Review: Star Wars #5

Dark Horse’s ongoing Star Wars series soldiers on this week with issue #5.
 
Action takes a back seat as character moments from four different arcs provide the meat of this month’s issue. Han and Chewie have parked the Falcon and sought refuge in a Coruscant cantina, Luke and Prithi share a moment that furthers the growing trust between them, Darth Vader bestows a great responsibility upon his newest acquaintance, and Leia and her team of elite pilots never say die.
 
Writer Brian Wood continues to keep the reader’s attention, especially with the Han and Chewie arc as they evade fan-favorite bounty hunters Boba Fett and Bossk. As the smuggler pair ducks through Coruscant’s seedy underbelly, they find help from the most unexpected source. Is it friend or foe? We’ll just have to wait until issue #6.
 
While character interactions are the main focus in issue #5, it is not completely devoid of action. While still on their latest scouting mission, Gray Squadron, lead by Princess Leia, goes toe-to-toe with Colonel Bircher and his top-of-the-line TIE Interceptors. Once again, Carlos D’Anda depicts the space combat with gritty ferocity, exemplifying the speed and tension of the heated dogfight. Whether the battle was won by the Rebels is debatable, but once the action has subsided, Wood brings it back to the characters. Adrift in her crippled X-Wing, Leia orders her fellow pilots, Wedge and Tess, back to the fleet, but the duo refuses to leave their stalwart leader, even if it means disobeying orders. It's a moment that truly gives these characters their humanity.
 
With the Star Wars property's time with Dark Horse dwindling, Brian Wood, Carlos D’Anda, and the creative team on this series are going for broke in order to make one of the publisher’s last SW stories a memorable one.
 
Star Wars #5 arrives Wednesday.

Review: Batman-The Dark Knight #1

Batman is, by far, the most prolific character in the DCnU, appearing in at least 8 of the newly released titles, 3 of which bear his name.  As we close out September with the final week of #1s, The Caped Crusader finds time to make one more appearance before the #2s hit shelves.

In addition to being the final week of #1s, Week 5 also saw the biggest turnout of artists-turned-writers.  Joining fellow artists Francis Manapul (The Flash #1) and George Perez (Superman #1), David Finch throws his hat in the ring and takes a stab at storytelling in Batman: The Dark Knight #1, the relaunch of the short-lived series from earlier this year.  However, while his name appears first on the cover, Finch provides the pencils, but is only credited as “Co-Plotter” alongside Paul Jenkins, who receives the actual writing credit.  Regardless of whoever penned the story, Batman: TDK maintains the tone set by Batman & Robin #1 and Batman #1, but loses points when it comes to originality.  The book kicks off with Batman channeling his inner Yoda, delivering an internal speech about fear, describing it as a cannibal as it feeds upon itself.  In addition to sounding like a lecture from everyone’s favorite diminutive Jedi, the narration also evokes memories of Batman Begins, the Christopher Nolan film that explored the theme of “fear” as the backdrop to Batman’s origin.

As Batman wraps up his soliloquy, he quickly ditches the cape and cowl, and arrives at a Wayne Industries function.  Not unlike Tony Stark’s more public arrival to the Stark Expo in Iron Man 2, Bruce Wayne, in a glaringly uncharacteristic move, swings down to a balcony and enters the event.  I’m sorry, but Bruce Wayne does not Bat-grapple across rooftops in a tux.  That aside, it is at this gathering that the reader learns of the newest threat that Batman must face – Gotham PD Internal Affairs!  Wait, what?  Apparently, a suspicious GCPDIA officer is accusing Bruce Wayne of funding Batman’s vigilante activities.  Sound familiar?  If you saw The Dark Knight, the sequel to Batman Begins, you might have an idea of where this is going. 

As if that wasn’t enough for Batman to handle, there’s been a breakout at Arkham Asylum….again.  We follow our hero to the front gate of Gotham’s notorious nuthouse just as several of its residents are busting out.  In a stunning two page spread, David Finch depicts several Bat-villains, including Mr. Freeze and Clayface, as they assault Arkham security.  Batman arrives to diffuse the situation, and upon entering the asylum, we can clearly see that Finch has taken inspiration from the enormously popular Arkham Asylum video game.  From the guard uniforms to the distinctive corridors, it is definitely the same environment established by the game.  For the book’s cliffhanger ending, Jenkins and Finch (whether intentionally or not) take one more cue from both Arkham Asylum and its upcoming sequel, Arkham City, but you’ll just have to check the book out for yourself to see if you agree.

Breakout at Arkham Asylum!

Scott Snyder’s Batman #1, was a hard act to follow, but that’s no excuse when your book is a mishmash of concepts from other material.  Batman: The Dark Knight #1 has potential with the IA arc, and Finch’s art is definitely a boon to the project, but unless the book finds its own rhythm soon, it might be as short-lived as its pre-New 52 run.