Star Wars Volume 9: Hope Dies collects issues 50-55 of Star Wars written by Kieron Gillen with art by Salvador Larroca as well as Annual 4 written by Cullen Bunn with art by Ario Anindito, Roland Boschi, and Marc Laming. A back up story in issue 50 has art by Guiseppe Camuncoli and Cam Smith. It was released on December 11, 2018.
Synopsis
The newly acquired Rebel fleet
The Mon Cala Merchant Fleet has defected to the Rebel Alliance and, with the assistance of Queen Trios of Shu-Torun, been outfitted with offensive systems. The leaders of the Rebellion have gathered for a ceremony to celebrate and witness the dispersal of the fleet to various hiding spots until it is needed to strike. However, treachery abounds! Queen Trios has been acting at the behest of Darth Vader. As the ships attempt to make the jump to hyperspace, their commanders find themselves stranded and without functioning weapons. Imperial ships, led by Vader in the Executor, arrive and begin an attack designed to not only destroy the Rebellion’s fleet but also any hope that the Empire can be defeated by a pitiful band of rebels. Princess Leia pursues Queen Trios’s shuttle in order to get the codes that will unlock the ships’ systems. Han, Chewbacca, and Threepio arrive in the Falcon (from an unrelated mission) and assist in getting Luke, Wedge and the other fighter pilots into the battle by getting the various ships hangar doors open. Leia’s mission leads her and Gen. Draven to infiltrate the Executor in order to acquire the override codes. With much of the fleet and Rebellion leadership destroyed, the survivors finally make their escape.
Review
Darth Vader getting the titular line.
Kieron Gillen strikes hard with Hope Dies. Although it’s his third storyline since taking over the writing of Star Wars it feels like his whole run leading up to this has been one big story, culminating in a (literally) explosive denouement. This is a climax, not only for Gillen’s run (thus far), but also much of the groundwork that was laid by Jason Aaron in the first 37 issues. This series started nearly four years and 50-something issues ago with the Rebels still basking in the glow of their Death Star victory, flush with hope that their fight against the evil Empire was winnable. A series of smaller victories seemed to confirm this, but Aaron ended his run with a clear message that the Empire still had teeth. Gillen picked it up and added the false hope and sting of betrayal by bringing in Queen Trios from his celebrated Darth Vader series. In that series, Trios was presented as an interesting contrast to the other lady in Vader’s life, Doctor Aphra. Here, Trios is set against Princess Leia, another character for whom she is a fascinating contrast. Princess Leia fearlessly stood up to the Empire. The result was the complete destruction of her planet. Queen Trios was given a reminder of Alderaan when Vader first visited her home. Then and there she decided she would do whatever she had to do to protect Shu-Torun from that fate. For her, that doesn’t mean standing up to the Empire; it means making herself a collaborator of the Empire. Having her ingratiate herself to Leia, then betray her, making the two of them personal enemies, nemeses if you will, was a brilliant idea. I am very interested to see how this relationship plays out. Will it end in Trios’s redemption, her destruction, or both? Trios is certainly not a hero, but she’s not exactly a villain either. Even given her actions in this story, we still see her as a tragic figure. She is someone motivated by the kind of oppressive, unrelenting fear that has always allowed organizations like the Empire to thrive.
Han Solo (X-Wing Pilot)
A very generous use of supporting characters really gives this story a feel that ties it into the movies. We see familiar Rebel high command faces from A New Hope and Rogue One, and also get a reasonable explanation for why none of them (except Mon Mothma) re-appear in The Empire Strikes Back or Return of the Jedi. I was very pleased to see Gen. Draven get something of a rehabilitation in this arc. Let’s be honest, he comes off as a bit of a jerk in Rogue One; here he retains his hard edge and no-nonsense attitude but also acknowledges his past mistake and shows he’s an officer who can fight just as well as he can give orders. You should already know what to expect from Salvador Larroca’s art. He actually seems to be doing better with the face thing here. My opinion of Larroca’s Star Wars work has fluctuated a bit over the course of Darth Vader and his work on this series. I still think he is a good comic book artist, but his strong suits are drawings of non-humans and tech type stuff. When it comes to drawing people, the close up stuff is usually good; but wide shots of groups of people, especially people in motion, tend to look kind of static and awkward. That said, his work here passes the basic test of coherently presenting the action of the story.
Notes
From Star Wars Annual 4
Here’s a list of important, seen on screen people who die in this story: Gen. Dodonna, Gen. Willard, Bob Hudsol, Cmdr. Lajaie, Gen. Draven (RO), and Col. Bandwin (RO).
Gen. Hera Syndulla appears a few times in the story as one of the commanders of a cruiser. Unfortunately she’s little more than a talking head here. Wedge also appears and takes part in the battle.
At one point Han dons a flight suit and pilots an X-Wing. That was pretty cool. It’s not often we see Han as a fighter pilot.
It is in this story that we see Luke suggest the name Rogue Squadron as an homage to Jyn Erso and her team.
The story ends with Han, Luke, Leia, and the droids separated from Chewbacca and the Millennium Falcon and seeking assistance from Sana Starros. Mon Mothma contacts them and promotes Leia to general, Luke to commander, and Han to colonel. Han declines a formal rank; I guess that’s why he is still referred to as captain in ESB.
Annual 4 is unrelated to the main story; it takes place prior to Sana Starros’s first appearance in the series. It tells the story of Sana recovering the dual, cross-guard lightsabers of Darth Atrius. She sells one to a criminal and the other to the Empire. They fall into the hands of Luke and Vader (they do not come into direct contact with each other in this story), who destroy them when they realize the weapons are capable of corrupting their users.
Comic Pack Wish List:
Any of the people I listed above that died. Han Solo (X-Wing pilot).
