Comics Star Wars #50-55: Hope Dies (6/6 Released)

The issue I have is how optimistic, buoyant, and confident the Alliance leadership is at the start of the arc. If they just lost an entire campaign, they shouldn't be that upbeat. Yes, you could argue that the completion of the Mon Cala cruisers is an event that buoyed their spirits, but it still seems off to me. Again, I need to re-read Twilight Company before I render verdict, but it just doesn't feel right.

Can we retcon all this together? Of course! I just wish we didn't need to, that's all.

--Adm. Nick

 

Don't forget though, all that optimism and high spirits at the start of "Hope Dies" is part of a show of strength they're putting on for Trios and the various visiting leaders and dignitaries. They're intentionally putting their best foot forward. Recall the Council meeting in issue #45, back at the start of the Mon Cala arc, where we see a far less optimistic group of Rebel leaders trying to figure out how to move forward. My guess is that the Mid-Rim retreat was underway even then, and the failure of that campaign was a wake up call for the Alliance regarding the need for a strong fleet.

 

Spoiler

Yeah, I had always assumed this was running concurrent with the Mid Rim Offensive, and what we're seeing now is, after a period of high spirits showing off their new ships that can stand toe to toe with the Imperial Starfleet, the whole thing falls apart with the loss of a significant chunk of their fighter corps and capital ships, leaving the Mid Rim advance to fall apart in a series of disasters running up to and even beyond Hoth.

We know it was nine months into the campaign that everything began to fall apart as the overstretch occurred, and it'd make sense if the overstretch was the result of having lost so many ships and leaders in the events we're discussing.

 

That’s possible. Again, it’s not hard to make it work (Fry or Wallace could do it in their sleep), but I just wish that we didn’t have to. Of course, Twilight Company preceded these comics and was early new canon, so I get that it can be overlooked.

—Adm. Nick

 

It does feel a lot of these Pre-Force Awakens Novels have in some ways been overlooked, Before the Awakens, Twilight Company....Althoguh the authors did come back...So who knows.

 

I really hope they find a way to explain this away. I think the best option would be to release another series, be it comics, books, tv shows, etc that actually deal with the Mid Rim campaign and have it end sometime around Hope Dies. That's really the best option they have. I do wish that Lucasfilm would be tighter on continuity though.

 

Eh, the last two issues were fairly predictable, but what could you expect really? We know our main heroes will make it to TESB so there are few substantial characters to care about here. Can't speak for others but I personally could care less about your average rebel characters.

Imo there would be more tension if you built up a world and its leaders over say ten issues and then let the Empire and Rebellion battle it out. Unfortunately this type of long-arc storytelling is very unlikely to happen.

Still, it was entertaining enough even though we didn't really learn anything about our heroes, they were rather angelic here. Not even Han considered fleeing in face of almost certain death. The most interesting part of it was really Trios and I hope we will see much more of her.

 

Spoiler

So Hope didn't die, right? She survived to get the data to the ship. What a misleading title of a series!

 

After the every-damn-page awesomeness that was the last issue the ending was going to be a bit of a comedown. But I do like how far Gillen has broken down the Alliance. They're not even an Alliance anymore, they're a damn smattering of cells again! That's pretty crazy. Which in turn could mean that Endor is the first time they get the whole gang together. Although I do wonder how/what Hoth works into that as it seems like it's supposed to be the entire Rebellion located to that point. "That's it, the Rebels are there!" as Vader pronounces.

 

I have not read the latest issues - could someone please tell me whether in the run-in to ESB do they reference or at least suggest the Mid Rim Offensive? That was one of the aspects where I hoped the new canon would be more connected to itself (like with the Geonosis sterilization).

 

There's been no explicit reference to the Mid-Rim Offensive in this arc, though a relationship between the two can be easily inferred or headcanoned. Perhaps more important to your question, though, is that there's no hint yet that we are at all close to ESB (and personally I remain hopeful that we're not). The timeframe is extremely vague - the series may still be in 1 ABY for all we know.

 

I'd also want to believe we aren't close to ESB. In that case there would be more room for stories and I feel like the war is just starting to pick up. I tend to believe we are far away for this reason and think after the next arc the Rebellion will regroup and launch a counter attack.

 

Somehow I have gotten the impression that Kieron Gillen announced recently that the end is near and the comic is moving towards leading in to ESB.

Also, I just noticed that the last couple pages were all about reconciling the Mid Rim Campaign with this comic. Sorry for not seeing that earlier.

 

He did say he was thinking about bringing the characters to where they are in ESB, but that could mean many things. He compared it to his Darth Vader series which had the same goal, but that series ended with at least a couple years before ESB. He mentioned having the Empire strike back, which could easily suggest being close to the end. But the Empire could have been striking back for over a year and the Rebels could have had a counter attack, or recovered a little but then been pushed back more. So Gillen did say things that could suggest being close to the end, but they were vague enough to leave the possibility that a lot of time is left. Ultimately, we're all reading our own preferences into the timeline. I would like these three years to be very detailed and feel like the comic hasn't covered enough to do that yet. I also really want to see part of the Mid Rim Campaign and also am really enjoying the comic. So I'm more likely to try to interpret the timeline as being further from ESB and think that makes more sense.

 

Also, the solicitation and advertising for issue #50 did clearly hint toward ESB with some of its "the end begins here!" type copy. They might have even gone so far as to use "The Empire strikes!" as a tag line, I don't recall for sure. But they certainly invited the speculation, if nothing else. Personally I also think the comic is still closer to ANH than ESB, and like JediKnight75 I'm hoping the series takes its time making its way to Hoth. The classic OT timeframe and its potential for amazing Big Three stories is not even close to tapped out yet, IMO.

 

You mean 7978 correct? ABY/BBY is so passé.

 

Don't forget the random string of meaningless numbers after it!

 

Or perhaps 20 AFE, assuming The Rebel Files still retains some of its cachet

 

they could literally do post Yavin, Pre-Endor for, like, decades. But even though I don't want to lose Han in the book, I would love to see a canon take on the Shadows of the Empire period. Hell, maybe we'll even get a Shadows redux. I'm only saying this cuz right now the Star Wars comic book has put out more issues for more years set in the ANH period than the actual original Star Wars comic book from 78 to 80. I wanna see Lando!

 

The only issue is that we have a pretty detailed picture of that time period from the Moving Target book. It's a six month period and so they can't do much more. I'd like to see some arcs with Lando in the comic and his involvement with the Rebellion. It would also be nice to see Leia and Luke deal with the aftermath of ESB. But they'd only have room for a couple arcs with what we already have. So getting past ESB will be essentially ending the comic and I'm not ready for that

 

There’s really nothing to say the main star wars run can’t go on up to TFA and Beyond.

 

It shouldn't go to TFA, but why not through the final year of the war after the events of RoTJ?

Once the war is over, a sequel series can be made, Star Wars: New Republic. Stories set after the battle of jakku and before Luke's Academy is destroyed.

 

I find it very fitting and thematic that Draven dies the same way all those brave Rebel Troopers did on the Profundity. Giving their lives to help save the Rebellion. It takes a great deal of courage for those troopers to stand up against a black armored monster who can snap their necks with a gesture, disarm them with a flick of his wrist and deflect all their attacks with ease. I wonder if horror stories about Vader and his abilities circulate through the lower ranks of the Alliance, or if there's nothing more than black rumors, as almost no one survives a face-to-face encounter with the Dark Lord.

 

am I blind or is there no thread for the new arc?