By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 6/22/2016
Lastly, Alex Lu and Kyle Pinion debate the merits of this week's new beginning for Wonder Woman's latest volume
By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 1/13/2015
Cover by John Cassaday & Laura Martin
Written by: Jason Aaron
Art by: John Cassaday
Colors by: Laura Martin
Lettered by: Chris Eliopoulos
Cover Art by: John Cassaday & Laura Martin
Published by: Marvel Comics
By Matthew Jent
“I have a very good feeling about this.”
Star Wars returns to Marvel, and nearly every other ancillary, non-movie-adventure of Luke Skywalker & Co. has been wiped out of continuity. Back in December we knew that Star Wars #1 would be, almost certainly, the biggest-selling issue of the year with 1 million copies ordered by comics retailers and other outlets. The first issue hits stores this week, with launch parties, dozens of variant covers, and a major media push. But what about what’s actually on the page?
To put it simply: this feels like Star Wars.
The issue opens with a sequential art version of the familiar logo and opening crawl, picking up after the events of A New Hope. The art from John Cassaday and Laura Martin captures the gritty look and feel of the original trilogy, and perfectly replicates that Solo smirk, Luke’s boyishly optimistic determination, and Leia’s exasperation with a certain smuggler. From the setting to the faces to the clothing, this book looks like Star Wars. It also looks like a really good comic book — there’s a certain Wookiee sniper scene that uses panel layout and zoom-in transitions for a nice effect. This is a visual tale, well told by sequential artists.
The narrative is satisfying, too. This first issue is oversized, with 36 pages of story. Jason Aaron’s dialogue hits the exposition a little too hard in a few scenes, mostly in explaining (and then, a few pages later, explaining again) the rebel plan, but Han talks like Han and Leia talks like Leia. Luke doesn’t talk very much at all, but that feels right too — Cassaday & Martin’s artwork evokes those Mark-Hamill-eyes in a way that tells you this is a Luke Skywalker who’s blown up the Death Star, but has yet to get lost on Hoth. He’s still young, hopeful, and has taken his first steps into a larger world — but he’s largely untested. He’s struggling to live up to the few lessons imparted by Ben Kenobi, still trying to figure out what it means to hear the voice of his old mentor on the wind, and that yearning plays out in his actions more than in his words — just like it should.
The plot moves forward at an assured clip, and it feels fulfilling without being rushed. This story also feels — well, essential. Like this really is the next adventure of Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Princess Leia, and not just a filled-in series of events between movies.
Criticisms can be made, but they’re small. While most of the characters sound like themselves, C-3P0 sounds … off. His dialogue sounds almost more like Data than Threepio, like he’s using too many words to communicate. And while it’s wonderful to see Leia on a mission with the Han and Luke, it’s unclear why she is on this particular mission for the rebel alliance, as the only role she plays in-story is to criticize and banter with Han.
But with lots of things Star Wars, I’ll happily take a few inconsistencies if it means having fun in this particular far-away galaxy. “Skywalker Strikes” by Aaron, Cassaday and Martin isn’t just a fun Star Wars story, it’s a well-done comic, and one of the most fulfilling first issue/reboots I’ve read from Marvel in a long time. It’s a promising start to a new era of space fantasy.
By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 9/30/2014
I was asked to give a quote
about this cover and to tell fans about the first time I saw Star
Wars or how it completely changed my life, but it’s a story I’m
sure isn’t all that interesting when compared to the countless
others that have been told, much more eloquently, by so many before
me,” said Quesada. “While each of us has had our unique moments of
discovery and love affair with the property there’s nothing that I
think I could say or add that hasn’t been said before and
truthfully it really isn’t all that important because It’s that
love for Star Wars that binds all of us who share those unique
moments like the Force itself. That’s why when I was offered the
opportunity to do this cover I was both thrilled beyond belief and
as nervous as I was when I did my very first professional work over
twenty years ago. To have the opportunity to illustrate the classic
cast members in one piece has been by far one of the highlights of
my career as an artist. I can only hope that it turned out okay and
that maybe, just maybe, I get the chance to do it again
someday.
I like it, but no
Jaxxon?
By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 6/25/2014
I’ve been going to conventions for years, and the only thing that’s been the same is that one person who says, “But you really have to go to Heroes Con.” There’s always someone praising Heroes Con, and now, I am one of them.
Photo taken by Kelly Sue DeConnick
As my plane was landing, I was a bit nervous about Heroes Con. I was worried I wouldn’t know anybody, anywhere, or anything about the con and that would sink my battleship. My mistake was that I’d forgotten the principle reason everyone loves the show: Heroes is the most welcoming, friendly convention on the block and is always ready to meet new people.
Even before the con, with Kelly Sue DeConnick’s walk-along, Heroes was breaking the ice and making me feel at ease. Starting at 8 in the morning, this was a brisk 3-mile walk with Kelly Sue and about a dozen other fans. It was an excellent chance to take in some of Charlotte and get to know the neighborhood and also a classic example of one of HeroesCon’s big selling points, “[mingling] directly with professionals and exhibitors.” From there I started meeting people, getting to know places, and getting into the spirit of the weekend.
Walking into the convention hall Day 1 left me ecstatic in every way I could’ve wanted. The line for getting my pass was a breeze, the line to get into the convention was barely noticeable, and the Starbucks was cheapest I’d seen anywhere. Convention staff even let us in 30 minutes early and the rest fell into place like sheet music.
Photo taken by Alex Añé
Day 1 for me was the making sure I knew where I needed to go throughout the convention; finding artists, restrooms, and nice places to sit. I settled up a few commission lists, greeted a few friendly artists, and then made my way to House De Fraction & Co. to head off the huge lines they’d entertain during the weekend. For any con it’s always wise to take care of the biggest lines first, and it was strange to note that no line seemed, “too big,” or unreasonable. Even later in the day foot traffic in and around the convention seemed very pleasant.
Rolling down the escalator for day 2, I saw a group of Star Wars cosplayers were celebrating the engagement of a Han and Leia from their group. You know it’s not really a con till you see one of these, and it says something about Heroes in that people choose it as the spot to remember for the rest of their lives. For artist Hoyt Silva, Heroes Con is certainly memorable, as it was his first time having a booth there after the success of his first Kickstarter. His art and others made by attending artists sold that evening at the famed Heroes Con Annual Art Auction that Heroes puts toward donations toward charity foundations.
Photo taken by Alex Añé
Day 3 is where the real magic happens. The remaining artists spit out commissions by the droves through some mystic force that publishers can only dream of attaining. Phil Noto was working on his commission list till the last hour of the convention and Laura Martin colored away the last hours for the Heroes Initiative as well as on commission. Artists weren’t the only ones making magic, the Sex Criminals panel featured yet another proposal with the help of Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky. Exhausted and potentially injured from too much fun, I limped away from Heroes Con smiling, looking forward to attending next year. Thank you Heroes Con!
“Having been told to read Lazarus by multitudes of people who say it’s one of the best comics ever and failing to get past the second volume” – What?! It’s a dense book, and honestly hard to keep track of at times, but it’s an amazingly great book!
With that said, I was so unimpressed with the Wonder Woman Rebirth issue. The entire thing was just WW walking around saying “The story keeps changing.” 96 times. I was like “Wait, is this the same guy that’s writing Lazarus? Given his past with DC, did he take this book on as an inside joke to see how long it would take the upper management to notice?” I thought it was just badly written…. but maybe with this issue it gets better.
If you have no basis of her 75 years of history and iterations, maybe at least read some wikis before coming in clueless and “reviewing” a #1 issue? Is it really too much to ask that someone use the internet to inform his or herself before critiquing a new book about a really old character?
Thank you for your comment, London! I don’t know if this is necessarily the “best” argument, but I want to pose another question to your question: is it really expected for a new reader to do research before they jump on to a FIRST issue, regardless of how old the lead character of that series is? When I first started reading comics, I was hesitant to dive into anything too heavily based in continuity because I knew I wouldn’t understand it and it seemed strange to me that I should have to read through wikipedia summaries of 75 year histories before reading a single story. Compare that to a series of films or more aptly, TV Shows. Sure if you’re diving into season 6 of Game of Thrones you should know what happened in the previous five seasons before doing so, but that’s not how Wonder Woman #1 or other DC Rebirth books are being sold to us. They are being sold as starting points…hence number 1. If your START requires research, you have to ask: is this book really going to attract new readers?