Star Wars No. 64 review: To destroy an entire world

The Rebels have arrived on Shu-Torun and are so close to bringing it down, but will they be able to stick together or be forced to fight each other?

After hitting a bit of snag for five or six issues, Star Wars is again running on all cylinders and getting back to the quality that was present during the “Hope Dies” arc. Not only does this feel like the third act of Kieron Gillen’s run on Star Wars, but it also feels like the series is ready to move on from the time era set between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. On the smaller scale, though, this issue has so many smaller problems that set up what is seemingly going to be a very tense second half of the arc.

During his tenure on Star Wars, Kieron Gillen has gone through varying phases of quality. It often seems like, if one arc isn’t the best, he’ll follow it up an arc that is incredible, and that very much seems like the case here. We had a lackluster previous arc, but now everything just begins to click perfectly. This issue in particular does an excellent job of presenting to the audience the best aspects of Gillen’s writing.

Image by Marvel Comics/Art by Angel Unzueta

In particular with this issue, the team dynamic is excellent. Even though our main trio of Luke, Leia, and Han aren’t together, that doesn’t matter. The two separate teams in this issue both have their missions and present two equally problematic situations, the only difference being one problem comes from within. This creates a very tense set-up to the rest of the arc while also displaying the naiveté of working with people who are actually terrorists rather than the freedom fighters the Rebels truly are.

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The little that we actually see of Queen Trios in this issue also goes against traditional story choices because she’s not an idiot. It’s really nice to see that, given how she has been set up over the course of Darth Vader and Star Wars. It would be really annoying if she was portrayed differently and incompetent, so it’s good that she isn’t.

Angel Unzueta’s art in this issue is also really solid. There’s not much to say on it that hasn’t been said, but his realistic style works so well in the context of a series like Star Wars. It’s honestly like you’re looking at a painted over portrait of the actors when they were young.

Image by Marvel Comics/Art by Angel Unzueta

The best thing about the art is that it unequivocally feels like Star Wars. There’s a grimy, lived-in feel that the original trilogy had to it, and Unzueta does a fantastic job capturing that vibe, especially in this issue. With this issue being set on a mining planet, sometimes everything feels much too clean and shiny, but there are several points here where Unzueta decidedly shows that this isn’t the case, which is a really nice touch.

8.75/10 

Star Wars continues its upward trend in quality with this issue and sets up a tense final part of the arc.