Star Wars #1

By Jason Aaron, John Cassaday & Laura Martin

Star Wars has returned to Marvel, and although it’s disappointing to see that it’s no longer at Dark Horse Comics, you’ve got to admit that Jason Aaron’s done an absolutely amazing job with this first issue. He’s got the look and feel of a traditional Star Wars comic and this could easily be an adventure from the original trilogy. All the characters hit the right spot, with Luke, Leia, Han, C3PO, R2D2 and more all getting some great moments in this first issue that should make it a must buy for any Star Wars fan, with some excellent artwork from John Cassaday and Laura Martin to boot.

Set in between the events of Episodes IV and V, much like Brian Wood’s Star Wars series was at Dark Horse, the new incarnation of this book sees the team head to an Imperial facility on Cymoon 1 for negotiations, with Han being under the guise as a representative of Jabba the Hut. On paper, it looks like a pretty standard story, but the issue of course escalates over time and the resulting payoff is great to see indeed.

John Cassaday brings some excellent work to the pencils and this book looks amazing. The characters clearly resemble their film counterparts and the panel layout works incredibly well. Laura Martin’s appearance is welcomed (this reviewer is already familiar with her awesome colouring from Witchblade, and if you’re not, you should go and check that out) and she makes the transition well here. Also, we get a great sense of atmosphere from the artwork. Martin’s colours really capture the scope of the world of Cymoon 1 and as a result the book feels very much like something set in the Star Wars universe, with a great cinematic feel all around. All that’s missing is the John Williams score.

The issue itself gives a good nostalgic feel and it’s great to see the team back together again even though it hasn’t been long since their last appearance in Wood’s Star Wars, but at the same time the book feels fast and energetic. It also has that element of fun that’s great to see, with some great one liners and some interesting humour that fans of Aaron’s previous work will be familiar with.

There may be a tiny issue concerning continuity towards the end of the book, but that’s pretty much the only problem that the issue puts wrong and otherwise it’s a very solid read. It’s certainly one of the better books to hit shelves this week, with a very confident first issue that puts very few things wrong.

Nearly everything about this comic works; the price tag of $4.99 may be enough to put some people off but for those who are going to buy it anyway, it won’t disappoint. It’s sure to be the start of greater things to come and it’ll be great to see where Aaron, Martin and Cassaday take the book from here, particularly with an interesting cliffhanger that should set the stage for the second issue.