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leftybrown's review
5.0
Dear Marvel,
I know in 2015 you get the rights to Star Wars. If Brian Wood still wants to play in the Star Wars universe, PLEASE consider letting him write because this book is FANTASTIC!!!!
I know in 2015 you get the rights to Star Wars. If Brian Wood still wants to play in the Star Wars universe, PLEASE consider letting him write because this book is FANTASTIC!!!!
jaredkwheeler's review
4.0
Star Wars Legends Project #240
Background: From the Ruins of Alderaan, released in April 2014, collects issues 7-12 of Dark Horse's Star Wars run (July-December 2013). All 6 issues were written by [a:Brian Wood|20493|Brian Wood|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1413750561p2/20493.jpg]. The first 3 were drawn by [a:Ryan Kelly|180971|Ryan Kelly|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png], and the other 3 were drawn by [a:Carlos D'Anda|306749|Carlos D'Anda|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1572710949p2/306749.jpg]. Wood wrote this entire 20-issue series. D'Anda did the art for about half of them, but these 3 issues are Kelly's only Star Wars credits.
From the Ruins of Alderaan is set a couple months after the Battle of Yavin, picking up right where In the Shadow of Yavin left off (my review). The main characters are Leia, Luke, Han, Chewie, and Wedge Antilles, plus Mon Mothma and Darth Vader. There are also a number of recurring characters from the previous issues. The story takes place in various places, including aboard the Star Destroyer Devastator, on Coruscant, and around the 2nd Death Star, under construction above Endor.
Summary: Their plan to root out the spy has failed, and the Rebels are growing increasing desperate. So much so that Leia takes off on her own to find a new Rebel base alone, while Luke and Wedge undertake a near-suicidal mission to infiltrate the very Imperials who are tracking them. Meanwhile, Han and Chewie's mission to Imperial Center has failed, and with Boba Fett on their trail they'll be lucky to escape alive. But a chance contact may prove surprisingly fortuitous. And Darth Vader continues his obsessive hunt for the pilot who defeated and, worse, humiliated him at the Battle of Yavin.
Review: Since none of the storylines from the first collection were really concluded, this collection just picks all of that up and keeps going. As such, you could pretty much take my review of that and apply it all here. The artwork still looks really good, particularly the space battles, but it's still distracting that the characters don't look right (and sometimes seem to drastically change appearance from page to page?).
Everything that I complimented about the initial storyline is still working and is still really good. But overall this ended up feeling weaker overall. The biggest reason for that is a massive plot twist that comes out of nowhere and ties up the biggest ongoing plotline so far. It felt really unearned and I don't get how it actually makes any sense. It's the kind of twist that, had it been done well, would have been really cool actually, but instead it was just like, "Um, what?"
Okay, you know what, I'm just going to tell you. SPOILER WARNING STOP HERE IF YOU WANT TO READ THIS YOURSELF.
***
***
***
Colonel Bircher, the superstar Imperial officer who has so impressed the Emperor that he was given Darth Vader's Star Destroyer to command in his hunt for the Rebels, and who personally leads a squadron of crack-elite pilots into battle in the Empire's brand-new top-of-the-line TIE Interceptors . . . is actually Mon Mothma's nephew and is a double-agent.
I know.
There's some minor hand-waving about how they somehow sliced him into the Imperial records and how he had his hand on some kind of kill-switch to disable his squadron in case it looked like they might kill any Rebel pilots, but . . . nah. That's just silliness.
The cliffhanger at the end of the collection hints at the possibility of a fun new direction for the series, now that this storyline is wrapped up, so I'll hang my hopes on something good coming of that.
B
Background: From the Ruins of Alderaan, released in April 2014, collects issues 7-12 of Dark Horse's Star Wars run (July-December 2013). All 6 issues were written by [a:Brian Wood|20493|Brian Wood|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1413750561p2/20493.jpg]. The first 3 were drawn by [a:Ryan Kelly|180971|Ryan Kelly|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png], and the other 3 were drawn by [a:Carlos D'Anda|306749|Carlos D'Anda|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1572710949p2/306749.jpg]. Wood wrote this entire 20-issue series. D'Anda did the art for about half of them, but these 3 issues are Kelly's only Star Wars credits.
From the Ruins of Alderaan is set a couple months after the Battle of Yavin, picking up right where In the Shadow of Yavin left off (my review). The main characters are Leia, Luke, Han, Chewie, and Wedge Antilles, plus Mon Mothma and Darth Vader. There are also a number of recurring characters from the previous issues. The story takes place in various places, including aboard the Star Destroyer Devastator, on Coruscant, and around the 2nd Death Star, under construction above Endor.
Summary: Their plan to root out the spy has failed, and the Rebels are growing increasing desperate. So much so that Leia takes off on her own to find a new Rebel base alone, while Luke and Wedge undertake a near-suicidal mission to infiltrate the very Imperials who are tracking them. Meanwhile, Han and Chewie's mission to Imperial Center has failed, and with Boba Fett on their trail they'll be lucky to escape alive. But a chance contact may prove surprisingly fortuitous. And Darth Vader continues his obsessive hunt for the pilot who defeated and, worse, humiliated him at the Battle of Yavin.
Review: Since none of the storylines from the first collection were really concluded, this collection just picks all of that up and keeps going. As such, you could pretty much take my review of that and apply it all here. The artwork still looks really good, particularly the space battles, but it's still distracting that the characters don't look right (and sometimes seem to drastically change appearance from page to page?).
Everything that I complimented about the initial storyline is still working and is still really good. But overall this ended up feeling weaker overall. The biggest reason for that is a massive plot twist that comes out of nowhere and ties up the biggest ongoing plotline so far. It felt really unearned and I don't get how it actually makes any sense. It's the kind of twist that, had it been done well, would have been really cool actually, but instead it was just like, "Um, what?"
Okay, you know what, I'm just going to tell you. SPOILER WARNING STOP HERE IF YOU WANT TO READ THIS YOURSELF.
***
***
***
Colonel Bircher, the superstar Imperial officer who has so impressed the Emperor that he was given Darth Vader's Star Destroyer to command in his hunt for the Rebels, and who personally leads a squadron of crack-elite pilots into battle in the Empire's brand-new top-of-the-line TIE Interceptors . . . is actually Mon Mothma's nephew and is a double-agent.
I know.
There's some minor hand-waving about how they somehow sliced him into the Imperial records and how he had his hand on some kind of kill-switch to disable his squadron in case it looked like they might kill any Rebel pilots, but . . . nah. That's just silliness.
The cliffhanger at the end of the collection hints at the possibility of a fun new direction for the series, now that this storyline is wrapped up, so I'll hang my hopes on something good coming of that.
B
julesjim's review
2.0
Too many plot threads, most of them being either forgettable or not leading anywhere. Using familiar characters between 2 of the original movies may seem like a good idea, except that it removes all tension, since we know exactly where this is going.
wyrmbergmalcolm's review
3.0
This is very much the conclusion to In The Shadow Of Yavin where all the main loose ends are tied up. The mystery is revealed and the scrapes that the characters are in are dealt with. A couple of character arcs also run their course, but I was left feeling cheated by them. In both cases there was the expectation of something coming of them, but then they leave the story and that’s that. I don’t know if they turn up later, but as the story stands at the moment, that’s all there is to it.
Also the big reveal annoyed me. There was a spy giving away the Alliance’s movements to the Empire and this did carry the story well. However, when the truth is revealed… okay, I don’t know what I expected, I had theories, but the truth was underwhelming and does leave a few questions unanswered.
I did like the addition of Perla to the story. She is an interesting character with a lot of unknowns about her. I’m looking forward to seeing how her character further develops as the series goes on.
Also the big reveal annoyed me. There was a spy giving away the Alliance’s movements to the Empire and this did carry the story well. However, when the truth is revealed… okay, I don’t know what I expected, I had theories, but the truth was underwhelming and does leave a few questions unanswered.
I did like the addition of Perla to the story. She is an interesting character with a lot of unknowns about her. I’m looking forward to seeing how her character further develops as the series goes on.
kathrinreads's review against another edition
3.0
I liked this comic but I could not really understand the motivation of the characters and therefore it fell a bit flat for me.
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