The Star Wars #8 (Dark Horse)

writer: J. W. Rinzler

artist: Mike Mayhew

via First Comics News

"Love?! Now I remember why our clans have fought for a thousand years!"

That's Prince Valorum speaking to Annikin Starkiller.  It's the greatest deviation, perhaps of the whole original draft now concluded in comics adaptation with this issue.  And I love it.

The ending has a lot of famous New Hope moments, from a character struggling to find Storm Trooper armor comfortable to rescuing Princess Leia from prison to getting trapped in a garbage shoot to the destruction of a giant space station...

And sneering at the concept of adhering to the ways of the Force (of Others).

Like the whole project, it's strange and wonderful to see so much that's otherwise familiar presented in slightly (though in fact, significantly) altered context.  That being said, I have to spend the bulk of this final review talking about the most interesting moment of the issue, which is a Sith choosing to side with a Jedi.

Really???  That happened???

It happened.  Valorum is stuck in the Vader position under a Tarkin-like figure (or rather, that one Imperial goon who ended up getting Force-choked for his efforts).  And again, mind, Vader himself (or his equivalent) is there, too, and is right along with this belittling of what amounts to the "ancient religion" that seemingly has no bearing in the present.  Starkiller ends up prisoner, and is bound for a bad end when Valorum switches sides (maybe that explains the vote of no confidence!).

The whole thing even makes one reconsider the prequels in a way (from a certain point of view).  By the time Starkiller, Valorum, and Leia end up in the garbage shoot, Valorum has become a Han Solo figure.  Starkiller, despite his first name being Annikin, is another would-be Han Solo.  (A lot of Han Solos running around!  Including the Swamp Thing version!)

Anyway, Valorum and Starkiller evoke Anakin and Obi-Wan in the prequels.  One of the things fans unconsciously missed the most in those films was the lack of a Han Solo.  In a way, Anakin was that figure.  I always thought so.  I always figured George Lucas thought so, too, and here's a kind of proof.

Disentangle and that's what's in this issue.

Of course, it also features a dynamic between the Jedi and Sith that's completely different.  That's what's so fun about this whole thing.  

The last interesting note is that the issue ends with a closing scroll (which actually references a sequel, entitled Saga of the Ophuchi, which Dark Horse will never have a chance to make; Marvel's acquisition of the property has recently been expounded on with three titles set after the events, naturally, of New Hope).

It'll be great fun reading the whole thing back.  (It's, ah, worth noting you can read the whole thing in a collected edition as of last week.)

May the Force of Others be with you!