions are, the lead Goblin taunts Neil about how scared humans are of Goblins.  In this exchange, we learn that humans not only keep Goblins in cages in a pit but refuse to give them names:  they get a number.  It's chilling to see how dehumanized, if you will, the humans have made the Goblins.  But we also realize, by comparison, that they're not treating the other creatures much better:  the humans, not their parents, give them their names.  Neil asks the Goblin what his name is, and the Goblin refuses to answer.

The teams lands and the Goblins find the companions.  Willa lays down fire to scatter the humans and attacks one, which results in another human dropping the pole he was using to restrain the lead Goblin.  In turn, he tells the other Goblins to fight their bloodlust and run, a sign of how his bravado in the helicopter was a sign of who he used to be, not who he is now.  When Neil angrily shouts "47" at him (revealing his number), 47 turns and attacks.  Trevor throws himself in front of Neil, and 47 devours him. 

It's here where innocence, if not hope, dies.  Simon is holding the sword that Kate dropped in a fight with a human and uses it to kill 47 in revenge for "Trevor Trollfriend's" murder.  In a devastating flashback, we see that 47 didn't tell Neil the name that his parents gave him because he no longer remembered it.  As we contemplate the end of 47's shattered life, Neil is shaken when he realizes that Simon is his son's age.  He tells Simon that he should've protected him and lets the companions go.  He then kills the remaining Goblins so they can't follow them and tells the team that they're retreating.  

Meanwhile, Kate succumbs to the tranquilizer dart that a human successfully fired at her and tells Willa to leave with Simon.  Willa wants to kill the rest of the humans to keep Kate safe, but Simon grabs her and drags her through the forest, telling Willa that they'll keep going like Kate would've done for them.  We then learn that Dragon Lake is real:  it's the crossing into Alberta, Canada.  That said, it's unclear how well the armed guards at the heavily fortified crossing will treat the companions.

Fittingly, the War Stories are particularly brutal this month, as war has left a Fairy seeing her harp only its possible use as a weapon and two Troll children watch the humans murder their general father.  If the peace is brutal, the war is worse.

Spider-Man 2099:  Exodus #1:  Although I enjoyed this issue, I'm concerned that Orlando is going to go the "Marvel 2099" route, where this mini-series devolves into just presenting the 2099 versions of current B- and C-list characters.

It begins right where "Spider-Man 2099:  Exodus - Alpha" #1 ended, with Miguel successfully ferrying Zero's people to Transverse City.  Mission accomplished, Miguel is concerned that Osborn's bounty will have "mothers gutting sons" to secure the Celestial Garden for him.  Zero shows his gratitude for Miguel's assistance by bringing in Winter Solider 13 to help.  He informs Miguel that she has a "standing offer" on the murmurnet to trade intelligence for wetworks.

As she approaches a fortress in Zimnii Metch (Siberia, Free Russian Alliance), 13 exposits that her story really began when the new chief of the Winter Solider program decided they were too dangerous.  As such, he set up the Soldiers to sabotage Alchemax's "relaunched Aesir program" only for one of the "deified death troops" (i.e., Thor) to destroy everyone but 13.  (If I remember "Fall of the Hammer" from the original 2099 timeline correctly, we never really got a good sense of what Alchemax wanted to do with the original Aesir program.)  We learn that the intelligence that 13 wanted via her murmurnet offer was on her betrayers.  Zero gives her the information she needed most:  it's where the final one was hiding, which is why we're in Zimnii Metch.

13 enters the fortress to find Chief Woland, presumably the aforementioned chief.  We learn that he's a Cabal pledge and wants to win Osborn's bounty.  In exchange for a cracked mysterium datadrive that tells her who she is, Woland suggests she come with him to the Celestial Gardens to heal the drive and win the bounty.  Instead, she kills him, risking the Boneyard - the Cabal's security team - coming after her.  Using Woland's black card, 13 boards a teletrain to Nueva York.  

Once the jump gate opens, 13 exits into the Wastes, knowing Crossbones is on her tail.  Their fight is brutal, as Crossbones rips off her metal arm and taunts her about killing Bucky and taking his arm as a prize.  (I guess Crossbones was part of the crew that publicly killed the Avengers.)  Using a knife that she swiped from a kind older woman who fed her on the train, 13 cuts off Crossbones' arm and plunges the knife through his skull.

Using the Garden to affix Barnes' arm and heal the drive, 13 is stunned to learn that her family is real.  In a rare win for the 2099 reality, she finds them.  In exchange, she uses her "winter song" (i.e., her emp power) to take out Madame Web's airborne servers and, with them, the murmurnet.  By silencing "the entire dark metaverse," she effectively shut down the bounty.  Miguel expresses concern that they'll come after her, but she probably correctly surmises that Osborn is going to have to go after the Garden himself since he can't rely on the bounty for people to do it for him.

Again, I enjoyed this issue and 13's story.  That said, I'm worried that next issue's focus on Loki means this "event" is just yet another short-story collection Marvel plans on forgetting once it reboots the 2099 line yet again.  I hope I'm wrong.

 

Also Read:  Devil's Reign:  Omega #1

New-ish Comics!: The Top-Shelf February March 23 and 30 Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Star Wars:  Darth Vader #21 (March 23):  Oof, this issue is pretty hard to follow.  It has a number of moments where you think we've hit the climax only for us to move onto another scene.

Ochi's search for connections between the people on Sabé's list of Crimson Dawn collaborators leads him to General Romodi, who mourns the soldiers that he lost in Vader's purge.  Ochi realizes that they weren't Crimson Dawn but were all involved in the operation to wipe out the Amidalans.  (Smart, Sabe.  Have the Empire get your revenge for you.)  

The issue gets even more confusing when Vader and Valance hit the road with their crew, the "local heroes" and the professional assassins.  Chilla Zin, an insectoid assassin, laments that Baron Zanchal, who they killed last issue, wasn't a verified hit.  Tanka, the Trandoshan local hero, says that Zanchal had it coming.  Zin stresses that assassins follow rules, but no one is really listeningtohim.  Gee-Ninety enjoys camaraderie with Tanka and the heroes, though Loriach, another assassin, warns him not to get too close to them.  Unsurprisingly, this warning proves prophetic.  

The team arrives on Tranchar in their search for a Lieutenant Grapa, who was also part of the Amidalan mission.  Upon arriving at the Imperial base, an unexpectedly strong droid contingent opens fire on the crew.  Gee-Ninety is upset when Tanka is injured and takes out the droids.  Upon entering the base, Tanka is outraged that the Imperials are torturing people.  Gee-Ninety goes on a shooting spree to take out the Imps and win Tanka's favor, only for Vader to slice him in half.  A wounded Grapa expresses confusion when Vader asks her about the Admidalan mission, since they killed them all.  Tanka takes out Grapa for reasons that I don't fully understand, and, to make matters more confusing, Vader doesn't take out Tanka for killing her.

The only reason that I can see for Vader letting Tanka live is that he's distracted by the fact that Romodi seemed to know that Vader was coming (given the droid contingent).  He suspects Ochi, who panics and flees to Sabé.  Of course, despite Ochi's insistence that he wasn't followed, Vader arrives and tells Ochi that he knew that he was Crimson Dawn.  But he plans to use Ochi and Sabé in ways that aren't clear yet.

As I said, it's confusing.  I like that we pay attention to the minor characters here, but it's a lot of pieces moving on the board to follow.  I also can't believe that Vader would let Tanka survive, so I wonder how that's going to go.

Newburn #5 (March 30):  Newburn is beyond evil here.  He gets himself sent to jail to prove that Sal Russo, an Albano family capo, leaked information that got Sandro Albano killed.  Sal takes a liking to his new bunkmate (whom he recognizes) and calls in a favor to prevent the Black Council from killing Newburn.  Later, he reveals that the Council owes him because he gave them some low-level drop locations, part of his revenge on the Albanos for abandoning him.  Newburn tells Sal that one of those locations got Sandro killed and calls Emily to tell the Albanos.  The next day Newburn reads the paper as Albano thugs go to Sal's cell to kill him.  Phillips does a spectacular job showing Sal's regret for trusting Newburn as he lies on his bunk knowing what's coming.  Emily picks up Newburn after he's released, and, when she asks if he's OK, his role in Sal's death seems not to affect him at all.  It's chilling, and I find myself wondering all the more why he does what he does.

Also Read:  We Have Demons #1 (March 23); Star Wars:  Bounty Hunters #21 (March 30)

Three-Month-Old Comics: The Top-Shelf December 1, 8, 15, 22, and 29 (2021) Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Star Wars:  Bounty Hunters #18 (December 1):  This issue is interesting for how it change the status quos of both Valance and T'onga, but the execution isn't all that elegant.

Sacks confirms that Vader has fully upgraded Valance, including replacing his failing heart, which stopped beating on the operating table.  In exchange, he wants Valance to lead the "Dark Squadron" and eliminate Crimson Dawn's spies within the Imperial Navy.  When Valance balks, Vader reveals his upper hand:  Valance's new cerebral processor allowed the Empire to download all his memories, and Vader threatens to eliminate the Rebel base where Yura and Cadeliah reside if Valance doesn't comply.  But, Vader twists the knife even further.  (Of course he does.)  The issue begins with a flashback to street-rat Valance encountering his hero, Captain Tarl Sokoli - the Spine Dragon of Anaxes - who liberated Valance's home, Chorin City, from the pirates who ran it.  Valance's first target for Vader?  Captain Sokoli, alleged Crimson Dawn spy.

Meanwhile, T'onga and her crew blow off some steam taking out criminals trying to shake down the owner of the cantina where they're drinking.  T'onga isn't just upset over Valance's apparent death:  she also believes that Cadeliah's location died with him.  During the fight, Zuckuss stops T'onga from killing one of the criminals on Losha's behalf, reminding T'onga that Losha needs to build her own standing within the crew.  T'onga is devastated when Losha reveals that she loves the bounty hunter's life and doesn't want to return to their farm.

As I said, I like where the plot winds up going, but the process getting there is rough.  The art is choppy at best, an upsetting setback after the improved art that we've been seeing on this title.  Moreover, Sacks has Lieutenant Haydenn, Darth Vader's adjutant, deliver a long recitation of Valance's past that isn't just boring:  it does the opposite of what she intends.  Whereas she keeps stressing Valance's childhood dreams of becoming an Imperial hero like Sokoli, she spends most of the time (by necessity) reminding Valance how the Empire repeatedly fucked him.  When Valance points out that fact, she can only meekly offer that at least the med droids saved his life - if not his humanity - the second time that he almost died in the Empire's service.  I assume that Sacks included this trip down bad-memory lane for new readers picking up this title after "Star Wars:  War of the Bounty Hunters."  But, it's weird that he did so in a way that actually undermined the plot.  He only manages to get Valance to agree to Vader's "offer" after Vader threatens Yura.

Despite all that, I'm still interested to see how Valance handles this assignment.  If you're reading "Star Wars:  Darth Vader," you know that Ochi himself is a Crimson Dawn spy.  I wonder how long it'll take for Valance to get into cahoots with Ochi.  I'll be honest that I'm not too interested in T'onga and her crew, but I'm content to see where Sacks goes with them.   

Star Wars:  Darth Vader #18 (December 1):  This issue makes very little sense.  It's chaos, in art and script.  I mean, I get the plot:  Ochi hires a group of assassins to take out a Crimson Dawn-sponsored religious figure on Vincorba.  When they're successful, Vader conscripts them into service.  On Calior, the "chief regional auditor" throws in his lot with Crimson Dawn to squeeze more profits from the local populace, and three vigilantes whose families Crimson Dawn killed prepare to sacrifice themselves to stop him.  (For reasons that aren't clear to me, the auditor's Crimson Dawn bodyguards are accompanied by Stormtroopers?  Maybe they don't know Crimson Dawn is the enemy?  As far as I can tell, Pak never explains that part.)  But, Vader arrives, and they happily throw in their lot with him.  Weirdly, the issue ends with Sabé, now working for Crimson Dawn, discovering the midwifery droid on Polis Massa that Vader found in issue #5.  I'm making the issue appear a lot more sensical than it felt reading it.

Star Wars:  Crimson Reign #1 (December 8):  This series is obviously a coda to "Star Wars:  War of the Bounty Hunters," but Soule does a solid job of establishing it as its own story.  He does so by immediately revealing Qi'ra's ultimate goal:  the elimination of the Sith.

The issue begins with Qi'ra addressing her troops:  the Knights of Ren, Chanath Cha and the Orphans, and Deathstick and Ochi of Bestoon (the assassins).  She explains that they're all some of the few sentient beings in the galaxy aware of the Sith's existence.  She laments that the galaxy should be arranged as a mountain range, with many entities exerting control, but it's instead arranged as a pyramid, with Darth Sidious monopolizing control.  She wants to end that.  With the knowledge that she gained working at Darth Maul's side when he ran Crimson Dawn, she has a plan.

Qi'ra's agents kick off the plan by spreading rumors among the criminal syndicates that the Empire is looking to replace the Hutts as its exclusive concessionaire given the Hutt Council's attack on the Empire.  (I still don't understand why Bokku the Hutt agreed to commit suicide essentially on Crimson Dawn's behalf, but it explains why Qi'ra had him launch the attack in the first place.)  Qi'ra then dispatches the Orphans to take out various syndicate operations without a trace, launching a Syndicate War:  since none of the syndicates could identify who attacked its operation, they each attacked all the other syndicates.  Palpatine is displeased with the war, sending for Vader, as Qi'ra obviously hoped.

Meanwhile, Qi'ra dispatches Deathstick and Ochi to take out high-value targets and the Knights of Ren to steal an artifact from Fortress Vader.  She also has her Archivist researching the Jedi Order as allies or bait.  But, the Archivist, who serves as our narrator, informs us that this story is a tragedy, and it seems pretty clear that Qi'ra will pay a price for her plan.  But, she also seems the only person capable of making this play, a play that I've often wondered why other people didn't make.  As such, even if we know the ending, I'm intrigued to see how close Qi'ra comes to taking out the Sith.

Star Wars #19 (December 8):  As someone who just recently finished battling his way through "Star Wars Jedi:  Lost Order," I gasped when Luke arrived on Ilum.  Synergy!

In "Star Wars Jedi:  Lost Order," you play a Padawan who survived Order 66.  After he's forced to reveal himself to the Empire to save a friend, a fallen Jedi finds and recruits him into her quest to find a holocron listing the names of the galaxy's Force-sensitive children before the Empire does.  Given the game takes places 14 BBY, I've been hoping to get a sense, from a novel or a comic-book series, of how complete the Empire's control over Jedi sites is by the time of the original trilogy era.  I'm thrilled that we're finally going to get that story.  I'm also thrilled that it's Soule telling it.

After his encounter with Vader during "Star Wars:  War of the Bounty Hunters," Luke decides that he's got to leave the Resistance to complete his training, since he's going to have to face Vader at some point.  He begins with a list of Jedi sites that Artoo found in an Imperial archive.  He begins his search at Ilum, and we learn that the Empire has complete control over the planet.  (In "Star Wars Jedi:  Lost Order," it had just started taking over Ilum.)  Luke continues his journey, eventually arriving at the River Moon of Al'doleem, the first place that he finds where Star Destroyers aren't completely surrounding it.

After failing to use the Jedi Mind Trick on two Stormtroopers, Luke wanders Am'balaar City.  He encounters a mechanic who recognizes his lightsaber, and we learn that the man is Colli, who we first met in "Darth Vader" #4 as a child.  At the time, he was helping his parents fix Kirak Infil'a's ship, which, after Vader killed Kirak, his parents used to save him and his sister.  Given that debt, Colli leads Luke to the Mount Pasvaal monastery, explaining that the Imps have been looting it for decades.  Luke contemplates entering the monastery lightsaber a-blazin' to prove how powerful he is but, like a Jedi, instead summons his focus and successfully uses the Jedi Mind Trick to have two Stormtroopers bring the site's most valuable artifact:  a holocron with a Yoda training recording.

In other words, I'm tickled pink with where we're going here.  We haven't touched on Luke's need to augment his training for a while, and I'm glad that we've returned to it.

Newburn #2 (December 15):  With this issue, a few themes begin to emerge.  First, it's obvious that Newburn has a lot of people waiting for him to fall.  Emily herself admits that part of her attraction to the job is to see how the movie ends; as one of the interviewees at the start of the issue says, it's definitely going to end.  Second, it's equally obvious that a lot of the people waiting for Newburn to fall are jealous of both his access and his smarts.  The Tribune editor's anger is so disproportionate to the offense - as if journalists don't routinely use mob contacts - that it's clear that he's really just annoyed that Newburn - at least for now - has a better deal than him.  Finally, although Newburn may eventually get the wrong end of his deal, Emily's interviewees make it clear that, like his previous partner(s), she'll likely get there first.

Star Wars:  Darth Vader #19 (December 22):  I'm generally not a fan of the flashback sequences that happen with such frequency in this series.  However, Pak uses them to great effect here.  Vader is committed to ridding the galaxy of Crimson Dawn because it undermines order.  Pak uses the flashback sequences to remind us of the moments in the prequel trilogy where Anakin came to the idea of imposing order, particularly after he failed to prevent his mother's death.

The interesting part about this issue is that Vader feels more reckless.  He's treating the assassins and Revengers working for him as expendable.  Vader usually does that, but he usually doesn't abandon his agents to their fates before they're no longer useful.  Here, he treats them like chum, which makes it feel like he's taking this mission too personally.  (He appears to kill, on a whim, the other two assassins besides Deathstick and Ochi who are working for him.)  

My only real complain about this issue is that it ends with Vader accessing Crimson Dawn's database from the base that he and his team assaults, conveniently giving him a list of all Crimson Dawn's agents within the Empire.  I doubt Qi'ra would make that mistake, to be honest.

Star Wars:  Bounty Hunters #19 (December 29):  Valance succeeds in killing his former hero, now-Admiral Sokoli, in this issue.  

Lest we get too upset, Sacks shows us a moment when a grown Valance and Han Solo run into Sokoli as he's getting ready to teach a class at the Academy.  Sokoli treats Valance with disdain:  he doesn't remember liberating Chorin City and apologizes for leading Valance astray (given his obvious disappointment in the Empire) particularly since Valance's injuries make it clear that he's never going to fly again.  

In the present, Valance uses his Tie Defender to crash into Sokoli's ship.  He explains his story to Sokoli, who dismisses him as "one of those young converts from some backward planet [he] saved."  Before Sokoli can kill him, Valance kills Sokoli.  Sachs twists the knife when he shows us a flashback to a thrilled Valance meeting Sokoli on Chorin.  In the epilogue, we learn that Vader didn't really believe Sokoli was a Crimson Dawn mole:  he was disappointed with Sokoli complaining about the Empire, and he thought that killing him was a good test for Valance.  He now considers Valance ready, which can't be good for Valance.  

Meanwhile, T'onga and her crew decide to go after 4-LOM so that he can track Cadeliah's locations through Valance's previous communications.  I'm sure that'll go well, too.

Also Read:  Dungeons & Dragons:  Mindbreaker #3 (December 15)