Star Wars #9 Operation Starlight, Part I: The Ancient Relic
Recap
Having been hunted across the galaxy, Leia has found recent victory by rejoining parts of the scattered Alliance. Her next plan is to find more of the Rebellion, and reforming it as a whole without The Empire intercepting communications. This looks like a job for Lando and Threepio.
Review
A new story arc starts off with the Rebels celebrating after a small victory. Time is short, and Leia must reunite the scrambled Alliance. A quick plan is hatched involving the recovery of an ancient droid that can translate a long unrecorded language which can be used to evade Imperial codebreakers. Using Threepio’s skills as a translator, Leia’s plan requires Lando, The Falcon, and a team of Rebel Pathfinders to free the relic droid from an Imperial museum. With Lobot along to hack databanks, the beginning stages of Operation Starlight have begun.
A large strength this series, and that of its predecessor, is being able to throw new characters at the audience without much introduction. A lot of these characters are merely decoys to put in harm’s way so that the main characters never really come to that much harm. They move the story along and give the main crew motivation in their sacrifice. They are the “red shirts” of Star Wars. This issue finds that in Leia’s Pathfinders. They are a trio of likable, but not necessarily fleshed out fighters used for missions like this one. They basically get thrown in with Lando and ask that he bring Lobot and his special skills along with them. That’s two long beloved characters dating back decades, and three new guys. It is almost certain things won’t go well for these seemingly disposable rebels. However like with many of the groups of secondary characters in Star Wars series before this on, The Pathfinders will undoubtedly get a change to shine in this arc before it is through.
The issue is full of fantastic depictions of starship fleets, museums full of rare artifacts, busy alien streets, and Rebel staging areas. It checks a lot of boxes off on the list of typical Star Wars story devices and presents them with recognizable clarity. The only thing missing is some giant monster, but this is only the first issue of an arc after all, so who knows what they will encounter next. The creative team, lead by Soule, bring their typical amazing storytelling style to this issue. New heroes and villains are introduced quickly, and they waste no time in getting right into a lot of action. It acts as a very effective starting off point to the new arc. With Luke and Leia having much of the recent action in the previous arcs, the team focuses on Threepio and Lando a bit more for a change of pace so that each of the main characters get time to be important as the series goes on. This really rounds out the whole cast very well in the long run. The very best part of this issue is that it ends without any clear indication where the story is headed. That leaves the audience really curious and very ready to head into the next chapter to see what lies in store for the Rebel Alliance.
Final Thoughts
Having accomplished their mission, and all the collateral damage that entails, Leia finds herself frustrated with less that effective results. However, you can’t keep a good warrior princess down for long. The Empire will learn that in time.
Star Wars #9: Lobot and Lando’s Day Out
- Writing - 8/108/10
- Storyline - 9/109/10
- Art - 9/109/10
- Color - 8/108/10
- Cover Art - 6/106/10