Star Wars #20

By Brian Wood, Carlos D’Anda & Gabe Eltaeb

Brian Wood’s Star Wars run has been a bit hit and miss for this reviewer, but one thing this series has consistently been is fun. Wood knows how to tell a narrative and brings the last issue of a Dark Horse Comic-run Star Wars ongoing to a close in a grand finale. Whilst we may not be in universe-saving territory here, this finale serves as an excellent concluding act that reminds you just why you’ll miss the adventures of Luke, Leia and Han from this publisher. It’s good.

Seren is a character who was introduced to the Star Wars universe last issue and unfortunately it doesn’t mean that we’ll get to see anymore of her character in the future which is a real shame, because she’s showed some promise as an undercover agent. It’s also good to see that the series manages to end on an uplifting note rather than a disappointing one, because although it may be smaller in scale than some issues that we’ve seen in the past it does allow for some good character building moments that have been common throughout this issue.

What Wood manages to accomplish here is something that few Star Wars writers fail to master – keep the threat feeling real. IG-88, the bounty hunter droid could have been presented as a cheap disposable villain but instead is elevated in the brief scenes that he’s in, and whilst for obvious reasons it would be clear that Luke, Leia and Han would make it out alive, the threat to Seren was always there. Would she survive? Would she die? The tension was kept high and readers will be rewarded with a satisfactory result.

Carlos D’Anda’s artwork is pretty awesome. He’s been a fantastic artist to have on this series and he’s been really fleshing out the Star Wars universe and creating an awesome atmosphere. Whenever D’Anda is on board, you know that the series is going to feel Star Wars-y. He just captures the awesome feel of the universe and with the always-reliable Eltaeb on colours; it’s great to see that this book ends on a strong note.

Unfortunately, all good things have to come to an end. It’s great that we got twenty issues out of this series and that it ends on a strong note, but it’s safe to say that Dark Horse Comics’ Star Wars Universe shall be missed. It’s been a fantastic run though and this issue is a great way to say farewell that shouldn’t disappoint readers who have been following this series for a while.