Star Wars: Lando was written by Charles Soule with art by Alex Maleev. It was originally published as a 5 issue mini-series before being collected as a trade paperback.
Synopsis
Seeing a Gungan fertility totem is hopfully the most we'll ever learn about Gungan mating.
Lando Calrissian and his life-mate, Lobot, have gotten themselves in deep with gangster Papa Toren. When a plan to steal and fence a priceless artifact from the Imperial governor of Castell doesn’t quite pan out, Toren tells them about an opportunity to steal the pleasure craft of a rich Imperial who is reputed to be a collector of rare and priceless art. The deal will be that Toren gets the ship, Lando and company get whatever is inside, and the slate is clean. Lando gets Aleksin and Pavol (twins from some sort of feline species) for muscle and convinces Korin Pers, an Ugnaught who is a former professor of antiquities, to join them. The heist goes off pretty much without a hitch. Imperial forces intervene, but are unable to stop the thieves because they’ve been hit by, they’ve been struck by, a smooth criminal. Onboard the ship, the gang finds a cache of priceless art. Inside a secure room they find a trove of ancient Sith artifacts being guarded by two Imperial Royal Guards. Lobot is wounded and the guards are defeated by Aleksin and Pavol. Korin examines the guards and finds that they appear deformed and corrupted. It turns out this particular yacht, the Imperialis, belongs to none other than Emperor Palpatine.
Chanath Cha takes command of the Scimitar
Learning of the theft of his yacht and its priceless treasures, the Emperor dispatches favored bounty hunter Chanath Cha to either kill the thieves and recapture the ship, or failing that, destroy it. Back on the Imperialis, Lobot is in a bacta tank, attempting to keep his implants from taking advantage of his weakened state to completely take over his mind. Aleksin and Pavol become corrupted by a Sith helmet and start fighting with each other. Lando and Korin vacate the chamber at about the same time Chanath arrives in the Scimitar, the ship that once belonged to Darth Maul. Once on board, Chanath discovers that Lando is the one behind the theft. Fortunately for him, they go way back; and not in the sense that she’s been wanting to kill him for a long time. She agrees to destroy the ship and let them escape; however, their departure is complicated by the two man-sized cat people trying to kill them, and by the fact that the caretaker droid on the Scimitar took off without them because, like all droids, he’s a jerk. Anyway, one dead Ugnaught and two dead cats later, they escape, but only after Lobot allows the implants to take over so he can get the escape pods back online.
Review
Lando and Korin Pers examine a Royal Guard who has been corrupted by exposure to Sith artifacts.
Lando was Marvel’s second mini-series and, coming on the heels of Princess Leia, is a vast improvement over its predecessor. This was Charles Soule’s first foray into writing Star Wars comics and it’s a great start. The story is tight and focused. I’m not in love with the whole "people get corrupted and turned evil by staring at a Sith artifact too hard thing," but at least they don’t get actual Force powers from it or anything. If the Force is a living thing, then I suppose something that has been used in conjunction with the Dark side could absorb that energy and give it off, sort of like radiation. Anyway, Lando remains at the center throughout, but supporting characters are given good depth and act as a lens through which we can learn more about Lando. You could say that Lando getting off the hook because the bounty hunter knew him was a little too convenient. But, she doesn’t let him slide simply because she knows him; she does it because she seems to genuinely like him. It’s also not a case of her being some love-struck former conquest either; she seems to have a good sense of who Lando really is. And, ultimately, that’s what this story ends up being about. It’s not really about stealing a ship full of treasure; it’s about who Lando is, and who Lando could be. In the end, as Lobot’s will succumbs fully to the implants, a message he had made for Lando begins to play. The gist of it is him saying, "Look, you’ve got this talent for getting people to go along and play your game, to be your luck, now find something to believe in and use that talent for good, stop chasing after the next score and do something that matters." The story ends on that, with Lando having nothing to show for this job, with three of his crew dead, and his good friend’s personality overtaken.
Lobot suffers the indignity not only of losing his mind to the implants, but of having to escape in his underwear.
We know that sometime shortly after this story Lando comes to be in control of Cloud City. Was this time as a reputable businessman his first attempt to carry out Lobot’s advice? Maybe. We all know it didn’t turn out too well, but we also know what happens next: Lando Calrissian, smuggler/con-man/gambler/playa becomes a hero of the Rebellion. The art in the series complements the story quite well. The finished product almost looks to be painted. The colors are muted, sometimes almost mono-chromatic. Even though I usually prefer an art style fits into the more “pop” comic book style this fits in well with the subject matter. There is a good sense of the evil and doom that hang in the air on board the Imperialis. Most of the character designs are pretty good, but Papa Toren is the real stand out. He’s just got that weird grotesqueness that is so appealing, and his ghoulish little elves that communicate for him are the cherry on top. On the other hand, Aleksin and Pavol look like a couple of Black Panther cosplayers.
Notes
Though it is not specifically stated when this story takes place, it is sometime after ANH and before ESB
We get a new canon origin for Lobot: he was employed by the Empire to run battlefield calculations and agreed to the installation of the Aj^6 cyborg construct in order to increase his productivity. Until the end of this story he is constantly in a struggle with the implants to keep them from completely overtaking his personality. Also, he and Chanath Cha were in a relationship sometime prior to these events.
Chanath Cha and Papa Toren will return in future comics by Charles Soule. Toren will appear in the Poe Dameron series and we see Chanath as a child in the second Darth Vader series.
When Korin Pers tells Lando that some of the artifacts are Sith, Lando is completely ignorant of the term. Palpatine’s true nature remains well hidden from the galaxy as they are both quite unsettled that the Emperor would be in possession of such things.
About Aleksin and Pavol, the feline humanoids. They’re not twins, they are clones…of each other; and also lovers…of each other. Their initial reason for taking on the job was to be able to afford another clone of themselves that they could raise as a child; that’s what I like to call pullin’ a double Jango Boba.
Mas Amedda is seen reporting to the Emperor about the theft of his ship.
The Imperials destroy the shipyard from which the Imperialis is stolen because nothing teaches people to do better next time than murdering them. Seriously? The people cleaning the toilets and working in the cafeteria, too? This is why people are rebelling against you, you jerks!
Comic Pack Wish List:
A lot!
Lando and Lobot in their different outfits, especially Lobot.
Chanath Cha, Papa Toren, Korin Pers would be good ideas.
You could pretty much do a whole wave from this comic.
Score: 3 and ½ Bantha skulls. The plot resolves itself a little to conveniently, but overall this a great read and a worthy addition to Lando’s ever developing story. Editor's Note: We'll round up to a 4. Bantha Skull doesn't do anything half way. Except that one thing.
