Comic Review:  Skywalker Strikes (Marvel)

In March of 2015, Marvel Comics, having reacquired the license, began publishing Star Wars comics under their banner for the first time since 1986. The launch title was an ongoing series titled simply Star Wars. The first six issues of the series, written by Jason Aaron with art by John Cassaday, were collected in a trade paperback called Star Wars Book I: Skywalker Strikes.

Click HERE to order the Skywalker Strikes trade paper back on Amazon



Our story opens with an homage to A New Hope; a ship, viewed from below heads toward a planet. It’s a Tatooine shuttle and it’s destination is Cymoon 1 in the Corellian system. After landing at what we learn is the galaxy’s biggest Imperial weapons facility, Han Solo emerges flanked by two guards dressed just as Lando was when he infiltrated Jabba’s palace. After the destruction of the Death Star, the Empire is in need of resources and supplies and they have turned to Jabba the Hutt. Han, who gives the Imperials his own name, says he has been sent by Jabba to be his emissary. Thanks to Han’s past as an actual associate of Jabba and the fact that he is unknown to be one of those who participated in the destruction of the Death Star, they believe his story. Once inside, they turn on the Imperials and we see that the two guards were Luke and Leia. They make their way to the main power core with the intent to destroy the facility. Through the Force, Luke senses someone in need of help. He finds a group of aliens being used as slave labor and frees them. As the rebels make their escape, a shuttle arrives. The Imperial negotiator, who was to bargain with Jabba’s emissary, is none other than Darth Vader. Chewbacca, who has been in a sniper position on a nearby tower, takes a shot at Vader. Vader deflects the bolt and then proceeds to use some of his own troopers as human shields before using the Force to pull the tower down. Vader then senses the pilot who destroyed the Death Star is nearby. Han orders Threepio, who is with the Falcon hidden in a junkyard, to start the auto-pilot; but scavengers have discovered the ship and are dismantling it. Stuck without a ride, the gang takes refuge in a hangar full of AT-AT’s. However, Luke has gotten separated from the group; as he makes his way down a hall he hears the voice of Ben Kenobi. Luke knows that Darth Vader is near and he wants to face him. Face him he does as he rounds a corner and sees the Sith Lord standing before him. He hears old Ben’s voice communicate an urgent message: “Run!”.

Luke ignites his lightsaber, ready to confront the man who killed his father and his mentor. Vader proceeds to effortlessly retrieve his old weapon, but only recognizes it as he is about to strike Luke down. His killing blow is interrupted by the foot of an AT-AT crashing through the ceiling. In the ensuing commotion, Vader and his troops kill a number of the slaves (apparently there wasn’t room enough for everyone inside the AT-AT). Back at the Falcon, Threepio goes outside to scare off the scavengers and immediately gets shot with his own blaster. If Artoo had been there I’m sure he would have easily murdered the lot of them with characteristic glee. Meanwhile, at the facility, Luke grabs a speeder and mows down some Stormtroopers while Vader uses the Force to overpower the AT-AT. Just as he is about to disable it, Artoo and some Jawas get the cannons online and Vader avoids getting blasted. Luke retrieves his saber on the way out and Vader emerges from a pile of rubble. A trooper who rushes to his aid gets a broken neck for his trouble.

As the escape continues, Chewie shows up at the junkyard and rescues Threepio. Meanwhile, the factory overseer has managed to halt the core’s meltdown and Vader disables the AT-AT with his lightsaber. Han, Leia, and their entourage are forced to escape on foot as Luke heads back inside the factory with Vader in pursuit. Luke manages to make it back to the Falcon and the ship takes off as Vader watches his quarry slip away. In space, the Falcon escapes an Imperial blockade while Vader, on the surface below, ponders this Force strong, but untrained, boy. He vows to find him and make him a weapon of the Dark Side. Meanwhile, on the Falcon, Luke takes stock of his encounter with Vader; lamenting that, without Kenobi to train him, he will never be a Jedi.

Vader makes his way to Jabba’s palace on Tatooine to conduct direct negotiations for access to the resources the Hutt controls. “Give the Emperor what he wants and he will allow you to live. This concludes the negotiations.” Back at the Rebel fleet, while Han and Chewie are working on the Falcon, Leia is in conference with Adm. Ackbar and Mon Mothma. Leia calls for more attacks to press the advantage of their recent victory over the Empire. Mon Mothma says their first priority is to find a new base. On another part of the ship, Luke is training with his lightsaber, still shaken by his encounter with Darth Vader. Leia comes to recruit him for another mission but he refuses. ”All I am is a danger to everyone around me”, he says, and leaves. The scene changes to Mos Eisley where we see a cloaked stranger being confronted by four Rodians looking to steal the reward money she is offering. She takes them down and they give her what info they have on her quarry: Han Solo. Elsewhere on Tatooine, Darth Vader is on Jabba’s sail barge! Seriously, the Sail Barge! And Darth Vader is on it with Jabba! This is canon, folks! Anyway, we learn that Vader has arranged for Jabba to provide him with the services of two bounty hunters. Vader questions Jabba about Obi-Wan Kenobi’s time on Tatooine. Jabba says he was a thorn in his side. Did Jabba always know that this “thorn in his side” as he describes him was the most wanted man in the galaxy, or did he only learn his identity after his departure? It’s not clear at this point. What is clear is that Vader now knows that this Force sensitive boy is from Tatooine as well. We then see Boba Fett (!) questioning the aforementioned Rodians about Kenobi.

Luke, having left the Rebel fleet in his X-wing, returns to Tatooine seeking clues about his destiny. Fett, hired by Vader, is putting the screws to the locals in an effort to learn the identity of the boy pilot associated with Ben Kenobi. There is a great two page layout of the cantina at this point. Back at the Fleet, Han and Leia engage in some great back and forth banter that ends with Han agreeing to go on one more mission with Leia so that he can get the parts needed to repair the Falcon. They take an Imperial shuttle to scout the Outer Rim for potential bases. They are approached by TIE fighters; Leia has clearance codes, but Han jumps the gun prompting the fighters to attack. They barely escape into the hostile atmosphere of a nearby planet. As they descend, a probe makes note of their arrival and alerts the mystery woman in search of Solo. Back on Tatooine, Fett has found a kid who ID’s Luke, remembering him from Tosche Station (of power convertor fame). Fett thanks the poor rube by killing him. Meanwhile, Luke, making his way to Ben Kenobi’s old dwelling, is accosted by Sand People. He chases them off and enters Ben’s house where he finds a box marked “For Luke,” just before being blinded by an explosion. Behind him, we see Boba Fett standing in the doorway.

Luke, still blinded by the flash grenades, squares off against Fett. Back in the Outer Rim, Leia and Han are on the idyllic surface of the planet that was masked by the stormy atmosphere; turns out Han has previously used the planet as a hiding place. In the space above, the mystery woman’s ship zooms past the TIES and into the atmosphere. Meanwhile, at the hut, Luke barely manages to defeat Fett, calling on the Force to send the mystery box slamming into the back of his head. On Han’s hiding planet, the mystery woman takes a shot at the pair. She sets the ship down and exits, blaster in hand. She introduces herself as Sana Solo; Han’s wife. Luke has since returned to his X-wing on Tatooine. He pulls a tattered book from the box, a book labeled “The Journals of Ben Kenobi”. Fett reports back to Vader on board a star destroyer. The boy got lucky and slipped away, he says; but he does have a name to give Vader: Skywalker. Fett walks away, and we see Vader, a silent rage building; he repeats the name: Skywalker, as the window in front of him cracks.






Marvel definitely came out swinging with their inaugural series. The dialog is solid: not too much, not too little, and sounds right coming from our characters. They sound like the characters from the movies, but without just parroting movie quotes or variations thereof. The art is excellent; everybody looks like who they are supposed to look like; you can tell what is actually going on in the action scenes; and the panel layouts are coherent. Certainly there are some controversial moves: Luke’s early confrontation with Vader and Vader learning Luke’s identity very early in the series. However, these things are not played solely for shock value and serve to drive the storyline in both this book and the Darth Vader series for some time to come. The whole Han Solo had a wife thing caused quite a stir upon initial publication, but of course it ends up playing out pretty much exactly how you expect it to. If you haven’t read Skywalker Strikes, you like Star Wars, and you like comics, then I strongly recommend it. If you like Star Wars and you don’t like comics: Come on! What have you got to lose? Come on! If you don’t like Star Wars or comics, then you shouldn’t be reading this; but you should still order a Sail Barge. What better way to upset a nerd? Ordering a Sail Barge and you don’t even like Star Wars...it’ll kill ‘em!

Click HERE to order the Skywalker Strikes trade paper back on Amazon

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