Star Wars Adventures, Vol. 3: Endangered

The back cover touts that beloved breakout star Rose Tico stars in this volume of Star Wars Adventures. This blurb is clearly a PR thing as anyone who keeps up with Star Wars will know that Rose Tico was anything but beloved when the character debuted in The Last Jedi. 

Now I personally have nothing against the actress who played Rose Tico, Kelly Marie Tran. Rose wasn't a terrible character. Whiny. But Luke was whiny when we first met him. Unfortunately, IDW Publishing didn't do much to expand the character in this volume. 

In this book, Rose is quite aloof. She's seen as a nerd who is solely focused on her tech manuals. But that bookish quality saves the day when the First Order mounts a surprise attack and the Resistance is unable to assemble due to some computer glitches in the new Mon Calamari cruisers.

The best story was a two-parter that starred the crew of the Ghost from Star Wars: Rebels. The team are tasked with bringing back a rare animal that the Empire stole to place in the Emperor's personal zoo. But when that bumbling scoundrel Hondo Ohnaka gets in on the swindle, this rescue mission turns into a comedy of errors. 

The Star Wars: Rebels characters should have been the main characters of this volume. But Disney in its quest to spread its agenda did everything in their power to force the new characters of the new Star Wars trilogy down everyone's throats. I love how Disney spokespersons claim that anyone that hates characters such as Rey, Finn or Rose are racist/sexist/ageist. But I think history has spoken that diversity isn't what hurt the new Star Wars trilogy. Those films just weren't the same quality of the original trilogy. The Rebels story was fantastic and it's new-ish compared to say Empire Strikes Back. It was also done very well. 

So, sorry Disney. We hate because the product you produced recently just wasn't very good.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Star Wars Adventures: Tales from Vader's Castle #1

The long rumored and highly anticipated Star Wars horror anthology series is finally here! Star Wars Adventures: Tales from Vader's Castle offers all-ages frights from all corners of the Star Wars galaxy. This 5-week long miniseries stars some of your favorite characters including Luke Skywalker, Obi-WAN, and of course the Dark Lord himself, Darth Vader.

Issue #1 features the crew of The Ghost from Star Wars: Rebels. The story starts off with a Rebellion ship having crash landed on Mustafar. As the ship slowly melts in the magma of the molten planet, the crew debate whether to bake themselves to death or put the crew at the mercy of the Imperial forces awaiting outside.

It's here that we finally get to Kanan, Hera and Chopper's story. One of the marooned crew regurgitates a spooky encounter Chopper once experienced. During a rescue mission, the crew of The Ghost not only saves the damaged ship's pilot but manage to pick up an actual ghost as well!

This was an acceptable opening chapter. But I felt that the ending of the Kanan story wasn't finished. This isn't a spoiler, but I speculate that the events recounted in this issue is going to continue throughout the remaining 4 issues of this anthology series.

If that turns out to be the case, my rating of writer Cavan Scott might actually increase when issue #5 drops on Halloween day.

The art for this book was amazing. It's by Derek Charm, who draws Star Wars Adventures in an old school animated series style that I love. Francesco Francavilla (Archie Horror various) is doing a series of 5 special covers for this miniseries. I had to see all 5 covers in order to figure out the Easter Egg hidden in plain view. And I felt so much like a dummy when I finally saw it!

I realize that All Hallows Eve doesn't exist in the Star Wars universe. However I am excited that Disney and IDW Publishing finally figured out a way to incorporate Halloween into my favorite movie franchise. As with many miniseries, the premier issue is just a merely a teaser of what's to come. This opening round wasn't perfect but it was perfect enough to have me coming back for round two next week.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

This review was originally published on Friday, October 5th, 2018 on Outrightgeekery.com.