Sana Starros #2
FAMILY MATTERS
PART TWO: ALL IN THE FAMILY
Sana Starros has made her way across the galaxy, pulling heists with Han Solo, getting mixed up with Doctor Aphra, and everything in between. After a bad breakup, Sana decides to chart a new path….
Upon returning to the Starros family homestead, Sana is greeted by her Grammy Thea Starros and cousin Aryssha, who is pregnant with the first children of the next generation of the Starros family! There’s only one complication: The father is an Imperial Officer named Cerasus Ehllo who is NOT fond of the Starros family and who ordered an attack on the family’s home to retrieve Aryssha and have the children born into Imperial care.
But now Sana, Grammy, and Aryssha’s mother, Mevera, are hot on the trail of the Imperials, seeking to retrieve both Aryssha and a slot family heirloom….
Writer: Justina Ireland
Artist: Pere Pérez
Letterer: Travis Lanham
Colorist: Jay David Ramos
Cover artist: Ken Lashley
Editor: Mark Paniccia
Publication date: March 8, 2023
Just like trouble follows Chelli Aphra around the galaxy like a bad smell, so strife sticks to Sana Starros like that awkward sheet of toilet paper you don’t realise you stepped on in the loo, and while we open with her abducted sister Aryssha aboard the Imperial vessel Kings Ransom deep in hyperspace, trying to charmingly find out where she is and playing on the weight of her pregnancy to avoid trouble, we quickly switch to Sana, her aunt Mevera and Grammy aboard the vector Bundle as they pick up unwanted attention in the shape of bounty hunters guild member Marl Jibs as he hunts down Mevera, who he knows after she stole his girlfriend on Hon-Tallos. Veering left and right, they play for time until Mevera reveals their new weapon, an Ion Cannon which she stole in lieu of payment, hence the bounty on her head.
With Jibs taken care of, they set course for the Dalnan Sector as Grammy gives Sana a bit of family history about her ancestor Avon Starros. A genius who discovered a way to increase the power output of crystals, a discovery she quickly realised was potentially dangerous and hid the information only for a young Grammy to find many years later. Stolen by the Empire, this is what they are trying to get back and while the fate of Avon is unknown, the family bickering continues as Grammy retires and Mevera and Sana continue to talk, about Arysha and her predicament and Sana’s brother.
Back on the Kings Ransom Arysha is trying her best to discern where they are headed, while her Imperial beau Cerasus is evasive, trying his best to avoid giving any privileged information away while his lieutenant reveals that they have had a breakthrough figuring out the algorithm. Arysha raises an eyebrow at this, and we cut back to Sana dreaming of days past as she’s woken up by Grammy as they learn that Arysha has sent a message to say she’s safe and trying to force a detour, but as yet doesn’t know where she is. With that information revealed, they head to an impressive station, where we learn that not only was Grammy formerly known as Starfall Starros, a sniper for Enfys Nest, but the person they’re there to meet is Deva Lompop, the cover star of issue 2 who turns up in the final page.
Now we’re 2 issues in the intrigue is growing, as are the details of the familial relationships, something that in the first issue felt slightly forced but here in the second has bedded in thanks to a month of chewing over that first issue and layering on with more reveals. Sana and Mereva continue to bicker, as we see once again that Arysha is far sharper than her Imperial husband might believe. With deva and her coterie coming into play in the third issue and the fascinating reveal that ‘Starfall’ once fought with Enfys Nest, another character we’d love to see more of (hey, if we can have the return of Qi’ra, why not Enfys?). More intriguing than essential right now, but definitely heading in the right direction.
