Originally published on Set The Tape
The current run of Star Wars Adventures comics has been giving readers a very mixed bag for era and characters. One story might be set during the height of the original trilogy, whilst another delves into the events of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and another could jump backwards in time hundreds of years to Star Wars: The High Republic. It’s been a real treat each month waiting to see what kind of stories are going to appear, and if any familiar faces are going to feature. And this month’s offering definitely has some surprises in it.
The first story, ‘The Princess and the Bog, A Twin Tale, Part One’, by Sam Maggs, is set after the events of Star Wars: A New Hope, and sees Leia helping to find the Rebellion a new base. Having a list of potential planets, she’s divided them out between her and Luke, making sure that Luke gets the ice planet on his list (that’s gotta be Hoth right?). However, even though Luke is supposed to be in a different part of the galaxy, Leia is shocked and annoyed to find Luke on one of the planets she’s scouting out, Bogano.
Eagle-eyed fans might recognise Bogano, as it appeared in the rather excellent Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order video game. The planet and its creatures are instantly recognisable, especially the cute little boglings that scamper around the twins. Most exciting about the inclusion of Bogano, though, is the fact that Luke says he was drawn there by the Force. Knowing what we do about the planet and the secrets it holds thanks to the video game, it’s exciting to think about what could happen in the second part of this story, and what secrets Luke and Leia could end up learning.
The second story in this issue jumps forwards in time a number of decades, taking place some time around the events of the sequel trilogy. ‘The Crimson Corsair and the Crime Lords of the Barren Rim’ focuses on Quiggold, the first mate to the pirate captain The Crimson Corsair, as Quiggold is captured by enemy forces. At first it appears that Quiggold is at the mercy of their captors, but as the story progresses we begin to discover that perhaps this is all part of the Crimson Corsair’s plan.
The characters in this story originally appeared in the pages of The Crimson Corsair and the Lost Treasure of Count Dooku, a short story written by Landry Q. Walker, who also writes this story. The Corsair and Quiggold themselves do also make brief appearances in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. What’s most interesting about this story is that it’s given the spotlight over to some relatively lesser known Star Wars characters.
As someone who hasn’t read the original short story, this comic story also led me to do some investigating into the story and wanting to go back and read it, as the comic includes a Clone Trooper. Whilst this Clone isn’t named in the comic, doing some background reading I was surprised to find out it was Kix, one of the Clones to have a major story line in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and that the original short story detailed how he ended up in the future alongside the Crimson Corsair. For that alone this story ended up being something of a favourite of mine, and one that’s encouraged me to go and read the original short story.
Whilst the writing style and tone between the two stories are quite different, the artwork definitely reflects the same too. The first story has art from Liana Kangas and Brittany Peer, and features some relatively simple, clear line-work and a standard colour pallet, leading the story to feel like it could easily slot into the world of the films. On the other hand, the second one has bolder, almost out of place colours and some very detail oriented colours, provided by Nick Brokenshire. The artwork in this section feels less focused on realism, and instead is more set on evoking a certain mood more than anything else. Despite being so different, both styles really suit their respective stories.
Star Wars Adventures: Tales of Villainy is continuing to tell some interesting and different stories, ones that connect to parts of the Star Wars franchise that don’t always get much of a focus, and because of that it continues to feel unique and different.
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