Star Wars (2020) #27
THE GOOD PEOPLE
The Rebel Alliance hopes to shift the tide of the Galactic Civil War, believing time is on their side.
Elsewhere, construction is underway at an Imperial black facility codenamed Second Sun. Disillusioned with the evils of the Empire, Lieutenant Melton and his wife Bevelyn serve as double agents for Crimson Dawn. Qi’ra has activated these operatives, tasking them with exposing the Imperial facility to the Rebel Alliance.
In order to slip away undetected, the couple disposed of Major Sharin and hijacked her Imperial shuttle. They escaped with their children and have threatened the secret of Second Sun: the construction of a second Death Star….
Writer: Charles Soule
Artist: Andres Genolet
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Colorist: Rachelle Rosenberg
Cover artist: E. M. Gist
Editor: Mark Paniccia
Publication date: September 7, 2022
Is there a worse possible situation than fleeing the Death Star in a stolen shuttle, your partner beside you and your children hiding behind, when a call comes from the Death Stars commander demanding to speak to the deceased commander lying in the hold? If there is, it’s not in the opening pages of Star Wars #27, and this is where we find Melton and Bevelyn as they race to escape the gravity well of the dreaded battle station as Moff Jerjerrod calls.
Desperate times demand desperate measures but also cool heads, which are not on display as they quickly claim that the dead commander is currently comming Coruscant, something quickly discovered to be a lie by Jerjerrod who scrambles fighters to intercept them. Melton decides to contact the Alliance to trade knowledge of the battle station for coordinates to a safe location, which a trio of TIE Interceptors scream towards them and their terrified children. Their message is received, but with Rebel transmissions hacked in the recent past, the operators are reticent to believe their story without corroboration and orders from up the chain. Meanwhile, the TIE’s catch up with the shuttle, lacing into it and taking out half of their shields as Melton realises the shuttle already has coordinates logged in and hopes against hope it takes them somewhere safe.
We cut to the Rebel Fleet where Lando is checking on his friend Lobot in the communications room and sees the message, claiming it’s too convenient to be the real thing and warning it’s a trap. The message is then sent further up the chain as the shuttle exits hyperspace over Al’Doleem where they instantly find trouble as more TIE’s race towards them. They figure out the weapons systems, taking down a TIE and jump to their next location, the capital of the galaxy Coruscant and here we see a fascinating scene as the cockpit of their Lambda-class T-4a shuttle detaches into an escape pod (something we’re seeing for the first time in the Canon era but happened before in Legends), rippling in flame through the Coruscant skies to skid to a stop on Level 2685. The locals arrive but seeing the Empire on their tail opt not to get involved, so the family runs. We end the issue switching to the Rebel fleet as General Syndulla looks at the recent intelligence they’ve received, including the message from the shuttle and we finish with Luke claiming he has ‘a good feeling about it.‘
Wow, now that’s an issue, continuing a golden run for the title which traditionally has the most weight to carry and as a consequence the brightest spotlight upon it. The art from Andres Genolet is easy on the eye – let’s hope he’s sticking around for a while – while the script and story from Charles Soule is on point as always. It’s subtle, but there’s been a very clear crossing of the line, from running off the events of The Empire Strikes Back to being on the run in to Return of the Jedi, which don’t forget celebrates its 40th anniversary next year (FORTY YEARS!). On this form, we’re in for something really special to celebrate the end of the original trilogy.
Star Wars: Star Wars #28 from Star Wars by Charles Soule published by Marvel Comics @ ForbiddenPlanet.com – UK and Worldwide Cult Entertainment Megastore
