Star Wars #25: Time Jumping

Charles Soule has been writing “Star Wars” titles even since Marvel regained the license to tell new stories for the franchise. He has written stories for “Darth Vader”, “Lando,” “Poe Dameron,” and the “Star Wars” main title as well as others. He has developed many relationships with many of the artists and producers who have similarly been there since the rebirth of Marvel Star Wars. This issue gives Soule a little time to revisit a few of the characters he hasn’t been able to write for in a long time. He has been occupied with not only helming this main “Star Wars” series, but various titles for “Star Wars: The High Republic” including some novels. This issue allows him to return to the Prequel and Sequel Trilogy eras, first showing readers a little Jedi lesson from Obi-Wan to Anakin, as well as a tale about Kylo Ren and a sad send off for Temmin Wexley who appeared in the “Poe Dameron” comic series as well as the newest trilogy of films. Sandwiched between them is a Vader story. The various “Darth Vader” series are considered the very best of newer “Star Wars” comics, and Soule was a big part of those. It is nice to see Soule reference his own past in this way, while also giving long time readers a little refresher tour of series long finished.

The standout story in this issue is “A Eulogy For Snap,” which revolves around Poe Dameron and the other members of Black Squadron remembering their fallen comrade. Snap Wexley first appeared in The Force Awakens, but quickly gained a larger story but not only appearing in Soule’s “Poe Dameron” series, but a younger teenage version of the character as a major part of Chuck Wendig’s “Star Wars: Aftermath” trilogy of novels. Snap perished in the final battle of The Rise of Skywalker. Because it happened near the climax of the film, there was no time to truly comprehends and reflect on his loss. How fitting it is to have a writer so familiar with the development of that character provide fans a final farewell to a beloved character. On top of the sweet sadness of the story, it also gains some extra credit for being one of the vary few tales that takes place after Rise of Skywalker. Soule takes a little time to also reference Snap’s old droid, Mr. Bones, a fan favorite from the “Aftermath” novels.

Each of the four stories in this issue were done by different art teams, but there is no quality difference between each one. The Obi-Wan/Anakin tale favors blue and gold, typical Jedi colors. It is more dialogue driven then in the next tale about Vader. Even though it is a different team, these two stories seem like dark mirror images. They even have the same title, “The Lesson.” The Vader tale favors red and shadowy greys of the Sith, and focus less on dialogue and more on action. Similar but different, the two stories even have the same title, “The Lesson.”  The Kylo Ren tale features the same red and grey imagery, but with vibrant colors for each location Kylo visits that has in some way been touched by Luke Skywalker. The final story about Snap’s eulogy again takes the cake, featuring art by Phil Noto who has done many of the very best cover art in “Star Wars” comic history. Even though this is a brief anthology of stories, the impact on the over all saga in great. Each tale adds a little something to the characters they revolve around. All in all, this issue seemed to be firing on all cylinders.