SPOILER Kyle's Review: Marvel's Star Wars #26 Featuring Yoda!!

It’s been a rough week for Star Wars fans. There aren’t many words of comfort we can take in the wake of losing Carrie Fisher, other than she lived a very full life. She will be missed, but certainly never even close to forgotten. As life continues through loss, so does Star Wars. This week Marvel began an exciting new arc in the titular series featuring the little, green Jedi Master himself, Yoda. SPOILERS AHEAD…



At the conclusion of the previous arc, “The Last Flight of the Harbinger”, Threepio was captured by the Scar Squad. Whatever unfortunate fate we may have imagined from him is quite far from the fact. As you can see, the Scar Squad had their torture bots ready, but Threepio is spilling pretty much everything he knows. Fortunately, what Threepio recalls are broad memories with very little specifics. At this point, the Rebel Alliance is operating mobile after losing their base at Yavin 4. The Empire is looking for any in to find out where they may be heading next.



As any Imperial officer knows, it’s not in the interest of career (or existence) longevity to come up empty handed when Darth Vader expects results. Even the Scar Squad get a little nervous in their storm trooper boots at the prospect of their fate should they not deliver Vader something of use. The Scar Squad contemplates just how unusual it is that Threepio has been around the galaxy with the Rebel Alliance as much as he has. Given the perceived irrationality of Luke, Han, and Leia; coupled with Threepio’s insistence he will be rescued, Scar Squad decide to hold on to the droid a little bit longer at the chance the Rebels will attempt a rescue.



Of course, that’s exactly what Luke wants to do. Young Skywalker has always had a soft spot for the droids and is having a hard time coming to terms with the fact Threepio may be lost to the Empire. While Luke’s concern is admirable, it does not at all seem practical to his friends. It’s funny watching Han explain to Luke that even he would like to try and rescue Threepio, but that it would be walking right back into the hands of the Empire. If you finished the “Harbinger”-arc, you know our three rebels barely got away with their lives. Someone disagrees with the rationality Han presents, and he’s taking matters into his own…let’s say hands, but only in the metaphorical sense.



Artoo got himself an X-wing and is headed to rescue Threepio. Luke attempts to pursue and reason with the little droid, but Artoo hacks into the computer systems of Luke’s X-wing and disables it. The X-wing is rendered a sitting duck and Luke watches Artoo jump into hyperspace. He is intent on pursuing the droid, especially because rescuing Threepio is something he wants, but he has to wait for his hyperdrive to come back online, thanks to the hacking Artoo did. While he waits, he remembers he has some reading material.



Must be nice to have the thoughts of one of the greatest Jedi to ever live handy at your disposal. Kidding aside, writer Jason Aaron has done a really good job at inserting these moments where Luke turns to the wisdom of Obi-Wan. Just before Artoo jumped to hyperspace, Luke lamented his lack of understanding in the Force, and that all the things he might be able to do if he were a Jedi. This time, Luke is going to get more than his money’s worth, because this entry in Obi-Wan’s journal is about an incident that involved another famous Jedi.



The story begins on an unnamed world, where a group of very unsavory characters gather round this caged child. The child is Force-sensitive, and these traffickers intend to hold him ransom to the Jedi. This issue is something I’ve often wondered about. It seems like the matter of the Jedi Order cruising through the galaxy to gather future younglings could be very complicated. What happens when a family says they don’t want their child to go into the Jedi Order? Or, what happens when the scum of the universe try to round up Force-sensitive children for exploitation? We don’t really have an answer to the first question, but from this story, I get a sense that the potential exploitation of children is when the Jedi send in the heavy hitters to deal with youngling trafficking.



Yup, Yoda has entered the building. I don’t reckon Jedi take kindly at all to child exploitation, and Yoda is not here to have a mediation. Yoda has come to kick some ass. The pirates scoff at his size, but soon learn the hard way that you don’t judge a Jedi by their size. Yoda makes short work of these pathetic creatures.



Well, if you were hoping for a big, lightsaber brawl you may be a little disappointed. We don’t really get to see how Yoda finishes off the whole room of scum, but this frame shows it wasn’t really much of a fight. Yoda escorts the child, who we learn is named Lo, out of the nightmare he was once held captive in.



Oh, hey, that’s Qui-Gonn Jinn! No big deal, I guess. It’s always nice to see a Jedi who, in my opinion, has not been given a fair share of content in the Star Wars Universe (nudge….nudge…Lucasfilm Story Group). Qui-Gonn and his apprentice, our humble narrator Obi-Wan, have shown up to take Lo back to Coruscant. Yoda has felt a disturbance in the Force and feels he should investigate. Qui-Gonn’s appearance serves two purposes; the first, we get a cool cameo, and second, it establishes that this story took place some time before The Phantom Menace. Who knows if we’ll see more of Qui-Gonn turn up, but I imagine he and his apprentice must be somewhere on the periphery, since this story is coming to us via Obi-Wan.



Yoda makes his way to a mysterious planet that is not on any star charts. This planet is tucked behind a treacherous patch of asteroids that make it almost impossible to get to. Asteroids do not concern Yoda.



Yoda senses that there is something to be reckoned with on this planet. Unfortunately, his arrival on this unexplored and uncharted world is right where the issue ends. These child-like, tribal scouts (just my guess) are the only glimpse we get of what may await Yoda in the next issue.



This arc is off to a promising start. I was a little frustrated that they devoted as much time to continuing the events of “Harbinger” in the opening pages, but I like where this is going. Seeing Yoda set against a different backdrop than the Clone Wars or Original Trilogy is cool. I’m a little disappointed they didn’t go further back to before he was a Jedi Master, but I understand that’s probably sticky territory for the Lucasfilm Story Group. That would involve mapping out Old Republic stuff, as well as a host of new Jedi, and that’s probably a much grander story than one that could be told via this short arc. What we are given here is a good throwback to the last years of the Jedi Order in it’s golden age. I’ll take it.



I’m very happy Jason Aaron is back on track with some solid Star Wars writing. I had some pretty serious qualms with the “Harbinger”-arc, so it’s nice to see he’s back in top form. The art of this series has been turned over to artist Salvador Larroca and colorist Edgar Delgado, who have done some of my favorite art in the Marvel Star Wars books. This arc has all the ingredients for a great one, so let’s sit back and enjoy the ride.

 

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