Star Wars #12

Star Wars #12

Writer: Brian Wood
Artist: Carlos D’Anda
Colorist: Gabe Eltaeb
Letterer: Michael Heisler
Cover Artist: Hugh Fleming

Fair Warning: This review contains major spoilers from issue #11 and spoilers for issue #12.

Star Wars #12 opts out of action and instead, lays down the closure. With all of the storylines that have been strung out for the last eleven issues, this one finally wraps it all up. Mon Mothma reveals her intentions, Bircher lays out the extent of his undercover role, Leia gets her answers, and everyone else falls into place. Some big things happen in the story that will most definitely shape where the series heads next.

There were a lot of questions left hanging in Star Wars #11 when it was revealed that Bircher was a secret Rebel Alliance operative working for Mon Mothma. Thankfully, this issue answers those questions. It also creates an interesting rift between Mon Mothma and Leia. As the two figure heads of the Alliance, it certainly is an uneasy position when neither of them fully trusts the other one and both of them are keeping secrets. That tension bleeds through the rest of the issue as Leia runs into Han and briefs everyone on where the Rebels will be making their new home.

Wedge plays a key role early on and steals the show as he announces that he’s disbanding Stealth Squadron and forming Rogue Squadron with himself as the leader. Some fans might not like seeing a new origin story for the Rogues, but I think this one worked well enough, and it’ll be fun to see Rogue Squadron back in comics. I also like how Wedge reasserted himself in this issue and increased his measure of authority. Earlier in the series, he felt like he was playing second fiddle to Luke. Now it’s Luke who is stepping back from the limelight.

There are a few good scenes with Han in this issue, and Brian Wood does a good job with the dialog. Perla gets her place in the Alliance. Plus Luke’s girlfriend, Prithi, says her goodbyes as she decides to leave the Rebels and return home. Even Vader gets some page time as he makes some vague plans toward returning to field duty for some secret mission. All in all, there’s a lot crammed into Star Wars #12, and all the closure was well overdue. It seems odd to see a series with such a long arc, as most do a good job of balancing between smaller stories with 5 to 6 issue arcs and larger stories usually taking 2 to 3 trade paperbacks to flesh out. This series, however, definitely banked entirely on the long game as none of the arcs really felt properly concluded until this issue.

Rounding things out, there’s more stellar artwork and coloring from Carlos D’Anda and Gabe Eltaeb. Carlos may use his own artistic interpretations for the characters, but they work well. With Gabe’s amazing coloring and lighting effects, the artwork is bright, beautiful and very dynamic. There wasn’t any action in this issue, so most of the artwork is shots of the characters in conversation and a few scenic shots of the Rebel Fleet and the hangars. The final panel invokes a neat throwback to the old days of comics. There’s just something about that yellow word box and the red text that screams nostalgia. It’s also a nice tease, “To be continue in issue #15! But first, Five Days of the Sith! — Vader’s Redemption!” What will Vader be doing to redeem himself for the next two issues? Furthermore, how cool is it that we’re getting a Vader interlude?

With a heaping helping of much needed closure, Star Wars #12 wraps up a massive arc for this bold new series. It was a refreshing blast and it’s certainly reinvigorated me for more. Not only do I want to see where Leia’s story arc is going with this whole marriage proposal, but I want to see how Wedge is going to continue to develop in his new role as Rogue Leader. I want to see where Luke is going to go now that he’s lost his girlfriend and is clearly being passed up for command opportunities. I want to see what happens to Perla, and how Mon Mothma is going to deal with Leia’s new found resentment. But most pressing of all, I want to see what Vader is going to be up to. For rekindling my interest and wrapping up the loose ends, I give Star Wars #12 a five out of five metal bikinis.

Reviewed By: Skuldren for Roqoo Depot.