Free Comic Book Day 2012: Star Wars/Serenity

Han Solo & Chewbacca in The Art of the Bad Deal

Writer: Zack Whedon
Penciller: Davide Fabbri
Inker: Christian Dalla Vecchia
Colorist: Ronda Pattison
Letterer: Michael David Thomas
Cover Artist: Adam Hughes

The opening shot was very nicely done and colored.

The Art of the Bad Deal was one of two 2012 Free Comic Book Day offerings by Dark Horse comics. It stars Han Solo and Chewbacca as they make a deal with Verhandle. Verhandle looks kind of like a Duros, but with black eyes, and he has a reputation as a tough negotiator. In this story, Han is back to his cocky self. It centers around a deal that quickly turns into some excitement. We get to see Chewie in action and a fair amount of dialog between him and Han. The issue was combined with a Serenity story and a part of an Alabaster story. As such, The Art of the Bad Deal was only five pages long.

Here you can see they stylized interpretation of Han.

Here you can see the stylized form of Chewie.

Art wise, it wasn’t too bad. There’s some artistic license with the characters, but Han’s likeness is close enough that it isn’t distracting. The coloring is good with some subtle changes in background tones that keeps the variety going. The overall style and feel is similar to the Agent of the Empire series. As a one shot, I give it a 3 out of 5 metal bikinis.

Serenity: Firefly Class 03-K64 “It’s Never Easy”

Writer: Zack Whedon
Penciller/Inker: Fabio Moon
Colorist: Cris Peter
Letterer: Michael Heisler
Cover Artist: Daniel Dos Santos

This story takes place after the events of the film, Serenity. As a fan of the show and the movie, I thought it would be cool to check out its transition into comics. The first page starts with a bit of a shocker, at least for me, as Zoe is pregnant. Another element that sticks out is the artwork. Sadly, it didn’t stick out in a good way. It’s heavily stylized and is very reminiscent of the cartoons you see in newspapers. Details and shading are very minimal and the characters have pinprick styled eyes. It’s a minimalist, cartoony feel that was hard for me to accept visually.

Here you can easily see the style of the art.

However, the dialog was superb. While reading it, I could easily hear the characters from the show speaking. It felt spot on; a perfect match. The story was also on the money. It felt like a shame that the art was so poor in comparison to how great the rest of it was. The art is even more jarring when you consider how fantastic the cover looks. Regardless, overall, I’d give it a 2.5 out 5 metal bikinis.

Aside from Star Wars and Serenity, this issue also included Part One of Alabaster: Shelter. Being only one page long, the preview was way too short to get a read on where the story was going and whether the art worked. The fact that the story was following a female albino who comes across a troll under a bridge in a modern setting was appealing, but the art was a little poor. Part Two is featured in Dark Horse’s other Free Comic Book Day offering Buffy/The Guild.

Reviewed By: Skuldren for Roqoo Depot.