Star Wars (2025) #8
DESPERATE MEASURES
A dark plot by a group of Nagai pirates and the Zantarrk Gang has led LUKE SKYWALKER, RYNN ZENAT, HAN SOLO and BEILERT VALANCE across the galaxy searching for ways to stop the coming attack on the fledgling New Republic.
Soon, it was discovered that REYNA OSKURE, an Anzat witch and manipulator thought dead at the end of the BATTLE OF JAKKU, was pulling the strings of Pirrosi leader Almovar, causing much of the conflict between the New Republic, the Pirrosi and the Nagai.
Now Oskure has killed Almovar and overtaken the Fenril Consortium, as the Nagai rebels fight to liberate their home….
Writer: Alex Segura
Artist: Pete Woods
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Colorist: Pete Woods
Cover artist: Phil Noto
Editor: Mark Pannicia
Publication date: December 24 2025
We open issue 8 of the 2025 Marvel run of Star Wars with action, and as the scroll up receeds and we see the Millennium Falcon deep in the mire, fighters and laser fire erupting all around the freighter as a Star Destroyer looms behind, the world of Nagi filling the frame. As Han Solo dips and swerves from the dangers around we immediately cut to Chandrila and a panicked Mon Mothma, who runs from the briefing room to Leia’s quarters, telling the Princess that instead of pulling back, the Fenril Fleet instead headed for Nagi. Back in the cockpit of the Falcon, Luke and Rynn sit beside Valance as he tells Han they need to get the Falcon down on the surface, and we see a brilliantly kinetic frame of the Falcon evading TIE Fighters and then crunching the freighter onto the red surface, bodies spilling everywhere as they exit the ship with Jesrit, reunited with her people and determined to take back their planet.
Keen to get the ailing Rynn to a medic they take to speeders (and another fantastically drawn image that conveys their motion) and head for the encampments as the Nagai concern for Rynn grows. They believe the life force is being drained out of her, but as they spot another vehicle up ahead there’s a huge explosion as their speeder is destroyed, and concussed they watch Jesrit be taken captive by the Zantarrk gang
Cut to Han, Valance and New Republic Agent Bastion on the surface as they try to find the Zantarrk gang, Han hoping the Falcon can be patched up as they move into the city as he discusses the legacy of the fallen Garlev. They arrive outside the royal palace, and Bastion reveals that she put a tracker on Venk when she was following her on Kaltrais, and they move in as we head upstairs in the palace to Venk and Reyna Oskure as Jesrit and Rynn are brought before her. Here we learn that during the events of the Battle of Jakku series, Oskure captured Rynn and connected to her, draining her life force. Oskure is surprised she’s survived so long, much to Rynn’s shock as she has no memory of that happening. They spy Solo, Valance and Bastion on the security cameras, and sending Venk to take care of them, she knocks Jesrit to the floor with a solid punch as she declares the Nagai shall fall.
Cut to the desert and a bruised and concussed Luke Skywalker, stumbling along before collapsing in exhaustion as a Nagai hand is extended to help him. It’s a woman called Tuula, a member of Garlev’s line who believes in Jesrit and is here to help, telling Luke how her death would likely crush the Nagai spirit and end their rebellion. He asks to be taken to his friends as we cut again to the palace and a fierce firefight as Han, Valance and Bastion are pinned down, the cyborg making a break to take down more Stormtroopers and draw fire as Bastion does the same, drawing them off and telling them to get Venk before they comes back to help her out.
We see Han and Valance face Venk, Oskure’s enforcer getting two shots off to Solo’s one, which clips her on the shoulder, and now with the advantage he asks her where Jesrit and Rynn are. She refuses to answer, goading him to the point of almost ending her, but Valance stops him as she tells Han he is a spineless idealist, and as they walk away it’s Valance who turns, his palm blaster at full power as the blaster fire shears her head off. Solo is shocked, and we end the issue with Valance telling Han how the old Solo he’s known for many years would have taken that shot, but he’s a better man now, and as a friend Valance couldn’t allow him to fall back into that darkness.
Another action packed issue that moves along at a satisfying clip, but – and it’s a big but – the design and layout of modern comics means there’s no room for explaining who existing characters are without awkward speech bubble exposition, and that means having to sometimes scour previous reviews for character names. Also, there are a lot of characters referenced, which sometimes confuses the flow of the read, all things that old schoool narrative boxes could quickly eliminate.
It’s a frustrating hinderance to reading the issue, as the scripting from Alex Segura is first class and the artwork is sumptuous, with great characterisation and sense of motion from Pete Woods that few other artists who draw in such a near photorealistic manner can match. The gravity of the situation is clear, and conveyed well, but it’s still a hard read for reasons beyond the control of the creative team, which is a shame as the return of the Nagai (this time suffering an invasion rather than causing it as they did back in the original post-Return of the Jedi Marvel run 40 years ago) is a big deal with engaging characters that – and this is a compliment – might have worked better as a novel.
The major moment of the issue is the final few pages with Venk, Valance and Solo. As with the ongoing Hunt for the Falcon limited series, set a number of years on from where we are here, we’re filling in a lot of detail regarding the life and mindset of Han Solo post-Jedi, how his sense of purpose changed and mellowed and here we even get a genuinely massive moment as it’s Valance – one of Marvel’s very first original bad guys who had such a great run in Bounty Hunters and has himself turned a corner, now fighting on the side of the New Republic – who has enough control to be the one to end Venk and then tell Solo why. For motivation, foreshadowing and execution (literally) it’s a huge moment, and superbly crafted, arguably the highlight of the run so far.
As for 2025, the return of a new team on the flagship title is always going to attract interest, and this time out Marvel have matched a top notch writer with a superb artist, all wrapped in beautiful covers by the amazing Phil Noto. Here’s hoping 2026 continues to bring us engaging limited and ongoing series like this as we hurtle towards the 50th in 2027. I just wish that along with the opening scroll up we could also bring back the old school ‘Who’s Who In Star Wars‘ intro page to focus specifically on the new characters in a comic; it would make navigating issues so much easier (and just in case you’re reading this Marvel, I happen to know a guy who’d love to write them).
