SPOILER Jelena’s Review of Star Wars #21

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“The Last Flight of the Harbinger” STARTS NOW!

• Sgt. Kreel is back with an all-new squad of stormtroopers!
• Go inside the minds of an elite group of Imperial soldiers!
• Join incoming artist Jorge Molina for a walk on the dark side!

Writen by Jason Aaron
Art by Jorge Molina
Colors by Matt Milla
Cover Art by David Aja

For the first time since Marvel started its new Star Wars run, we are given the arc from the Imperial point of view namely Scar Squadron a.k.a. Task Force 99 led by our old acquaintance Sergeant Kreel from the arc Showdown on the Smuggler’s Moon when he worked undercover as Gamemaster and acted as Luke’s lightsaber teacher. We know that he answers directly to Darth Vader.

Gamemaster and Luke, Star Wars #10

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The issue serves both as a set up for the new arc and the backstory for Kreel. As the Imperial forces pursue the Rebel ship, we learn that Kreel was born on Chagar IX run by criminal organization. The life revolved around the fighting pits in which the poor people fought and died, including Kreel’s father. He expected that to be his entire life, until the Empire came and brought peace and order to Chagar.

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Kreel’s squad pursues Rebels to an abandoned moon. It is interesting to see Rebels from their perspective. They consider them terrorists. It was especially funny what these elite stormtroopers think of Rebel soldiers, considering the history. They certainly don’t have a standard equipment.

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We learn that after Nar Shaddaa Kreel was offered to choose any assignment he wanted and he chose hunting rebels with the Scar Squadron. He is still new to his men who don’t know anything about his past and wait for him to prove himself or die. Of course, the former Gamemaster has a few aces up his sleeve.

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Kreel’s squad kills most of the Rebels and captures an important prisoner – Admiral Sitrep, from which they plan to extract the information.

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This is a very interesting issue though it doesn’t offer much of the story. It certainly continues the trend of the new timeline to give us a behind-the-curtain look at the workings of the Empire, especially at those who serve it with such loyalty. It seems that Kreel’s story is similar to that of Rae Sloane: the world strangled by tycoons to which Empire brings peace, order and even hope.

Additionally, Kreel’s squad is not made of your ordinary (read: useless) bucketheads. These are all specialists in their respective fields and war veterans who, even in fewer numbers, easily deal with untrained Rebels. Aaron also gives us a typical soldier’s banter among them – among men who were fighting together for a long time. In spite of never seeing their faces, you get that there are personalities behind them, they even talk back at Kreel and question his actions – something your ordinary stormtrooper would never do.

Molina’s art does well in capturing those personalities in armor details and design and manages to show us that Scar Squad is a genuine threat. According to Marvel’s editors, their design was inspired by the Bad Batch, never aired episodes of The Clone Wars. It’s not easy to make that recognizable armor seem dynamic and movements swift, but Molina does a great job. It also helps that he portrays the Rebels exactly how the Empire sees them – as a bunch of scruffy-looking nerf herders. Matt Milla’s prevailing purples and oranges perfectly compliment Molina’s depiction of this desolate moon.

Now that they established this group of Imperial badasses, I am really looking forward to reading more about them and especially about Kreel. I am curious to see how our heroes get out of this one because it seems that they will be in the thick of it.



NEXT ISSUE:

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The Star Destroyer Harbinger, a massive weapon of Imperial war.

Also the target of the rebels’ new top-secret plan.

Join Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Leia Organa for “The Last Flight of the Harbinger”!