Comics are a great way to expand on stories up on the big screen, especially Star Wars. With actors aging out of roles or budgets scarce to explore characters fully, comics like Star Wars: Mace Windu can deliver meaningful stories about characters more than worthy of further tales. Sam Jackson may never play Mace Windu again, but Marvel Comics can via writer Marc Bernardin and artist Georges Jeanty. The first issue kicks off this week, set before Mace joined the Jedi Council but a Jedi that is as powerful as ever.
The adventure of a Jedi going solo and acting as a peacemaker in the universe is strong in this first issue. The story opens with Mace escaping an underwater prison and swimming in a fishing boat. Commandeering the ship by controlling the captain’s mind, he’s soon on the trail of droids attempting to escape. Soon, we learn of a proper McGuffin Mace is after, and see him on his merry way to accomplish a task Master Yoda has asked of him.
There are a few key elements fans of Star Wars will find here that’ll wet their whistle. One is strange alien worlds with thriving cultures. Another is lightsaber slashing action. Yet another is a McGuffin tied to intricate ways things work in the universe. In this case, it’s an energy source that would allow ships to go even faster and could give villains in the universe an edge over the Jedi. There’s also a bit of Mace’s mastery in tactical fighting present, which should please hardcore fans.
It’s a chase!
Credit: Marvel
The problem I have with this issue, though, is the slow pace and plotting. It feels like there are more panels than there need to be for Mace to exit the Yoda scene or stop the droids in the opening scene. By the end of the issue, there is a total of three scenes, one of which has nothing to do with the main plot, yet it takes up seven pages. It’s cool to see Mace do some detective work, and Bernardin captures that well through captions, but not enough is happening visually to entertain from cover to cover. It also doesn’t help the two main action scenes are chase scenes which makes the issue slow and a bit samesy.
That isn’t to say Jeanty delivers bad art, far from it. The style is very clean and suits Marvel’s line of Star Wars comics. Inks by Dexter Vines and colors by Andrew Dalhouse give nice depth and detail to faces. Yoda, in particular, looks great. It’s also fun to see little details like Yoda with a bit of hair, reminding us when this takes place. There’s also an epic reveal of a city inside an iceberg that gives a sense of what Mace is in for on his search.
Star Wars: Mace Windu #1 is an okay start to a story that has tons of potential. Mace Windu is not yet on the council and still serving as a solo-mission Jedi who is perfectly capable of pulling off a mission of any size. It’s just that this story is too slow for its own good, with at least the next issue necessary to see if it’s worth further reading.
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