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Star Wars (2015)
Star Wars, Vol. 6: Out Among the Stars
Marvel's epic and thrilling exploration of the Star Wars galaxy continues! COLLECTING: STAR WARS #33-37 and Annual #3
156 pages, Paperback
First published December 5, 2017
184 people are currently reading
703 people want to read
About the author
Jason Aaron
2,359 books1,679 followersJason Aaron grew up in a small town in Alabama. His cousin, Gustav Hasford, who wrote the semi-autobiographical novel The Short-Timers, on which the feature film Full Metal Jacket was based, was a large influence on Aaron. Aaron decided he wanted to write comics as a child, and though his father was skeptical when Aaron informed him of this aspiration, his mother took Aaron to drug stores, where he would purchase books from spinner racks, some of which he still owns today.
Aaron's career in comics began in 2001 when he won a Marvel Comics talent search contest with an eight-page Wolverine back-up story script. The story, which was published in Wolverine #175 (June 2002), gave him the opportunity to pitch subsequent ideas to editors.
In 2006, Aaron made a blind submission to DC/Vertigo, who published his first major work, the Vietnam War story The Other Side which was nominated for an Eisner Award for Best Miniseries, and which Aaron regards as the "second time" he broke into the industry.
Following this, Vertigo asked him to pitch other ideas, which led to the series Scalped, a creator-owned series set on the fictional Prairie Rose Indian Reservation and published by DC/Vertigo.
In 2007, Aaron wrote Ripclaw: Pilot Season for Top Cow Productions. Later that year, Marvel editor Axel Alonso, who was impressed by The Other Side and Scalped, hired Aaron to write issues of Wolverine, Black Panther and eventually, an extended run on Ghost Rider that began in April 2008. His continued work on Black Panther also included a tie-in to the company-wide crossover storyline along with a "Secret Invasion" with David Lapham in 2009.
In January 2008, he signed an exclusive contract with Marvel, though it would not affect his work on Scalped. Later that July, he wrote the Penguin issue of The Joker's Asylum.
After a 4-issue stint on Wolverine in 2007, Aaron returned to the character with the ongoing series Wolverine: Weapon X, launched to coincide with the feature film X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Aaron commented, "With Wolverine: Weapon X we'll be trying to mix things up like that from arc to arc, so the first arc is a typical sort of black ops story but the second arc will jump right into the middle of a completely different genre," In 2010, the series was relaunched once again as simply Wolverine. He followed this with his current run on Thor: God of Thunder.
Aaron's career in comics began in 2001 when he won a Marvel Comics talent search contest with an eight-page Wolverine back-up story script. The story, which was published in Wolverine #175 (June 2002), gave him the opportunity to pitch subsequent ideas to editors.
In 2006, Aaron made a blind submission to DC/Vertigo, who published his first major work, the Vietnam War story The Other Side which was nominated for an Eisner Award for Best Miniseries, and which Aaron regards as the "second time" he broke into the industry.
Following this, Vertigo asked him to pitch other ideas, which led to the series Scalped, a creator-owned series set on the fictional Prairie Rose Indian Reservation and published by DC/Vertigo.
In 2007, Aaron wrote Ripclaw: Pilot Season for Top Cow Productions. Later that year, Marvel editor Axel Alonso, who was impressed by The Other Side and Scalped, hired Aaron to write issues of Wolverine, Black Panther and eventually, an extended run on Ghost Rider that began in April 2008. His continued work on Black Panther also included a tie-in to the company-wide crossover storyline along with a "Secret Invasion" with David Lapham in 2009.
In January 2008, he signed an exclusive contract with Marvel, though it would not affect his work on Scalped. Later that July, he wrote the Penguin issue of The Joker's Asylum.
After a 4-issue stint on Wolverine in 2007, Aaron returned to the character with the ongoing series Wolverine: Weapon X, launched to coincide with the feature film X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Aaron commented, "With Wolverine: Weapon X we'll be trying to mix things up like that from arc to arc, so the first arc is a typical sort of black ops story but the second arc will jump right into the middle of a completely different genre," In 2010, the series was relaunched once again as simply Wolverine. He followed this with his current run on Thor: God of Thunder.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 236 reviews
May 18, 2018
As varied as good!
I bought this in its single comic book issues, but I chosen this TPB edition to be able of making a better overall review.
This TPB edition collects “Star Wars” #33-37.
This comic book run is set after the events of “Star Wars IV: A New Hope” but before the events of “Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back”.
Creative Team:
Writers: Jason Aaron & Dash Aaron
Illustrators: Salvador Larroca & Andrea Sorrentino
STAR WARS SPOTLIGHTS
It’s not unusual en long comic book series that some time to time, between storyarcs, the creative teams take the chance to tell some stand-alone stories that they want to tell but they can’t be extended to 6 issues (the usual lenght of TPBs). Also, they can do a TPB made of stand-alone tales…
…and this one is precisely that.
And what better than using each issue of this TPB to spotlight a different character or characters?
First, you’ll have an adventure with Luke and Leia, stranded in an aquatic world, while escaping from Imperial patrols!
In the second tale, Sana Starros, a mysterious acquaintance of Han Solo, calls for assistance of another old mate, Lando Calrissian, to make one heck of scam, walking in a risky thin line between space pirates, Imperial officers and even Jabba the Hutt!
In the third story, your favorite scoundrel, Han Solo, along with Chewie, onboard in the Millenium Falcon, are sent in a perilous mission, taking a Rebel prisoner, Grakkus the Hutt, which keeps a secret, crucial for the survival of the Rebel Alliance!
Then, at the fourth tale, R2-D2 going solo to save the metallic butt of C-3PO, whom is prisoner on a Imperial Destroyer, which non other than Darth Vader is onboard!
Finally, it’s the turn of the bad guys to have a spotlight and it’s with the cunning SCAR Squadron proving why they’re the most dangerous Stormtrooper special forces squad in the Empire…
…and in the same issue, you have access to some pages of the Journals of old Ben Kenobi while dealing with Tusken Raiders.
I bought this in its single comic book issues, but I chosen this TPB edition to be able of making a better overall review.
This TPB edition collects “Star Wars” #33-37.
This comic book run is set after the events of “Star Wars IV: A New Hope” but before the events of “Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back”.
Creative Team:
Writers: Jason Aaron & Dash Aaron
Illustrators: Salvador Larroca & Andrea Sorrentino
STAR WARS SPOTLIGHTS
It’s not unusual en long comic book series that some time to time, between storyarcs, the creative teams take the chance to tell some stand-alone stories that they want to tell but they can’t be extended to 6 issues (the usual lenght of TPBs). Also, they can do a TPB made of stand-alone tales…
…and this one is precisely that.
And what better than using each issue of this TPB to spotlight a different character or characters?
First, you’ll have an adventure with Luke and Leia, stranded in an aquatic world, while escaping from Imperial patrols!
In the second tale, Sana Starros, a mysterious acquaintance of Han Solo, calls for assistance of another old mate, Lando Calrissian, to make one heck of scam, walking in a risky thin line between space pirates, Imperial officers and even Jabba the Hutt!
In the third story, your favorite scoundrel, Han Solo, along with Chewie, onboard in the Millenium Falcon, are sent in a perilous mission, taking a Rebel prisoner, Grakkus the Hutt, which keeps a secret, crucial for the survival of the Rebel Alliance!
Then, at the fourth tale, R2-D2 going solo to save the metallic butt of C-3PO, whom is prisoner on a Imperial Destroyer, which non other than Darth Vader is onboard!
Finally, it’s the turn of the bad guys to have a spotlight and it’s with the cunning SCAR Squadron proving why they’re the most dangerous Stormtrooper special forces squad in the Empire…
…and in the same issue, you have access to some pages of the Journals of old Ben Kenobi while dealing with Tusken Raiders.
July 3, 2018
Jason Aaron closes out his mediocre Star Wars run with Volume 6: Out Among the Stars, a meh collection of short stories.
Sana (basically Han without a willy or a giant crossbow-gun-wielding dog) with Lando in tow, double-crosses one group of villains after another in a cleverly-plotted episode. The other interesting stories feature Han outwitting Grakkus the Hutt to find out where his weapons/supplies cache is hidden while R2 rescues C-3PO from Vader’s grip in a pretty fun tale.
The stories about Luke and Leia stranded on an island and Scar Squadron weren’t badly written but were immediately forgettable. There’s an utterly pointless Tusken Raiders short and Jason Latour pens the worst story here - some rubbish about some guy upset after Han screwed him over or something.
Salvador Larroca’s art is so polished and photo-realistic it makes me wonder whether he’s literally just tracing over movie stills. At any rate, the book looks fantastic thanks to his skills.
Out Among the Stars is a very ho hum Star Wars book but I suspect it’ll be the last halfway decent one for a while given that Kieron Gillen’s taking over the title - if that abominable Screaming Citadel rubbish is any indicator, Star Wars is about to become unreadable garbage!
Sana (basically Han without a willy or a giant crossbow-gun-wielding dog) with Lando in tow, double-crosses one group of villains after another in a cleverly-plotted episode. The other interesting stories feature Han outwitting Grakkus the Hutt to find out where his weapons/supplies cache is hidden while R2 rescues C-3PO from Vader’s grip in a pretty fun tale.
The stories about Luke and Leia stranded on an island and Scar Squadron weren’t badly written but were immediately forgettable. There’s an utterly pointless Tusken Raiders short and Jason Latour pens the worst story here - some rubbish about some guy upset after Han screwed him over or something.
Salvador Larroca’s art is so polished and photo-realistic it makes me wonder whether he’s literally just tracing over movie stills. At any rate, the book looks fantastic thanks to his skills.
Out Among the Stars is a very ho hum Star Wars book but I suspect it’ll be the last halfway decent one for a while given that Kieron Gillen’s taking over the title - if that abominable Screaming Citadel rubbish is any indicator, Star Wars is about to become unreadable garbage!
August 15, 2022
Jason Aaron finishes up his Star Wars run by breaking up the characters into little two people solo issue adventures. The best of the bunch is the Sana and Lando issue that shows just how formidable Sana is. Salvador Larroca's art in the book has grown uglier and uglier over the last couple of volumes. His tracing of faces of photos from the movies looks odd and doesn't fit with the rest of his art in each panel. The coloring of the faces looks like a badly retouched black and white photo that has been colorized. This volume was a bit of a thrown away to be honest.
December 31, 2018
This is a set of pretty good Star Wars stories that was completely ruined for me by the art. It’s not even all the art, it’s just one particular aspect of it. So more’s the pity.
Apparently Salvador Larocca used photorealistic style on the major character’s faces so he did some kind of tracing off actual pictures of the actors and then these were colored in tones to make them look more like photographs, not drawings. The results at times look like a child scissored out the faces of the actors from magazine photos and then glued them into Star Wars comics.
What’s even weirder is that I could at least understand why it’s done for people like Harrison Ford and Billy Dee Williams. But at one point the same thing is used for a random Imperial officer who is in a few panels so then I’ve got some strange dude’s face stuck into my Star Wars comic. Why was this necessary?
It looks sooooo awful that it immediately took me out of all the stories it was used in which was too bad because there was some interesting plots here, especially the one about R2-D2 going on a one-droid rescue mission to save C-3PO after he’s been captured. That’s the only reason I didn’t give this one star.
Apparently Salvador Larocca used photorealistic style on the major character’s faces so he did some kind of tracing off actual pictures of the actors and then these were colored in tones to make them look more like photographs, not drawings. The results at times look like a child scissored out the faces of the actors from magazine photos and then glued them into Star Wars comics.
What’s even weirder is that I could at least understand why it’s done for people like Harrison Ford and Billy Dee Williams. But at one point the same thing is used for a random Imperial officer who is in a few panels so then I’ve got some strange dude’s face stuck into my Star Wars comic. Why was this necessary?
It looks sooooo awful that it immediately took me out of all the stories it was used in which was too bad because there was some interesting plots here, especially the one about R2-D2 going on a one-droid rescue mission to save C-3PO after he’s been captured. That’s the only reason I didn’t give this one star.
June 13, 2018
Almost a 4 stars mixed bag of stories about well-matched pairs of characters, my most favourite ones were the Han/Chewie, the droids and the group Scar stormtroopers one.
Now I like much more Sana, but her team up with Lando make seem all other characters like poor idiots.
And the movie frames with iconic characters faces were just too many and weird this time... just look at Han Solo.
Larroca??? WTF??? Oh good grief...
November 25, 2024
If you’re keeping track at home, Marvel Comics’ Star Wars compendium, “Out Among the Stars” is actually Volume 8 in the series (despite what Goodreads tells you). The stand-alone series "Vader Down"was, technically, volume 3 in the series. “The Screaming Citadel” is actually Volume 7. I read both of these out of order, which explains why they didn’t make a lot of sense at the time. Glad I could help clear that up.
Anyway, in Volume 8: Luke and Leia crash-land on a planet of vast oceans, which leads them to a moment of self-discovery and reinforces their belief that the Rebel Alliance’s fight against the Empire is a just one; Lando, working with smuggler Sana Starros, learns that Sana is as tricky and secretive as she is brilliant and gorgeous; Han and Chewbacca, on a Rebel mission to transport the captured Grakkus the Hutt, figure out a way to extract vital information from the Hutt; R2-D2 defies all expectations of an astromech droid by going on a rampage aboard an Imperial Star Destroyer in order to save his friend, C3-PO; SCAR Squadron redeems themselves in the eyes of their leader, Darth Vader; Leia and Han learn a little bit more about each other on a mission to planet Odona, where Han’s bad-boy past comes back to haunt him.
Writer Jason Aaron’s excellent story-telling and Salvador Larroca’s gorgeous artwork is clear evidence that the menage-a-trois between Disney, Marvel, and Lucasfilm has been a marriage made in heaven.
Anyway, in Volume 8: Luke and Leia crash-land on a planet of vast oceans, which leads them to a moment of self-discovery and reinforces their belief that the Rebel Alliance’s fight against the Empire is a just one; Lando, working with smuggler Sana Starros, learns that Sana is as tricky and secretive as she is brilliant and gorgeous; Han and Chewbacca, on a Rebel mission to transport the captured Grakkus the Hutt, figure out a way to extract vital information from the Hutt; R2-D2 defies all expectations of an astromech droid by going on a rampage aboard an Imperial Star Destroyer in order to save his friend, C3-PO; SCAR Squadron redeems themselves in the eyes of their leader, Darth Vader; Leia and Han learn a little bit more about each other on a mission to planet Odona, where Han’s bad-boy past comes back to haunt him.
Writer Jason Aaron’s excellent story-telling and Salvador Larroca’s gorgeous artwork is clear evidence that the menage-a-trois between Disney, Marvel, and Lucasfilm has been a marriage made in heaven.
November 25, 2024
Volume 6 has several different stories and one annual included.
For the most part, the stories are uniformly excellent. Perhaps the weakest ones were the very first one, with Luke and Leia crash-landed on a planet, and the final Annual story, with Han and Leia dealing with an angry smuggler who hates Solo. They are also the ones with the worst art.
Bear in mind that this is relative to the rest of the stories which are excellent and the artwork is gorgeous. The stories run the whole gamut and the notable ones are as follows:
The story with Lando and Sana double crossing their way to profit was rather clever.
The story with R2D2 going in to rescue 3PO was funny and well done.
The story about the SCAR troopers and their ongoing conflict against Rebel scum was likely one of my favorites. It is truly a shame that "normal" Storm Troopers don't fight this way.
Even the story about Obi-Wan and the Tusken, while plagued with mediocre art, had an interesting story behind it.
There..not spoilery but just a hint of what is in store for any Star Wars fan who picks up this volume. The middle batch of stories has some truly well done art- I think we have Salvador Larroca to thank. I really enjoyed his art style and hope to see more of his work.
A fun and enjoyable volume that will never fail to entertain a Star Wars fan. I call that a success and worthy of recommendation.
For the most part, the stories are uniformly excellent. Perhaps the weakest ones were the very first one, with Luke and Leia crash-landed on a planet, and the final Annual story, with Han and Leia dealing with an angry smuggler who hates Solo. They are also the ones with the worst art.
Bear in mind that this is relative to the rest of the stories which are excellent and the artwork is gorgeous. The stories run the whole gamut and the notable ones are as follows:
The story with Lando and Sana double crossing their way to profit was rather clever.
The story with R2D2 going in to rescue 3PO was funny and well done.
The story about the SCAR troopers and their ongoing conflict against Rebel scum was likely one of my favorites. It is truly a shame that "normal" Storm Troopers don't fight this way.
Even the story about Obi-Wan and the Tusken, while plagued with mediocre art, had an interesting story behind it.
There..not spoilery but just a hint of what is in store for any Star Wars fan who picks up this volume. The middle batch of stories has some truly well done art- I think we have Salvador Larroca to thank. I really enjoyed his art style and hope to see more of his work.
A fun and enjoyable volume that will never fail to entertain a Star Wars fan. I call that a success and worthy of recommendation.
January 1, 2019
Mixed bag collection of seven short stories -- there are a few that are pretty entertaining ('Revenge of the Astromech' - a spry R2D2 on solo mission to rescue C-3PO; 'The Hutt Run' - Han and Chewie smuggle a Huttese prisoner through Imperial airspace; and the untitled action-heavy finale - Han and Leia trapped on a frozen remote planet, and trying to avoid an acquaintance harboring a deadly grudge) while the rest were okay if forgettable, or just pointless ('The Sand Will Provide').
July 18, 2025
These stories were really good! Sana Starros great Star Wars character!
March 10, 2024
4.25 stars
December 25, 2020
This was a REALLY fun one.
Despite being the sixth volume in this series, this book is actually a series of short stories focusing on different characters. I didn't think I'd enjoy this so much, but I did. It's neat because each story ends with a snippet of the next one, giving them a more connected feel.
The first one is about Luke and Leia being stranded and working to get back to the Rebellion. It provides some great moments from both of them, but especially Leia. I just... they're bonding and Luke says that he used to try to run away from his aunt and uncle. Yep, makes sense. But then... Leia says "Oh, same here." ??? She says that she thought her parents were going to try to marry her off, but I think it's a bit of a stretch to connect Luke and Leia.
The second story in here is an absolute blast. We get to see Sana on a masterful heist, teamed up with Lando. I really like the incorporation of Sana into the SW universe, as Lando knows her well, and the ending of this story gave some surprising insight into her character that was great.
The third story is probably my favorite. At first, it just seems like a regular Han Solo story with him transporting a criminal against the Rebellion. But this one takes a turn - the Hutt prisoner tells Han that Han must be unsatisfied with his current lot - doesn't he want to return to being "the greatest smuggler who ever lived?" Oh, it's so good. I love some character depth!
The fourth one in here is pretty cool too. It's about Artoo going after Threepio and he's just... oh, Artoo is amazing. Love him. This story is a real fun one.
The fifth story is a bit different - it's about Scar Squadron, and they're pretty brutal. The ending of this was great, though, and that last page - stunning.
Number six in here is just a short thing about the Sand People, but I quite liked that ending.
I adored the annual at the end of this. It's about Leia and Han doing this mission, which is already a recipe for success, but it actually has some potent character moments from Han that pair well with his previous story in here.
5/5 stars. I enjoyed every story and had a great time. This is an excellent addition to this series.
Despite being the sixth volume in this series, this book is actually a series of short stories focusing on different characters. I didn't think I'd enjoy this so much, but I did. It's neat because each story ends with a snippet of the next one, giving them a more connected feel.
The first one is about Luke and Leia being stranded and working to get back to the Rebellion. It provides some great moments from both of them, but especially Leia. I just... they're bonding and Luke says that he used to try to run away from his aunt and uncle. Yep, makes sense. But then... Leia says "Oh, same here." ??? She says that she thought her parents were going to try to marry her off, but I think it's a bit of a stretch to connect Luke and Leia.
The second story in here is an absolute blast. We get to see Sana on a masterful heist, teamed up with Lando. I really like the incorporation of Sana into the SW universe, as Lando knows her well, and the ending of this story gave some surprising insight into her character that was great.
The third story is probably my favorite. At first, it just seems like a regular Han Solo story with him transporting a criminal against the Rebellion. But this one takes a turn - the Hutt prisoner tells Han that Han must be unsatisfied with his current lot - doesn't he want to return to being "the greatest smuggler who ever lived?" Oh, it's so good. I love some character depth!
The fourth one in here is pretty cool too. It's about Artoo going after Threepio and he's just... oh, Artoo is amazing. Love him. This story is a real fun one.
The fifth story is a bit different - it's about Scar Squadron, and they're pretty brutal. The ending of this was great, though, and that last page - stunning.
Number six in here is just a short thing about the Sand People, but I quite liked that ending.
I adored the annual at the end of this. It's about Leia and Han doing this mission, which is already a recipe for success, but it actually has some potent character moments from Han that pair well with his previous story in here.
5/5 stars. I enjoyed every story and had a great time. This is an excellent addition to this series.
April 18, 2023
Reread: 18/04/2023
Like I said last time its just short stories and I really liked most of them like the Han one was so fun and just shows how he has changed and dedication to the cause, plus Sana being a hero and I like how Aaron has developed her character, slowly introducing her past and showing she is a scoundrel with a code so thats good plus finally sort of closing the Scar squadron ch. or maybe it will continue in the next volumes but I like how they are this threat to Luke and his gang but that moment that Kreel has with Vader was just badass and shows how he is Imperial extremist all the way. The way Aaron writes these villains is just amazing, giving them moments of sympathy but also reminding who they really are. And this marks for a good ending to his run which had some great moments in SW rebellion stories and I will love to read it again!
___________________________________________________________________________________________
This is basically a collection of short stories like ranging from Luke and Leia on some backwater planet and rescuing the species there from imperial guards and then there is one with Sana and Lando and it was really good. We come to know more of Sana's origin and she is a silent hero and then there is a part where Han has to return Grakkus the hutt to some other prison of rebels and that was a thrilling story, betrayals and upping one another! It was fun and then the next one is of Scar Squadron and the pride of Sergeant Kreel and the one after it is R2-D2 himself rescuing C-3PO and yep it feels hard to believe but just shows awesome R2-D2 is! The one after is Leia and Han on some icy planet and they are confronted by "Frax" whose after Han for betraying her in the past and how they escape! Its a fun collection of one and done stories and is an end to Aaron's run on Star wars which is good and next up its gonna be even more amazing!
Like I said last time its just short stories and I really liked most of them like the Han one was so fun and just shows how he has changed and dedication to the cause, plus Sana being a hero and I like how Aaron has developed her character, slowly introducing her past and showing she is a scoundrel with a code so thats good plus finally sort of closing the Scar squadron ch. or maybe it will continue in the next volumes but I like how they are this threat to Luke and his gang but that moment that Kreel has with Vader was just badass and shows how he is Imperial extremist all the way. The way Aaron writes these villains is just amazing, giving them moments of sympathy but also reminding who they really are. And this marks for a good ending to his run which had some great moments in SW rebellion stories and I will love to read it again!
___________________________________________________________________________________________
This is basically a collection of short stories like ranging from Luke and Leia on some backwater planet and rescuing the species there from imperial guards and then there is one with Sana and Lando and it was really good. We come to know more of Sana's origin and she is a silent hero and then there is a part where Han has to return Grakkus the hutt to some other prison of rebels and that was a thrilling story, betrayals and upping one another! It was fun and then the next one is of Scar Squadron and the pride of Sergeant Kreel and the one after it is R2-D2 himself rescuing C-3PO and yep it feels hard to believe but just shows awesome R2-D2 is! The one after is Leia and Han on some icy planet and they are confronted by "Frax" whose after Han for betraying her in the past and how they escape! Its a fun collection of one and done stories and is an end to Aaron's run on Star wars which is good and next up its gonna be even more amazing!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 4, 2018
Another day, another review, another on going series. This one is for the sixth volume of Jason Aaron's "Star Wars", the flagship title for Marvel's comic book canon.
Jason Aaron started off really strong with this series. Skywalker Strikes and Rebel Jail were both solid, and Vader Down and Showdown on the Smuggler's Moon were both fantastic. However, the more recent volumes have felt like filler, and it is becoming increasingly clear that Aaron has run out of ideas. Last Flight of the Harbinger was the textbook definition of bland, and sucked all the more for it. It was just a generic story that didnt advance the overall plot. Yoda's Secret War litterally took an entry from Ben kenobis journal and stretched it into an entire story arc of fuller. It had a cool Yoda story, but the stuff intended to connect with the larger story was lacking. The Screaming Citadel was a great shot in the arm, but once Kieron Gillen stepped back again, we got yet more evidence that this comic is just being dragged along by the chains of demand that are asking it to continue for the sake of being a massive epic.
I'm reviewing this comic differently because Out Among the Stars is actually a compilation of several different stories: rather than having this volume be One multi-issue story arc, this one opts instead to have a different story each issue. And too this comic's credit, most of the stories are actually pretty good.
REBELS IN THE WILD: 3 Stars
Issue 33 has Luke and Leia stranded on an island planet similar to Ach-To in the sequel trilogy. After outrunning the empire, they are stranded on a deserted island and must survive. They hunt sea creatures, use the ship's parts to build vaporators, and befriend a group of aliens that look like the creature played by Doug Jones in Guillermo Del Toro's The Shape of Water, fight some shore troopers (nice touch), then escape. Nothing really bad in it, but nothing that really stands out as great either. Cool new location, good artwork, Luke and Leia are in character, the new aliens are cool, the ending is sweet. There's narration, but it's not too intrusive. overall, meh.
THE THIRTEEN CRATES: 4 stars
The next story is about Sana Starros on a smuggling mission to gain a bunch of credits. She teams up with Lando Calrissian as they have to sweet-talk their way through imperials and some pirates. While I don't think Lando was that interesting and he could have just as easily been swapped out with another character, I found this to be a great character spotlight for Sana Starros. We get a hint about her past, but most importantly we learn what makes her tick: why does she do what she does? And the answer to that question makes her more likeable and easier to root for going forward. I like how creatively the Empire was worked into this story, and I liked the design of the pirates. The subtle connection to Rebels was pretty nice, even if it was to one of the least liked episodes of the show.
THE HUTT RUN: 4.5 Stars
This was probably the best of the individual stories. Han and Chewbacca are asked to transport Grakkus the Hutt to a prison on Akiva, meant to replace Sunspot Prison (lost in Rebel Jail). Honestly, if I say any more, it would ruin the clever little surprises sprinkled throughout. Han is alot of fun here, and so is Chewie. Grakkus is devious and feels threatening. Ever since his first appearance in Showdown on the Smuggler's Moon, I have always enjoyed seeing more of him. The dialogue is great, the artwork is great. The only knock I have against it is that the narration can get annoying. but it's not overly excessive and there's plenty of instances where its left to the dialogue and images to tell the story.
REVENGE OF THE ASTROMECH: 1.5 stars
FINALLY we get to see this dumbass plot thread resolved. After the idiotic choice to have C-3PO get captured, R2D2 finally gets the chance to rescue him in this story. It's really stupid, but it had to happen eventually. The imperials are so incompetent here that it's laughable, and I often rolled my eyes reading this. Even Vader looks a bit lame in this one. The only reason I don't give it a lower rating is because it wasn't as much the fault of this story as it was the fault of the godawful Last Flight of the Harbinger introducing this thread, forcing this setup to happen. Thank goodness this whole 3PO getting captured nonsense is finally over.
IMPERIAL PRIDE: 3.5 stars
This story follows Scar Squadron on a mission as they pull off another strike against Rebel Scum. This is a chance for Scar Squadron's redemption: both from the perspective of Vader in-universe, and from my perspective as a person reading this: Jason Aaron really screwed up with these guys in Last Flight of the Harbinger. Thankfully, this was a step in the right direction. While I'm not convinced that they are the baddest of the bad threat that they were built up to be quite yet, I have my faith restored after a fun story watching as they kicked some butt. The story did convince me that they did have an impact, and there was also some nice character growth for Sergeant Kreel. Not amazing, but I definitely approve.
THE SAND WILL PROVIDE: 4 Stars
This is another entry from Ben kenobi’s journal. Like the rest of these entries, this one was great too. Unlike the others where obi wan was closer to his revenge of the sith age, here obi wan is older and looks more like Alec Guinness. The story follows a young tusken as he is separated from his tribe after some human farms raid his village.
By showing obi wan helping a creature that most consider a monster that should be killed on the spot, it makes obi wan so likeable. And even though the humans seem vicious for slaughtering the tusken village, they have understandable reasons. This story does a great job highlighting the struggle that is life on Tatooine, and no one is spared. The artwork, writing, and characterization were all solid in this powerful story.
ANNUAL #3: 3 stars
The third annual for the flagship star wars series isn't bad, but it's not as good as the previous two that we have gotten. The story follows Han and Leia as they try to find a new staging ground for the rebel alliance, following Scar Squadron's actions on Horox III. They come across some challenges, and some choices that Han made in his past come back to haunt him.
The characters are fine whether they are old or new, but I found the story to be a bit boring. It's just a mix of what I felt were repeated elements from the group's first encounter with Sana Starros mixed with the Rebels in the Wild Story from this TPB. The artwork was also not my favorite. That's all I can say about it, it's just meh.
THE CONCLUSION: Despite having some pretty darn good entries on their own, Out Among the Stars was just ok. It's far from the worst trade paperback I have read so far, but it feels like it's the most uninspired. After seeing how little direction the flagship series has had for 3 volumes now, it's most evident with this one in that there isn't even a story that it goes with all the way through. Screaming Citadel may have been what feels like a rare bright spot right now, but I'm solidly thinking now that that was due to Kieron Gillen: he had the idea, and Jason Aaron was able to do an awesome job going along with it.
Anyways, I've changed my opinion on Gillen taking over after this volume. Let's see what he can do with The Ghosts of Jedha. He has shown he can do a good job with the classic characters both in Vader Down and Screaming Citadel.
Despite this, I feel bad that Jason Aaron had to be replaced. I feel like that if he has or is given a good idea, he has the writing talent both with dialogue and characterization to pull it off beautifully. Whether he chose to step down or he was booted from the project, hopefully he moves on to better work.
But in terms of this comic, hopefully the story can get some focus and direction that has been sorely lacking for a long time, and it can continue and conclude on a higher note.
Jason Aaron started off really strong with this series. Skywalker Strikes and Rebel Jail were both solid, and Vader Down and Showdown on the Smuggler's Moon were both fantastic. However, the more recent volumes have felt like filler, and it is becoming increasingly clear that Aaron has run out of ideas. Last Flight of the Harbinger was the textbook definition of bland, and sucked all the more for it. It was just a generic story that didnt advance the overall plot. Yoda's Secret War litterally took an entry from Ben kenobis journal and stretched it into an entire story arc of fuller. It had a cool Yoda story, but the stuff intended to connect with the larger story was lacking. The Screaming Citadel was a great shot in the arm, but once Kieron Gillen stepped back again, we got yet more evidence that this comic is just being dragged along by the chains of demand that are asking it to continue for the sake of being a massive epic.
I'm reviewing this comic differently because Out Among the Stars is actually a compilation of several different stories: rather than having this volume be One multi-issue story arc, this one opts instead to have a different story each issue. And too this comic's credit, most of the stories are actually pretty good.
REBELS IN THE WILD: 3 Stars
Issue 33 has Luke and Leia stranded on an island planet similar to Ach-To in the sequel trilogy. After outrunning the empire, they are stranded on a deserted island and must survive. They hunt sea creatures, use the ship's parts to build vaporators, and befriend a group of aliens that look like the creature played by Doug Jones in Guillermo Del Toro's The Shape of Water, fight some shore troopers (nice touch), then escape. Nothing really bad in it, but nothing that really stands out as great either. Cool new location, good artwork, Luke and Leia are in character, the new aliens are cool, the ending is sweet. There's narration, but it's not too intrusive. overall, meh.
THE THIRTEEN CRATES: 4 stars
The next story is about Sana Starros on a smuggling mission to gain a bunch of credits. She teams up with Lando Calrissian as they have to sweet-talk their way through imperials and some pirates. While I don't think Lando was that interesting and he could have just as easily been swapped out with another character, I found this to be a great character spotlight for Sana Starros. We get a hint about her past, but most importantly we learn what makes her tick: why does she do what she does? And the answer to that question makes her more likeable and easier to root for going forward. I like how creatively the Empire was worked into this story, and I liked the design of the pirates. The subtle connection to Rebels was pretty nice, even if it was to one of the least liked episodes of the show.
THE HUTT RUN: 4.5 Stars
This was probably the best of the individual stories. Han and Chewbacca are asked to transport Grakkus the Hutt to a prison on Akiva, meant to replace Sunspot Prison (lost in Rebel Jail). Honestly, if I say any more, it would ruin the clever little surprises sprinkled throughout. Han is alot of fun here, and so is Chewie. Grakkus is devious and feels threatening. Ever since his first appearance in Showdown on the Smuggler's Moon, I have always enjoyed seeing more of him. The dialogue is great, the artwork is great. The only knock I have against it is that the narration can get annoying. but it's not overly excessive and there's plenty of instances where its left to the dialogue and images to tell the story.
REVENGE OF THE ASTROMECH: 1.5 stars
FINALLY we get to see this dumbass plot thread resolved. After the idiotic choice to have C-3PO get captured, R2D2 finally gets the chance to rescue him in this story. It's really stupid, but it had to happen eventually. The imperials are so incompetent here that it's laughable, and I often rolled my eyes reading this. Even Vader looks a bit lame in this one. The only reason I don't give it a lower rating is because it wasn't as much the fault of this story as it was the fault of the godawful Last Flight of the Harbinger introducing this thread, forcing this setup to happen. Thank goodness this whole 3PO getting captured nonsense is finally over.
IMPERIAL PRIDE: 3.5 stars
This story follows Scar Squadron on a mission as they pull off another strike against Rebel Scum. This is a chance for Scar Squadron's redemption: both from the perspective of Vader in-universe, and from my perspective as a person reading this: Jason Aaron really screwed up with these guys in Last Flight of the Harbinger. Thankfully, this was a step in the right direction. While I'm not convinced that they are the baddest of the bad threat that they were built up to be quite yet, I have my faith restored after a fun story watching as they kicked some butt. The story did convince me that they did have an impact, and there was also some nice character growth for Sergeant Kreel. Not amazing, but I definitely approve.
THE SAND WILL PROVIDE: 4 Stars
This is another entry from Ben kenobi’s journal. Like the rest of these entries, this one was great too. Unlike the others where obi wan was closer to his revenge of the sith age, here obi wan is older and looks more like Alec Guinness. The story follows a young tusken as he is separated from his tribe after some human farms raid his village.
By showing obi wan helping a creature that most consider a monster that should be killed on the spot, it makes obi wan so likeable. And even though the humans seem vicious for slaughtering the tusken village, they have understandable reasons. This story does a great job highlighting the struggle that is life on Tatooine, and no one is spared. The artwork, writing, and characterization were all solid in this powerful story.
ANNUAL #3: 3 stars
The third annual for the flagship star wars series isn't bad, but it's not as good as the previous two that we have gotten. The story follows Han and Leia as they try to find a new staging ground for the rebel alliance, following Scar Squadron's actions on Horox III. They come across some challenges, and some choices that Han made in his past come back to haunt him.
The characters are fine whether they are old or new, but I found the story to be a bit boring. It's just a mix of what I felt were repeated elements from the group's first encounter with Sana Starros mixed with the Rebels in the Wild Story from this TPB. The artwork was also not my favorite. That's all I can say about it, it's just meh.
THE CONCLUSION: Despite having some pretty darn good entries on their own, Out Among the Stars was just ok. It's far from the worst trade paperback I have read so far, but it feels like it's the most uninspired. After seeing how little direction the flagship series has had for 3 volumes now, it's most evident with this one in that there isn't even a story that it goes with all the way through. Screaming Citadel may have been what feels like a rare bright spot right now, but I'm solidly thinking now that that was due to Kieron Gillen: he had the idea, and Jason Aaron was able to do an awesome job going along with it.
Anyways, I've changed my opinion on Gillen taking over after this volume. Let's see what he can do with The Ghosts of Jedha. He has shown he can do a good job with the classic characters both in Vader Down and Screaming Citadel.
Despite this, I feel bad that Jason Aaron had to be replaced. I feel like that if he has or is given a good idea, he has the writing talent both with dialogue and characterization to pull it off beautifully. Whether he chose to step down or he was booted from the project, hopefully he moves on to better work.
But in terms of this comic, hopefully the story can get some focus and direction that has been sorely lacking for a long time, and it can continue and conclude on a higher note.
November 20, 2020
This is a collection of short stories. They range from Leia and Luke, R2 being awesome, and an elite squadron of stormtroopers known as Scar Squadron.
Like most short story collections that I read I end up giving a three star rating. There are some stories that I love and some not so much. That is what happened here. My enjoyment went through the whole range. My favorite is probably the R2 story and once again he proves how awesome he is and why he is the actual hero of the Rebellion. I laughed out loud several times because of the camaraderie between him and C-3PO. The one with Scar Squadron was excellent too. These stories add nothing to the overall arc besides the R2 one where it concludes an arc that it seemed like it was pushed to the side. I will agree with everyone about the artwork and how bad an idea was to photoshop the pictures of the actors on the characters. It is bad all around especially when the characters are next to a character who has not appeared in the movies.
This collection can be enjoyable and frustrating at the same time because of the artwork. If you don't let that bother you there are some enjoyable short stories here for the reader. I am hoping this is the last collection with the awful photoshop idea.
Like most short story collections that I read I end up giving a three star rating. There are some stories that I love and some not so much. That is what happened here. My enjoyment went through the whole range. My favorite is probably the R2 story and once again he proves how awesome he is and why he is the actual hero of the Rebellion. I laughed out loud several times because of the camaraderie between him and C-3PO. The one with Scar Squadron was excellent too. These stories add nothing to the overall arc besides the R2 one where it concludes an arc that it seemed like it was pushed to the side. I will agree with everyone about the artwork and how bad an idea was to photoshop the pictures of the actors on the characters. It is bad all around especially when the characters are next to a character who has not appeared in the movies.
This collection can be enjoyable and frustrating at the same time because of the artwork. If you don't let that bother you there are some enjoyable short stories here for the reader. I am hoping this is the last collection with the awful photoshop idea.
December 24, 2017
When I heard that Jason Aaron's final arc of Star Wars was all one and done stories, I was a little disappointed. He'd built up a good ongoing plot, and to see him cast it all aside felt a bit cheap.
Then I read the volume, and it honestly reads like the best of his run. Each issue focuses on different characters and offers a different flavour of story, really getting into the heads of each of them in order to show where their minds are at at this point in the story.
We open with Luke & Leia, who are trapped on a random planet after a failed raid on a Stormtrooper base, before following Sana and Lando on an Ocean's Eleven-type heist story with more twists and turns than a flamenco dancing cobra. Han and Chewie then transport a Hutt across the galaxy, while R2-D2 mounts a rescue for C-3P0 (the only real link to the main story, rounding off something Aaron set up in volume 4), before SCAR Squadron take centre stage for the final issue that reminds us why all of these characters are fighting in the first place.
It's a great collection of single stories, and each one really proves why Aaron was chosen to write this series in the first place; he really understands what makes them tick.
The art is all by Salvador Larroca, which has its ups and downs. His characters all look like they should, but they're so heavily photo-referenced that they come off like cheap mannequins rather than characters sometimes, especially Han. Everything else is great, though, if you can get past plastic-looking main characters. His Stormtroopers are great, which is no surprise after he drew Darth Vader for 25 issues straight.
Also collected are a short final installment of the Diaries Of Old Ben Kenobi which is kind of naff, to be honest, and doesn't use guest artist Andrea Sorrentino to his fullest at all, and the third Star Wars annual by Jason Latour and Michael Walsh. The annual is your typical Han Solo story at this point; Han did something bad in his past and now the Rebellion (specifically Princess Leia) have to deal with it, in the meantime reconfirming why Han should join them in the first place. It's a good little story, and the art is very good, especially the icier scenes set outside, but it does feel like ground we've already covered more than once already at this point.
Jason Aaron goes out with a surprising loud bang, even if the stakes aren't that high. Only some dodgy art and not quite as compelling supplemental material drag this one back from a full five stars.
Then I read the volume, and it honestly reads like the best of his run. Each issue focuses on different characters and offers a different flavour of story, really getting into the heads of each of them in order to show where their minds are at at this point in the story.
We open with Luke & Leia, who are trapped on a random planet after a failed raid on a Stormtrooper base, before following Sana and Lando on an Ocean's Eleven-type heist story with more twists and turns than a flamenco dancing cobra. Han and Chewie then transport a Hutt across the galaxy, while R2-D2 mounts a rescue for C-3P0 (the only real link to the main story, rounding off something Aaron set up in volume 4), before SCAR Squadron take centre stage for the final issue that reminds us why all of these characters are fighting in the first place.
It's a great collection of single stories, and each one really proves why Aaron was chosen to write this series in the first place; he really understands what makes them tick.
The art is all by Salvador Larroca, which has its ups and downs. His characters all look like they should, but they're so heavily photo-referenced that they come off like cheap mannequins rather than characters sometimes, especially Han. Everything else is great, though, if you can get past plastic-looking main characters. His Stormtroopers are great, which is no surprise after he drew Darth Vader for 25 issues straight.
Also collected are a short final installment of the Diaries Of Old Ben Kenobi which is kind of naff, to be honest, and doesn't use guest artist Andrea Sorrentino to his fullest at all, and the third Star Wars annual by Jason Latour and Michael Walsh. The annual is your typical Han Solo story at this point; Han did something bad in his past and now the Rebellion (specifically Princess Leia) have to deal with it, in the meantime reconfirming why Han should join them in the first place. It's a good little story, and the art is very good, especially the icier scenes set outside, but it does feel like ground we've already covered more than once already at this point.
Jason Aaron goes out with a surprising loud bang, even if the stakes aren't that high. Only some dodgy art and not quite as compelling supplemental material drag this one back from a full five stars.
April 14, 2019
3.5 🌟's
The overall product was 3 star quality, but I rather enjoyed the character interactions/exchanges throughout so have decided to round up this time. Once again it seems frustrating that the volume spanning story arc is so weak. This could be because this series is constrained by being sandwiched between episode IV and V doesn't leave much wiggle room for plotting. That is my major complaint with this ongoing series. That and there are so many mini stories and one shots thrown in that it comes off feeling so episodic. Regardless if it hurts the entire story it still has charming and enjoyable sequences.
Volume 6 contains issues 33-37, a short "the sands will provide", and the annual #3
Aaron finishes off his run here with 5 one shot stories that are loosely connected to the main plot. The art is passable, but I can agree with the complaints of fellow goodreaders about the photorealism, for all the facial shots. It looks really odd that the faces are so high detail but the rest of the frame is minimalized. Andrea Sorrentino provided the art for the short story and as always I really enjoy his raw approach.
All in all it seems like Aaron was aiming to please SW fans, and I would agree he was successful. I'm excited to see where Kieron Gillen can take this run. I have faith, and have enjoyed all his SW stories thus far.
The overall product was 3 star quality, but I rather enjoyed the character interactions/exchanges throughout so have decided to round up this time. Once again it seems frustrating that the volume spanning story arc is so weak. This could be because this series is constrained by being sandwiched between episode IV and V doesn't leave much wiggle room for plotting. That is my major complaint with this ongoing series. That and there are so many mini stories and one shots thrown in that it comes off feeling so episodic. Regardless if it hurts the entire story it still has charming and enjoyable sequences.
Volume 6 contains issues 33-37, a short "the sands will provide", and the annual #3
Aaron finishes off his run here with 5 one shot stories that are loosely connected to the main plot. The art is passable, but I can agree with the complaints of fellow goodreaders about the photorealism, for all the facial shots. It looks really odd that the faces are so high detail but the rest of the frame is minimalized. Andrea Sorrentino provided the art for the short story and as always I really enjoy his raw approach.
All in all it seems like Aaron was aiming to please SW fans, and I would agree he was successful. I'm excited to see where Kieron Gillen can take this run. I have faith, and have enjoyed all his SW stories thus far.
October 7, 2017
Jason Aaron wraps up his tenor on the main Star Wars title with an arc of rotating one-shot stories that all tie together a little bit. Scar Squadron returns! Han does some smuggling! R2-D2 takes down a bunch of Stormtroppers!
I don't mean to sound salty, because it's not a bad volume and far from the worst. And the Star Wars brand is bigger than the writer so there wasn't going to be any big send off. And hopefully the book will benefit from a new writer with some fresh ideas and stories, and one who is already familiar with writing Star Wars (ser Kieron Gillen of Darth Vader fame)
I think they should have kept rotating artists, rather than just stick with Larroca, because I find his art boring after a while. His stuff on Vader was good but here the character faces seemed very traced a repetitive.
I don't mean to sound salty, because it's not a bad volume and far from the worst. And the Star Wars brand is bigger than the writer so there wasn't going to be any big send off. And hopefully the book will benefit from a new writer with some fresh ideas and stories, and one who is already familiar with writing Star Wars (ser Kieron Gillen of Darth Vader fame)
I think they should have kept rotating artists, rather than just stick with Larroca, because I find his art boring after a while. His stuff on Vader was good but here the character faces seemed very traced a repetitive.
May 3, 2018
some parts were really good and others just okay. Hate how the art is not consistent.
January 15, 2020
Okay but far from great!
A few of these stories were okay, but nothing to write home about. I have access to Volumes 7, 8, & 9 via Prime. Then I look for a sale.
A few of these stories were okay, but nothing to write home about. I have access to Volumes 7, 8, & 9 via Prime. Then I look for a sale.
February 18, 2020
How come the best SW stories are always about the droids?
March 21, 2021
This review was originally published over at my blog, The Grimoire Reliquary.
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Gah, Salvador Larocca, what did you do with Han’s face?!
For someone who can draw well, Larocca occasionally gets real weird with the whole…rotoscopic effect? I know rotoscoping is an animation technique and this is illustration, but I can’t figure out if there’s a different phrase for this. Anyway, Larocca…Han’s face get progressively weirder and I don’t know why you wanted to give us nightmares but you did, and you oughtn’t’ave!
Onto discussing the story of Out Among the Stars! This is perhaps my favourite of the last three volumes of Aaron’s run; rather than tell a coherent, five-issue story, Aaron splits his cast and pens an adventure for each of them. These one-shots were thematically coherent and I enjoyed them a great deal more than last week’s Yoda’s Secret War. There’s something to be said about Leia and Luke getting stuck on some island paradise planet, spending a few weeks fending for themselves and eventually helping the locals by taking on a regiment of stormtroopers. It’s a very Luke-and-Leia thing to do, and it offers adorable character moments which add to their relationship. Aaron plays around with their longing for family, their conceptions of home, the whole “unknowingly siblings” background.
Han Solo is up to rebel-y business while Luke and Leia are away, helping Mon Mothma transport a Hutt prisoner to a Rebel cell that’ll interrogate him for precious information. In typical Solo fashion, things don’t go according to plan…or do they? It’s fun having post Episode IV Han go off and do something for the rebellion on his own, rather than being prodded by Leia into weird, competitive leadership games.
The one story I loved saw R2-D2 retrieve C3PO from the Empire; not just from any imperial ship, either, but the star destroyer Darth Vader is currently in. It’s hilarious to watch him sneak about the ship, disrupt communications, pit stormtrooper squads against one another, and create chaos at hitherto-unseen levels. It’s glorious fun and the best use of these two droids in a great while.
There was also another stormtroopers issue, which…uh, I think I liked it, but I honestly can’t remember what exactly it was about. Make of that what you will.
Oh, and an…an….another annual! What was it about? WHAT WAS IT ABOUT?!
…
Yes, I sneaked a peek at Goodreads just now to kick the old meat computer into gear. Turns out this one had Leia and Han on some icy planet. Action-heavy, with some fellow who bore Han a grudge and what-have-you. I…did not like that one. It’s forgettable and uninteresting and I’m not impressed with Jason Latour’s story at all.
Enough of Jason Aaron! Onto Kieron GIllen’s run–please be good. Please. Oh, but before I tell you all about that, we’ll take a week off to check out the much more recent STAR WARS: BOUNTY HUNTERS!
Previous Volume | Next
Gah, Salvador Larocca, what did you do with Han’s face?!
For someone who can draw well, Larocca occasionally gets real weird with the whole…rotoscopic effect? I know rotoscoping is an animation technique and this is illustration, but I can’t figure out if there’s a different phrase for this. Anyway, Larocca…Han’s face get progressively weirder and I don’t know why you wanted to give us nightmares but you did, and you oughtn’t’ave!
Onto discussing the story of Out Among the Stars! This is perhaps my favourite of the last three volumes of Aaron’s run; rather than tell a coherent, five-issue story, Aaron splits his cast and pens an adventure for each of them. These one-shots were thematically coherent and I enjoyed them a great deal more than last week’s Yoda’s Secret War. There’s something to be said about Leia and Luke getting stuck on some island paradise planet, spending a few weeks fending for themselves and eventually helping the locals by taking on a regiment of stormtroopers. It’s a very Luke-and-Leia thing to do, and it offers adorable character moments which add to their relationship. Aaron plays around with their longing for family, their conceptions of home, the whole “unknowingly siblings” background.
Han Solo is up to rebel-y business while Luke and Leia are away, helping Mon Mothma transport a Hutt prisoner to a Rebel cell that’ll interrogate him for precious information. In typical Solo fashion, things don’t go according to plan…or do they? It’s fun having post Episode IV Han go off and do something for the rebellion on his own, rather than being prodded by Leia into weird, competitive leadership games.
The one story I loved saw R2-D2 retrieve C3PO from the Empire; not just from any imperial ship, either, but the star destroyer Darth Vader is currently in. It’s hilarious to watch him sneak about the ship, disrupt communications, pit stormtrooper squads against one another, and create chaos at hitherto-unseen levels. It’s glorious fun and the best use of these two droids in a great while.
There was also another stormtroopers issue, which…uh, I think I liked it, but I honestly can’t remember what exactly it was about. Make of that what you will.
Oh, and an…an….another annual! What was it about? WHAT WAS IT ABOUT?!
…
Yes, I sneaked a peek at Goodreads just now to kick the old meat computer into gear. Turns out this one had Leia and Han on some icy planet. Action-heavy, with some fellow who bore Han a grudge and what-have-you. I…did not like that one. It’s forgettable and uninteresting and I’m not impressed with Jason Latour’s story at all.
Enough of Jason Aaron! Onto Kieron GIllen’s run–please be good. Please. Oh, but before I tell you all about that, we’ll take a week off to check out the much more recent STAR WARS: BOUNTY HUNTERS!
December 31, 2020
“Out Among the Stars” collects five standalone issues of STAR WARS, along with the series’ third annual. For the most part these are pretty fun stories, with the standouts being a smuggler-centric narrative involving Sanaa and Lando, and (finally) a wrap to C-3PO’s capture by Imperials and his rescue by a crafty and murderous R2-D2.
While Jason Aaron’s scripting is enjoyable enough, his final arc here is hampered by artist Salvador Larroca’s tracing, which creates too large of an uncanny valley to overcome in too many panels, on top of making the characters facial structure look unfinished and putty-like. I much preferred Andrea Sorrentino’s work on the short “The Sand Will Provide,” revolving around a young Tusken Raider separated from his clan. I also dug Michael Walsh’s work for Annual #3.
In both of these latter artists work, you get actual, legit, hand-drawn panels. Imagine that! While Walsh’s work is a bit more comic-looking, it at least benefits from his honest approach. While his characters don’t have the life-like appearance of Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher, you know damn well who his figures are supposed to be, and while they have a certain animated style, they look a hell of a lot more natural than Larroca’s publicity photo tracings. Beyond that, I’m just a fan of Sorrentino’s work in general, so it was a delight to find him in a Star Wars story, even if only for a short supplement like this. I’d love to see him tackle a bigger issue or an entire arc’s worth of story... maybe one day...
While Jason Aaron’s scripting is enjoyable enough, his final arc here is hampered by artist Salvador Larroca’s tracing, which creates too large of an uncanny valley to overcome in too many panels, on top of making the characters facial structure look unfinished and putty-like. I much preferred Andrea Sorrentino’s work on the short “The Sand Will Provide,” revolving around a young Tusken Raider separated from his clan. I also dug Michael Walsh’s work for Annual #3.
In both of these latter artists work, you get actual, legit, hand-drawn panels. Imagine that! While Walsh’s work is a bit more comic-looking, it at least benefits from his honest approach. While his characters don’t have the life-like appearance of Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher, you know damn well who his figures are supposed to be, and while they have a certain animated style, they look a hell of a lot more natural than Larroca’s publicity photo tracings. Beyond that, I’m just a fan of Sorrentino’s work in general, so it was a delight to find him in a Star Wars story, even if only for a short supplement like this. I’d love to see him tackle a bigger issue or an entire arc’s worth of story... maybe one day...
February 21, 2018
Marvel's Star Wars series is firmly in the range of awful-to-okay, and this volume is much more toward the "okay" end of the spectrum. I liked the concept of individual stories told through the eyes of a particular character. To me, that brought a freshness and forward momentum that is often lacking in the longer story arcs.
What's terrible about this book is the illustrations. I don't know what happened with this volume, but almost all of the main characters look like they're simply photos from the films, put through a Photoshop comics filter. Does the illustrator think people who read this graphic novel haven't memorized every frame of the original trilogy? Just draw an original Han Solo, just once, instead of using an obvious moment from the films. It's really, really bad.
What's terrible about this book is the illustrations. I don't know what happened with this volume, but almost all of the main characters look like they're simply photos from the films, put through a Photoshop comics filter. Does the illustrator think people who read this graphic novel haven't memorized every frame of the original trilogy? Just draw an original Han Solo, just once, instead of using an obvious moment from the films. It's really, really bad.
December 19, 2017
Despite (or maybe because?) it's a bunch of one-off stories, this is one of the most enjoyable volumes of the Aaron's run. Didn't love the annual, but every other issue is solid.
February 27, 2018
First to note: these are a bunch of individual stories. Secondly they are O.K. at best.
The Luke and Leia story is pretty weak.
The Sana and Lando story is one of the better ones.
The Chewy and Han story is also one of the better ones.
The droid story is O.K. but not good.
The SCAR squadron story is not good at all.
Tusken Raider story is just bad.
The annual issue number 3 I skipped I was done.
The art is pretty creepy I gotta say Larroca is getting odd. The facial photo realism is so creepy and just doesn't pair with the cartoon backgrounds. it is a total mismatch.
If you have to read it, just read the Sana story and the Han story and be glad you did.
The Luke and Leia story is pretty weak.
The Sana and Lando story is one of the better ones.
The Chewy and Han story is also one of the better ones.
The droid story is O.K. but not good.
The SCAR squadron story is not good at all.
Tusken Raider story is just bad.
The annual issue number 3 I skipped I was done.
The art is pretty creepy I gotta say Larroca is getting odd. The facial photo realism is so creepy and just doesn't pair with the cartoon backgrounds. it is a total mismatch.
If you have to read it, just read the Sana story and the Han story and be glad you did.
December 19, 2022
This one felt like an anthology of stories with each issue focused on where a specific character or couple of characters were in the story so far. The droid issue was fantastic and I really loved the SCAR issue. This was another volume that had me entertained through the entire book.
October 24, 2018
Picked up some from the last few volumes. Still disappointing from where it started.
March 9, 2020
Jason Aaron ends his lackluster Star Wars run with a series of one-shot stories that range from mediocre to forgettable and boring. The first tale, about Luke and Leia being stranded on a small island for weeks on a remote planet is dull and forgettable, and once again has our characters facing off against an AT-AT, which only serves to take away from the magic of their first appearance in The Empire Strikes Back, knowing that these characters faced off against them every other week before the battle of Hoth.
The second story about Sana Starros and Lando Calrissian working a scam is probably the most interesting in the book, but Lando's presence in the story doesn't amount to much, making it clear that he was just shoehorned into it just to have another big name character in the book. Han Solo outsmarts Grakkus the Hutt in a mission for the Rebel alliance that really beats us over the head (again) with the idea that maybe, just maaaaaaybe, Han Solo is sticking around with the Rebellion because he has a certain crush on a certain someone (but you didn't hear it from me!).
R2-D2 goes on a solo mission to rescue the captured C-3PO from Darth Vader's Star Destroyer. I know this story was trying to be comedic, but the way Artoo just makes fools of the Imperials left and right is just overdone past the point of ridiculousness. It really comes across like the kind of absurd droid "humor" that George Lucas inserted into the final act of "Attack of the Clones"--so I'll give Aaron credit for making it feel like something straight from the creator of Star Wars, but this story had me rolling my eyes on nearly every page. At one point Artoo
The story about the SCAR stormtrooper squadron is so dull and uneventful it's hardly worth mentioning at all, except for the bit where the leader of SCAR squadron goes on about his unhealthy apparent crush on Emperor Palpatine to one of his team. Also included is an annual where Jason Latour tells an uninspired, boring story about a guy who's angry at being double-crossed by Han Solo and seeking revenge. This story could have given us some interesting back story about Han or worthwhile revelations about his character, but instead delivers a paint-by-numbers highly predictable story that serves no purpose whatsoever except as filler. And probably the worst (but mercifully shortest) tale of all was Jason Aaron's backup story about Tusken Raiders in the annual. More happened in that sentence I just wrote about it than in the actual story.
I've seen a lot of people complaining about Salvador Larroca's art. I've historically quite enjoyed his art, but in this volume he does seem to be taking the photo realistic pasted faces a bit too far. It's more jarring in this volume than it usually is to me, where sometimes character's faces are positioned in angles that don't make sense because the reference shot that he traced didn't quite match up. It's also particularly unsettling to see a photo realistic Han Solo next to a cartoonish Chewbacca. Aside from this, his art is quite good--his backgrounds and original characters are highly detailed and don't suffer from this problem.
I'm just thrilled that this marks the end of the Jason Aaron Star Wars era. I can't say that it was very enjoyable. It really felt like he just took the job because they offered it to him but he didn't really have any actual ideas and had to write SOMETHING for 37 issues, so here we are. I'm actually interested in what comes next, which is more than I can say about any of the volumes I've read thus far.
1.5 stars
The second story about Sana Starros and Lando Calrissian working a scam is probably the most interesting in the book, but Lando's presence in the story doesn't amount to much, making it clear that he was just shoehorned into it just to have another big name character in the book. Han Solo outsmarts Grakkus the Hutt in a mission for the Rebel alliance that really beats us over the head (again) with the idea that maybe, just maaaaaaybe, Han Solo is sticking around with the Rebellion because he has a certain crush on a certain someone (but you didn't hear it from me!).
R2-D2 goes on a solo mission to rescue the captured C-3PO from Darth Vader's Star Destroyer. I know this story was trying to be comedic, but the way Artoo just makes fools of the Imperials left and right is just overdone past the point of ridiculousness. It really comes across like the kind of absurd droid "humor" that George Lucas inserted into the final act of "Attack of the Clones"--so I'll give Aaron credit for making it feel like something straight from the creator of Star Wars, but this story had me rolling my eyes on nearly every page. At one point Artoo
The story about the SCAR stormtrooper squadron is so dull and uneventful it's hardly worth mentioning at all, except for the bit where the leader of SCAR squadron goes on about his unhealthy apparent crush on Emperor Palpatine to one of his team. Also included is an annual where Jason Latour tells an uninspired, boring story about a guy who's angry at being double-crossed by Han Solo and seeking revenge. This story could have given us some interesting back story about Han or worthwhile revelations about his character, but instead delivers a paint-by-numbers highly predictable story that serves no purpose whatsoever except as filler. And probably the worst (but mercifully shortest) tale of all was Jason Aaron's backup story about Tusken Raiders in the annual. More happened in that sentence I just wrote about it than in the actual story.
I've seen a lot of people complaining about Salvador Larroca's art. I've historically quite enjoyed his art, but in this volume he does seem to be taking the photo realistic pasted faces a bit too far. It's more jarring in this volume than it usually is to me, where sometimes character's faces are positioned in angles that don't make sense because the reference shot that he traced didn't quite match up. It's also particularly unsettling to see a photo realistic Han Solo next to a cartoonish Chewbacca. Aside from this, his art is quite good--his backgrounds and original characters are highly detailed and don't suffer from this problem.
I'm just thrilled that this marks the end of the Jason Aaron Star Wars era. I can't say that it was very enjoyable. It really felt like he just took the job because they offered it to him but he didn't really have any actual ideas and had to write SOMETHING for 37 issues, so here we are. I'm actually interested in what comes next, which is more than I can say about any of the volumes I've read thus far.
1.5 stars
November 29, 2020
Jediný co tak nějak nejlépe shrnuje mé pocity z této knihy je "hurá, že Aaron konečně opustil Star Wars". Proč? Protože už dlouhodobě jde tahle série do kytek. Tentokrát jsem opět s otevřenou pusou sledoval neskutečný prznění canonu a v podstatě dělání si co se mi zachce. Ministorky hlavních hrdinů ze světa Star Wars zní cool žejo? Sice bez problémů vyřídím AT-AT a podobný hovadiny. Nejsem člověk co by chtěl kritizovat kvůli nějaký věci který nedává smysl, ale všichni se tváří, že tohle je součást světa Star Wars a má to zapadat k filmům. Bruh, vůbec nezapadá, jsou to jen totální koniny vedle božího Vadera či Aphry.
Takže jedno velký NE Aarone, sbal si svých pět švestek, táhni a už se prosím nevracej.
Co mi klasicky, možná ještě víc než jindy zkazilo zážitek je kresba, z Larrocy je mi na blití a taky ho ve Star Wars už nechci vidět.
Jediný reálný pozitivum je sešit o partě SCAR Trooperů který jsou boží a okamžitě bych s nima chtěl vlastní řadu.
Takže jedno velký NE Aarone, sbal si svých pět švestek, táhni a už se prosím nevracej.
Co mi klasicky, možná ještě víc než jindy zkazilo zážitek je kresba, z Larrocy je mi na blití a taky ho ve Star Wars už nechci vidět.
Jediný reálný pozitivum je sešit o partě SCAR Trooperů který jsou boží a okamžitě bych s nima chtěl vlastní řadu.
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