Eleven-Month-Old Comics!: The April 5 Top-Shelf Edition (HERE BE SPOILER!)

Star Wars #33:  This issue is great.  I haven't really been feeling this Kezarat Colony arc until this point, but, man, Soule sells it here.

At the Great Hall, Luke saves Chewie, Holdo, and Lando when he summons the Force to save himself from the Killdroid who destroyed his hand and unexpectedly winds up throwing all the Killdroids off the asteroid.  He manages to grab the sacred Jedi text beforelosing consciousness, and the team collects him and the Nihil path engine before leaving.

Back at the Colony, Blythe addresses the Kezaratians; Musabekov and Rosenberg do a great job with this scene by evoking the end of "Star Wars"  where Leia awards Han and Luke their medals in front of the assembled Rebellion.  The gang surrounds Blythe as he speaks, and it reminds you just what a crazy life they all lead.  Lando describes to the colonists how the path engine works, and Leia explains that a tyrant now rules the galaxy.  But Lando goes beyond Leia, explaining to the Kezaratians that the team is part of the Rebellion against the tyrant and thus they're criminals.

Before they leave, Lando ponders a world where he and Holdo stay in No-Space, and I have to say Soule really gets Lando in a way others don't.  At the Great Hall, for example, Lando led a charge to Luke when the Killdroid destroyed his hand, and Lando was later the one to bandage Luke's wounds and give him a brotherly pep talk.  As Holdo acknowledges, Lando also did an amazing thing by telling the Kezaratians the truth about the Rebellion, something Leia didn't do when she mentioned it.  I mean, it isn't often when Leia isn't the most virtuous one.  But, despite all that, Holdo rejects Lando's offer to stay in No-Space, commenting that she's just getting started.  (I was meh on Holdo when she appeared in "Star Wars:  The Last Jedi," but I'm really digging her now.

With the truth on the table, the younger colonists largely decide to follow the heroes into the galaxy.  The remaining Kezaratians will recolonize the Great Hall now that Luke has emptied it of Killdroids.  In exchange for the fuel, the colonists place two conditions on the heroes:  they give the Kezaratians the path engine so they can now come and go as they please and  they never tell anyone of No-Space.  Leia agrees, and the team heads home.

Back in our galaxy, Soule wraps up the most important loose end, as he makes sure Luke's power burst wasn't just a deus ex machina.  Instead, it turns out it's the result of the Fermata Cage's destruction (see below).  Leia realizes this disruption likely also affects the Emperor and Darth Vader (it does, as we learn below) and heads to tell Mon Mothma.  Meanwhile, Luke tells Artoo that he's going to have to build himself a new lightsaber.

Honestly, I think this issue is one of the best of this second series.  Lando really steps into the hole that Han's absence left, and I'm excited to follow Luke deeper into the Force's mysteries.

Star Wars:  Hidden Empire #5:  I've made it clear that I feel like this story has gone on way too long, but Soule brings it to a satisfying conclusion here.

It turns out Qi'ra didn't procure the Fermata Cage to release a great Sith Lord; she got her hands on it to capture two great Sith Lords.  Too late, Palpatine and Vader realize the Cage is empty, but, before they can escape, the Archivist springs the trap.  However, before the Archivist can collect the Cage to destroy it (by throwing it in a sun), the Knights of Ren free the Sith Lords by destroying the Cage.  Ren figures, not unreasonably, that Qi'ra can't keep on winning and that Palpatine will eventually find a way to free himself and Vader, so he switches side.

Qi'ra is devastated but recovers quickly; she orders Crimson Dawn to disband and flee.  Cadeliah plays the message Qi'ra left for her, informing her that she now has access to Crimson Dawn's resources.  She notes that they were the same, the two of them:  people trapped in a game.  Qi'ra admits she never managed to free herself and beseeches Cadeliah to make her own decisions, since she's now free from who her past says she is.

Meanwhile, Palpatine and Vader discuss how the Cage's destruction has rent the Force, with Palpatine admitting that his grip on it feel tenuous.  Palpatine isn't nearly as forgiving as the Knights hoped, striking them with lightning and informing the ones who survived they work for him now.

The epilogue reveals that Luke and Leia are the ones watching the Archivist's recording, which has served as the series' framing device.  They admit what I said last issue, that Qi'ra's rebellion was a fundamental part of the Rebellion.  Her agents informed the Rebellion about the second Death Star, and her attack on Palpatine and Vader distracted them, giving the Rebellion time to regroup the fleet after Zahra's attack.  Leia wishes that Qi'ra would approach them, now that they defeated Palpatine.

Soule ends by flashing to a scene in a cantina where people later celebrate Palatine's death while Qi'ra sits alone with an enigmatically sorrowful look on her face.  It's easy to see why Qi'ra would have mixed feelings about the Rebellion's win, though I wonder what she feels most.  Does she feel jealous that Luke and Leia did what she couldn't?  Does she feel sorrow because she knows that their victory won't be complete?  I need a break from Qi'ra for a while, but I wouldn't mind somewhat taking up those questions at some point.

Twelve-Month-Old Comics!: The March 1 Top-Shelf Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Red Zone #1:  I honestly don't have too much to say about this issue since it's pretty self-explanatory.  

A (handsome as fuck) special ops captain named Simon Crow approaches Professor Randall Crane in his office and tells him that his old lover, prima ballerina assoluta Elena Sidorov, demanded his presence as a condition of her defection.  Crane accompanies Crow and his team to Russia and discovers Elena also wants her daughter (allegedly not Randall's) Nika to come with her.  

Via Crane's earpiece, Crow agrees, but the enemy arrives.  Elena leaps across the table and opens fire on the soldiers, making it clear she wasn't just a ballerina.  The enemy takes out Crow and his team as Randall escapes with Nika to an old warehouse, making it clear that he isn't just a professor.  

The story is great, but Deodata's art, as always, is the main draw.  I've always wished comics told more stories like this one.

Star Wars #32:  Holy shit, the issue is more fucking like it!  After so many issue of exposition, Soule finally returns to the type of issue where you can hear the characters speaking in the actors' voices in your head.

First things first, it's hard with characters this iconic to make other characters interesting enough that you focus on them, but the banter between the two guards watching Chewie and Lobot is reminiscent of Adam Pally's and Jason Sudeikis' in "The Mandalorian."  After discussing the mechanics of Shyriiwook, the pair agree to take Chewie (and Lobot) to Lando since he speaks Shyriiwook.  Hilariously, the minute Chewie walks into Lando's cell, he's distracted by the fact that he knows Lando and Amilyn did stuff; according to Lando, "Wookiees always pick up the vibes."

Lando brings Chewie to Blythe to explain his epiphany from last issue about the mural depicting a Nihil path engine, but Blythe dismisses it since he figures, after all these centuries, someone else would've already put two and two together.  Blythe warns Lando that hope is dangerous in No-Space.  Lando responds that he doesn't believe in hope but does believe in luck.  Arguing Chewie arriving in No-Space is the latter not the former, Lando informs Blythe that the team has a path engine back at the Great Hall.  Feeling the first bloom of hope, Blythe agrees to lend them a ship.  He refuses to risk his own people, though, so he's only going to send the team.  He's going to hold Leia at the Colony, though, so the team doesn't escape No-Space once they get the engine.  

We then begin the comedy segment of the show.  When the team discovers the condition of the ship - a bucket of bolts where Blythe once let "voidroaches" mate - they're hilarious outraged.  Later, Blythe and Leia have a similarly hilarious conversation as she updates him on the galaxy's recent events over the last 35 years.  When he asks if the people fight back against the Emperor, Leia quips, "Some."  Heh.

At the Hall, Luke leaps from the ship to distract the killdroids, prompting Lando to quip, "Just don't know about that kid sometimes."  Before Amilyn and Lando leap into the fray, they have a nice moment.  Eventually Chewie makes a break for it and grabs the path engine.  As the fight continues, Luke gets increasingly more cocky.  If he was concerned about his connection with the Force before, he isn't now.  However, before the team leaves, he decides to nab the sacred Jedi text, opening the door to a killdroid grabbing his hand and crushing his lightsaber.  Uh-oh!

Again, this issue is the first fun one we've had for a while, with Soule taking the time to show everyone's personality clearly.  He also puts them in a barely operational ship, which is basically the only way we know this crowd.  It's great stuff.

Star Wars:  Han Solo and Chewbacca #10:  It was pretty clear from the start of this endeavor that the urn was a McGuffin.  As such, the plot isn't really impacted when Greedo turns over the urn to Jabba at the issue's start.

Instead, the real drama happens in the flashback to 36 hours earlier as the various players attempt to escape each other.  Han does battle with Tyra aboard the Falcon as Akko opens fire on them, leaving Phaedra to pilot the ship (which she doesn't know how to do).  Meanwhile, Chewie and Marshall Vancto battle while Khel, Ooris, and T'onga all open fire on them.

Aboard the Falcon, Han lies and tells Tyra that the urn contained nothing, which Tyra wisely doesn't believe.  Chewie breaks free from his fight with Vancto in time to see Khel land a hit on the Falcon.  Meanwhile, Vancto gets hold of T'onga and threatens to kill her if Khel and Ooris don't surrender.  But Chewie gets the drop on them all and makes a deal to turn over Khel to Vancto if Vancto gets Chewie to the Falcon.  Aboard the Falcon, Han eventually knocks out Tyra and takes the controls in time to crash land it safely-ish.

On the ground, Han goes after an escaping Tyra, who taunts him that he's soft given how quickly he jumped at the possibility that Tyra was his dad.  As Tyra tells Han that he's too trusting, Han shoots him and he falls from the log where they're standing into the river.  Han recalls that Tyra isn't the first father figure who thought that he was soft.  (It's a nice callback to "Solo:  A Star Wars Adventure.")  Han returns to find Akko holding Phaedra at gun point, but Chewie arrives with Vancto and company.

Vancto departs to collect the bounty on Khel for her role in the Galator III heist (which I don't remember, but apparently happened in issue #1), and Han leaves Akko, Ooris, and T'onga stranded like they did to him in issue #7.  Later, he buries the neural core where Jabba won't find it and offers to take Phaedra with him to rob Augustus Graves' accounts on Scipio.  

The issue ends in the present, as Greedo tells a not-surprisingly still alive Tyra that Jabba bought their story but seemed to expect something else in the urn than the charred ronto ashes they put in it.  (Instead of 1,000,000 credits, Bib Fortuna earlier suggested he pay Greedo 80,000 credits, which is something for charred ronto ashes, I guess.)

The biggest reveal is the end page's assertion that Ajax Sigma, like Optimus Prime, will return.  Since I'm reading this issue several months (ahem, a year) late, I'm going to assume the "Star Wars:  Dark Droids" event involves him, which makes me more excited about it than I was.

I'm sad to see this series end, since it was clever and fun.  But, it's obvious we have unsettled business here, as Guggenheim never revealed how Tyra knew what he knew about Han's father.  Is he Han's father?  I'm pretty sure we'll never know, but Han'll go through some heartache nevertheless.

Star Wars:  Hidden Empire #4:  Just like "Star Wars" #32, this issue is an unexpected surprise, as Soule supercharges a story that seemed to have no point into one that seems to explain everything that we know about this galaxy far, far away.

The issue begins creepily.  Vader tells Palpatine that he felt a "great intensity of the Dark Side" in the Fermata Cage, seemingly confirming Qi'ra's assertion that the Cage contains an ancient Sith Lord.  Palpatine challenges Vader to a duel and reminds Vader that, per the Rule of Two, only two of them can survive if this Sith Lord emerges.  Palpatine expresses admiration for Qi'ra's trap, hilariously quipping, "She will be missed."  It's like a Sith "Bless your heart."

Meanwhile, Sava the Archivist is frantically flying to a "hidden, ancient place" that I believe (but can't confirm) we've seen before.  Sava tells Qi'ra that the place is filled with "both the Dark Side and abundant life" to feed the Cage, which her experiments indicate needs such fuel.  Sava tells Qi'ra she's willing to sacrifice her life for the cause, but she'd die before she could fully charge and activate the Cage.

As such, Qi'ra sets in motion her final plan.  Deathstick refuses to join the effort, as she isn't a foot solider, though Qi'ra convinces a skeptical Ren to join with the Knights after she observes that taking out the Sith is the only way they won't spend the rest of their lives on the run after attacking Vader's fortess.  She tells Cadeliah she likely won't see her again, instructing her to play a message from a disc she hands her in five days if she hasn't heard from her.  She then contacts a third entity, though we don't find out who it is in this issue.

At the Amaxine Station (the place for which Sava was searching), Sava turns on the Cage.  Meanwhile, Qi'ra delivers a rousing speech to the Dawn's troops before they head to the Station.  It's in this moment that Soule finally sells everything that he and the other authors have done with Qi'ra, as you realize that we're seeing a separate rebellion against the Empire here.  You have to wonder if Leia didn't make a catastrophic mistake not trying harder to bring Qi'ra into the Rebellion's fold when you see the resolve (and resources) she brings to the table here.

At the Station, Sava is panicked when the Executor arrives.  Palpatine taunts Vader by telling him that he can feel his desire to fight the Sith Lord allegedly inside the Cage, in part because he feels the same way.  Instead, he isn't an idiot and orders the Executor's crew to open fire on the Station.  Suddenly, the Dawn arrives!  These scenes are impressive, as you see just how many people and ships Qi'ra is throwing against the Sith.  You also get to see the commitment of the foot soldiers Deathstick so dismissed earlier in the issue as they prepare for the coming fight.  The issue ends with Palpatine and Vader arriving at the Station, so a fight they shall have!

Twelve-Month-Old Comics!: The February 8 Edition - Part 2 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Miracleman by Gaiman and Buckingham:  The Silver Age #4:  This issue stalls us a bit, as we don't gain any new insights into the story that Gaiman is telling.  Instead, two adolescents - Phon Mooda and Dickie Dauntless - ponder why they can't quite put their finger on what feels wrong about this world.

First, Phon Mooda is called before the Black Warpsmiths, a trio of enormous Warpsmiths who are connected to each other and, we learn, created the other Warpsmiths.  They ask Phon Mooda for her thoughts about the "confluent world" rather than the facts she usually delivers.  She confesses that something about the world seems wrong, though she can't yet define it.  They ask about the Miraclechildren, and, except for Winter, Phon Mooda dismisses the others as focused on "entertaining" themselves and little more.  

We then get some cryptic alien speak, as the Black Warpsmiths ask her about the Qys and she tells them that the Qys "never understood how the Cuckoo Seed was fertile to begin with."  (Sure.)  Phon Mooda admits that, unlike other worlds, this one doesn't seem to mature, opining that "this relatively short experiment may actually be winding up."  The Black Warpsmiths inform her that something Phon Mooda calls "the Whisper" at the edge of the Universe merits their attention.  She leaves their presence.

Meanwhile, Dickie asks Tom Caxton if Miracelman did anything to make him want to stop being Mister Master.  Caxton obviously doesn't understand why Dickie asks this question and instead narrates his realization that he had gotten everything he ever wanted and didn't know what happened next, which is why he asked for the Gold Kryptonite.  Caxton tells Dickie that he knows that he's Young Miracleman and asks him what his real name is, provoking Dickie to realize, seemingly or the first time, that it probably isn't Dickie.  

Meta-maid arrives and informs Dickie that sexy, sexy Jason is ready to leave and confides to Caxton that she's going with Dickie because she's tired of being around "superfucks."  Hauntingly, she says that it's "so nice to be around someone who knows who they are."

In the post-script story, Miracleman reviews Dickie's past to try to find evidence of what he's missing, as Avril earlier suggested that maybe it wasn't Miracleman but something else he wanted.  He reviews Miracelman's first encounter with Young Nastyman but finds nothing to light a path for him.

In other words, Gaiman is flagging a central mystery that we maybe didn't realize yet was a mystery.  Phon Mooda, Dickie, and Miracleman are all looking for something that explains an absence they feel, which implies that it's something bigger than just Miracleman's machinations.  We'll see.

Star Wars:  Darth Vader #31:  OMG, we're *finally* starting to get somewhere here.  

After yet another issue of Vader playing with his food, he and the Handmaidens finally force Jul Tambor to flee and rescue to Sabé.  Pak reveals that Vader's motive is really to find a consort that he thought he had in Padmé, as we see through flashbacks of his confrontation with Padmé on Mustafar as well as his imaginings of how it could've gone if Padmé accepted his offer to rule the galaxy.  Acting on these feelings, Vader holds the rest of the Handmaidens in a Force Grip as he offers Sabé a place by his side.  

Again, it's taken *way* too long to get here, but I'm glad we're finally here.

Star Wars:  Hidden Empire #3:  I remember not being particularly impressed with this series, which is surprising given how much I like Charles Soule.  But this issue is solid.  

Chanath Cha and her team, the Orphans, arrive on whichever planet it is where the Archivist finds herself to save her and the Fermata Cage.  (No one particularly seems to care about her assistant, Kho Phon Farrus.)  Chanath has apparently spent her life trying to get close to Vader to avenger her parents, so she and Sear stay to take on Vader while Imara Vex and Ladybright accompany the Archivist and Kho to their ship.  Vader unsurprisingly kills Sear and knocks Imara off the ship (to an uncertain fate).  Ladybright plans on saving Chanath (and disobeying Qi'ra), but the Archivist disassembles her in order to stay safe from Vader.  As brutal as it seems, the Archivist is smart in doing so, as Vader easily kills Chanath.

This issue is about more than just getting the Archivist from Vader.  It's also a rumination on how revenge motivates so many people in this galaxy far, far away, though they seldom get to see their first for it satisfied.  Vader notes that Chanath sacrifices her whole life to get her the point where she could stop Vader, but, of course, all the time she stopped him not at all.  Similarly, Qi'ra notes to Cadeliah that Chanath thought she was the main character in her own story, when really she was just a side character in Qi'ra's (and not even a character in Vader's).  It's brutal but true.  

Of course, we all know that Qi'ra is a side character in Vader's life.  Soule is pretty much winking to the audience on this point, stressing what we all know except for Qi'ra, that this damned fool idealistic crusade ends poorly for her.

Storm and the Brotherhood of Mutants #1:  Storm recounts the fall of Arakko as Sinister finally launches his invasion, blaming augmented Skrull troops for the attack.  She's recounting these events from the remains of Arakko - an asteroid archipelago - as she berates Destiny for advising her not to attack Sinister and Krakoa when she wanted, ten years earlier.

Of course, it turns out "Destiny" is Mystique, who informs Storm about Sinister manufacturing Moira clones, including one created ten years ago.  Storm and company travel to Muir Island with Sinister, where Whiz Kid uses technology he created - and Storm recognizes as not the same as his usual technology - to teleport away Sinister's lab.  But it turns out "Taki" was Mystique (again), and she kills Storm once the lab is transported to the World Farm, where Destiny and Orbit Stellaris await.  (She was clearly using Sinister's technology instead of Taki's, addressing Storm's suspicion.)

We learn that Destiny is doing everything because this timeline is the only one where Mystique lives, a reminder that she is a villain at her core.  Not only did she advise Storm not to attack Sinister ten years ago, she has Mystique steal the lab because Sinister was going to reset this timeline the next day when he loses a Quiet Council vote.  (I don't get how he could lose a vote to people he controlled, but I'll allow the mulligan because I liked this issue.)

The remaining questions from this issue is what the force field at the center of Sinister's lab hid.  Next issue jumps 100 years, a reminder that the team is telling a story related to the X3 timeline that Hickman showed us in "Powers of X."

Five-Month-Old Comics: The December 7 Marvel Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Captain America:  Sentinel of Liberty #7:  Lanzing and Kelly show that Bucky knew what he was doing when he sent Sharon to Steve as she gets him going again (in more ways than one).

In fact, this issue is all about Steve remembering who his friends are, which is great, because they don't necessarily tell him what he wants to hear.  For example, the issue begins with Namor finding Steve to return his shield (which he lost during his fall from the Outer Circle's headquarters).  When Steve tells Namor about Bucky, Namor tells him what he still refuses to believe, that Bucky works in the shadows so Steve doesn't have to enter them.  Namor gives Steve solid advice in telling him to find people comfortable in the shadows if he's going to save Bucky.  Enter Sharon.

Sharon then puts together a group of Steve's friends to help, and I couldn't be happier with this team:  Black Widow, Hawkeye, Nick Fury, Peggy Carter, and Roger Aubrey.  (When Steve previously mentioned Roger during his conversation with Namor, Namor was thrilled to find out Roger was still alive.  He told Steve to send Roger his regards, which Steve does.  An overjoyed Roger tells Steve to put it on his tombstone.  Roger is very much a breath of fresh air here.)

Steve passes on information that Roger found to the team, namely that A.I.M. technology is unavailable on the black market right now.  Natasha says that fits with three of her A.I.M. contacts going missing, and the team assumes A.I.M. is cleaning house before something big.  

The team then considers the piece of neganite that Bucky and Steve collected from the Destroyer and that Bucky left as a clue for Steve in his emptied-out apartment.  Nick notes that it's usually used only in zero gravity, and the team concludes that Arnim Zola is the likely the person who put it in play (which we know, given the Circle last issue identified him as a Starpoint).  

Hawkeye tells the team that the Thunderbolts are currently cleaning out a Zola facility.  The team prepares to set a trap for the Circle, assuming they'll make a move on the facility.  The problem is that Steve wakes up four days later in Kansas with no idea how he got there and A.I.M. seems to have sealed off New York City.  D'oh!

Lanzing and Kelly do a great job of making all these developments flow from one moment to the next.  Despite a lot of exposition in the team's conversation, it felt like an organic dialogue between the characters, a rarity in comics.  

Moreover, the authors stay focused on the pain that Steve feels over what he sees as Bucky's betrayal.  I could find fault with this series over Steve's refusal to believe Bucky is doing the right thing, but Lanzing and Kelly make it clear that they're intentionally making Steve feel this way.  They're feelings, not logic.  They're totally right that Steve would feel depressed both by confronting a situation where he isn't in charge and where he's trying not to face the sacrifices Bucky makes for him.  Moreover, Lanzing and Kelly make it clear that Steve's friends are aware of this blindspot, again a rarity in comics.

As I've previously said, Lanzing and Kelly are seriously overcoming my doubts about this story and delivering what I think is going to become a classic Captain America tale.  It's great stuff.

Dark Web #1:  OK, "Dark Web."  Here we go.

As a Spider-Man and X-Men fan, I'm more excited about the Spider-Man side of this event than the X-Men one.  

On the Spider-Man side, I totally get Ben's motivations.  In order to regain his memories (and sanity), Ben needs Peter's memories.  It isn't that complicated.  Madelyne gives him a means to that end.

I still don't get Madelyne's part, though.  Magik turned over Limbo to her in "New Mutants" in recognition of her desire to belong somewhere.  As we saw in "Amazing Spider-Man" #14, Madelyne has doubts that Magik had her best interests at heart.  I get that.  But I feel like Madelyne had many more options than diving into "Inferno Part Deux" just because a hot blond dude appeared on her doorstep.  (She does like her hot blond dudes, though...)

At any rate, shenanigans will ensure. Madelyne and Hallow's Eve (the Summers Eve jokes really make themselves, so I won't belabor the point) are on some sort of mission with Venom (whose son Madelyne has kidnapped and who Madelyne magically lobotomized) while Ben takes the fight to Norman, the guy who engineered his (first) death.  We'll see where we go from here.

Star Wars:  Hidden Empire #2:  This issue is refreshingly direct.  The Archivist and the woman helping her, Kho Phon Farrus, manage to turn on the Fermata Cage.  But it attracts Darth Sidious' and Darth Vader's attention, and Sidioius dispatches Vader to get the Cage.  While Qi'ra regroups at a hidden safehouse, she dispatches Chanath Cha and her team to help the Archivist.  But I'm pretty sure Vader is just going to kill them all, so I'm not really sure what Soule is going to do with the last three issues.

X-Men Red #9:  Roberto's ongoing role as Sol's underestimated kingmaker kicks up a notch here as Brand is surprised when it turns out he, and not Xandra, sat on the Diplomatic Zone's throne when Vulcan tried to assassinate Xandra.  Poor Abby.

Meanwhile, Ewing shows us how Brand manipulated Xavier into resurrecting Gabriel.  She convinced him that Magneto's death left an Omega-level hole in the mutants' defenses, and Charles ego did the rest:  he decides that he can "cure" Vulcan before he hatches.  As expected, it didn't work, and Vulcan tears through the Galactic Council before trying to assassinate Xandra here.  

But the revelation that Roberto was using a Shi'ar image inducer to act as Xandra sends off Vulcan to find her.  For some reason he decides that she's in the Autumn Palace, Magneto's former residence, which I don't totally understand.  But he does find Storm, so I'm not complaining because I'm here for that fight.

Five-Month-Old Comics: The November 16 Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Captain America & The Winter Soldier Special #1:  I'll admit that Lanzing and Kelly do a great job with each successive issue in making the Outer Circle's ability to influence outcomes more and more believable.  This issue pretty much seals the deal for me.

We begin at the beginning (a very good place to start) as we watch the Power convene the Circle for the first time in 1922.  He is a Latverian prince; the Money is the world's first (secret) multibillionaire, the Machine is Wakanda's former engineering chief, and the Love is Europe's most prominent underground artist.  Brilliantly, the Revolution is Gavrilo Princip, the Serbian student who assassinate Archduke Ferdinand.  He's there to riot against the rest of the Circle's stabs at oligarchy:  to keep them honest, if you will.

As we've seen, he resolves to commit suicide after a century of failing to stop the Circle.  As the Love later informs Bucky, Princip selected Bucky to succeed him because he believed that Bucky could achieve his goal.  The Love warns Bucky that the Money and the Power won the last century through an iron-clad alliance and the Machine is insane, having sacrificed her own child at one point.

But all isn't great for the Circle.  Four of their five Starpoints are off the table:  the Destroyer is dead, Dryad is "self-aware," the Redacted is "malfunctioning," and Bucky is now at the table.  As such, they only have left the Reactor:  Zola.

Elsewhere, Peggy realizes that Bucky was right, and he contacts her, asking her to serve as his Starpoint to help take down the Circle.  The thing I like about this entire arrangement is that he's supposed to do that.  He's an inside agent in a conspiracy, just like the Revolution is supposed to be.  It's what he was trying to tell Steve in "Captain America:  Sentinel of Liberty "#6 but Steve wasn't listening.  Somehow I doubt he will now.

Star Wars:  Han Solo & Chewbacca #7:  We get a pretty great jail-break story here, and that's a high bar because I've read a lot of jailbreak stories over the years.  

For the story to work, you have to believe that Phaedra is capable of devising a concoction that makes it seem like Chewie is dead but allows him to revive later.  But she was on the cleaning detail so it's within my reasonable suspension of disbelief to do so.  At some point, Chewie quips to Max that Phaedra reminds him of Han, a similarity underscored when the trio makes it all the way to the landing pad only to discover that the ship Phaedra planned on swiping had departed.  

Thankfully, Han arrives after seeing a news bulletin on the planet where Tanna dumped him about Chewie's pending execution.  The story behind Han's survival is the  issue's only eye-rolling part, as Tanna objected to Greedo shooting Han again after realizing that he wasn't dead yet.  Tanna claims that she isn't a murderer, which...doesn't really track with what we've seen.

All in all, it's a solid end to a tight arc.  The issue concludes with Han brining Phaedra with him and Chewie to find Greedo on Tatooine.  It'll be good for such old friends to catch up.

Star Wars:  Hidden Empire #1:  Ugh.  

To be fair, this issue isn't awful when it comes to the plot.  Qi'ra reveals to Darth Sidious that the Screaming Key, which the Knights of Ren previously stole from Fortress Vader, activates the Fermata Cage.  She's apparently implementing a plan that Darth Maul originally devised.  As she exposits, someone used the Cage to trap an ancient Sith Lord.  Qi'ra wants to unfreeze them so that they can go after Sidious and Darth Vader.  It's a solid plan, honestly.  Sidious seems almost scared.

Qi'ra's problem is that the Archivist can't figure out a way to open the Cage.  She tries using the Knights and technology that a group called the Ascendancy developed to mimic the Dark Side of the Force, but the attempt fails.  Sidious now knows what Qi'ra is planning, so the clock is ticking.   But the Knights quit, leaving the Archivist with limited options.

Again, I'm actually intrigued by all that.  My complaint is that Soule uses an incredible amount of text boxes to get us there.  Qi'ra's conversation with Sidious alone takes up what feels like pages of text.  For a sequel to a sequel of an event that no one seems to want, Soule needs to kick it up a notch in subsequent issues now that he's set the stakes.