Star Wars by Charles Soule vol. 4: Crimson Reign
Soule’s attempt to make Crimson Dawn into a thing in the “Crimson Reign” miniseries left something to be desired. While not a bad idea in theory, the miniseries was hamstrung by the implication that we know it’s going to end badly for Qi’ra and her comrades, as well as a general lack of surprise in the stories being told there. This latest volume of “Star Wars,” however, is a much better example of what the writer is capable of as some solid planning makes the Rebellion’s latest encounter with vengeful Imperial Commander Ellian Zahra a high point for his run on the series so far… So long as you’re willing to cut him a little slack regarding how this volume begins and ends.
That’s because we start off with Luke trying to find a way to continue his Jedi training. These parts haven’t been the most engaging part of this series as the writer is clearly aiming for a level of profundity that he’s not quite getting. That continues here as Luke continues to investigate the list of important Jedi sites compiled by the Empire. He strikes out on most of them, but we get a cute callback to Soule’s “Darth Vader” series along the way. It ends with Luke pulling off a certain Jedi ability for the first time which seems like a slight payoff and a bit of franchise box-ticking.
The next story is better, mainly because it’s a lot weirder. Luke finally gets a lead on a planet that the Empire wasn’t aware of and heads out there to investigate. Problem is that it’s a planet overrun with a sentient fungus that absorbs the young Force-user when he steps off his ship. What follows is a long trip through the history of the Jedi, with Luke learning that their path may not be the only one he needs to follow. It’s an interesting idea presented in a reasonable way that benefits from some additional weirdness and mystery over its course. If all of Soule’s stories about Luke in this era were at least this good, I might start to look forward to them.
Next up is some long-overdue follow-up to a character whose fate was left hanging at the end of vol. 2. I’m talking about Shara Bey, significant other to Kes Dameron, and mother of Poe. She was stranded on Commander Zahra’s ship, the Tarkin’s Will, but managed to find a place to hide amongst its damaged sectors. Shara has been sending transmissions to the Rebellion about the information she’s been able to find, and she’s about to make her escape from the ship. You can probably guess how that goes as this story functions as a lead-in to the three-issue arc that follows. It’s good setup, though, and it continues the work Soule has put into making Zahra into a proper boo-hiss villain.
In fact, now’s probably a good time to say that Zahra finally becomes a properly hateable villain with this volume. Previous stories did a good job establishing her hatred of the Rebellion, but her villainy always felt more functional than passionate. Here, we get to see her pull some truly despicable acts as she tries to break Shara, take down the last missing fleet of the Rebellion, and kill Princess Leia. Such actions would get you to hate anyone in that role, but what impressed me with Zahra is the utter tenacity she displays when it comes to achieving her goals. Whether it’s in keeping an encyclopedic knowledge of what goes on in the Tarkin’s Will, demonstrating risky combat maneuvers that I wouldn’t have expected a Star Destroyer to be capable of pulling off, or in her complete refusal to give up when things go wrong, she’ll be a tough act to follow in this series going forward.
This arc also features the main, tenuous tie-in to the “Crimson Reign” storyline as Qi’ra shows up to let Leia know she can serve up Zahra on a platter for her. Both as a show of goodwill, and to convince the rebel commander to do business with Crimson Dawn in the future. Given that Soule is masterminding this storyline, you’d think that he’d provide stronger ties to it in the series that he’s writing. I guess it’s enough for him to remind readers of this series that it’s still an ongoing concern in its own miniseries.
Better was the writer’s use of Kes Dameron and Pathfinder Squadron in this story. I don’t want to give too much away, but the pilot has reached his limit regarding Shara’s current situation. What he does as a result is as predictable as it is narratively satisfying and demonstrates some smart setup on the writer’s part.
The six issues I’ve talked about here are illustrated by three different artists: Regular artist Ramon Rosanas, Marco Castiello, and Madibek Musabekov. They continue the trend for this run to feature artists that are competent, capable storytellers that also don’t demonstrate a whole lot of flash to the proceedings in these issues. Solid storytelling isn’t a value that you should scoff at in Castiello’s case as he’s tasked with illustrating the weird fungal world and its many shifting environments. Still, as nice as Rosanas’ art is to look at, you’d think that Zahra’s maneuvers with her Star Destroyer would be something that would leap off the page more than they do here.
(Fun Fact: Castiello is one of a few… actually maybe the only artist to have illustrated “Star Wars” comics at both Marvel and Dark Horse. He previously provided the art for the Matt Kindt-written “Rebel Heist.”)
This volume closes out with the 25th issue of the series, and while those issues don’t get celebrated as much as they used to in the industry, Soule has a reason to do so. This was his 100th “Star Wars” comic script (written, not published) and he wanted to do something special for it. Which is why we get four stories featuring characters he’s written over the course of his comics tenure in a galaxy far, far, away.
It’s a nice sentiment, which is why I’m a little disappointed that the stories featured here feel so slight. They’re all five pages each and tell us about encounters between Obi-Wan and Anakin, the Emperor and Darth Vader, Kylo Ren throwing a hissy fit, and Poe Dameron and Black Squadron mourning the loss of a comrade. What’s more is that they’re all resoundingly fine as we learn basically negligible information about all of the characters involved. Okay maybe hearing about Obi-Wan’s idea for using a pair of chained lightsabers as a weapon was fun, but that’s all I’ll give it. Rosanas illustrates that story with Giuseppe Camuncoli, Will Sliney, and Phil Noto handling the rest. They all do solid work without elevating the stories they’re illustrating.
There are worse notes for a volume of comics to end on than “resoundingly fine.” I was expecting a bit more from this issue, however, given its anniversary nature and what had come before in this volume. The volume as a whole does give me hope that things are trending upward with “Star Wars” and that even if “Crimson Reign” doesn’t deliver, this title will continue to do so.