Star Wars Vol. 10: The Escape collects issues 56-61 of Star Wars. It was written by Kieron Gillen with art by Andrea Broccardo and Angel Unueta, and published on April 9, 2019.
Synopsis
Thane Markona in full armor.
In the aftermath of Queen Trios’s shocking betrayal and a devastating attack by the Empire, the Rebellion has scattered and gone deep into hiding. Luke, Leia, Han, and the droids, having barely escaped with their lives, are aided by Sana Starros in their attempt to reconnect with the Alliance. Imperial intervention causes them to take refuge on the isolationist moon of Hubin. There they encounter the Markona clan, mercenaries who have settled into a pastoral life while shunning the Galaxy at large. Han embraces the opportunity to relax. Leia secludes herself, brooding over the tactical defeat and personal betrayal she has experienced. Luke, despite his attraction to the clan leader’s daughter, is anxious to return to the fight. As time drags on, with no sign of Sana returning to retrieve them, Luke secretly constructs a transmitter. His efforts, however, do not result in the arrival of allies; rather, the infamous and bloodthirsty (and extremely cool) Scar Squadron arrives on the planet (moon). Luke’s desire to fight is strong, but he must resist it in order to get himself and his friends off of Hubin. Scar Squadron is left stranded on the moon (which has no ships or transmitters of its own) while the Rebels escape in their shuttle. The Markona clan, having seen the character of the Rebellion, chooses to abandon Hubin and fight the Empire.
Review
Tula Markona examines Luke's weapon.
“The Escape” is about more than just the escape of the Rebels from the Empire following the previous storyline. It is also about the Markona clan’s escape from the galaxy at large. After performing numerous acts of questionable morality as long as the price was right during the preceding years, they have settled into a life of peace on Hubin. Their peace has come at a price, though. Whatever their last mission was, and we never learn what exactly, it was important enough to the Empire for them to be rewarded with possession of the moon. Although a generation has now grown up in this agrarian setting, the importance of combat skill and personal honor has not been forgotten. Luke is vexed at the desire of this so-called warrior people to live out their existence as if they were on permanent vacation. When he learns that Thane Markona, the leader, is the son of a female Jedi who left the Order to marry, he is indignant at the man’s willingness to turn a blind eye to the travesties of the Empire. Most of this story is a two way road of the Markona learning who our heroes really are (and I mean that in terms of character, not just identity), and the Rebels learning what kind of people the Markona are; Thane Markona spends a lot of time sizing up our heroes, testing them unawares. Gillen is skillfully guarded in presenting this new character to us. Little by little, more is revealed about him and his people, and right up to the climax you just don’t know whether they will end up being friends or foes of the Rebellion. Nothing can be taken for granted in the aftermath of the recent betrayal. Luke’s impatience about getting back to the fight is contrasted with Leia’s isolating herself in her quarters and showing no urgency about getting off Hubin. Luke believes she is shirking her duties, but what she later reveals to Han is that she hasn’t been wasting her time sulking. She has been concocting a plan; a plan to “destroy Shu-torun forever”. She seems to mean destroy it in the sense of incapacitating its energy gathering technology and making it economically useless to the Empire. But, how far will Leia really go in order to pay back Queen Trios? Will she render a whole planet unlivable? Will she show Trios that the Empire is not the only one who can take everything from her? It seems highly unlikely that Leia will take it too far in the end; but the very implication that she could let her desire for revenge take her to a dark place is intriguing.
The exact moment Leia falls in love with Han.
While we don’t get to know much about anyone else in the Markona clan outside of Tula and the Thane (Thane is a title, not a name, see note below), we do learn that they are not all related by blood and they are not all the same species. They are a community formed from the mercenary company that Thane Markona founded after the death of his parents. Remember when Mandalorians were a conglomerate of different races, bound under a single leader? That’s basically what you have here; and I don’t think it’s a coincidence. The armor worn by them even seems to be suggestive of this. I suppose it’s possible that Markona is related to the Mandalorians. We know his mother was a former Jedi, but his father is described only as a “roguish stranger”; and, at one point, he tells Luke: “I am what the Markona line always are…a fighter”. So, yeah, it’s possible. The art is provided by Andrea Broccardo in the first and last issues, and Angel Unzueta in between. On the one hand, it’s gorgeous; especially the depictions of Hubin. On the other hand, the faces! Oh, the faces! I had hoped when Salvador Larrocca left we would be done with the faces that look like they are photo-shopped directly from film stills. No, it still happens with Unzueta. It doesn’t seem to be as often, but when you notice it, it takes you right out of the story. Then there’s Broccardo, he doesn’t do the face trace thing, but when he draws Han, Luke, and Leia (and it really just seems to be them), they just look weird. I don’t know how else to describe it except to say that sometimes, instead of a drawing of a person, it looks like a drawing of a sculpture of a person. The faces; I wish that I knew what I know now when I was younger.
Notes
They're back, baby!
The Rebels are stranded on Hubin for about a month. In the end, Scar Squadron is left stranded there and they discover Leia’s plan for vengeance against Shu-torun.
Thane has a somewhat complicated etymological and historical background, but for all intents and purposes, it denotes a person, usually of military background, who holds land granted directly by the king. This makes sense as Markona was granted the moon Hubin directly by the Empire, presumably by the Emperor himself.
After escaping Hubin, and stealing back Sana’s ship from an Imperial impound yard, the gang locate Adm. Ackbar and reunite with Chewie and the Millennium Falcon.
The planet Brentaal IV, which has a long history in the old EU is mentioned and later seen.
Tula and the Markona clan accompany the gang to the Imperial impound yard where they steal a YT-2400 light freighter (like the Outrider). Tula then parts ways with Luke as she and the clan go to rendezvous with Hera and aid the Rebellion. Did you know that Dash Rendar is back in canon? He appeared in the 2018 book Solo: A Star Wars Story: Tales from Vandor. I just learned that.
Comic Pack Wish List:
Thane Markona, Tula. I’ve mentioned them before, but Sana and everyone from Scar Squadron would be most welcome. Score:
What Gillen does best, gives us new characters and uses them to show us new perspectives on our familiar heroes. 4 Skulls.
