Mike Mayhew

May the Fourth be With You!

Happy Star Wars Day from my corner of the galaxy to yours. Here’s to one of my favorite stories of all time, reminding us that hope is always there, and anyone can be a hero.

The debut series of rogue archaeologist, Miss – sorry, Doctor Aphra, was very forgettable, even though I like the character a lot – or at least her potential. I always want to see more women in the Star Wars universe – and queer women in the Star Wars universe, what a concept! (though it was very much tossed in at the end) – but Aphra’s debut series didn’t make much of an impression.

Aphra first debuted in Darth Vader’s series also penned by Kieron Gillen, as a minor character in Vader’s employment, but now she’s free and able to pursue her life’s work: stealing and profiting from ancient artifacts. (note: I read this before reading Vader and I met her briefly in Aaron’s Star Wars title.)

Aphra’s like a Star Wars version of Indiana Jones or Lara Croft, (wrote this then learned Gillen used Indy as inspiration), who shares Han’s snarkiness and comfort in the gray area between hero and villain. Aphra feels like a natural character in the Star Wars universe and she’s got a lot of potential. Gillen gives her a strong voice and it’s truly unclear whether she’s altogether good or bad. The way we learn Aphra is queer leaves no room for questioning it, but is also subtle enough that it’s just one of many aspects about her, which is so necessary these days.

(And I just have to mention, again, she’s one of very very very few queer women, and women of color, in Star Wars so it’s kind of a big deal. Though it would have also been nice if the creative team was one or more of those things – maybe eventually they’ll hand it off.)

But then, the plot goes sideways with her father and a confusing mythology story that seemed too big and important for one trade, but also wasn’t given a whole lot of time. This is where the book lost me. Even though Gillen gives lil boop and her dad time to (predictably) work things out, it isn’t really her story when it’s primarily centered around her dad’s life’s work. Aphra’s compatriots, Black Krrstantan, Beetee and Triple Zero had some nice quips, but I had trouble getting beyond how they’re just an inverted image of Chewie, Artoo and Threepio. Finally I wasn’t crazy about the art, which had more than a few sloppy panels, and didn’t bring any “wow” moments, especially from the fight scenes, that really elevated the early volumes of Aaron’s Star Wars title.

I’ll give the next volume a shot. Until then, I’ll dream of a time when a queer woman of color’s creative team isn’t all white dudes…over seven volumes. Sheesh.

Star Wars vol 4: Last Flight of the Harbinger
by Jason Aaron, Mike Mayhew, Jorge Molina, Chris Eliopoulos
collects Star Wars Annual #20-25
volume one | two | three | four

Even though it’s better than volume 3, Last Flight of the Harbinger still leaves a lot to be desired.

Harbinger begins with another one shot of Ben’s time on Tattooine, babysitting Luke from afar. Mayhew’s photorealistic art is amazing but the stories have no substance or consequence – though it was fun to see Black Krrsantan make an appearance right after reading Dr Aphra. I know there’s only so much Aaron can do in this timeline, but it had better be leading up to something – and what about some time with Aunt Beru? Has there ever been ANY story about her?

The main arc sees Luke, Han, Leia and Sana hijack a Star Destroyer in order to save a Rebellion-sympathizing planet under the Imperial’s blockade. It’s a cool concept, but the character work is still weak. Han and Leia won’t stop bickering, and it’s more than tired at this point. We all know their romantic tension can’t be resolved until after Episode V, and I’m really dismayed that Aaron still can’t find any better character development for them, as if there isn’t any more to Han and Leia’s characters than sexual tension. Sana, who seemed to be brought in less as a full fledged character and more as a shit-stirrer, isn’t given more personality or much to do; it was refreshing to see her paired with Luke, but their scene doesn’t go anywhere. Aaron also introduces the Scar Squad, an elite squad of Stormtroopers – like an Imperial version of the Bad Batch in Clone Wars – and the backstory behind Sergeant Kreel was surprisingly compelling.

Jorge Molina’s art is alright. I love his starship battle scenes and he does a beautiful job rendering ships, space, and movement all alongside speech bubbles, which is not a small feat. But I’m not a fan of Molina’s button noses, which threw off all the characters for me, except maybe Sana.

Aaron’s Star Wars title isn’t high on my list, but it was an easy read (especially on May the 4th!) and I’ll give volume five a look when I’m up for it.

Darth Vader vol 1: Vader
by Kieron Gillen, Salvador Larocca & Edgar Delgado
collects Darth Vader #1-6

Vader was a quick read that helped connect the dots with Aphra and the main Star Wars title. It was moderately enjoyable but far from my favorite book this year.

As the only survivor of the Death Star’s destruction, Vader is the target of Palpatine’s wrath and gets a big ol demotion. He’s now the pawn of General Tagge who only sees him as a brute force. But of course Vader won’t have that, as he recruits familiar and new faces to find Luke and build himself an army.

Gillen’s restricted by the later films, and so it’s never a question that Vader gets back on top. Enjoying the story depends on how much one likes Vader, and/or any investment in the secondary and mostly original cast: rogue archaeologist Dr. Aphra, assassin versions of 3PO and R2D2, mercenary wookie Black Krrsantan, and some other minor cameos. (And Palpatine, I guess. Is anyone a fan of Palpatine?) The events in this volume nicely tie into Aaron’s first Star Wars volume, but most importantly, Gillen has a strong handle on Vader’s ruthless and calculating voice, with just enough pain underneath the surface, but only for the reader to fully understand. Vader is far from my favorite Star Wars character, but Gillen hits the right notes here. The final reveal – for Vader at least – is handled beautifully, and answers a big question in Star Wars canon.

What I didn’t get was how Vader found all the time to multitask right after becoming Tagge’s errand boy, and there’s nothing like an alien bug queen screaming “my womb! my children!” for my inner feminist to cringe a bit.

I’m torn on the art. Larocca’s pencils felt very shaky and inconsistent, and he constantly drew characters who were speaking with their mouths closed, which bothered me for some reason. Delgado’s colors are phenomenal, adding in some lovely shading and Vader-helmet shininess that elevate Larocca’s pencils and really make the story feel like Star Wars.

Vader is unnecessary but helpful for this new landscape of Marvel comics, and a must for Vader fans. Personally, I’m not sure I’ll continue with volume two – it depends on how many other Star Wars comics I read and if I feel it’s necessary.

by Jason Aaron, Kieron Gillen, Mike Mayhew, Angel Unzueta, Leinil Francis Yu
collects Star Wars Annual #1, 15-19
volume one | two | three | four

The third volume of Jason Aaron’s Marvel Star Wars series is….just very, very meh. It starts off strong at least, with Star Wars Annual #1, written not by Aaron but Kieron Gillen. Rebel spy Eneb Ray’s one shot was dark and powerful, much stronger than the Obi Wan single-issue story last volume, even though he’s part of the main films. But apparently rebel spies still have a diversity issue: of all the spies on Coruscant, all but one were white dudes. Come on, white dude creators! This is…Star Wars…oh yeah.

also, on a spoiler note: putting the Star Wars Annual with Ray makes sense in context of the main story, but it also makes the “big villain reveal” painfully obvious.

Unfortunately, the rest of the story is so so and things go downhill from there. Aaron still has the voices down but it’s tough to create an engaging story without much room for creativity between episode IV and V.

But finally, the volume does manage something few Star Wars movies have accomplished: pass the Biechdel test. Dr Aphra, rogue archaeologist and employee of Darth Vader (who has her own series) is caught and arrested by Leia and Sana who take her to a maximum security prison, where the A plot spends its time. There are still some unnecessary, gratuitous shots, but it was nice to at least see women leading the more important plot, and Leia up to something other than bantering with Solo – with perhaps some actual development about how ruthless she’s willing to be to win the war. At least, until a forced “don’t tell us girls what to do” moment basically ruins it.

Luke and Han are barely given anything to do, even though they get the cover (and it’s once again a terrible, awkward looking one for Luke). This boring and truly awful B plot leans solely on Leia’s nerf herder line from Episode V. It is positively cringe worthy and doesn’t make the original line any funnier. This doesn’t bode well for the rest of the series.

So the book is, ironically, strongest when focused on original characters, rather than just the trinity of Luke, Leia and Han. The artist changes every few issues have a clear effect on the quality, especially because if the photo realistic style.

Finally, I mentioned the Obi-Wan one shot and he gets another one here. It’s also terribly boring, about helping Luke out on Tattooine as a child. Even though the art is stunning, Obi-Wan isn’t really given much to do (though we do get a rare sighting of Uncle Owen) and it doesn’t seem like these one shots are building to anything important that might tie into the main story. There’s a lot of room for interesting storytelling, and it would have been nice to give Obi’s new TV series some good material to work from – no such thing here.

Worth volume four? Not sure. I can’t tell you exactly what I’m looking for from these comics – it’s impossible to recapture the original films’ magic, no matter what medium new stories are being told on – but I also think the stories could be stronger. I think there is room for character development and Aaron isn’t taking it quite far enough. There are enough other books on my list, but if I get lazy, Star Wars is right there on Comixology Unlimited waiting for me. Sigh.