Comics Star Wars: Age of Rebellion

Not sure if anyone else is collecting the McKone puzzle piece variant covers but the Han,Boba,Lando and Jabba ones don't seem to match up from the previews I've seen

 

I have just got Boba and I agree with that they don't seem to match up very well.

 

Does the Boba one fit after the Jabba one?

 

YES BUT NOT TOO WELL

 

Greg Pak interview.

https://www.marvel.com/articles/comics/star-wars-writer-greg-pak-tells-a-new-mandalorian-tale

Spoiler

Marvel.com: Greg, basic question, but an oh-so important one: What’s your favorite of the ten Star Wars feature films and why?



Greg Pak: I was eight when A New Hope came out—although we just called it Star Wars back then—and eleven when The Empire Strikes Back hit. So as much as I love the new movies, and I love, love, love 'em, that first trilogy will probably always be my sentimental fave.



The Empire Strikes Back is probably at the top of my list, in part because of how mind blowing it was to see after waiting three years as a kid for the next chapter, and how shocked we were by the big choices and character moments throughout. It's such a classic now that it's a little hard to express how hugely risk-taking it felt at the time and how much it opened up and made possible that Star Wars mythology we almost take for granted now. And I just love so many of the acting beats in that second movie. All of Mark Hamill's moments with Yoda in those early scenes on Dagobah are just phenomenally good—so real and so endearing and so critical for making the fantastical scenario work on a human level.


Marvel.com: What were your first thoughts after being offered the AGE OF REBELLION event? How did you want to approach it?



Pak: Oh, I miiiight have been so thrilled that I literally jumped up and down. I've been hungry to write Star Wars comics ever since Marvel got the license, and my editor couldn't have hand-picked a better and more fun first project for me to dive into than this AGE OF REBELLION gig. I'm writing eight one-shots featuring classic heroes and villains from that original trilogy, so I'm right there in the sweet spot with the movies I loved the most when I was growing up.

It's a massively challenging gig in that writing eight one-shots is actually a lot harder than writing an eight-issue story. Each one-shot is just 20 pages, but that's eight separate stories that you need to figure out—eight little epics that need to encapsulate each character, fit into existing continuity in an intriguing way, and add some nugget of insight or development that contributes to this shared universe.



But these are characters that have been under my skin for four decades. And my editors Mark Paniccia and Tom Groneman and all the folks at Lucasfilm have been just incredible in supporting these stories and helping me nudge them in the right directions. And the art teams have been knocking the ball out of the park with each and every issue. It's really been a dream.


Marvel.com: We’ll get to your artists, but we really want to ask if writing Super Hero comics prepare a writer such as yourself for taking on Star Wars comics? What are the biggest differences?



Pak: In terms of comics craft, it's exactly the same process. We're just trying to figure out the best possible ways to dramatize great stories that matter about these amazing characters.



The biggest differences probably revolve around genre conventions. Jedi sometimes do some super hero-y kinds of things. But Star Wars characters don't generally move through the world physically like Super Heroes—they're not holding up mountains or smashing asteroids apart with their bare hands. So the visual and visceral thrills play out a little differently.



Marvel.com: Like you said, AGE OF REBELLION is a series of eight one-shots, but are they linked in any way such as thematically or by story threads?



Pak: There are some echoes here and there, but that's really just because the characters have histories with each other rather than through a conscious design to create links. I approached each one of these as its own story. My attitude was if I had one chance and one chance only to tell a story that epitomized this character, what story would I want to tell? Since they're all different characters with different key moments across the trilogy, the stories fall at different points on the timeline and explore different kinds of challenges and themes.



I would say that one big theme that's echoed throughout all my Star Wars work so far, including my work on the main series that starts with STAR WARS #68, is that thin line between rebels and rogues. I'll say no more for fear of spoilers.

Marvel.com: With Boba Fett’s origins finally revealed in Attack of the Clones, how do you maintain the mystique in his one-shot?



Pak: I approached STAR WARS: AGE OF REBELLION – BOBA FETT #1 story like a straight-up Western, with an almost entirely silent, anti-hero bounty hunter implacably pursuing his goals while other characters try to figure out his motivations. It's a kind of classic Man-with-No-Name feel, and the art by Marc Laming and colorist Neeraj Menon is just stunning in evoking that genre and vibe.


Marvel.com: Both Han Solo and Boba Fett have finite ends as seen in the films; do such demises at all figure into how you present them in your stories? Do you foreshadow them?



Pak: At one point, I thought of hinting at or even showing Boba Fett's end in the story, but with all of these one-shots, I think the best move has been to explore and celebrate them as the heroes or villains of their own stories, capable of sustaining dozens more tales like these. My job with these one-shots isn't to complete or finish these characters' stories—I think it's to show why we're so compelled by them and show how much more story there is in all of them.



Marvel.com: What was it like folding a newer concept like Canto Bight into STAR WARS: AGE OF REBELLION – JABBA THE HUTT #1?



Pak: It was pretty seamless, the equivalent of pulling in a bit of Peter David lore into a Hulk story that's mostly relied on Stan Lee and Bill Mantlo characters. It's all part of the shared universe and it's a blast finding bits from different parts of that universe that make sense in new stories.

Marvel.com: Gotta ask… Lando and Lobot: What’s your take on their relationship in STAR WARS: AGE OF REBELLION – LANDO CALRISSIAN #1?



Pak: I don't want to spoil too much, but we drew a lot on the great Charles Soule/Alex Maleev LANDO limited series in 2015 for that. I can say that the Lando-Lobot dynamic is a ton of fun to write. Always a kick to have a cocky risk-taker having to deal with a deadpan pragmatist. And the Soule/Maleev story gave us a bit more emotional context to give that fun vibe another level.


Marvel.com: Before we talk about your amazing artists, let’s look forward a bit to the Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader one-shots in June—what can readers expect?



Pak: These are probably the stories that take the biggest leaps in the series. I was honestly stunned and thrilled that we got the green light to do what we're doing in those books. We're digging deep into some the most fundamental motivations of these key characters in these canon stories, and I can't wait for y'all to see them.

Marvel.com: Wow! Okay, you’ve got Marc Laming on the villains one-shots and Chris Sprouse on the heroes. How does that set-up play to their strengths, in your opinion?



Pak: Oh, it's been stunning. Both Chris and Marc have a tremendous gift of being able to deliver amazing actor likenesses, which is key for these Star Wars books, while keeping every moment fresh and alive. And Chris's clean lines have been a perfect fit for the bold, brassy, fun vibe of the hero books while Marc's giving a grittier vibe to the villain books, which feels just right.



We're also getting to work with a number of amazing artists as well, including Will Sliney, Karl Story, Marc Deering, Stefano Landini, Scott Koblish, Emilio Laiso, Marco Turini, Roland Boschi, and every one of them is delivering stunning pages and panels.

 

Boba Fett preview is up.
Nice art by Laming again. Looking forward to his work on Target Vader, too. (By the way, he started posting unlettered inks for that in the past week.)

 

Preview for Lando.

Spoiler

Burnin Konn!

 

Gotta be honest, I've been enjoying these Age of Rebellion issues less than the Age of Republic. Republic gave us more interesting insights into characters we don't see so often in the current canon. Rebellion so far has often just felt like another issue of the main comic series.

I like the look of the Lando issue, though.

 

I thought the Boba issue was pretty good. The panel where it says "You can't fight BOBA FETT!" in super 1970s typeface is hilarious.

 

I read the Han Solo issue last Friday and it essentially answers the question: What did Han Solo do with his reward money from ANH? and I've already forgotten the answer. I like these one shots but I don't remember Leia's and I only slightly remember Tarkins.

I read Boba Fett today. I had some questions.

Spoiler

Why did it look like Boba shot Zingo then in the next panel he's fine? Was his partner asking for water imaging that entire thing before he died?
Why does Zingo tie up the people in the village? What purpose does it serve?
Why does Boba kick the gun back to Zingo? So he has a reason to shoot him? And he shot him so hard it freed some of the people?

 

Spoiler

Yeah, my impression is that it was a dying hallucination. As for the other two questions, I don't know. It did get sort of confusing toward the end.

 

Spoiler

Fett did shoot him; Zingo's holding his shoulder when he arrives in town on the next page, and I think his cloak is torn a little. But he's also wearing armour; I'd assume Fett would also shrug off a shot from that distance.

Zingo's luring Fett into the room with the detonator, so presumably tying the people up is a way to point Fett in that direction. Also to keep them from interfering, I guess, and potentially to use them as hostages, but Fett doesn't let the fight get that far.

I figured Fett kicked the gun away and Zingo went for it all the same; it's right next to him in the previous panel. But he could also be doing it to give Zingo a fighting chance, because honour and all that.

And there's smoke curling from one of the posts in the panel of the villagers getting free, so I assume the explosion(s) charred the bonds of at least one of them, who then freed the others.

 

Jabba preview.

 

The Tuskens speak in the same font as Two-Tubes does.

 

So here's the Tusken language from the Jabba comic, translated as best as I could. It's difficult because multiple characters represent the same letter in the Roman alphabet.

Spoiler

Panel where droid says "We demand these transgressions cease!":
DEMAND THESE TRANSGRESSIONS CEASE!

Panel where droid says "Nothing happens on this planet without Jabba's consent! Stop them or you will pay the price!":
NOTHING HAPPENS ON PLANET WITHOUT CONSENT YJABBA (or LJABBA)! STOP THEM OR THE PRICE WILL BE WITH YOU!

Panel where Jabba says "Jabba the Great is indulgent...":
HRRRNNNR

Panel where Tuskens are bowing:
FORGIVENESS, WE ASK.

Panel where Tuskens are messing around with a chemistry set and a skull:
First Tusken - AND WHAT NOW?
Second Tusken - HAVE PATIENCE

Panel where the Tuskens are watching the mountains go BRAKKA BRAKKA BAM BAM BRAAAKOOM:
VICTORY! AS WAS EXPECTED!

Panel where Tuskens are storming Jabba's palace:
GRRRRAAAA!

Panel where Tusken gives Jawa the gift:
GREAT JABBABWE (or JARRARWE or JABBARWE, etc. or it could be a comma but not the regular comma, in which case it would be JABBA,WE) MAKE THIS TRIBUTE TO YOU, AS A SIGN OF OUR ALLEGIANCE AND RESPECT.

Last panel:
YEEEAAAAAA!

I was also thinking about trying the Jawa runes, but that will be more difficult as there's no instance of them being directly translated within the comic.

 

The Luke issue is out.

Spoiler

Nice pre-ROTJ Luke action, reminds me of Shattered Empire. Though it does suggest Luke builds Ol' Greenie before that deleted scene from ROTJ. I'd assumed Pablo and co were considering that scene canon, but I guess not.

Besides that, it's a great story that plays with the mindsets of ROTJ-era and TLJ-era Lukes. Though how many visions of a married life has Luke had now?

 

Spoiler

Maybe he is just repairing it in that deleted scene?

 

I was just about to ask the question(s) that have already been addressed above about Luke.

Spoiler

It seems like Palpatine goes out of his way to say, "I don't know where you are and you can't even hear me, can you? But I can read your heart..." as I was getting Snoke vibes during that vision scene.

 

Spoiler

I liked the Luke issue, I'm always a sucker for stories involving Luke that make him more like how he was in TLJ

 

So the Luke issue retcons Luke’s ROTJ character to match that of TLJ?

 

I've only seen a summary but 'retcon' seems like too strong a word.

 

I think I got most of it, though one panel has me stumped:

(and I'm gonna feel really bad if someone else already figured out all of this and I missed it, because this took me a while, lol)

Spoiler: Jawa runes

I started with this panel. The smuggler's retort made it seem like the last thing the Jawas said was 'Drop your weapons!' That gets you all of the letters for 'You're surrounded!' as well. (The apostrophe would be the rhombus-shaped character.) So this panel reads

YOU'RE
SURROUNDED!
DROP YOUR
WEAPONS!​

Applying this to the panel immediately before it gives

S_OP_
S_U___ERS!​

I think

STOP,
SMUGGLERS!​

makes sense here. (The comma would be the straight vertical line character.)



Now on to this panel:

NO
T_ME _OR
T__S.​

I think

NO
TIME FOR
THIS.​

makes sense here.



But... That would mean this panel (the first we see of the Jawa runes) reads

HALIEN
S_RIPT_!​

(followed by OOOOOO! but at least that line makes sense.)
So -- did I screw up somewhere? Or am I missing something obvious? (My eyes and brain are shutting down after jumping between the runes so much, haha. The runes are just swimming on the screen at this point so I'm just gonna post this and be done with it.) Or was this funky placeholder text? Something like ALIEN SCRIPT! ? Hm.

 

That's really clever how you guys deciphered those -- reminds me of those translation puzzle they give kids in grade school, although usually with a "this one's a 'T', now you go from there".

Sen, I think you're right about the last panel. It doesn't decipher any other way.