A Reader's Guide to Books and Reviews

Title: Star Wars (2020-) #1
Author: Charles Soule, Jesus Saiz (Illustrator), R. B. Silva (Cover)
Format: Epub
Rating: 4.8/5
Status: Finished
Reading Date: January 6, 2020
Book Summary: “No…I am your father.” In the wake of the events following The Empire Strikes Back, it is a dark time for the heroes of the Rebellion. The Rebel fleet…scattered following a disastrous defeat at the Battle of Hoth. Han Solo…lost to the bounty hunter, Boba Fett, after being frozen in carbonite. And after being lured into a trap on Cloud City and bested in a vicious lightsaber duel against the evil Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker…learned the horrible truth about his past. Vader did not kill Luke’s father Anakin--Vader is Luke’s father! Now, after narrowly escaping the dark lord’s clutches, and wounded and reeling from the revelation, Luke, Princess Leia, Lando Calrissian, the Wookiee Chewbacca and the droids C-3PO and R2-D2 must fight their way back to the Rebel Alliance—for the fate of the entire galaxy is at stake! After so many losses is victory still possible? But, what Leia, Luke and their rag tag band of freedom fighters do not realize is that they have only traded one Imperial trap for another! Enter the cunning and vengeful Imperial Commander Zahra, at the helm of the Tarkin’s Will! Writer Charles Soule (DARTH VADER) and artist Jesus Saiz (DOCTOR STRANGE) are taking us all to the galaxy far, far away next year! With covers by RB Silva (POWERS OF X)!
Book Review: In this new issue of the Star Wars universe, we are getting into the space between post-Empire Strikes Back and a time period before Return of the Jedi.

Here Luke is still reeling from the revelation that Vader didn't kill his father but that Vader is his actual father. Not only has he lost his hand and his lightsaber, Luke has tried on occasion to reach out to both Obi-Wan and Yoda with no success. It seems that Luke has come to the conclusion of uncertainity of his role in the grand scheme of all this.

Leia is still distrustful of Lando being part of the group especially when he betrayed them to the Empire and Vader. With Han in the hands of the bounty hunter, Boba Fett, and being taken to Jabba, the group has yet to make out a plan to gain him back. Unfortunately there isn't even a chance for them to make such a plan, the Falcon is attacked by a set of TIE fighters. A plan is set in place and the group manage to escape the Empire.

Aboard the Imperial vessel, we get a glimpse of our possible villain of this series, Commander Zahra. She reports to Vader whom cares little what happens to the Princess but Luke Skywalker is off limits.

We find ourselves back to the Alliance. Those within believe that there is a mole in the organization feeding the location of Rebel cells as two of them have been compromised.

I must say I was very pleased with the beginning of this series. We are at a part inbetween the movies where Luke is struggling with the revelations of Vader being his father. This has placed a heavy burden on him and he is trying to understand why both Obi-Wan and Yoda lied to him. He has even come to think that he might not be the best candidate for Jedi. You can feel the burden laid upon Luke in this issue and sympathize that he is struggling with this. He hasn't even told his friends about it. Why? I can only surmise that there would be a ton of problems coming from the Rebels in the chain of command.

As for Leia and the rest, you can feel and see the loss of Han being gone. Despite this, Leia still manages to take charge of the group and lead them out of safety especially when they are attacked. At the same time, you can almost hear the late Carrie Fisher's voice coming through the pages whenever Leia appears.

And then there is Lando. Lando isn't exactly welcome among the group. They see him as someone who has betrayed them deeply especially when he has considered and called Han a friend. So they don't understand why he never bothered to give them even a small warning of the Empire being there. I expect to a possible distrust even among the Rebels when he is around.

This is a great start and I am really happy to see how this series will play out. I have been waiting for this issue for quite some time and I am glad I was able to grab this one. I cannot wait to see what Charles Soule has in store for the rest of the series.