After closing out Vader’s ‘War on Incompetence’ in last month’s issue, this month’s installment focuses on Princess Leia’s decision to marry a prince for the sake of bringing a powerful new ally into the Rebel Alliance. Is it good?
Star Wars #15 (Dark Horse Comics)
Did you just read the primer right above this part? Good, because that’s about all we get out of this one.
Things start off with Leia dressed to the nines as she meets her future husband (and not too bad looking of a guy), the Prince Kaspar of Arrochar. Before the ceremony, it is revealed that she got chewed out by Wedge for making such a strange decision without any regard for her own heart (because Wedge is all about being in touch with your emotions). She valiantly defends the decision, however, as being for the good of the Rebellion.
Later, Leia goes into a high level meeting with officials from her future husband’s home planet. In case you hadn’t yet figured out yet something was amiss, one of them actually puts his hands together in the universal sign for “evil scheming” as the arrangements are being made. And just to make sure you know that a double cross is in the works, MORE nefarious conversations are revealed in which Arrochar’s officials state that they care little for the Rebellion’s plight.
Meanwhile, Luke is angry that his sister, who he still had a crush on at the time, likes another dude. I suppose his reaction could be explained away as him simply being concerned for her, but the incestuous rage he displays while acting like a jackass during Rogue Squadron’s flying drills makes for some pretty uncomfortable reading.
“I thought that Leia and I could be like the Lannisters one day…”
Oh yeah…and Han decides to cut ties with the hot blue-haired chick who helped him and Chewy escape from Coruscant a few issues ago. Wow…all the dudes in this issue are making some pretty terrible decisions.
Is It Good?
One of the things that Brian Wood has done so well in this series is take characters we know the fates of (since this all takes place between Episodes IV and V) and still crank out compelling stories.
We all know that Leia isn’t going to marry Prince Kaspar or that the Rebel Alliance isn’t going to be stationed for very long on Arrochar. But at this point, the entire things feels like a very ‘by the book’ arranged marriage plot for a sci-fi/fantasy story.
There are a few interesting elements, however, that could make this one good down the line. Leia and Kaspar have a private conversation which indicates that there may actually be something between them…including a hidden agenda. Also, Luke being angry usually leads to something crazy happening. Unfortunately, the reason he’s angry is a pretty unsavory one, even if his sister is the 1980’s version of Carrie Fischer.
The artwork by Stephanie Crety is also very good. My knock on the ‘evil faces’ from before was probably more of a script issue than anything. And in her defense on that front, there are a couple of other moments, particularly one right before Leia enters the greeting ceremony with Prince Kaspar, where her facial work adds quite a bit to the story. That attention to detail, combined with some excellently penciled X-Wing flight scenes, were by far the best parts of the book.
“Cut the chatter…and who is playing ‘Sister’ by Prince over their in cabin speakers?”
The story, on the other hand, is a bit of a let down. Let’s hope that this was all just an overly dense setup for what will end up being another great story arc for the series.
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