Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge

A “Star Wars” story inspired by the new themed land of the same name at Disneyland?  I was all but prepared to pass on this because such a premise sounded deeply skippable.  Now that I’ve actually read through it, I can say that it’s a fair bit better than that and actually makes me want to see how this lines up with the actual attraction.  “Galaxy’s Edge” revolves around one of the actual stores in the park, Dok-Ondar’s Den of Antiquities as the titular merchant deals with threats on two fronts. The more immediate one involves the First Order showing up on Batuu to crack down on all the unscrupulous activity taking place on the planet.  The other has him crafting a scheme to deal with the trio of thieves known as the Kendoh Crew, who have come to relieve the merchant of a particular item. But which item? Is it the baby sarlacc retrieved by Han Solo and Chewbacca? The lightsaber of Ki-Abdi-Mundi that was stolen by Greedo? The khyber statue that Dok and his pilot Hondo liberated from Jedha?  Or half of a Sith artifact whose other half was last known to be in the possession of none other than Doctor Aphra?

Readers with long and specific memories may recall that it was the mention of the good Doctor in the solicitations for this series that got me interested.  If there’s one character I wouldn’t mind seeing find their way into more “Star Wars” comics it’s her.  So while it’s great to see her here, it pains me a bit to say that writer Ethan Sacks doesn’t have the same witty touch that her creator Kieron Gillen, or Simon Spurrier do.  However, the flashback adventures he comes up with for the characters are entertaining enough slices of “Star Wars” fluff. Better still is the story he weaves around them in the present day as it’s nicely complicated bit of heist storytelling with some interesting characters.  Artist Will Sliney may not do a good likeness of Harrison Ford, but the rest of his art is slick and full of impressive detail. All this may not make “Galaxy’s Edge” an essential “Star Wars” comic read, but it’s one that wound up liking more than I expected to.