Review: Star Wars Vol. 4- Last Flight of the Harbinger
Quick Summary
Pros: The Obi-Wan flashback is well-written and enjoyable. The elite Stormtroopers seen here are great and provide an atypical look at the Empire. The main storyline is full of excitement and is centered around a compelling adventure.
Cons: The story has minor issues with pacing. The artwork is underwhelming.
Overall: In this volume, readers get a chance to see the heroes of the Star Wars universe embark on one of their most entertaining comic adventures yet. This adventure has excitement, suspense, and a Rebel scheme that is awesome to see play out. Plus, the volume also contains a compelling and unique look at Obi-Wan and an elite group of Imperial troops. There is a lot to enjoy in this volume, making it very worthwhile for any fan of Star Wars.
Story
Star Wars Vol. 4: Last Flight of the Harbinger, by Jason Aaron, is a strong candidate for the best volume in this series thus far. It contains all of the elements necessary to create a compelling Star Wars story: action, a bit of humor, and plenty of moments that spotlight everyone’s favorite characters. This volume also contains a number of unique stories that focus on elements of the Star Wars history and mythos that are often neglected. There are also few drawbacks throughout the collection, as only minor problems with pacing hold it back. Overall, Last Flight of the Harbinger is a success and a major win for the Star Wars comic series.
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Last Flight of the Harbinger starts out with a flashback chapter to Obi-Wan’s time on Tatooine, where he is forced to stop a Wookie bounty hunter from attacking the Skywalker family. Like the Obi-Wan flashback in Rebel Jail (Review), this story shines some additional light on an often overlooked period in Star Wars history. Plus, it is exciting on its own and has some great heroics from Obi-Wan.
From here, the volume goes on to tell a single chapter from the perspective of a lightsaber-wielding Stormtrooper and his crew of elite Imperial troops. Seeing a portion of the Star Wars story told from the Empire’s point of view is awesome, especially since Aaron is able to capture the reasons a normal person would gravitate to the Empire’s leadership. Sympathy and understanding toward the Empire is a rare sight in the Star Wars media landscape, making this chapter a unique and interesting portion of the Star Wars mythos.
The rest of the Last Flight of the Harbinger keeps up interest by detailing Luke, Leia, and Han’s successful mission to hijack an Imperial Star Destroyer. Right from the start, this is an incredibly exciting endeavor. Part of the excitement comes from the unique nature of this mission and part of it comes from how well the underdog story is executed. Then, Aaron has the elite Stormtroopers storm the ship and introduce even more conflict and excitement to an already entertaining story. The resulting battle is fantastic and gives each of the main characters a chance to shine, while never undercutting the competency of the Imperial troops.
The only problems with this volume are minor and mostly revolve around small issues with pacing and focus. For example, Han and Leia’s flirtatious competition goes on for a little too long and is a bit over-the-top. Meanwhile, the battle between Luke and the Stormtrooper commander feels shorter than it should have been. Both of these story elements are still very entertaining but could have been slightly better if they were given different levels of attention.
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Art
Although the story in Last Flight of the Harbinger is some of the best work in the series thus far, the artwork is some of the worst. The collection starts out strong, with a single chapter from Mike Mayhew. This Obi-Wan flashback chapter has detail-rich characters and sun-scorched landscapes, accurately depicting the desert world of Tatooine. These visuals also match the serious tone of this story and enhance the reading experience.
Unfortunately, the rest of the volume sees a significant decrease in quality and some visuals mismatches in tone. In this portion of the collection, artist Jorge Molina depicts characters with far less detail, especially when drawn from a distance. The stylized artwork here also gives brevity to a book that is mostly about a rather serious adventure, which makes for an unappealing contrast. This is particularly noticeable in scenes where characters have heavily pronounced eyes, giving the comic a vibe more suitable for manga or anime. Overall, the artwork in this book is disappointing, especially considering the quality seen in the rest of the series.
Continuity
Star Wars Vol. 4: Last Flight of the Harbinger continues the story from Star Wars Vol. 3: Rebel Jail (Review). Both stories take place between the movies Star Wars: Episode IV- A New Hope and Star Wars: Episode V- The Empire Strikes Back.
The story here continues in Star Wars Vol. 5: Yoda’s Secret War (Review).