Welcome back, you dedicated Merry Marvel Marching Society members! This week is all about the stars, as Alex Segura and Phil Noto relaunch Star Wars, Fantastic Four all-stars return for new stories in Fantastic Four Fanfare, and Sam Wilson’s newest adventure in the stars and stripes of Captain America comes to a conclusion. It’s a jam-packed Wednesday, so let’s get to it.
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Star Wars # 1
Writer: Alex Segura
Artist: Phil Noto
Letterer: VC’s Clayton Cowles
In my review of Alex Segura’s “Battle of Jakku” maxiseries, I expressed my excitement for the Marvel Star Wars comics finally entering into a new chapter post Return of the Jedi. My final feelings on that book were complicated by the publishing requirements Segura was working under to dance between the rain drops of existing canon and various multimedia stories that robbed his book of its potential. But here in the first issue of a brand new volume, Segura seems to have the galaxy wide open before him and it is exciting. It’s a rich period for creators to explore and fans to discover, with so much left untold between the end of the original trilogy and the sequels.
Segura leverages his experience writing thrillers and mysteries to great effect here as the multiple storylines following Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Princess Leia all build to an ominous crescendo that reveals a new threat to the young Republic, still finding its footing and lacking in strength — both economically and in munitions.
Segura is joined by artist Phil Noto who is one of the finest artists working in comics today. His painterly style and precise storytelling is eminently readable. Take that expert draftsmanship and pair it with a unique talent for capturing likenesses and subtle emotion, and an impeccable talent for rendering inanimate objects and you’ve got a man tailor made for drawing Star Wars comics. Noto does great work throughout, but one of the highlights is the opening starfighter battle. Often, these set pieces can be lacking in excitement and sense of motion because of the nature of space–there are no background details or larger contextual cues to understand the momentum and scale of the battle. But Noto handles it well, relying on heavy perspective and foreshortening on the ships, and creative framing of the planets and their atmospheric glow. The intercutting of reaction shots from the pilots in their cockpits helps guide the reader to the direction of the action. A small shot in the corner of a character staring up in awe from their X-Wing sells the grandiosity of an approaching Star Destroyer.
This being a first issue, there is a lot more teasing and setup than payoff, but it is never done in a way that feels like Segura is withholding details that the characters know. Instead, we are along for the ride as our heroes each encounter different branches of a larger conspiracy. As revelations and mysteries reach a fever pitch, Segura and Noto cut back and forth on the page between each story. By issue’s end you are desperate to see Luke, Han, and Leia get together and compare notes as they each have only a small piece of the puzzle. The tension resides in knowing that each is on their own stumbling through the dark.
Bigger picture aside, Segura has a great handle on the distinct voice of each of these iconic characters (even newly iconic ones like Mon Mothma, who is drawn here by Noto looking like Andor‘s Genevieve O’Reilly) and each gets dramatic moments to flex their unique muscles. Leia relies on her wits and tenacity, Han on his blaster and Luke his pilot skills and Jedi abilities. With Phil Noto on the art, those characters feel even more authenetic in large part because of the likeness but also his approach to the page. Each panel is composed like a movie. This is widescreen action, full of big flashy imagery and dramatic entrances.
VC’s Clayton Cowles remains a Star Wars comics stalwart and his work here particularly stands out in the SFX which are meticulously designed to match Noto’s visuals and the larger aesthetic of Star Wars in general. The whole package sings.
Star Wars #1 is a pitch-perfect debut that sets the table not only for the story to come but for the tone and style that Alex Segura and Phil Noto bring to the book. This is a new launch that promises political intrigue and big action, a story that will test the heroes in new ways we have yet to see. They face an enemy that cannot be defeated through violence, that threatens their standing in the battle for public opinion. It will challenge them to examine their vision for a galaxy at peace and all the complexities of what it will take to make that vision a reality. And on top of it all is the looming knowledge that any victory they might find is but a temporary reprieve. I’ve not been this excited for a Star Wars comics since the initial Marvel launch 10 years ago.
VERDICT: BUY
The Rapid Rundown
- Fantastic Four Fanfare #1
- Look this is a good year to be a Fantastic Four fan. Even if the Rundown team has been cold on the current One World Under Doom crossover, there’s still the current well liked Ryan North run and what looks like what will be an honest to god great Fantastic Four movie. So a Fantastic Four miniseries where folks who previously worked on the book get to tell any manner of FF story? Again, it’s a good year for Fantastic Four fans. Fantastic Four Fanfare #1 (with Fanfare in the old Marvel Fanfare typeface!) sees former FF creators like writer Mark Waid with artist Ramon Rosanas, writer/artist Alan Davis, and artist Sara Pichelli (with writer Andrew Wheeler) return to these characters to tell fun short stories. Most of these are set in the early days of the FF which honestly fits with the 60s set movie coming out this summer. The Wheeler/Pichelli story about Johnny Storm on a reality dating show is the lone more modern incarnation. The key though is that these are just fun short stories which is the perfect primer for these characters. The Fantastic Four at its best is a fun book about a group of super powered adventurers who also do regular Joe stuff like catch the train or date people. That mix of the, pardon the pun, fantastic and the mundane is why these characters are so enduring. Getting beloved creatives to revisit these characters, and do it so entertainingly, is only icing on the cake. – DM
- Sam Wilson Captain America #5
- Sam Wilson’s “Better Angels” story arc comes to a close as writers Greg Pak & Evan Narcisse have their run cut criminally short. With only 5 issues, they were able to do a lot of heavy social commentary on race, privilege, and food insecurity, while still giving us the comic book action and drama that is the primary reason we read superhero comics. When the shady tech giant Eaglestar offers disenfranchised people across the US new high-tech farming that will allow them to break the chains of cultural imprisonment with the dream of flying cities and new opportunities. Attempting to shed their evil reputation, they invite Captain America to join, but soon learns Eaglestar hasn’t changed and that its dark truth is as dangerous as he thought, as Eaglestar is mind controlling the people with plans to expand across the globe. You can tell that artist Eder Messias and color artist Fer Sifuentes-Sujo are having fun bringing this vision of Cap’s story to the page. The linework is dynamic, and the colors pop in a way that enhances the storytelling. And then there’s cover artist Taurin Clarke, giving fans a masterclass in creating iconic comic covers, each one could be hung on a wall as art. Real-world corporate synergy was a massive weakness of this run, you could see the many chefs influencing the cast of characters to mirror Brave New World, like having a Red Hulk and the son of Isaiah Bradley, Josiah X, aka the Shadow Soldier. But that was where Pak & Narcisse’s skill and creativity stepped in to make the ingredients work together and cook, they create a lush world for Cap to defend. Like its cinematic cousin, Sinners, this run was unabashedly Black in its celebration of joy and heroism, and hopefully won’t be sidelined for too long. – GC3
Next week: Godzilla and Doom continue their rule over the Marvel Universe!
And check out the Beat’s most recent comics reviews!
