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jaredkwheeler's review
3.0
Star Wars Legends Project #310
Background: Requiem for a Rogue was released in February 1999, collecting issues #17-20 originally published Mar-June 1997. It is the fifth Rogue Squadron story arc. It was written by [a:Michael A. Stackpole|17739|Michael A. Stackpole|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1207602690p2/17739.jpg] and [a:Jan Strnad|17734|Jan Strnad|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1350228415p2/17734.jpg], with art by [a:Gary Erskine|17737|Gary Erskine|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]. Stackpole is the series regular writer, while Strnad has about a dozen other issues to his name, including an earlier Rogue Squadron arc, and the story arc that launched the prequel era of comics. Erskine also drew one earlier issue of Rogue Squadron, and one additional Star Wars story that spanned a handful of issues.
Requiem for a Rogue takes place 8 months after the Battle of Endor, just over 4.5 years after the Battle of Yavin. The main characters are Wedge, Tycho, Wes, and the rest of Rogue Squadron, particularly the Sullustan pilot Dllr Nep and the Bith pilot Herian I'ngre. Most of the story takes place on Malrev IV.
Summary: Rogue Squadron is dispatched on what ought to be a simple and straightforward mission to locate a group of Bothan tourists stranded by the crash of their cruise liner on a primitive planet. Things go wrong almost immediately when the Rogues find themselves under attack by the vicious Irrukiine locals, and by the very Bothans they've come to rescue. Something dark lurks at the heart of this planet, and if the Rogues can't find a way to fight it, there could be dire consequences for the entire galaxy!
Review: It feels like this story was written specifically to kill off some members of Rogue Squadron, maybe because the body count had been too low in the story arcs thus far. It feels that way because this entire arc is named for the fact that at least one member of Rogue Squadron dies in it, which seems like a questionable choice on several levels. I won't say how many or who, but suffice to say, you won't be surprised by the time it happens, and tipping the readers off in this way really feels like it cheapens the sacrifice at the center of this arc.
When that moment finally arrives, it does manage to be meaningful and emotional, and the arc has a great final page. It's just a bit of a slog to get there. This is easily my least favorite arc so far. Again, a lot of the plot includes the carefully-constructed, character-driven storytelling I've come to expect from Stackpole, so I have to conclude (from this and from the evidence of his [b:Star Wars: Prelude to Rebellion|253052|Star Wars Prelude to Rebellion|Jan Strnad|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1173158142l/253052._SY75_.jpg|16121464], my review) that the many silly elements that drive that story forward are Strnad's. I don't know, maybe that's not fair. But there was a lot here that just didn't work for me, and only the emotional core of the characters and their relationships pulled me through the goofiness of what was happening to them.
That makes it sound worse than it is. Even a poor Rogue Squadron arc is at worst an average Star Wars comic story, and that's what this is. There's nothing beyond-the-pale terrible here. It's just a bit hokey.
C
Background: Requiem for a Rogue was released in February 1999, collecting issues #17-20 originally published Mar-June 1997. It is the fifth Rogue Squadron story arc. It was written by [a:Michael A. Stackpole|17739|Michael A. Stackpole|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1207602690p2/17739.jpg] and [a:Jan Strnad|17734|Jan Strnad|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1350228415p2/17734.jpg], with art by [a:Gary Erskine|17737|Gary Erskine|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]. Stackpole is the series regular writer, while Strnad has about a dozen other issues to his name, including an earlier Rogue Squadron arc, and the story arc that launched the prequel era of comics. Erskine also drew one earlier issue of Rogue Squadron, and one additional Star Wars story that spanned a handful of issues.
Requiem for a Rogue takes place 8 months after the Battle of Endor, just over 4.5 years after the Battle of Yavin. The main characters are Wedge, Tycho, Wes, and the rest of Rogue Squadron, particularly the Sullustan pilot Dllr Nep and the Bith pilot Herian I'ngre. Most of the story takes place on Malrev IV.
Summary: Rogue Squadron is dispatched on what ought to be a simple and straightforward mission to locate a group of Bothan tourists stranded by the crash of their cruise liner on a primitive planet. Things go wrong almost immediately when the Rogues find themselves under attack by the vicious Irrukiine locals, and by the very Bothans they've come to rescue. Something dark lurks at the heart of this planet, and if the Rogues can't find a way to fight it, there could be dire consequences for the entire galaxy!
Review: It feels like this story was written specifically to kill off some members of Rogue Squadron, maybe because the body count had been too low in the story arcs thus far. It feels that way because this entire arc is named for the fact that at least one member of Rogue Squadron dies in it, which seems like a questionable choice on several levels. I won't say how many or who, but suffice to say, you won't be surprised by the time it happens, and tipping the readers off in this way really feels like it cheapens the sacrifice at the center of this arc.
When that moment finally arrives, it does manage to be meaningful and emotional, and the arc has a great final page. It's just a bit of a slog to get there. This is easily my least favorite arc so far. Again, a lot of the plot includes the carefully-constructed, character-driven storytelling I've come to expect from Stackpole, so I have to conclude (from this and from the evidence of his [b:Star Wars: Prelude to Rebellion|253052|Star Wars Prelude to Rebellion|Jan Strnad|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1173158142l/253052._SY75_.jpg|16121464], my review) that the many silly elements that drive that story forward are Strnad's. I don't know, maybe that's not fair. But there was a lot here that just didn't work for me, and only the emotional core of the characters and their relationships pulled me through the goofiness of what was happening to them.
That makes it sound worse than it is. Even a poor Rogue Squadron arc is at worst an average Star Wars comic story, and that's what this is. There's nothing beyond-the-pale terrible here. It's just a bit hokey.
C
wyrmbergmalcolm's review
3.0
This was quite a bit different from the other books in this series and I welcomed the change. The ever-shifting dynamic of the group has make the pilots slightly less interesting as their relationship dynamics are always in flux. It also doesn't help that the look of some of the recurring characters also changes a bit from book to book. Despite all that, this was a pretty good story with a nice twist of the Force.
depizan's review
1.0
Not good. The art in this is just terrible - the characters are more identifiable than with the last artist, but the art is so ugly that I can't count it as any kind of improvement. And the story leaves a lot to be desired. Though, perhaps it would've been more compelling with art that didn't make it hard to look at.
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