Marvel has been quite good at tying Star Wars comics to the Galaxy’s Edge theme parks, and this week the Halcyon gets all the attention. Disney’s hotel experience, Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser, takes place on the Halcyon, which gets a new series from Ethan Sacks and Will Sliney this week. One can assume the ship has quite a history and if you’re even slightly interested in the immersive adventure, this comic gives you a general vibe of what to expect. That and it’s a Star Wars adventure with Jedi, pirates, and more!
As a reader who dabbles in new Star Wars lore but doesn’t read it all (I’ve yet to explore The High Republic), this is an interesting reading experience. There are characters featured that feel like they’ve been introduced before, but it’s unclear. That makes this read a bit distant and hard to get into at times, but if you’re patient there’s still something to be said about what it offers.
Star Wars: The Halcyon Legacy #1 opens with a father and daughter being greeted on the Halcyon, which is likely mimicking the experience of going to Disney’s newest hotel. Soon, we’re privy to an impressive double-page splash of the ship itself, which is a cool design. There is also an interesting droid who has a different look than what we’ve come to expect. This is set during the First Order era, so it’s a much more modern look as well.
I know them!
Credit: Marvel
As the story goes, a pirate ship wants information on board and is willing to kill everyone to get it. There’s a fun mech involved, plenty of cool looking ships, and some Jedi action too. Thrown in is a nice call back to Anakin and Padmé, although it’s just a one-pager to give us a sense of the history on this ship. This callback makes you want more, but instead, the narrative focuses on the pirate attack.
The Jedi in this story are involved in an attack that’s 265 years old. The specific year is because it’s the High Republic era and the Jedi Burryaga is the main character of this narrative. The Wookiee is paired with Nib Assek who both are instrumental in saving the day. Ultimately, the narrative shows us how the previous pirate attack went down in the past right before the new pirate attack takes place in the present.
There are a few clunky moments in the narrative, with Burryaga reacting to things but it’s unclear what they are doing. The last two panels are an example of the clunkiness too, as we see a character say “The pirate ship is going to fire! It’s going to fi…” and they get cut off by a shot of the ship shooting lasers. We really didn’t need a character saying this, which makes moments like this seem like they’re for a younger audience. In that case, it makes sense, but the general feel of the book feels more like it’s for teens and adults.
The look of Burryaga doesn’t quite work at all times, in part because Wookiees can’t express themselves through words or even their facial expressions in every case. The look of the ships works great though, as well as the High Republic look of the Jedi and their lightsabers. The action is great and punchy too with an excellent array of lightsaber action. Colors by Rachelle Rosenberg are solid, separating ships from the black space behind them well and putting extra details into explosions.
For the Star Wars superfan, The Halcyon Legacy is going to be a must-read experience. It’s also cool to see some backstory for the ship you’ll be able to stay on in the new theme park starting March 1st. As a casual fan who hasn’t read the High Republic era much, though, this story feels a bit distant and hard to get into.
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