After last month’s celebratory 25th issue of the second volume of Marvel’s current-canon Star Wars comic book, writer Charles Soule is resetting things a little bit in a new story arc beginning with #26.
Star Wars #26 begins with an Imperial Unity Day parade on the Core planet of Bar’leth, which is quickly interrupted by a surprise Rebel Alliance attack. After months of running in the wake of the Battle of Hoth, the rebellion desperately needed this victory– and they made sure to do it where the entire galaxy could see, as this event was being broadcast over the holonet.
With that in mind, there’s a small, optimistic celebration once the fleet has regrouped elsewhere in space, but another sober briefing with Admiral Ackbar and Mon Mothma reminds our heroes that bringing down the Empire for good is still going to be a long, hard-fought battle. We then cut to a secretive Imperial location, where an ISB agent has arrived to inspect the local security protocols. Detail-oriented Star Wars fans will likely immediately recognize where we’re supposed to be once they’re introduced to Moff Jerjerrod– longtime devotees will remember which project he was in charge of. But the point here is to introduce us to two Imperial grunts: a cargo hangar worker and a data processor, who turn out to be sleeper agents working for Lady Qi’ra’s criminal organization Crimson Dawn. Despite the station’s strict control over communication, they receive a coded message from Qi’ra activating them, and telling them to sow havoc wherever they can behind the Empire’s close-guarded lines. Naturally they happen to be working on the one major project that the Rebel Alliance would definitely like to know about, so they decide to take that information to them at whatever cost is necessary.
It’s always fun to see in what direction Charles Soule (and the other creative powers that be at Marvel and Lucasfilm) have decided to take the flagship Star Wars title next, and this arc-launching issue is without a doubt no exception. As we tiptoe ever closer to the events of Return of the Jedi, Soule has started sprinkling in little details that point toward the eventual climax of the Original Trilogy and gradually putting pieces in the places they need to be for Luke Skywalker to ultimately build his own new green-bladed lightsaber and head to Jabba’s Palace on Tatooine to rescue his friend Han Solo. But the other new thing that showed up unexpectedly in Star Wars #26 is the art– this title has brought in a fresh artist by the name of Andrés Genolet (formerly of Ms. Marvel) and I have to admit I was hesitant about embracing his style at first, but it steadily grew on me as the issue went on. Sometimes his expressions are a tad bit too exaggerated for this somewhat more serious-minded take on Star Wars storytelling, but when he does rein in that instinct I think his artwork is a pretty decent fit. So as we hurtle toward this fall’s Hidden Empire crossover event, I am extremely curious to see how Soule and company steer their ship toward destinations both known and unknown in the Star Wars galaxy.
Star Wars #26 is available now wherever comic books are sold.