Star Wars #1

This issue did not disappoint me in the least and it has me very excited to see what Soule does once the series is underway. I already had high expectations and he somehow surpassed them. It will also be interesting to see how this series interconnects with the other three ongoing series starting soon in the same time period (Darth Vader, Doctor Aphra, and Bounty Hunters). One issue has completely reinvigorated my interest in this series. This run is shaping up to be perfect for all kinds of Star Wars fans. I can't wait to see what happens next! Read Full Review

Soule and Saiz combine the epic with the personal to deliver a fantastic opener to this new Star Wars run. Read Full Review

I look forward to seeing how things develop as this series moves forward. Read Full Review

Jesus Saiz delivers some beautiful art in this issue. The space battles look amazing and all of the visual moments with Luke reliving the loss of his hand are rendered brilliantly. Read Full Review

The artwork in this issue is absolutely stunning. Jesus Saiz's figures don't just resemble the actors from the original trilogy, they seem to be almost perfect portraits of them, without losing any of the dynamism that usually comes from being so photorealistic when making a comic. Read Full Review

Working within a fixed timeline is hard. And because it's one of the most cherished properties in the world, it becomes only that much more complex. The daring creative team of Star Wars #1 is more than up to the task. I went into this with some pretty high expectations, because I'm a huge Star Wars fan myself, and it still managed to exceed them. Hopefully, the quality of Star Wars #1 is indicative of what the rest of this run is going to be like. This is only the beginning of the 40th celebration of Empire Strikes Back, and a very promising beginning it is. If you've been feeling burnt out with Star Wars lately, give this a shot and it will excite you again for the franchise. Read Full Review

Thanks in large part to an action-packed dogfight, in addition to Luke coping with the discovery that his father was Darth Vader and questioning everything he knew about the Jedi, the stage has effectively been set for not only engaging adventures, but a compelling emotional journey for the burgeoning Jedi. Read Full Review

While unlikely to win-over anyone who isn't already a die-hard Star Wars fan, this first issue will please fans of the original trilogy and everyone who has enjoyed Marvel's Star Wars comics since they regained the license in 2015. Read Full Review

Its not all negative though. Theres absolutely a comfort in revisiting these characters in this time period. Its your childhood eternalized. Its an easy rhythm. Star Wars #1 is definitely enjoyable; it just doesnt do anything new. It treads on very familiar territory and plays a formulaic tune. Its a story that doesnt justify its own existence. Whats it trying to do? Whats it trying to say? It seems like its just trying to hit us with a dose of nostalgia for characters and settings that were used to. And it rings hollow after The Rise of Skywalker was just released and the Skywalker saga supposedly has come to an end. It would have been monumentally refreshing to read a story about characters not directly tied to the Skywalker name. It would have been a welcome change of pace to see ships, planets, technology, and scenes that havent been examined from every microscopic angle for the past 40 years. Star Wars #1 is not a bad book in any way. It does what its supposed to do in the way its Read Full Review

Despite a few minor issues in how I may have chosen to interpret this issue, Charles Soule has given us a fine introduction into this period of Star Wars history. It takes a lot of guts to write this period of Star Wars history, so I give him a lot of credit. Read Full Review

For fans looking for a safe return to classic Star Wars, this is the issue you're looking for. Read Full Review

Though it seems like much less of an 'event' than the first volume opener, Star Wars #1 is still a fun, fast-paced debut for the second round of the company's efforts with this license. Read Full Review

There's certainly room here prior to the events of The Return of the Jedi for the comic to explore in terms of Luke growing into the Jedi who we'll next see standing in front of Jabba the Hutt and the heroes getting along without the help of a certain scruffy-looking nerf herder. Worth a look. Read Full Review

Star Wars #1 kicks off what seems to be a compelling ride that bridges the gap between Empire and Jedi. Soule's strong characterization of our heroes, as well as a few new characters, is the book's best quality by far. The art is amazing in some places, and unfortunately distracting in others. Overall, it's not the best Star Wars book to come from Marvel, but with a bit more time and consistent art, it certainly could be.   Read Full Review

While the big winner here is Jesus Saiz as he delivers a fantastic looking book that has me excited to see what creativity he'll be able to bring to the book, I'm definitely curious for Soule's approach. I liked his Vader series as it explored him as he cut away the Anakin persona and was finding who Vader would become. The group dynamic for this series is going to be different without Han and that opens up some possibilities to work with and some tensions. The opening handles things well in general but it's the character time that shines as the space battle material just falls a bit flat since it feels like we've hit that story a few times already. There's a lot that can be explored, and some fun areas to touch upon as well if they get to lean on some of the novel material or even the Rebels side, and I'm excited to see what Soule wants to do with this era. Read Full Review

The Villain

Jan 02, 2020

We got the much needed time jump and Charles Soule (my personal favorite Star Wars comic writer) takes over. This new timeline starts off great, filling in a gap in Empire Strikes Back. Lando and Luke shine in this book. Its cool to see where both of their heads were at during this time.

Azrael

Jan 03, 2020

Loved it! No huge reveal apart from Luke showing more force abilities but this was the ideal way to start off the series! The artwork was also amazing. It’ll be interesting to see how long it takes for everyone to start trusting Lando and exactly why the Imperial commander has an especially large hatred for Leia other than that she’s a rebel.

M1sf1r3

Jan 01, 2020

Prelude: It's time for Star Wars to relaunch. Soule has done quite a bit of Star Wars work and the gap between Empire and Return does have a lot of potential to work with. Let's see how Soule goes then. The Good: I love the struggle that Luke is going through. It makes sense and I love seeing his reaction to the events around him. The other main characters are written well too and it makes sense for the spot in the story. Saiz's art works greatly for this galactic wide series. The Tarkin's Will and Zahra are an interesting threat. I like what I see so far. The Bad: Nothing. Conclusion: An amazing start for Star Wars under Soule. Pretty much everything I want from a Star Wars issue and done extremely well. Can't wait to see what's next. more

mrDovydas

Jan 07, 2020

Fantastic start. Soule perfectly narrates the story following the events following The ESB, and the characterisation is top-notch, especially Luke - I loved every single panel he appeared in. This is off to a very good start, and since the gap between ESB and ROTJ is very short, I doubt this will be a very long series (probably around 25 issues, otherwise it will probably start getting too dragged-out).

allenquanobi

Jan 02, 2020

I feel the same way about this issue as I do the previous Star Wars run: Why should I keep reading if I know all of the main characters will end up as they do in the next movie? I feel like they missed a big opportunity by placing the series between episode 6 and 7, as there is unknown stories within that era, but by setting it after episode 5, one can already see the arcs that will be planned out, i.e. how luke builds his lightsaber, how leia becomes more edgy and dark to become a bounty hunter, how they plan to get on tatooine, etc. That being said, this issue is written well, and very nice to read, so I can't fault it on those. It's just the lingering feeling of I know how this entire series will end.