SPOILER Marvel's Star Wars Shattered Empire #2

This series is great. The two issues we have seen so far are just what I wanted. We are seeing the Rebellion struggle to reinstate the Republic while juxtaposed with a dying Empire clinging to life. There are Star Destroyers, TIE Fighters, all the alphabet designated Wings, and AT-ATs. The art and story flow seamlessly together. This is Star Wars at its best; a galaxy in turmoil with the silver lining of hope.



This issue opens up on a rather somber Star Destoyer bridge. The chilling ship name of Torment carries on the line of nasty Imperial designations. Captain Duvat is preparing to receive a visitor, and once he gets word of said visitors arrival, the bridge is cleared. The visitor is a new type of droid that, as far I know, we have not seen before. It carries a message relayed by Palpatine himself, which Captain Duvat takes as a live transmission, instructing the captain he has been chosen to carry out a special mission. This interaction is very interesting to me. It's not clear if Duvat is deluding himself by acting as if Palpatine survived the Battle of Endor, or if he really believes it. It's an interesting look inside the psyche of an Imperial officer that has drifted so far from his humanity he either has no choice to try and believe his dictator still controls his every move because he no longer thinks for himself; or, he genuinely believes Palpatine is beyond mortality.



When we get back to what the Rebellion has been up to we find ourselves on Stedic IV in the midst of a battle in what appears to be an Imperial-fortified city. Seventeen days have passed since the Battle of Endor. The Empire is clearly not going down without a fight. Once again, the art in this scene steals the show. Such great work. Battles on the scale of this one run the risk of looking cluttered. This is very clean and each moment/frame stands on its own as the parts of a sum. Checchetto, Unzueta, Laiso, and Mossa did awesome collaboratory work.



Once again, the pilot Shara Bey, mother of Poe Dameron, walks away from another victory over the Empire. We find out that she and her husband, Kes Dameron, went separate ways after the Battle of Endor. Kes is on a mission where contact is not possible. Shara has been trying to distract herself with a lot of work. Here's something interesting: Poe Dameron has already been born. We didn't witness his conception after all. Shara mentions he is in the care of her father, so maybe we'll get a young Poe cameo down the line.


Shara's new assignment teams her with a very down trodden Princess Leia. Leia does not seem well. She seems very troubled and beaten down, tired of fighting a war that seems endless. Shara is tasked with being her pilot on a diplomatic mission. While in hyperspace, over a cup of coffee, Leia writes a condolences letter to the surviving family of a casualty. She mentions she has lost track of how many times she's done the letters.




They arrive on Naboo, the undisclosed destination of Leia's diplomatic push. She meets with the queen and other governing officials. Like other lands that bore evil dictators, Naboo has felt the burden of being Emperor Palpatine's home world. They pledge their support to restoring the Senate and Leia's efforts to build the New Republic. For a moment, things are good.



Then the Tormentor arrives. Using a weapon we have never seen before, we learn one of Palpatine's last orders concerned the destruction of Naboo...



Not really much else to say about this. It's fantastic and if there is any Journey To The Force Awakens reading you should be doing, this is it. I cannot wait to see the completion of this arc. My only hope is that the Lucasfilm Story Group can entice Greg Rucka to write a few more arcs set in the same time period. Shattered Empire is hands down the best of the Star Wars comics series so far. If you are trying to stay spoiler pure for The Force Awakens I understand, but make sure to pick these up after you have seen the film. I hope I don't sound redundant, but this is Star Wars storytelling at it's best.

 

We shall see, but it's not looking good