Star Wars: Rebellion (Issue 11)
April 15th 2008 23:36
Category: Graphic Novels/Comics
“This has been a great day, it has seen the end of Kenobi it will soon see the end of the Rebellion.”
Grand Moff Tarkin to Darth Vader, Death Star Mk I approaching Yavin IV.
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics.
Production Team: Jeremy Barlow – script, Colin Wilson – art & cover art, Wil Glass – colours, Michael Heisler – lettering.
Cost: AU $7.95/US $2.99
If anything this comic series could also be described as Classic Star Wars, this is the era of the original three movies that exploded onto the silver screen all those years ago. As you turn to that first page and start reading you can almost hear the theme playing in the background, a brief précis of the action that has occurred before hand rolling in front of your eyes and then suddenly the action begins – be it a lightsaber duel, a ship to ship battle with one ship fleeing another in the interstellar deeps or an incomplete battle station hanging in orbit around a little known backwoods planet being approached by a Sith Lord in his shuttle. The other aspect that makes it akin to being called Classic Star Wars is the fact that the primary protagonists are the ones from those three seminal movies, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia, Chewbacca, R2D2 et al. Of course with a title like Star Wars: Rebellion it would naturally focus on these characters, as they are the movers and shakers within the Rebellion that became famous on the silver screen.
I found this comic purely by happenstance, I was waiting for the local post office to open and as I happened to be in town a bit earlier than expected it was only natural for me to wander around to kill some time. On my perambulations around the town centre my feet lead me into one of the local newsagents and thus browsing amongst the shelves I hit the jackpot; this comic was sitting there almost begging me to buy it along with two others. “Sold!” I cried to the woman behind the front counter, who naturally looked a little bemused by this outburst, cash was swiftly exchanged for goods and I resumed my wanderings with a warm glow. Later on in the day, once I’d posted my review of Bleach on this site and was sitting down with a cup of refreshing coffee I allowed myself the luxury of perusing this issue of SW: Rebellion.
Now this has been the first chance I’ve had to peruse an issue of Rebellion, I’ve heard of it by so far the only Star Wars comics I’ve managed to get a hold of have been Legacy, KOTOR and Dark Times, Rebellion has managed to get beneath my radar until now. The first thing I noticed about Rebellion 11 was the similarity between the artwork and cover art and the cover art with the issues of KOTOR that I had, this is due to the fact that it was all done by the same artist Colin Wilson. He’s done the covers of the KOTOR comics that are in my possession as well as the cover and artwork for this particular issue.
The events in this particular issue all occur nine months after that fateful battle around the Fourth Moon of Yavin, where a farm boy in a snub fighter demolished the Emperor’s prized battle station aided by Corellian smuggler, an honour bound Wookiee and the force ghost of a Jedi Master. It was a moment that was the stuff that legends are made of; still the dark side and the Empire are not ones to sit idle in spite of such a tremendous set back to their New Order. Darth Vader, Sith Lord and apprentice to the Emperor, managed to avoid death in the destruction of the battle station and as a result he returned to Yavin IV to wreak terrible havoc. The Rebel Alliance had no intention of sitting around on their laurels and made good their escape from the jungle moon, though not everyone managed to get away cleanly and the Imperials forces took some prisoners.
So Darth Vader begins his campaign of hunting down those who managed to escape his clutches on the Jungle Moon and he implements a complicated scheme whereby a brainwashed spy is planted amongst the ranks of the Rebel Alliance, the mathematician Jorin Sol. Before Vader could spring his trap and bring about an end to the Rebellion once and for all his plant managed to fight his programming and save the Alliance, in particular the flagship Rebel One and its occupants. By programming a series of random hyperspace algorithms the flagship was able to make the jump to hyperspace in such a manner that would render it nearly untraceable to Imperial forces…though perhaps not to a Sith Lord…
So it is nine months after the Battle of Yavin and the destruction of the Death Star and Rebel One is on one of its random hyperspace jumps zipping through the interstellar deeps to a destination currently unknown with its precise location unknown. Those familiar star lines fill the surrounding space around Rebel One and the view ports of any of the crewmembers that are gazing out on the expanse of hyperspace. Deena Shan, a member of the Rebel Alliance, and a comrade of Luke Skywalker is in her cabin aboard Rebel One pondering her future direction, she gazes out onto the starlines of hyperspace almost like a seer trying to divine a future path from the sudden turn of a card. On a side note when I first found out this character’s name I immediately wondered if she was a descendent of the Bastilla Shan from the computer game Knights of the Old Republic (KOTOR).
Deena finds herself at this particular time and place at a crossroads; she joined the Rebellion from a sense of adventure and excitement as well as a longing for some kind of purpose to her life. Instead after being in the Rebellion and taking part in its struggle against the tyranny of the Empire’s New Order she feels that she just isn’t cut out for it, that she doesn’t match up to the likes of Princess Leia, Han Solo and Luke Skywalker. But perhaps that is the problem; she is measuring herself with an unrealistic perspective. Regardless as Rebel One flies onwards Deena is trying to come to grips with what she wants to do with her life at this point, at this moment.
The decision though it seems is taken out of her hands it seems when Rebel One’s hyperdrive gives its last gasp and the vessel reverts back to real space. Things look fairly bleak, Rebel One has emerged right smack bang in the refuelling lines of a major Imperial supply and refuel depot; Bannistar Station, the main point for refuelling and resupply in the Mid Rim. It’s a fantastic target for the Rebels to take out, if they take out Bannistar they can seriously cripple the Imperial war machine even further and gain unregulated access through this particular region of the galaxy at will.
The force works in mysterious ways and Deena suspends her decision to quit the Alliance and make her own way in the galaxy opting instead to take part in this desperate mission to knock out Bannistar Station. Teaming up with her fellow teammate Luke Skywalker she readies herself for a truly perilous mission. Time will tell whether or not the Rebels can pull off this desperate strike against their enemies. The interesting thing about this particular issue is that it is primarily focused on Deena, she is the primary protagonist within the story and it is told from her particular perspective. Granted other major characters such as Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia are part of the story, but they are supporting characters in this arc rather than the key movers and shakers. It just goes to show that Dark Horse certainly know what they’re doing with the Star Wars universe and the people they’ve got producing these stories are more than up to the task. I’ll be looking forward to finding out what happens at Bannistar Station and with Deena Shan, a woman who feels she has nothing more to offer the Alliance and her friends. She’s an interesting character and hopefully there is more for her to do in the Rebellion series.
Time will tell…
Grand Moff Tarkin to Darth Vader, Death Star Mk I approaching Yavin IV.
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics.
Production Team: Jeremy Barlow – script, Colin Wilson – art & cover art, Wil Glass – colours, Michael Heisler – lettering.
Cost: AU $7.95/US $2.99
If anything this comic series could also be described as Classic Star Wars, this is the era of the original three movies that exploded onto the silver screen all those years ago. As you turn to that first page and start reading you can almost hear the theme playing in the background, a brief précis of the action that has occurred before hand rolling in front of your eyes and then suddenly the action begins – be it a lightsaber duel, a ship to ship battle with one ship fleeing another in the interstellar deeps or an incomplete battle station hanging in orbit around a little known backwoods planet being approached by a Sith Lord in his shuttle. The other aspect that makes it akin to being called Classic Star Wars is the fact that the primary protagonists are the ones from those three seminal movies, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia, Chewbacca, R2D2 et al. Of course with a title like Star Wars: Rebellion it would naturally focus on these characters, as they are the movers and shakers within the Rebellion that became famous on the silver screen.
The events in this particular issue all occur nine months after that fateful battle around the Fourth Moon of Yavin, where a farm boy in a snub fighter demolished the Emperor’s prized battle station aided by Corellian smuggler, an honour bound Wookiee and the force ghost of a Jedi Master. It was a moment that was the stuff that legends are made of; still the dark side and the Empire are not ones to sit idle in spite of such a tremendous set back to their New Order. Darth Vader, Sith Lord and apprentice to the Emperor, managed to avoid death in the destruction of the battle station and as a result he returned to Yavin IV to wreak terrible havoc. The Rebel Alliance had no intention of sitting around on their laurels and made good their escape from the jungle moon, though not everyone managed to get away cleanly and the Imperials forces took some prisoners.
So Darth Vader begins his campaign of hunting down those who managed to escape his clutches on the Jungle Moon and he implements a complicated scheme whereby a brainwashed spy is planted amongst the ranks of the Rebel Alliance, the mathematician Jorin Sol. Before Vader could spring his trap and bring about an end to the Rebellion once and for all his plant managed to fight his programming and save the Alliance, in particular the flagship Rebel One and its occupants. By programming a series of random hyperspace algorithms the flagship was able to make the jump to hyperspace in such a manner that would render it nearly untraceable to Imperial forces…though perhaps not to a Sith Lord…
So it is nine months after the Battle of Yavin and the destruction of the Death Star and Rebel One is on one of its random hyperspace jumps zipping through the interstellar deeps to a destination currently unknown with its precise location unknown. Those familiar star lines fill the surrounding space around Rebel One and the view ports of any of the crewmembers that are gazing out on the expanse of hyperspace. Deena Shan, a member of the Rebel Alliance, and a comrade of Luke Skywalker is in her cabin aboard Rebel One pondering her future direction, she gazes out onto the starlines of hyperspace almost like a seer trying to divine a future path from the sudden turn of a card. On a side note when I first found out this character’s name I immediately wondered if she was a descendent of the Bastilla Shan from the computer game Knights of the Old Republic (KOTOR).
Deena finds herself at this particular time and place at a crossroads; she joined the Rebellion from a sense of adventure and excitement as well as a longing for some kind of purpose to her life. Instead after being in the Rebellion and taking part in its struggle against the tyranny of the Empire’s New Order she feels that she just isn’t cut out for it, that she doesn’t match up to the likes of Princess Leia, Han Solo and Luke Skywalker. But perhaps that is the problem; she is measuring herself with an unrealistic perspective. Regardless as Rebel One flies onwards Deena is trying to come to grips with what she wants to do with her life at this point, at this moment.
The decision though it seems is taken out of her hands it seems when Rebel One’s hyperdrive gives its last gasp and the vessel reverts back to real space. Things look fairly bleak, Rebel One has emerged right smack bang in the refuelling lines of a major Imperial supply and refuel depot; Bannistar Station, the main point for refuelling and resupply in the Mid Rim. It’s a fantastic target for the Rebels to take out, if they take out Bannistar they can seriously cripple the Imperial war machine even further and gain unregulated access through this particular region of the galaxy at will.
The force works in mysterious ways and Deena suspends her decision to quit the Alliance and make her own way in the galaxy opting instead to take part in this desperate mission to knock out Bannistar Station. Teaming up with her fellow teammate Luke Skywalker she readies herself for a truly perilous mission. Time will tell whether or not the Rebels can pull off this desperate strike against their enemies. The interesting thing about this particular issue is that it is primarily focused on Deena, she is the primary protagonist within the story and it is told from her particular perspective. Granted other major characters such as Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia are part of the story, but they are supporting characters in this arc rather than the key movers and shakers. It just goes to show that Dark Horse certainly know what they’re doing with the Star Wars universe and the people they’ve got producing these stories are more than up to the task. I’ll be looking forward to finding out what happens at Bannistar Station and with Deena Shan, a woman who feels she has nothing more to offer the Alliance and her friends. She’s an interesting character and hopefully there is more for her to do in the Rebellion series.
Time will tell…
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