REVIEW: Star Wars, #1

[CBR News]

Jason Aaron, John Cassaday and Laura Martin create a proud statement of reclamation with "Star Wars" #1, with a faithfully drawn and scripted issue that welcomes alienated readers back while impressing existing ones.


Full article here.

[Mork74]

personally do not think it looks very good, the art

[Matt Spatola]

I think I'm one of the few that did not pick up the first issue- going by the 1 million in sales. But I might still jump in there.

[MarvelMaster616]

Just two days left! Hard to believe it's taken this long, but it looks like Marvel is going all in for this new series. It's throwing its top talent into the mix and exploring a familiar world in novel ways. I'll still reserve judgment for when I finally get my hands on this issue this Wednesday, but I intend to build most of my week around this comic.

[TimeCrash]

I'm skeptical being such a fan of the Dark Horse run but I'm definitely going to be picking this up. I still wish the first series wasn't focusing on the big three as we were getting that not too long ago with Star Wood but oh well.

[AirDave]

I'm having a problem with the $4.99 cover price and the huge number of variant covers. I'll probably wait until this is collected as a trade, where all the covers will - hopefully - be collected.

[suss2it]

I'm looking forward to trying this, but honestly I'm way more excited for Gillen's Darth Vader.

I'm having a problem with the $4.99 cover price and the huge number of variant covers. I'll probably wait until this is collected as a trade, where all the covers will - hopefully - be collected.

Why would the number of variants bother you? Its not like you need to get any of them. And I assume, like Ant-Man its $5 cause its extra-sized.

[King's_Gambit]

I'm looking forward to trying this, but honestly I'm way more excited for Gillen's Darth Vader.


Why would the number of variants bother you? Its not like you need to get any of them. And I assume, like Ant-Man its $5 cause its extra-sized.

Also, I prefer Marvel's new practice of $5, extra-sized first issues to their earlier practice of double-shipping a new series' first two issues (at $3.99 each).

[Nick Miller]

what a by-the-numbers review

Thanks for letting me know, NOTHING about the comic. Other than who worked on it.

4 and a half stars my arse.

What was so clever about the dialogue?

any interesting, unexpected scenes?

OR was this simply catering to Marvel/Disney?

[Charles J. Baserap]

I sadly have zero desire for this book. At first I was excited and while I think, based on the creative team, it'll be a pretty good series, I just have no interest in rehashing this particular time period, especially after having just done it with Dark Horse's very fun final series. But even with that, the constant "oh no, will Leia/Luke/Han escape or will character no one's ever heard of stand triumphant" cliffhangers fall flat in a property where we already know the outcome and the suspense is pretty much limited in that, unlike books like say Batman or Superman or whatever, the future here IS set in stone already since this is a canonical title relative to the films and the like. Yes, I know Batman's not REALLY going to die after the Riddler drops an avalanche on him, but there's potential for some long lasting changes. Here, set in the brief period (again) between New Hope and Empire, there's just not and that, for me, kills a lot of the excitement. I totally understand why they'd go for the most recognizable names and characters. I mean, it just makes sense from so many standpoints. But I'd rather see something new, some sort of timeline or something I don't know so much about rather than yet another retelling of the same period with the same characters I read in Marvel's last foray and Dark Horse's as well. I feel too much of a been there, done that with it. I wish it luck and hope all involved have a blast and that the fans who want are able to continue to do so for a long time. But, personally, I'm out.

[Nick Miller]

I sadly have zero desire for this book. At first I was excited and while I think, based on the creative team, it'll be a pretty good series, I just have no interest in rehashing this particular time period, especially after having just done it with Dark Horse's very fun final series. But even with that, the constant "oh no, will Leia/Luke/Han escape or will character no one's ever heard of stand triumphant" cliffhangers fall flat in a property where we already know the outcome and the suspense is pretty much limited in that, unlike books like say Batman or Superman or whatever, the future here IS set in stone already since this is a canonical title relative to the films and the like. Yes, I know Batman's not REALLY going to die after the Riddler drops an avalanche on him, but there's potential for some long lasting changes. Here, set in the brief period (again) between New Hope and Empire, there's just not and that, for me, kills a lot of the excitement. I totally understand why they'd go for the most recognizable names and characters. I mean, it just makes sense from so many standpoints. But I'd rather see something new, some sort of timeline or something I don't know so much about rather than yet another retelling of the same period with the same characters I read in Marvel's last foray and Dark Horse's as well. I feel too much of a been there, done that with it. I wish it luck and hope all involved have a blast and that the fans who want are able to continue to do so for a long time. But, personally, I'm out.

great post.

What is the point of this series?

[resipsaloquitur]

The point of this series is for Marvel to make money off of Star Wars without having to reprint or reuse all of Dark Horse's stuff.

I am not quite as negative about this book as the two posters above me, though I'm probably not going to read it unless it proves to be a really, really compelling story. I'll be getting the first issue as a collector's item and getting it signed by Aaron if I ever get the chance (met him last summer, but obviously this wasn't out yet). I'll hang it on the wall next to my autographed Wood/Ross Star Wars #1 in amusement.

Anyway: I get why this exists--it's money, and it's keeping Star Wars fresh for the next batch of readers. This is a business, and money is in the new, not the old. I am guessing that most new readers want to get, say, the current run of Captain America and don't want to go back and get the Lee/Kirby or Gruenwald stuff. Oh, SOME do, and that's why Marvel puts out old collections, but most want a fresh version of material. This is why Warner Brothers put out new versions of Batman movies rather than rereleasing Michael Keaton's '89 film. Or it's why even though we had a flawless story in the Bruce Timm Batverse leading up to Justice League Unlimited, they eventually ended it and launched "Beware the Batman" or "Batman: The Brave & The Bold."

Dark Horse had great stuff. They really did. But Marvel doesn't want to cater to people like me who loved the Dark Horse/EU era. They (or really, Disney) want to launch the whole thing fresh without all the baggage. They'll build their own version of the Star Wars mythology for the new generation of kids. Heck, in 25 years they might reboot the whole thing again. That's OK. That's their perogative. Mine is to not really buy this--not out of protest or anything, but just because I've read all the Star Wars I've wanted to and realize that in the long run this book isn't going to be breaking any new ground.

[suss2it]

I sadly have zero desire for this book. At first I was excited and while I think, based on the creative team, it'll be a pretty good series, I just have no interest in rehashing this particular time period, especially after having just done it with Dark Horse's very fun final series. But even with that, the constant "oh no, will Leia/Luke/Han escape or will character no one's ever heard of stand triumphant" cliffhangers fall flat in a property where we already know the outcome and the suspense is pretty much limited in that, unlike books like say Batman or Superman or whatever, the future here IS set in stone already since this is a canonical title relative to the films and the like. Yes, I know Batman's not REALLY going to die after the Riddler drops an avalanche on him, but there's potential for some long lasting changes. Here, set in the brief period (again) between New Hope and Empire, there's just not and that, for me, kills a lot of the excitement. I totally understand why they'd go for the most recognizable names and characters. I mean, it just makes sense from so many standpoints. But I'd rather see something new, some sort of timeline or something I don't know so much about rather than yet another retelling of the same period with the same characters I read in Marvel's last foray and Dark Horse's as well. I feel too much of a been there, done that with it. I wish it luck and hope all involved have a blast and that the fans who want are able to continue to do so for a long time. But, personally, I'm out.

This is gonna be the first Star Wars comics I read, but I still agree with a lot of what you said. Probably why I'm more excited for the Darth Vader series is that there's more room to tell some new stories there.

[Dwch]

what a by-the-numbers review

Thanks for letting me know, NOTHING about the comic. Other than who worked on it.

4 and a half stars my arse.

What was so clever about the dialogue?

any interesting, unexpected scenes?

OR was this simply catering to Marvel/Disney?

What a by-the-numbers review. Otherwise known as: A REVIEW.

I don't know what you expected, seeing as the book hasn't come out yet. I thought it was a pretty informative and concise review. Did you expect the reviewer to post spoilers about "unexpected scenes" that would be intended to surprise the reader? I've never heard of someone asking to clarify "what was so clever" about clever dialogue... did you want quotes or something? If you don't know what clever means, you can look it up in the dictionary. Funny enough, the word doesn't even appear once in the whole review.

It is clear that any praise for this series will be met with your wrath. Oh well. Marvel's running the show now, so just get over it already. Not just you, but all the other whiners out there too. I, for one, am really looking forward to this new era for both Star Wars and Marvel. Let the homecoming begin!

[David Walton]

To be honest, I'm more excited about what Marvel can do with Star Wars than their own characters. From my perspective, Marvel has lost touch with the 'world outside your window' dynamic Lee established. It's gotten to the point where Spider-man is now a universe-hopping 'chosen one'--so why not see Marvel cut loose and have some fun with characters that were designed to be that way in the first place? They've got top notch writers and artists, should be a blast.