Boy am I a sucker for these Marvel Star Wars books. When I first heard the announcement for the Chewbacca book, I flipped my shit crying "UNNECESSARY!" Well, I bought it. And you can be damn sure I buy that dumb C-3PO book when that's released too.
Third Place:
Star Wars: Shattered Empire #2 and #3
I missed last week's issue so I'm rolling them into one review here. Its essentially a two-issue arc, so it makes sense.
These books are offering something slightly unique. While the star (or at least the main character) of the book is Rebel pilot Shara Bey, our favorites from the Original Trilogy are guest stars. A bit of the best of both worlds. Would I prefer to see every second of Luke's life post-Return of the Jedi? Sure, but seeing how the rest of the rebellion sees and acts around/to Han, Leia et. al. is interesting in its own right. That's credit to writer and seasoned veteran Greg Rucka.
And allow me to take a moment to praise artists Marco Checchetto, Jesus Unzueta and Emilio Laiso. All three artists are responsible for making this a good looking book, but its Checchetto's work that stands above the rest. His handling of "camera" movement and the relationship of his forefront characters to their backgrounds has made an impression on me.
Chewbacca #1
Sigh... okay... I didn't want to buy this one, but felt compelled. The chief reason is Phil Noto's art. Normally a cover guy, we get a whole issue (arc?) of his work. I bought issue #1 of Shattered Empire just because of his cover. Needless to say, I'm a fan. Secondly, Gerry Duggan's run on Nova was exceptional, so with this duo, how could I say no?
Its your basic story so far: Chewie's stranded on a planet with a broken ship. While he's waiting to repair it he has to help break up a local gang's slave ring. Not changing the face of comic writing, but writing exactly the kind of story that makes sense without stepping on the movies' toes.
While this book needs a few plot twists down the road, it wasn't any less or more impressive than Shattered Empire, but Noto's art alone is worth the price of admission.
JLA #4
Ah, Bryan Hitch you beautiful bastard. Thank you for creating a consistently good Justice League book. I'll admit, I had my doubts when Hitch was announced as the writer (I assume he has previous writing credits), but he's putting together a great Justice League story. The way he slowly builds this entire issue up to the crescendo at the end is pretty veteran of him.
I don't know what Wonder Woman and Aquaman fighting on the cover has to do with anything in this issue (since either of them appear), but I'll let that slide.
In issue one, the team gets split up. Flash and Wonder Woman essentially go missing. We haven't heard from either in a couple issues, so I'm hoping this lost time is accounted for later in his run.
And as far as Hitch's art goes, its not the most polished I've seen from him, but on this schedule, its still loads better than some guys that get all the time in the world. Hitch's panels' cinematic approach coupled with the books pacing really give this the feel of a big screen Justice League movie. There's a good chance I'll like this better than the real deal when we get it.
Splash of the Week:
I couldn't NOT make this the Panel of the Week. Noto's Chewbacca, colors and all is just too cool.
-Gint
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