Star Wars: Age of Resistance-Villains was written by Tom Taylor with art by Leonard Kirk and Cory Hamscher and released on November 20, 2019.
Synopsis
The villains of the First Order: They’ve got some issues. Four issues to be exact. The bad guys of the Sequel Trilogy have the weapons to defeat good and the will to use them, but not an ounce of shame among them as Phasma puts her own survival ahead of that of that of her troops, Hux shows just how resentful he can be, Kylo Ren can’t stop trying to live up to the legacy of his grandfather, and Snoke struts around in his golden bathrobe. I thought that was just an “at home” look, you know? The kind of thing you slip into when you’ve got a night in on your enormous flagship planned and the only guest you’re expecting is the scavenger scum you’re planning to either turn evil or destroy. But, no; he wears that thing everywhere.
Review
The Age of...series ends on what I think is a pretty good note here with Age of Resistance-Villains. I wasn’t too impressed with the Resistance Heroes installment, but this one was a lot more fun; of course, it’s usually easier to have fun with the villains than it is those do gooder hero types. The villains get to be ruthless, merciless, and violent; and generally wallow in their own crapulence. We start with the Phasma story, it’s another illustration of just how far Phasma is willing to go to win and survive. We’ve seen the story before: in the Phasma comic mini-series and the Phasma novel (or so I’m told, I haven’t read the novel). In reviewing the Resistance Heroes Finn story, I remarked how it was a bit tiresome that we had gotten another story that felt the need to show how different and compassionate Finn was. So, why is another story about how ruthless Phasma is any less tiresome? I don’t know, it just is. Shut up. Maybe because of that inherent guilty pleasure in watching a villain be a villain. I think it might also be because this Phasma story, like the one told in the mini-series, is primarily told from the point of view of another character. A character who initially idolizes Phasma and wants to emulate her and by the end just wants to immolate her. You get it. In the Hux story, a shuttle on which Hux and Kylo are travelling is sabotaged and crashes on a planet. They are the only survivors and Kylo is soon rendered unconscious fighting off a monster while Hux is literally hiding behind a plant. It’s priceless. They are discovered by a member of the Alderaanian guard (still wearing his “rebel fleet trooper” outfit) who was off planet when it was destroyed and went into exile in this place, cutting off all contact with the outside world. Hux tells him the Empire has fallen and that his companion is the son of Princess Leia Organa. They use his transmitter to contact the First Order then leave him behind with plans to use the planet as target practice. Jerks. You also get some nice insight into what kind of childhood trauma made Hux into a jerk. Big surprise: his dad was a jerk.
Then there’s the Snoke story, which is really just as much a Kylo story; which is fine because Kylo isn’t dead. Snoke takes Ren to Dagobah to the Cave of Evil. Kylo fights a vision of Uncle Luke and ends up destroying the cave. There are some great exchanges between Snoke and Ren. Of course, this story does raise the question of how Snoke even knows about the cave; and even though he is dead, I would still like to get some exploration of his past. Finally, there is the actual Kylo issue where we find Kylo and the First Order on a planet to to subdue the recalcitrant native population. Kylo is accompanied by an old Imperial Stormtrooper who had been with Darth Vader on his own expedition to the planet many years earlier. He tells Kylo that Vader had managed to outdo the natives, but was unable to stand up to their “god” when it appeared. Ren starts off strong by literally stabbing the king in the head. It’s pretty cool. The FO tears into the enemy, but when their “god”, a zillo beast appears, things don’t look so good. In a move that probably came more from the Solo genes, Kylo displays what can only be called a stupid level of courage by jumping down the beast’s throat and tearing it up from the inside out. Needless to say, the First Order wins the fight and I’m sure that low self esteem will never be a problem for Kylo Ren again!
Notes
None! There are no notes!
Comic Pack Wish List:
Old Alderaanian guardsman, old Stormtrooper
Score:
The hit and miss Age of...series ends on a pretty good note with this: 4 Skulls.
