WIBR: Star Wars: Legacy vol. 9 — Monster

This is the next-to-last volume of the series and it represents a satisfying build to the finale.  Cade and company wind up taking a very lucrative job that sends them to the planet Wayland — the site of his father’s sabotaged efforts to use the Yuuzhan Vong’s terraforming abilities for good.  That’s only part of the story as writer John Ostrander juggles this thread with others involving Emperor Roan Fel’s Imperials engaging in peace talks with the Jedi, the Sith’s plans to interrupt those talks (as well as other plans to find out what has happened to Darth Krayt), and Nyna Calixte’s efforts to spin all of this in a way that benefits her.  You’d think that having so many threads, characters and agendas to consider would lead to a jumbled mess of a storyline, but Ostrander navigates it all with ease and artists Jan Duursema and Dave Ross make it all look good.  It also highlights how interesting the supporting cast has become as their struggles are just as interesting as Cade’s.  Overall, it’s still the comic to read if you’re looking for some good “Star Wars” storytelling.