The Good

This is how Star Wars comics should be done. Even though this story takes place between Episodes IV and V, there is still a sense that anything could happen. Seeing the details the story unfold as we witness elements unseen in the movies, you can't help but enjoy the story. With our heroes split, we're getting action on different fronts. Seeing Leia try to find a new Rebel base and weed out a possible Imperial spy is fascinating. We also get to see Han and Chewbacca face incredible odds as well as Darth Vader try to deal with getting the second Death Star underway for the Emperor. And anytime we get to see Vader unleash his anger, we're in for a treat.

It's almost strange seeing this story take place. As we see each new element, you can't help but want more. Brian Wood understands the characters and the timeline and it's a great feeling not knowing how this story will end.

Carlos D'Anda's art is surprisingly good as usual. I often have issues with the art and color in sic-fi comics. While a couple of the characters' likeness might be off a tad, the environments, ships and droids are look amazing. The detail of a close up shot of R2-D2 or Darth Vader's mask clearly shows the care taken in making this a quality comic and not just one with 'Star Wars' slapped on the cover.

The Bad

With separate plot elements involving Han and Chewie, Leia and Wedge, Luke as well as Darth Vader aboard the second Death Star, we almost have too much going on. Because we have certain number of pages each issue, it feels like we're not getting enough time to delve into each character. There is a big feeling of wanting more. That can be good but once the character's portion of the issue is over, you don't really see them appear again.

Chewbacca does some fancy shooting by sticking his head out the top of the Millennium Falcon and shooting some tie fighters with his bowcaster. I could be wrong and maybe he's not actually using his bowcaster but instead a more powerful gun, it still seems a bit much to take on a tie fighter.

Luke's role in the issue is almost nonexistent. It makes sense that he can't be the center focus all the time but he barely has a chance to do anything. Also we see Boba Fett's Slave I in a single panel. It felt like it was just thrown in there to remind us he could have a presence here.

The Verdict

I can't remember the last time I enjoyed a Star Wars comic as much as I'm enjoying this one. Brian Wood definitely knows what he's doing with these cherished characters and the art by Carlos D'Anda and colors by Gabe Eltaeb truly do this franchise justice. As we are now in the fourth issue, it would be nice to see a little more progress in the overall story. By having so many characters and having them separated, it divides the story into different sections that interrupts the flow of the issue a bit. Regardless, this is still a highly enjoyable comic. You can't help but want more with each page you turn. We may know what happens next to the characters but there's no telling what will happen in these pages. It's not many comics that could carry the singular title STAR WARS with no subtitle. This one is definitely worthy of that honor.

ALL HAIL ALEX ROSS.

My thoughts exactly

I am really loving this story. It doesn't bother me that it jumps around to different plots throughout. What happened to the free digital issue on this one though?

@djjluv: It was only temporary. They were going to drop it after issue three.

Nice review :). Love me some star wars.

I agree with most of the bad. I think the idea of this comic is cool, but I found myself just glossing my way through the issue without really caring what happened on any individual page.