Comics The Screaming Citadel (One-Shot, Star Wars #31-32, Doctor Aphra #7-8) (5/5 Released)

Where was that confirmed? I just reread Darth Vader and the only dates in the comics mention Aphra having a month to complete a mission. Other that that, the timeline isn't referenced.

According to the Wookiepedia timeline all the OT comics take place in 0 ABY. This may not be completely accurate, but it at least shows the dates are ambiguous.

I think this can be in part corroborated by the Battlefront novel. The Mid Rim Campaign would have started around 18 months after Yavin. The campaign doesn't seem to have begun yet, so they are at least set earlier than this.

 

Pablo Hidalgo confirmed that it took a few weeks for the Falcon to reach Bespin. But not years.

JediKnight75 I remember someone said that the Lost Star novel placed Vader taking command of the Executor about one year after Yavin. But I'm not sure, I'll have to look it up.

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As Darth_Voider alluded to, Lost Stars dates Vader assuming command of Executor to one year after Yavin, and that event happens in Darth Vader #25. So the Aphra series and the Screaming Citadel arc has to take place sometime beyond that point, during "Year Two."

 

Yeah, my disappointment grows with each issue. The general premise is a good one, but it's stacked with too many characters and is far too rushed (not just in terms of artwork). The story has no room to breathe. Further, Dr Aphra seems to flip sides every issue, and that gets old very quickly. What's more, it means I can't take any of her dramatic moments seriously because they're all temporary.

It sounds like no-one is especially impressed with SC, 3 issues in, and I wonder whether this rush job from Marvel is going to backfire on them.

 

Hard to believe its been more than a year. Feels like not much happened in that time with the OT cast or even the Rebel Alliance. This is supposed to be GALACTIC Civil War, but it doesn't really feel like it to me. In the Twilight Company novel, you got the feeling that there's battles going on all over the galaxy, but with the Star Wars comic series, it almost feels like the entire Alliance is just Leia, Luke, Han and Sana.

 

Very good point. However you need to remember that this series really isn't about war. The selling point for the series is about the ongoing adventures of the big three. We can easily say that that stuff is still going on elsewhere in the Galaxy. They still have characters like Ackbar, Mon Mothma, plus several others who we were introduced to in Rogue One who can be leading the war.

We saw just in the last couple issues that they are at a brand new base so that fits with the opening crawl of ESB where the Rebellion was on the run from the Empire.

The Positive Fan that actually would fit pretty well. We are a little over two years into the main lines run and if we are about at the halfway point to Ep. V that means they will likely spend another two years getting to the Battle of Hoth. At that point Ep. IX will be in theaters and they then likely will be allowed to jump to Rey as the main character.

 

I still like Screaming Citadel overall, there's definitely more good than bad, but the story and art are noticeably rushed. Issue 2 was full of obvious artistic shortcuts (lots of characters in the distance or in profile or with things obscuring their faces), and Issue 3 had these same shortcuts, typos and grammatical errors, and Luke just disappearing without explanation. This is especially frustrating because the story itself is overstuffed with unnecessary characters, action pieces, and banter to avoid actual character development or important discussions.

There are still two issues to go, so hopefully they'll stick the ending and there will be a satisfying payoff. As it stands, I'm of the opinion that the whole plot could have been Aphra meeting and convincing Luke, their journey, the reception, and then the breakfast double-cross and the ship-crashing rescue. That could fill five issues, with a lot more discussions and time getting to know the villains. No need for Leia and Han, because Sana figures things out on her own and her story is trying to fix her mistake (Rescue Luke, Kill Aphra) before others find out.

 

I don't remember it being that specific. I'll look back in the book later tonight.

 

Lack of creativity with the characters in these comics.

Female Lando.
Female Indiana Jones.
C3-PO painted black.
R2-D2 painted black.
Black Chewbacca.

 

It could be interesting to show another specie than a Wookiee (or another droid than didn't looks like an evil c3po)

 

That's a pretty superficial analysis.

 

I mean, only sorta - since Aphra and her supporting cast began as Vader's supporting cast, they explicitly were meant to be 'dark' counterparts of the good guys. But it's not out of a lack of creativity.

 

Even though I like Aphra I feel like they went a bit too far with the Indiana Jones similarities.

Female Lando? You mean Sana? How? Lando is chill Sana is hot headed. They are almost opposite archetypes. I suppose they are both black people from Han's past but that's it.

 

Even though Sana has nothing in common with Lando, it's pretty clear she's only there to fill in for Lando's part in the gang ("the black one") since Lando can't appear with the big three until ESB

 

Uh, yeah, that's... kind of a problematic conclusion to draw.

(Though Sana does actually have something in common with Lando - former partner of Han who's still mad at him over getting the short end of the stick in their last caper)

 

I don't remember it being that specific. I'll look back in the book later tonight.[/quote]

Ozzel comments on how "your service these past two years has been exemplary" with the implication that he's been her commander for the last two years - it specifies that it's been three years since Alderaan's destruction, and that she was transferred to the Executor from the Devastator at Vader's request, and that this happened when Vader chose it as his new command ship.

This is right after the probe droid picked up a signal on Hoth, but before the battle itself.

 

Ozzel comments on how "your service these past two years has been exemplary" with the implication that he's been her commander for the last two years - it specifies that it's been three years since Alderaan's destruction, and that she was transferred to the Executor from the Devastator at Vader's request, and that this happened when Vader chose it as his new command ship.

This is right after the probe droid picked up a signal on Hoth, but before the battle itself.[/quote]

There are multiple ways to interpret that though. For example, she could have been transferred to the Executor months after Vader took command. It does mention he wanted her on the crew, but that doesn't mean an instant transfer. The Executor just became operational in Darth Vader 25. It's a big ship, so it may have taken a while to completely fill the crew. Ciena may have been a late addition for some reason as well. Also, Ozzel could be rounding. It's not uncommon for people to say something like two year when it's actually been closer to a year and a half.

Or this could be a similar thing to mentioning no one has ever successfully captured a Star Destroyer when we now have to instances of that before Jakku. Lost Star was written fairly early into the Darth Vader series. Small timeline details are easy to contradict because they aren't considered very Important store elements. That's probably why the NEU has demphasized exact dates in favor of just showing the general chronology.

 

Ciena was also somehow on the Devastator for two weeks before the Tantive IV being boarded / Leia's capture but didn't experience the Battle of Scarif...

 

Well, the Devastator didn't really participate in Scarif. It popped out of hyperspace, shot at a few fleeing ships, and launched Vader to board Raddus' ship. So for all we know, Ciena could've been aboard the Devastator and just been off duty, or something.

 

Just checked the book, here's the quote (and it was three weeks, not two, I misremembered):

“The rebels were a ragtag bunch of malcontents reduced to terrorist acts because they lacked either popular support or military might—or so they had all believed until recently, when the rebels had struck at them from a hidden base. To the undying shame of whatever complacent Imperial officials were responsible, the rebels had actually won the engagement. Not only did the Empire have to bear that incomprehensible defeat, but it also had lost vital intelligence information. Although the specifics were not widely discussed, Ciena had gathered that the intel had to do with the plans for a new, secret Imperial space station.”

Even if she wasn't on duty she would've known a lot more just by virtue of the ship being in the middle of a giant space battle. Of course, this book was written before Rogue One. The only way to make this work would be that the time Rogue One and ANH was more than three weeks. Or just conveniently ignore that passage.

 

I don't necessarily think that scene contradicts R1. Even if Ciena was aboard the Devastator, she might not have known what the battle was about. "Whatever complacent Imperial officials were responsible" could actually be taken to mean Krennic. And again, she might not have known what the battle was about, initially, and found out on the way from Scarif to Tatooine. It takes a bit of jumping through hoops, but it works.

 

Easier fix: Lost Stars doesn't cover every single event ever in SW.

 

Way off topic from Screaming Citadel but I say Ciena was asleep and/or wistfully pining for Thane (she does that alot) during the Battle of Scarif, such as it was for the Devastator which showed up way late and basically just launched a shuttle. And her shift started just as the Devastator found Leia and got briefly sketched in on the details.

 

Didn't the Devastator come into the battle by crashing into another ship? You'd think you'd remark about that.

 

Well, yeah, if you felt it, but it was akin to a car going over a snail.