Invasion: Revelations #1

Writer: Tom Taylor
Artist: Colin Wilson
Colorist: Wes Dzioba
Cover Artist: Chris Scalf, (Dark Horse 25th Anniversary cover) Dave Dorman

Revelations #1 starts off with the battle of Dantooine in epic fashion. Luke stands against a massive Yuuzhan Vong army at night, heavily shrouded in darkness, and with the odds looking grim. The artwork highlights the darkness with flashes of explosions that reveal the approaching mass of Vong biots and Chazrach slave troops. The dialog refrains from taking Luke’s point of view and instead is commentated by an on-the-site news reporter. This subtle touch gives the scenes a historic quality that encapsulates the entire scene with dramatic tension and escalation. It kicks the comic off with a bang.

From there the main focus shifts to Finn Galfridian and his newly adopted master, Dray. Dray’s visions continue and they serve to give Finn purpose. The new direction sends Finn and Dray off to Coruscant to meet with Borsk Fey’lya. Throwing Borsk into the mix brings back a lot of old memories of NJO. Whether you like it or not, the comic captures that brilliant annoyance of Fey’lya very well. Revelation showcases a couple nice shots of the Bothan and also takes the opportunity to reveal what the Senate Guards look like during the time period. Story wise the Imperials are brought in, and a new twist is added that leaves the issue in a dire cliff hanger.

Beyond Finn’s journey to Coruscant, a few side stories get touched upon. Kaye’s plot gets wrapped up on Dibrook and the Imperials are also used to propel her to new territory. Elsewhere the Yuuzhan Vong warrior Tsalok and the shaper Nagme develop their relationship a bit more as clues to a Vong weapon are hinted at. Overall the issue maintains a good balance of following its established characters and keeping the reader interested. The actions kicks off in the beginning, slows down, and picks back up at the end. There is story development and drama. For readers who have been following the series, this issue is on par with previous ones.

As for bonuses, I enjoyed the imagery in this issue. The Battle of Dantooine had some excellent panels and I loved the way the artists played with the light to enhance the drama of the situation. In Vietnam movies you often have the seen were everything is dark and a flare shoots up into the sky to reveal Viet Cong everywhere. That same trick was used but with an exploding X-Wing and creeping Vong troops. Yet later in the comic the scenes brighten tremendously for some beautiful artwork of Coruscant. The images capture the spaciousness of the environment. Plus the contrast balances well with the dark battle scenes. I also liked seeing the uniforms of the Republic soldiers and the Senate guardsmen. Though this isn’t the first time we’ve seen them, it’s still nice to get more images of them in action. I find it interesting that the guardsmen’s uniforms have changed quite a bit. There helmets now resemble the old Clone Trooper helmets more than the classic Mandalorian T-visor helmets. Rounding out my art observations would be the inclusion of ships. Not only do readers get a nice glimpse of Dray’s ship the Star of Gabrielle (which appears to be a Corellian YT-2400 light freighter), but also a Star Destroyer and some more of the Heart of Artorias.

I give Invasion: Revelations #1 a good four out of five metal bikinis. Good art, good writing, and a good balance make it a nice way to kick off the new story arc.

Reviewed By: Skuldren