Star Wars: Age of Resistance - Heroes was written by Tom Taylor, G. Willow Wilson, and Chris Eliopoulos; with art by Ramon Rosanas, Matteo Buffagni, Elsa Charretier, and Javier Pina. It was released on November 13, 2019.
Synopsis
The heroes of the Sequel Trilogy. They're, uh, they're really something aren't they? Honestly though, what did they ever do to deserve your derision? They're out there, fighting the good fight; gettin' their hands dirty. FN-2187: he's got the training, he's got the uniform; but he's not entirely like the other stormtroopers in the First Order. FN-2187 has heart and a tendency to think for himself. Poe Dameron: he wasn't always the hotshot flyboy of the Resistance, blowing stuff up, cracking wise, and goofin' on those uptight First Order Herberts. No, once he was simply the child of two Rebel heroes and squadron leader in the New Republic Navy wondering if his destiny lay somewhere else. Rose Tico and her sister Paige: having lost their planet and parents to the First Order, they only have two things left in the universe: each other and the Resistance. Ouch. Rey: will mechanical difficulties on board the Falcon prevent her from getting to Ahch-To and finding Luke Skywalker? No. It won't. You know that. Plus three short stories featuring Maz, Holdo, and BB-8!
Review
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I feel like I've used the term "mixed bag" a lot to describe these Age of...comics. So far we've gotten stories about both heroes and villains in the Ages of Republic and Rebellion, and now we get the heroes of the Age of Resistance (to be followed soon by the villains). Some of the stories in this series have been really good (off the top of my head: Jango, Obi-Wan, Leia, Boba all stand out); some have been less than stellar and it seems the majority have been somewhat good with some elements that dragged them down overall (the Tarkin story for example). The thing is, even the good stories are frustrating because they feel too short; and of course the bad stories feel like they shouldn't exist at all. What of Age of Resistance-Heroes? We start off with a Finn story from when he is still with the First Order. It's basically, "hey look how this guy is different from the others." Well, no crap, guys. We already knew that. We knew that like 15 minutes into The Force Awakens. There's nothing wrong with a vignette that gives insight into or reinforces what we may suspect about a character; but when that point has already been driven home it can get redundant. If you want a good Finn story that takes place before TFA, check out Before The Awakening by Greg Rucka.
Next is the Poe story. The best thing about it is that we get to see more of what the New Republic was like, at least visually, than I recall seeing before. There's a lot of blue. That's okay; blue is a good color, a good primary color. Poe leads his squadron after some people who stole an Admiral's droid's head for the info it contained; and also probably because it's not a bad looking head. Anyway, it turns out it was Holdo (in a ship piloted by Nien Nunb) who was stealing it because it had important intelligence about the First Order. Holdo gets away, so Poe never actually meets her (obviously). It's not a terrible story, but when it's over you're like, "okay, whatever." After that is the Rose story. The Rose story, and I kid you not, is actually not bad. In fact it may be the best one in the collection. It's not just Rose, but Rose and Paige. It shows you their younger days on the planet they came from and how they joined the Resistance. Then the Rey story where she, Chewbacca, and R2, are en route to Ahch-To, develop some engine trouble and have to stop at a salvage yard planet where Rey has to contend with the unscrupulous proprietor. It's a harmless Rey story; it has its moments. Also included in this collection are the three short stories from the Age of Resistance Special. The Maz story features her, Han, and Chewie going on a mission to retrieve something of hers that was stolen. It's actually pretty good, too. In fact, I would say it's up there with the Rose story as the best in the collection. Then there is the Holdo story. It tries way too hard. It (along with her appearance in the Poe story) feels like some sort of effort to...I don't know if I would say rehabilitate the character, or just present her in a different light, but it just comes across as trying way too hard and that's off-putting. Also, the Holdo and Maz stories don't even take place during the titular Age of Resistance; rather they are both during the Rebellion. Finally, we have a BB-8 story. I would put it with Maz and Rose and call them the top 3 in the collection. It's the kind of cute (but not too cute in this case) droid story that readers of the comics have probably come to expect from writer Chris Eliopoulos.
Notes
Comic Pack Wish List:
Poe in his NR flight suit; FO flametrooper from Finn story.
Score:
3 Skulls. Barely. The Rose and Maz/Han stories push it over the edge from 2.
