Star Wars #1 Review

Title:	Star Wars
Contributors:	Jason Aaron John Cassaday
Publisher:	Marvel
Issue #:	1
Year:	2015
Pages:	32 Pages
Age Rating:	12+
Story Grade:	A
Art Grade:	A

If Star Wars #1 from Marvel Comics is any indication of what Jason Aaron and John Cassaday are going to do with this comic book series, well, my friends, we are going to be in for one hell of a treat. In a story that tries to remain true to the original trilogy of films, Aaron does a great job of telling an original story, one between Episode IV: A New Hope and Episode V: Empire Strikes Back while keeping all the charm and beauty of the original trilogy before Lucas fucked it up with Dewbacks and Han not shooting first.

Let me start by addressing the obvious. Yes, Dark Horse did an amazing job with Star Wars and the expanded universe. And I heard a ton of grumbling about Disney, owner of Marvel, buying Star Wars from George Lucas in the tune of $4+ billion. Yes Leia is now a Disney Princess. I heard even more grumbling from fans when Disney announced that it was not renewing Dark Horse's license to publish Star Wars comics and would transfer that license to Marvel.

So with that said, Marvel is obviously aware of the scrutiny it is under with this first comic and their decision to bring to page everything we loved about the first trilogy and nothing we hated from the second trilogy shows that Marvel is going to nurture that relationship with the fans of the Star Wars Universe. I have even have more faith that the upcoming Episode VII is going to be awesome. They truly have done a bang up job with this book.

The Episode 4.5 (as I like to call this book) story picks up right where the first movie ended. The Death Star has been destroyed, and the empire is scrambling to recover from this unfortunate event. The script provides several obvious, but respectful, winks and nods to the cast and characters from the original trilogy which is refreshing.

Additionally, this script begins to clear up a few things, not all, but a few things that the original trilogy left unanswered, such as;

1. Why does the scruffy-looking nerf-herder like Han Solo stay fighting with the rebellion when at the beginning of A New Hope and all the way through to the final rolling credits he is obviously a profiteering smuggler ? 
2. Was Luke's encounter at the Cloud City his first encounter with Vader... outside of the cave on Dagoba?
3. When did Han and Leia's passive-aggressive romance really begin?
4. How often does Obi-won talk to the Luke? Or is Obi-won's voice just the force speaking to Luke in a familiar voice as to not freak Luke out.
5. Was C3PO ever the hero?

Arron has nailed so many of personality quirks with the characters in this book, which can be easy to mess up with the likes of Smarmy-Han, Do-Gooder Luke, Bumbling C3PO, Hero-of-the-Day R2 and the almighty Never-A-Damsel Princess Leia. Their character dynamics, not just their characters were always complex and unique. But never fear, Arron truly nailed it all.

All in all I grade this book a Solid A. Not an A+ because the script does open a few holes into the known plot. But... deserve an A, it does. Sorry... that's my best Yoda impersonation.

Until next time... May the force be with you... and may you be with the force.