Star Wars: Rogue One: Cassian & K-2SO

Click HERE to order Star Wars: Rogue One: Cassian & K-2SO one shot on Amazon



Star Wars: Rogue One: Cassian & K-2SO Special 1 is a one shot comic written by Duane Swierczynski with art by Fernando Blanco released by Marvel on August 9, 2017 and collected in the trade paperback edition of the Rogue One comic adaptation published on December 12, 2017.



Captain Cassian Andor accompanies Kertas and Rismor to the planet Wecacoe on a mission to uncover some Imperial Security Protocols from a decommissioned Imperial Cruiser. Things don’t go as planned and when the trio find themselves on the run from Stormtroopers, Cassian captures a security droid designated K-2SO and attempts to reprogram him to help them escape. This doesn’t turn out to be as easy as he thinks it will and, as is so often the case in real life, results in a strangling. While a good strangling really can help to clear your head, there’s just no time for it when the Empire is closing in, so they hit the reboot button again and succeed in wiping enough of his memory that he is able to help them get back to their ship. Once there, Kertas and Rismor tell Cassian that the droid has all of the intel they need and provide a distraction allowing him and K-2SO to escape. The ship that the Rebels came in gets blowed up real good, so the pair commandeer another and make a getaway. Safely in hyperspace, K-2SO tells Cassian that he no longer has the overwhelming urge to detain or kill him, and so we see the birth of a beautiful friendship. They both lived happily ever after until their tragic and fiery deaths.



This is an enjoyable enough read even if it is somewhat unnecessary since we pretty much got the gist of how these two came together from that one sentence in the movie. There are really no surprises here; it’s a very straightforward and by the numbers explication. The supporting characters Kertas and Rismor have virtually no dialogue because they communicate with each other via scent, there is no real compelling antagonist unless you count K-2SO, and since we know that he will eventually be turned there isn’t much tension there. The story feels pretty rushed, of course part of that is due to the limitations of this being a one-shot story rather than a mini-series or storyline in an ongoing series. I’m not saying this whole thing should have been stretched out to 5 or 6 issues; but if this had been a Rogue One prequel mini-series wherein a version of this story was incorporated as a “B story”, maybe. The art is good, not spectacular. Sometimes it feels a little static and lacking in detail, but there are some good panels in there. The real high point of the story and what makes it ultimately worth reading, is the fairly spot on portrayal of K-2SO. His dialogue and actions are reminiscent of how he is portrayed in the movie, and it is nice to see him go from wanting to kill Cassian to being friends; although, again, rushed.

Kertas and Rismor are twin sisters from an unidentified alien species. They do survive the story, but to my knowledge have not appeared again.

As mentioned above, this story was included in the collected edition of the Rogue One adaptation. I don’t have it, but I’m under the impression that it’s pretty good and that it has some stuff in it that was not in the movie. I suspect this story is much better when included as an addendum to the adaptation.

Comic Pack Wish List:

Obviously we need a more fully articulated K-2SO. Cassian is basically wearing his normal outfit in this, except he has a heavier hooded coat over it and a backpack. It’s not the same coat from RO because it’s brown instead of blue; or blue instead of brown. I don’t know.

Score:

It’s a non-essential but essentially entertaining story. I waver between 2 and 3 Skulls, but ultimately my feelings tell me to go with 2 Skulls.



Click HERE to order Star Wars: Rogue One: Cassian & K-2SO one shot on Amazon

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