Star Wars 22 review

This comic is great.

Star Wars 22, written by Jason Aaron, starts with the rebels attacking a Star Destroyer. Red Squadron, including Luke Skywalker, is leading the attack while Han Solo flies the Falcon in for a bombing run. The first half of the comic is one big battle, with some great strategy from the rebels and some amusing dialogue when the imperial officers realize what’s going on. Without spoiling the details, the rebels intend to steal the Star Destroyer.

The second half of the comic is just entertaining. Taking place weeks later, the rebels are controlling the Star Destroyer with a skeleton crew, planning to use it against the empire in the near future. Han’s arguments with Leia are entertaining as always. Luke’s attempt to defuse the situation feels a little weird for his character, but that’s fine. It still leads for the perfect line to cap this issue off with.

The art by Jorge Molina is good. There isn’t always a lot of detail, and there are a couple panels where characters look slightly off, but the opening spread is a brilliant overview of the battle. X-Wings are dodging between the tie-fighters, with the Star Destroyer in the background. Lasers are flying all over the place, there are a couple explosions and a planet glows blue below everything. This level of detail continues throughout the fight, some panels looking like they’re straight out of a movie with the angles being used. Matt Milla’s colouring is also good. Even though the space battle is often dark, it’s easy to see where each ship is and which direction they’re flying. The internal panels are more colourful, without being overly bright for the inside of a Star Destroyer.

If you’re a Star Wars fan who hasn’t checked out the Star Wars comics yet, you should. Sure, there’s the occasional weaker issue, and the first story arc isn’t all that special, but its issues like this that make this series more than worth checking out.

9/10