In between the final scenes of The Empire Strikes Back, there’s still plenty that hasn’t been seen. Enter Star Wars #1 and learn about the untold escape from the Empire. Spoilers for Star Wars #1 follow.
Five years after Marvel published their first Star Wars #1 after reacquiring the rights, we have a new Star Wars #1. The previous series had plenty of ups and downs, but never ventured outside of the time period between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. It was getting stale. Now, with this fresh start to the series, being headlined by the fantastic team of Charles Soule and Jesus Saiz, it moves into new territory, the year between Empire and Return of the Jedi. By doing so, this new start moves into new territory in a great way.
The best thing that this issue does is take place immediately after the escape from Bespin at the end of Empire. In fact, the entirety of the issue takes place before the final scene of Empire. It provides so much extra context to the final scene, but in a way that only enhances what was already great. We get to see Leia, Lando, and Chewbacca arguing about surviving and not everything is simply ok after Lando’s betrayal. Plus, being able to see Luke’s mindset immediately after getting his hand cut off is illuminating for the character. He’s frustrated and angry which demonstrates that this really is a turning point for the character.
As for the rest of the issue, it brings the audience up to speed on what happened to the rest of the fleet that escaped Hoth. Well, most of it ended up being destroyed. Basically, this portion of the issue seems to be setting up the overarching story at large of Soule’s run, which is to show how the Rebellion got the fleet that they had in Return of the Jedi. It’s also nice to see him working in Kes Dameron and Shara Bey as he’s written Poe Dameron in the past. This is a solid set-up that ends the issue in a place where the story still isn’t caught up to the end of Empire.
Jesus Saiz’s art is absolutely wonderful as well. His realistic style meshes well with what the headline Star Wars series should have consistently, but it’s still very much his style. He captures emotions and body language so well that it’s so easy to tell what a character is thinking without any words. Then, taking into account his layouts and pacing, this is one of the best-looking Star Wars comics in a while. The art enhances every little thing about the dialogue, as well as simply looking gorgeous with any words.