STAR WARS #5
Written by Jason Aaron
Art by John Cassaday, Laura Martin
Published by Marvel Comics
Release Date: May 20, 2015

Boba Fett is on the hunt, the Rebels are searching for a base and the excellent interpretations continues as one of the best creative teams in comics continues their arc of Star Wars.

I’m going to start with a discussion of art, because John Cassaday and Laura Martin astounded me with this issue. It is one of the slower issues of the series thus far, with more conversation than usual and I was blown away by how true-to-the-films this artwork is. That is Carrie Fisher from the late 70s on those pages, and that devilish smirk is coming straight from Harrison Ford, not a caricature of him. John Cassaday’s pencil work is phenomenal and how he manages to tell so much story through masked characters is very impressive. Boba Fett is saying a lot more than just the dialogue on the page, and even the Tusken Raiders are impressive. Martin’s colour work enriches Cassaday’s pencils and her skilled colouring is instrumental in nailing the look and feel of these characters. If her shading and palette choice wasn’t perfect, the feel would be off but it certainly isn’t. This issue feels like it is simply comprised of scenes from a missing film between IV and V, and Martin’s work to make the worlds explode off the page is top notch.

That Jason Aaron cat isn’t a bad writer, either. The look of a character can be there, but if he or she doesn’t “sound” right, then the illusion is shattered. At no point in this issue was the illusion shattered. Aaron’s dialogue is rock solid and even though I know what base the Rebels are going to find, he crafts this issue in such a way that it is exciting and we don’t know what is coming next. His exploration of the growing romance between Han and Leia is great and he injects a lot of emotion into Luke’s return to Tatooine. There are some very clever references to the prequels to be found in this issue, and it’s just another in a long line of damn fine comic books with Aaron’s name on the front.

Star Wars #5 is a great read that moves the series along nicely and continues to flesh out the gap between Episodes IV and V in a fun way. Sure, we know some characters aren’t in mortal danger, but the thrill of the ride is off the charts and there’s a reason this series has climbed to the top of the monthly sales charts. The magic of the original trilogy lives within these pages and I can’t wait to see how they round out the arc.

The Verdict: 9.0/10