“Mutiny at Mon Cala” continues this week as Han, Leia, Luke, and Chewie attempt a major heist. The heist is to acquire the Mon Cala king and it requires some sneaking, snooping, and the aid of a shape-changing alien. Just another Tuesday for these rebels.
So what’s it about?
See the preview for yourself.
Why does this matter?
This third part of the arc continues the quest of our heroes, which ties them closer to the Mon Calamari, a race that hasn’t gotten the most attention in the main canon. The Mon Cala planet of Dac is an intriguing location, probably too expensive to put on film anyway, so it’s nice to see it get the attention it deserves here.
Fine, you have my attention. What’s good about it?
You don’t see shapeshifters in Star Wars stories that much.
Salvador Larroca dazzles with the ships and architecture in this issue. The Moncaladrome is impressive in its scope and beauty. Later a ship I’ve never seen in the Star Wars universe pops up and its design is gorgeous and cool. We also get a massive alien at the end to feast our eyes on. Larroca can do sci-fi like no other!
The story has an Ocean’s Eleven vibe to it showing how Leia is the brains and Chewie and Han are the brawn. Luke helps too and gets knocked for being too short for a stormtrooper, and the caper is an entertaining one. It’s stories like this that remind readers the possibilities for stories in this universe, using the classic heroes, are endless.
Your mission, if you choose to accept it.
It can’t be perfect can it?
Aside from the pros above this story ends up being a fun, but distractingly pointless adventure. The characters do and say things, but it’s all hanging on a plot that is very thin not deserving of an entire issue. Maybe it’s the scope of the heist or the lack of how they acquired certain things to pull it off (an enjoyable aspect of all capers usually visualized in montage).
Speaking of getting to the details I was a tad lost at points in the story. Take for instance a moment where C3PO is given responsibility. I’m not exactly sure where he is or what that even means. I assume he has to keep the shape changer alive, but we haven’t seen him integrate with the party so have no idea the stakes. There’s no clear shot of the heroes entering Moncaladrome which is only one of many parts of the plan that are glossed over.
Is It Good?
There are beautiful science fiction elements you can feast your eyes on, and some fun heist action going on, but overall this is a chapter easily skipped. I’m still sticking around to see where the arc goes, but this issue is clunky.
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