Worley, Alec

AVERAGE REVIEW SCORE:

4 out of 5

(1 book)

Star Wars Adventures: Smuggler's Run

(Art by Ingo Romling)

A graphic novel adaptation of Greg Rucka's YA novel, set 0 ABY.  Princess Leia convinces Han and Chewie to head to the crime-ridden planet Cyrkon to recover a Rebel agent before he can fall into the hands of the Empire.  Their mission becomes infinitely more complicated when they encounter not only bounty hunters in the employ of Jabba the Hutt but also the ruthless ISB agent Commander Alecia Beck.

I found the original prose version of this story entertaining enough but not terribly inspiring and I wasn't expected much from a comics adaptation by IDW, whose other Star Wars books, particularly those under the banner 'Adventures', have tended to be childish and boring.  I was therefore pleasantly surprised that I actually preferred this version to the original.

I think that the visual medium of comic book storytelling brought an added dimension to the tale that simply wasn't present in Rucka's original version and made what is essentially a disposable sidequest of a story into something much more engaging.  Added to that is the fact that this book doesn't have the Sequel Era bookends that the novel does, therefore allowing me to enjoy it without being reminded of how much I dislike Episodes VII, VIII and IX (in case you were wondering, the only actual link to them here is that the Rebel agent Lt. Ematt is a background character in the Sequels).

It also helps that the version of Han we get here is one who is a competent, if somewhat conflicted, member of the criminal underworld, rather than the bumbling buffoon that all to many stories paint him as.  I also liked seeing hints of him trying to break out of his cynical mercenary mindset.

Overall, to quote the most evil Sith Lord of them all, a surprise to be sure, but a welcome one.

4 out of 5

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