As Dark Horse’s possession of the Star Wars property winds down, we are graced with a mini series from one of the most celebrated writers in the past few years. Not to mention, that the story focuses on the fan favorite character of Han Solo. He’s always been one of my favorites anyway. I prefer him as part of a duo, with Chewbacca, but I’ll take him any way that I can get him. Second only to Darth Vader on my list of favorite Star Wars characters. A young rebel is paired with one of the rebellion’s biggest names, Han Solo. But in reality, and in this freshly trained rebel’s eyes, Han isn’t everything that his legend has made him out to be. The reality of Han is something far less impressive, at least initially. An escape plan that doesn’t seem to be going so well, a ship that can’t pull the weight of two passengers, and a rebel hero that is merely more than a footsoldier. Is it possible that Han Solo’s luck has finally run out? And this poor guy is being dragged down right along with him.
The script is a little wordy. A lot of narration, I usually like that, but in my opinion… that doesn’t work as well in Star Wars: Rebel Heist #1. A Star Wars title usually does best when the action outweighs the inner monologue. I think that the script is extremely well written, don’t get me wrong, but it just seems out of place here in the Star Wars EU. I’ve noticed, though, that Kindt does seem to write that way a lot, I actually do as well, but who’s the professional here? So the fact remains that the guy knows what he’s doing, but I’m just not digging it so far. But it’s only been one issue.
The art is… aight. I recognize the style from other Star Wars stuff, but I don’t really remember liking it that much back then either. It seems really inconsistent. That’s kind of a turn off for me. But I will point out that there are a couple of pages that really stand out from the rest of the work.
This story reads like the writer is a fan of Han Solo as a character, but I’m not sure that he has any business writing for him. And the only interesting aspects of the issue come in the final four pages. Which is the only reason that this issue crosses the threshold between “dislike” and “like” in a positive way. The last four pages just isn’t enough for me. Keep in mind that this is just one man’s opinion, and that you need to make your own decision about its quality, but I’m the one reviewing it here. I probably won’t be picking it up anymore. I’ll stick with Legacy until the year is up.
Score: 3/5
Writer: Matt Kindt Artist: Marco Castiello Publisher: Dark Horse Comics Price: $3.50 Release Date: 4/30/14