Gillen, Kieron
About the Author:
Kieron Gillen was an award-winning critic and journalist before becoming a comics writer. He lives in London, UK.
AVERAGE REVIEW SCORE:
3 out of 5
(5 books)
TOP PICK:
Star Wars: The Ashes Of Jedha
Star Wars: Darth Vader Vol. 1
(Art by Salvador Larroca)
Set shortly after the destruction of the first Death Star (and interweaving with Jason Aaron's 'Star Wars Vol. 1'), this book reveals the titular Sith Lord's fall from grace in the eyes of the Emperor and his clandestine efforts to not only restore his reputation but also to discover the identity of the pilot who destroyed the battlestation.
This book has plenty of interesting features that reveal genuinely new details of Vader's story. Among them are the way in which he is forced to adopt a subservient role to other Imperial officers and how he deals with his sudden decline in authority. Perhaps most interesting is the introduction of Vader's secret allies; the rogue archaeologist Doctor Aphra and her homocidal droids BT and Triple Zero. There's more than a hint of Indiana Jones to Aphra but with a far more mercenary twist; as evidenced when her discovery of an ancient weapon system leads her to paraphrase Indy by saying that 'it belongs in an armoury'.
Unfortunately, for all its interesting new ideas, they actually become what hold the book back from greatness. Whilst it is intellectually interesting to see Vader taking a demotion and having to sneak around without his superiors finding out, it does not make for a satisfying story. Honestly, what we want from Vader is power, relentlessness and a total disregard for the petty bureacracy of the Empire. And we also don't want to see him having clandestine meetings with comedic sidekicks.
So; an interesting story but which totally mismanages its greatest asset; Vader himself.
3 out of 5
Star Wars: Mutiny At Mon Cala
(Art by Salvador Larroca)
Book 8. Desperate to acquire a fleet, the Rebels open negotiations with the Mon Calamari but are turned away for fear of Imperial reprisals. Princess Leia then hits upon the plan of rescuing Mon Cala's captive monarch, King Lee-Char.
I particularly enjoyed 'Darth Vader: The Burning Seas' (reviewed here) which revealed the Mon Calamari's disastrous first rebellion against the Empire and this book is very much the follow-up to that story. Also, having read that other book gave me a great deal more sympathy for the Mon Calamari reluctant to rebel again than I perhaps otherwise would have.
It's nice to see the Rebellion gaining strength here too, since it gives much more emotional weight to the defeats that we know they're due to face in the future. Other than that, though, this is a fairly middle-of-the-road Star Wars adventure.
3 out of 5
Star Wars: The Ashes Of Jedha
(Art by Salvador Larroca)
Book 7, set between 'A New Hope' and 'The Empire Strikes Back'. Luke, Han, Leia, Chewie and the droids arrive on Jedha, the moon whose surface was shattered by the Death Star in 'Rogue One', in order to forge an alliance with the remnants of Saw Gerrera's partisans. However, the Empire is increasing their efforts to strip-mine the remains of the moon to gather the last of its kyber crystals.
I find a lot of stories told in the post-Episode IV period tedious because they tend to just re-tread story beats that have been being explored since the original comics of the 70s. Here, however, Gillen takes the opportunity to do something genuinely new by having the familiar faces interact with the characters and consequences of one of the more recent Star Wars lynchpins (and, for my money, the best since evil Disney took over); 'Rogue One'. I liked seeing our heroes trying to bridge the gap between the Rebellion and the Partisans in a way that wasn't possible before, with both groups determined not to allow the likes of Jedha and Alderaan to happen again.
Another point in favour of this book is its depiction of Han, Luke and Leia; three iconic characters all-too-often mishandled. Here Luke gets to seriously explore his duty as the last Jedi, Han gets to use his cunning and tactical skill to lead others and Princess Leia actually gets to use her diplomatic skills. Usually, particularly in this overused time period, Luke is portrayed as a naive, bumbling hillbilly, Han is portrayed as a total moron and Leia gets to be little more than a snarky bitch. Really, it's amazing how rare and special it is to find a Star Wars book that treats these main characters as both likeable and competent.
4 out of 5
Star Wars: The Escape
(Art by Andrea Broccardo and Angel Unzueta)
Book 10 set 1 ABY. Fleeing the devastating defeat at Mako-Ta, Han, Luke and Leia find themselves stranded on a wilderness moon. There they encounter a clan of former mercenaries and the two groups have to take each other's measure before they decide whether they're on the same side, a situation further complicated by the arrival of the Empire's Scar Squadron.
I had very much enjoyed the previous book of the series, which featured a major event in the Star Wars saga, but was very disappointed by this follow-up. Too many of the stories set between Episode IV and V tell pointless and irrelevant side tales that do nothing to actually further the overall story and it was specifically the fact that the last book 'Hope Dies' didn't do that which made me enjoy it so much. This book, however, falls squarely into that trap and tells a tale which has great stakes and no impact on the ongoing story of the war between the Rebels and the Empire.
Honestly, the only good thing here is actually seeing Han and Leia getting along for a change. Here it actually does feel like these two are genuinely friends and there are some definite hints of the romance that is to follow (not least Leia's reaction to seeing buff Han with his shirt off). Even this good element is somewhat hindered by the fact that, on the other end of the scale, Luke just suddenly starts acting like a total jerk to everyone.
2 out of 5
Star Wars: The Scourging Of Shu-Torun
(Art by Andrea Broccardo and Angel Unzueta)
Book 11. Princess Leia puts together a plan to deprive the Empire of the resources of Shu-Torun whilst simultaneously punishing its traitorous Queen Trios but she needs to call in help from various former allies, including the not-entirely-trustworthy Jedha Partisans.
This is the climax of Gillen's run on this Star Wars series and in that capacity it's... fine. Just fine. It touches base with various elements introduced throughout his run but, honestly, this didn't actually feel like much of a climax. It felt more like a Tuesday afternoon for our plucky Rebel heroes, instead. Trios getting her comeuppance isn't nearly as satisfyingly delivered as it should have been and the tension between the Rebels and Partisans is pretty much totally resolved by one short speech by Leia.
All that said, I did like the way Gillen used Leia, Luke and Han here, not falling into the traps that many Star Wars writers have done in making them bland caricatures of their Episode IV appearances (it's a small detail, but I love seeing the Harrison Ford version of Han wearing the cool jacket worn by the Alden Ehrenreich version).
3 out of 4