Star Wars: Tie Fighter

I hate to dash anyone’s hopes but this is not a tie-in to or spinoff of the beloved “Tie Fighter” PC space combat sim from the 90’s.  Instead, it’s a look at “Shadow Wing,” one of the Empire’s elite Tie Fighter squads. Its current members — 2nd Lt. Commander Teso Broosh, Sr. Lt. Jeela Brebtin, Lt. Lyttan Dree, and Flight Officers Ganem Kahi and Zin Graw — are committed to the Imperial cause and believe that the Rebels are traitors and enemies of galactic order.  So when they’re tasked with escort duty for a disabled Star Destroyer it might seem like a waste of their talents. However, these are the waning days of the conflict between the Empire and the Rebels and some people may be less concerned with picking a side than staking out a claim for themselves.

While we know the Empire as a whole is pretty rotten, that doesn’t mean everyone in it is.  Some people believe in the order and stability it provides and fight for that — without instigating a civilian massacre, or something like that in the process.  That’s how most of the crew of Shadow Wing comes off, and writer Jody Houser does a great job making them all stand out as individuals. This is both in the main story and the short character-focused vignettes which close out each issue.  Credit to main series artist Roge Antonio who does a pretty decent job with the cast and the space combat scenes.

The character work is certainly nice, and it’s also good to see Houser throw in a few twists along the way.  Whether it’s Broosh’s surprise order in the middle of fighting, a Stormtrooper being realistic about his situation, a surprise connection to “Han Solo:  Imperial Cadet” of all things and the basic questions of who lives, who dies, and who’s spying for the Rebels, the story didn’t play out as I expected and that was great.  The surprises keep coming until the end, when some shocking news calls the future of Shadow Wing and the Empire into doubt. So after “Tie Fighter” and “Thrawn” I can only ask for more Houser-written “Star Wars” series in the future.