Star Wars #6

BOY! Does this book have a bunch of “WTF?!?” moments or what?? I wasn’t sure what to expect going in, after last month teasing exactly who was supposed to have a bit of a face-off (not unlike the Luke v. Vader matchup from the first arc) and then there was all of the clickbait-y articles out there talking about THAT big reveal. Man, Marvel really hasn’t pulled any punches in taking out all the stops and really turning this relaunched line into it’s own entity, have they?

Hopefully nobody is reading this who hasn’t read or at least heard of what has been going on with Star Wars, if so, I will throw this out there right now, before we continue **SPOILERS** **SPOILERS** **SPOILERS**

So this issue drops us right into Boba Fett’s lap, after he busted down Obi-Wan’s door and threw a flashbang at Luke, blinding him. So already, Luke is at a severe disadvantage, beyond just being inexperienced and hunted by a bounty hunter (granted, that bounty hunter gets beaten, and eaten, by basically just a giant pothole in the desert with teeth, so…). It was a really interesting fight to see, and I loved the visuals for that sequence- the final splash page was a really great Rock-Apollo type moment, just as the story shifted back over to Han and Leia.

Speaking of Han and Leia- WHAT THE WHAT? Han takes Leia to some crazy hidden planet where he stores wine and blankets and stuff- did Han just bring Leia to some creepy mackdaddy planet where he puts the moves on every princess he meets? It was really odd that this place was so readily available, and that due to Han’s eagerness to avoid Imperial capture he came across a little bit creepy. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE Han Solo, if he took me to this planet and plyed me with expensive and probably illegal wine, I would swoon. But it just seemed a bit heavy-handed, for such a scruffy nerfherder.

After Han has been thoroughly rebuffed by Leia, we head back over the Luke v. Fett, and get a nice bit of back and forth between them, with Luke starting to feel a bit more confident in his abilities as a Jedi, and using the Force (since he is still blinded from the flash grenade). I really liked when Luke says “A Jedi can feel the Force flowing through him” and Boba counters with a “feel this!” and we see a close-up shot of his blaster barrel firing at Luke. That moment for me, felt the most like a truly cinematic moment- not unlike the one where Han shot first (yes, I know- “Han Shot First” has been a thing for a long time, but that new original draft of the first Star Wars script came out and CLEARLY states that Han shot first, so I had to bring it up). Luke finishes Boba off (only to the point of unconsciousness, not death) and has R2 lead him out of Obi-Wan’s place, with the box labeled “For Luke” under his arm. What a nice high point for Luke to end on here, I’m sure that Han and Leia are canoodling gently on their deserted planet and things aren’t being completely upended and the whole internet isn’t in an uproar over the big reveal that they get in this issue- but just to play Devil’s Advocate, let’s check in on them anyway, shall we?

Han and Leia are having a bit of spirited roleplaying, that I like to call “The Scoundrel and Her Worshipfulness”, when all of a sudden (who knew anything like this was coming- cant we have ANYTHING nice?!?!) the masked and vaguely female character who had been hunting Han finally makes her debut in all her glory (and also, she is in a ship that looks an AWFUL LOT like the Falcon- did anyone else catch that???) and she reveals herself to be Sana Solo- Han’s wife…

HAN HAS A WIFE?!?!? Since flipping WHEN?!?! Lolol, sorry. I couldn’t help myself. This was a major twist that I didn’t see coming- and judging from the last panel where Han has his head slumped down and his forehead in his hand, he didn’t see this happening either. I really like this revelation, mostly because it introduces new female characters into the most unfriendly-towards-women universe basically ever… This series had a total of like 5 females who had any sort of impact in six total films, so they need some more badass ladies to take all these dudes down a peg or two every once in a while- and it looks like Sana is here to do JUST THAT to Han.

It would seem that Sana knows Han pretty well, she staked out his little hideout, and knew that he is a liar to a fault- so she may be his real, lawfully wedded wife. Who knows? That is to be discovered in the issues that follow, and I for one cant wait to find out…

Luke then opens his giftbox and finds inside the journals of Ben Kenobi- I am not exactly sure what he can find out in these pages that he doesn’t actually find out much later on in the films (so he couldn’t really figure out the truth about Vader any time soon) but it could be the catalyst that Luke needs to find his place as a Jedi amongst the rebellion.

Finally, we see Boba return to Vader to tell him of his failure to capture the boy who blew up the Death Star- this goes about as well as could be expected, the only thing that saves Boba from a thorough Force-choking is the fact that he has a date with a Sarlaac Pit that he has to keep. It was strange to see that Boba found out Luke’s name, and that he was able to report that back to Vader, and that Darth Vader (aka Anakin Skywalker) doesn’t really just go on some sort of soul-searching type mission to really get himself at peace (temporarily- until Return of the Jedi, anyway) with the fact that he will have to kill his own son to redeem himself to his Sith Master… The final page of the issue was beautiful, with Vader’s rage reaching out with his Force powers and fracturing the glass around him in a very Imperial-looking pattern, I liked that he finally realized who this upstart backwater pilot is who dealt his regime such a massive blow, and that the person ultimately responsible for ALL OF THIS is Darth Vader himself (though, I personally, just blame Hayden Christiansen, he did it all himself) because if he had kept his Jedi vows and not gotten involved with Padme, he would have never given rise to who will ultimately be his downfall (which is only a **SPOILER** if you haven’t seen Return of the Jedi- and you really should have by now, so that’s on you!).

This series has been really, really enjoyable, and I am glad that it is making a point to change things up- if it had just been another run of the mill Star Wars book, I don’t think that it would have been as popular as it is, or have spawned as many secondary titles to go along with it (chief among them the upcoming LANDO SERIES!!!!! SIGN ME UP!!). The books are only growing in popularity, and they show no signs of slowing- with all the crazy moments this book has (like the two from this issue) I am sure the internet has more than enough ammunition to talk about this issue of Star Wars until the next one is out and even more crazy things get revealed and invoke an all new, even bigger barrage of nerd-rage.

But I have enjoyed reading this book, and the others as well, and I think that there is no reason not to be reading these books- they are all into like third and fourth printings, so they shouldn’t be all that difficult to come by, plus digital is a great, and easy way to get ahold of these books too! So go get them, and may the Force be with you, always…