As we start digging into our third helping of the main Star Wars title, it might be helpful to touch on the two prior issues first. I want to do this mostly because it’d be a glaring omission if we didn’t mention those first two pivotal issues in our comic review columns. On the podcast, we’ve already given our initial impressions of the series. Now, however, time as has passed, opinions have percolated, and it’s worth going back to re-examine them.
The first issue of Marvel’s new Star Wars book, or, as we like to call it, Star Wars Prime, dropped the reader immediately into the action. This was a very conscientious decision on the part of the creative team. All the best movies begin either by dropping you straight into an action scene (A New Hope/Revenge of the Sith) or a scene of high anticipation (Empire Strikes Back/Return of the Jedi). Some reviewers had said that past comics had spent too much time on dialogue and not enough on action. I don’t know how much I’d agree with that, but I certainly see how that might’ve played a part here.
One thing that this story is doing very well, so far, is building continuity. Not simply continuity in its own little slice of the universe, but continuity with the immediately preceding story (A New Hope) and the other Marvel titles, especially Darth Vader. The influence of the story group at LucastFilm Ltd is really starting to show why it exists. While I can’t say this is the single most enjoyable SW comic I’ve ever read, I can definitely say this is the first one where I’m seeing pieces falling into place. This story, interwoven with the Vader series, is answering some of those story questions I’ve always wanted answered: when did Vader first learn about Luke? How did he find out about their relationship? What was his reaction to this revelation?
While I am digging the continuity-building, on its own merits, as its own comic book, all the way up through issue number three, I am somewhat underwhelmed by the story-telling. There is very little of it. What there is a lot of is action. Of all three books, this is the most action-centric title. As I stated above, they definitely wanted to start with a bang. They have definitely succeeded in that, but I am hoping with the arc potentially ending at this point that they let the action slow a little bit so that they can spend a bit more time on where the characters’ heads are now and where they go next. I am expecting that this series will not languish in an indeterminate timeline between Hope and Empire for long, as most post-Hope series have in the past. I think the narrative going forward will be tight and this title will probably push that narrative further forward than the others. Well, I hope it does at least.
Final thought: So far, Star Wars prime, issues one through three, I give them, collectively, 3 blasters out of 5.