This week saw the release of issue #42 of the current volume of Marvel Comics’ flagship Star Wars title (set between the events of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi), and below are my brief recap and thoughts on this installment.
Star Wars #42 begins with a recap reminding us that Luke Skywalker’s mission to investigate the history of the Jedi Order was recently waylaid by the Scourge of the droids (in the now-concluded crossover event Star Wars: Dark Droids), but now that that’s over with, he’s ready to continue his journey. Then the story of this issue opens in the Outer Rim, where Luke reconnects with his new friend (first seen in #34) in an effort to unlock the secret of “healing” a corrupted red Kyber crystal. Gretta seems hesitant to help him and is in fact a little frustrated that Luke and his astromech droid R2-D2 managed to track her down, but fortunately her relative Autie Feez steps in to lend some additional advice on the ways of the Kyber.
There’s some back-and-forth here between these three characters, and we get some intriguing new details about the mythology behind the Jedi, but eventually Luke gets the opportunity to re-enter the red Kyber crystal and attempt once again to free it from the power of the dark side. He finds himself in a vision of the throne room of a Sith being surrounded by underlings, who proceed to throw him in a prison cell. This Sith tells Luke the story of what happened to the last Jedi who dared intrude on her dark deeds, while back in reality Gretta and Feez discuss whether they’ll be able to sense when Luke is in trouble– not to mention the possibilities of retrieving him from the vision if that happens.
Our cliffhanger ending this month is the Sith threatening to keep Luke imprisoned in her fortress forever, and though we know that ultimately doesn’t happen it’s still a pretty alarming threat. And as an issue of a Star Wars comic I’d say this is a fairly compelling story overall. I’m especially pleased that writer Charles Soule is able to explore some different avenues now that he’s freed from Dark Droids duty, and it’s always interesting to learn more about the Jedi Order’s past. Auntie Feez is a fun new character who insists she could have been a Jedi if she wanted to, but chose to go along a different path in life– I liked her calling Luke an obsessive and implying that the Jedi were single-minded in their Force pursuits. With Luke already in possession of one green Kyber crystal and potentially unlocking another non-corrupted one, I’m very curious to see where this is going and how Soule’s plan for this comic (hopefully sooner rather than later) flows into the beginning of Return of the Jedi.
Star Wars #42 is available now wherever comic books are sold.