STAR WARS: AGE OF RESISTANCE SPECIAL truly does live up to its name. In this issue there are three tales told, all focusing on the rebels we all know and love. So if you’re a fan of Holdo, Maz, BB-8, or Poe Dameron, this is an issue to check out.
***SPOILER WARNING***
You never quite know what to expect when a special comes out, especially not for a series so well known as Star Wars. Yet Age of Resistance Special was a pleasant surprise, splitting the issue into three separate tales. The tales all follow different characters introduced in the latest round of movies, but the cover likely gave that element away.
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‘Maz’s Scoundrels’ is more or less exactly what one would hope for and expect from a story involving Maz Kanata. She’s wily, oddly charismatic, and overall a very quirky little character. So any plot involving her is going to be as well.
Her short went a long way in reminding us of the reasons she has the reputation she does. Not only does she know who to hire for the job, but she isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty along the way. The subtle edge of manipulation didn’t hurt things either.
Tom Taylor was the author behind this plot, which explains a lot about the feel of it. He gave Maz plenty of credit when it comes to her skewed intellect. And he kept up the banter we know and love from Chewie and Solo.
Meanwhile, Matteo Buffagani provided the art, and Chris O’Halloran did the coloring. Together they made a piece that was clearly influenced by the movies themselves – the characters looking like they walked right off the screen.
‘The Bridge’ is the second story in this issue, and it focuses on a character that only made it into one of the Star Wars movies. We’re talking about Holdo here. Obviously, anyone who has seen Star Wars: The Last Jedi is well aware of what happened to Holdo and thus knows that this event took place before the movie.
This is the tale of how Holdo got her reputation. It explains everything about how she came into her rank…as well as telling us her preference for how to handle situations. An iconic scene of hers is mirrored here, but that is more telling than anything.
G. Willow Wilson wrote the plot, and you can see how much effort was put into making this character standout. They didn’t have a lot of time to work with Holdo’s character, nor did they have a lot of source material to pull from. But they did an interesting job nonetheless.
Elsa Charretier and Nick Filardi are the artists for this one, and they went the opposite direction of ‘Maz’s Scoundrels.’ While you can still tell which character is which, they opted for a more stylized version of the world, full of vibrant colors and blockier shading. It was effective, and oddly endearing for the plot.
And finally, the last tale in this special issue is ‘Robot Resistance.’ This is likely the one that’ll become a fan favorite, thanks to the presence of BB-8. A known favorite for obvious reasons. BB-8’s almost comical personality shines through perfectly in this story. And it didn’t skimp on the opportunity to give the little droid all of the credit he deserved.
Speaking of, while even the characters gave BB-8 and his new friends all that credit, the lines did feel a little forced at times. But perhaps that isn’t a major complaint, in the grand scheme of things. It was still fun seeing the little droid scoot around, create trouble, and ultimately save the day.
Chris Eliopoulos is the author who gave BB-8 so much airtime and credit. And you can tell he had a lot of fun writing this one. Extra credit has to be given for all the scenes he snuck in that allowed for droids to zap storm troopers.
Javier Pina and Guru-eFX are the final artists to be listed for this issue. They opted to go with an art style more typical to the Star Wars franchise. But even so, there was a lot of personality snuck into those droids and their antics.
There are two major elements that helped to tie these three plots together. One was the overall theme. Each character was showing off his or her ability to resist, distract, or otherwise cause chaos for their side. The second element was more visual – there was only one letterer, VC’s Travis Lanham, who worked on the entire issue, thus ensuring a sense of consistency throughout.
Overall, STAR WARS: AGE OF RESISTANCE SPECIAL is a solid set of short stories, that are full of charismatic moments and interesting artwork.
So what did everything think of this issue? Was BB-8’s tale your favorite, as predicted? Or did you enjoy one of the other plots more?
