Book Review: 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' (Marvel Comics)

Cover art (derived from Issue #5) by Paolo Rivera. ©2018 Marvel Comics and Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL)

On November 6, 2018, nearly a year after the debut of director Rian Johnson's eponymous film, Marvel Comics released Star Wars: The Last Jedi, a trade paperback that collects the six issues of writer Gary Whitta and artist Michael Walsh's series Star Wars: The Last Jedi Adaptation. Featuring a dynamic cover by Paolo Rivera that was originally done for the series' fifth issue, this slim 136-page  volume continues the Sequel Trilogy saga that pits General Leia Organa's small band of Resistance fighters against the forces of the evil First Order of Supreme Leader Snoke and his powerful but unstable apprentice, Kylo Ren.

The FIRST ORDER reigns.
Having decimated the peaceful
Republic, Supreme Leader Snoke
now deploys his merciless
legions to seize military
control of the galaxy.

Only General Leia Organa's
band of RESISTANCE fighters
stands against the rising
tyranny, certain that Jedi
Master Luke Skywalker will
return and restore a spark of
hope to the fight.

But the Resistance has been
exposed. As the First Order
speeds toward the Rebel base,
the brave heroes mount a
desperate escape.... 

As in all of the recent Marvel Comics books that feature adaptations of the Star Wars movies (including 2015's "remastered" re-releases of the publisher's 1977-1983 takes on the Original Trilogy), Star Wars: The Last Jedi begins with print media versions of the "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away" card and the film's opening crawl. Unlike 1977''s Star Wars #1 by Roy Thomas and Howard Chaykin, Marvel's Star Wars editors Heather Antos, Jordan D. White, and Mark Paniccia have used the text from the film's crawl instead of having Whitta create an in-house "alternative" crawl to start The Last Jedi. 

Interestingly, scriptwriter Gary Whitta (who, along with John Knoll, co-wrote the original screen story for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) opens the story with a prologue that examines Luke Skywalker's reflections about how he learned to block out the Force - a secret skill that the Jedi Master has learned during his self-imposed exile on the watery planet Ach-To. It is not a long sequence - 10 panels in all - but it is a powerful introduction that ends with Luke sensing that someone - Rey - has found him.

The scene then shifts to the space around the planet D'Qar, where the small Resistance fleet is evacuating in the face of a huge First Order armada. In yet another "deleted scene" moment that's not in Rian Johnson's film, we see Leia, Admiral Ackbar, Poe Dameron, and Lt. Connix reacting to the arrival of three Resurgent-class Destroyers and a Dreadnaught. Whitta, who has a good feel for the characters, gives Leia some of the best lines that weren't heard in the film:

(Regarding the hologram of the Dreadnaught)
Leia: Always with the big ships. Sometimes I have to ask myself what they're compensating for. 

(Reflecting on past events from the Galactic Civil War, including the Battle of Hoth)
Leia: (to Admiral Ackbar) This isn't my first evacuation, Gial. I'm not leaving anyone behind.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi then follows the action of the 2017 feature film, including Poe Dameron's Pyhrric destruction of the First Order's Dreadnaught and his demotion by a disappointed Leia, Finn's awakening from his coma (he had been seriously injured by Kylo Ren on the now-destroyed Starkiller Base) aboard the Resistance flagship, Supreme Leader Snoke's dressing down of both General Hux and Kylo Ren over the loss of the Dreadnaught, and Rey's fateful meeting with a reclusive Luke Skywalker, whose grief over the loss of his nephew Ben Solo to Snoke (and the Dark Side of the Force) and the deaths of his Jedi trainees have made him reluctant to be the "legendary" Jedi Master the galaxy sorely needs.

Issue #1 cover by Mike Del Mundo. © 2018 Marvel Comics and Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL)

Marvel Comics' Star Wars: The Last Jedi is, by the nature of the printed page, is a condensed version of the movie. It covers most of Rian Johnson's major beats and includes important scenes, such as R2-D2's shameless use of Princess Leia's Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope hologram  from the original 1977 Star Wars to the epic duel that pits Rey and Kylo Ren against Snoke's red-garbed Praetorian Guards (the scene depicted on the trade paperback cover by artist Paolo Rivera.

The Resistance has found Luke Skywalker! 

But the First Order is hot on their tail...and they are out for blood. Can Rey coax Luke out of his self-imposed exile in time to save the fading spark of hope from being extinguished forever? Or will Kylo Ren and the First Order crush the Resistance once and for all? Join writer Gary Whitta (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) and artist Michael Walsh (STAR WARS ANNUAL, HAWKEYE, and THE VISION) as they take on the adventures of Force prodigy Rey, ace pilot Poe Dameron, and ex-First Order recruit Finn from the hit blockbuster Star Wars: Episode VIII The Last Jedi - including never-before-seen scenes featuring your favorite characters! - Publisher's back cover blurb, Star Wars: The Last Jedi


The trade paperback collects the following issues:

• The Last Jedi Adaptation 1 (May 9, 2018)
• The Last Jedi Adaptation 2 (May 23, 2018)
• The Last Jedi Adaptation 3 (June 6, 2018)
• The Last Jedi Adaptation 4 (July 4, 2018)
• The Last Jedi Adaptation 5 (August 1, 2018)
• The Last Jedi Adaptation 6 (September 12, 2018)

The trade paperback edition is, naturally, divided into six chapters, one for each separate issue in the adaptation series. Each chapter is introduced by its corresponding issues cover art, a technique present in Marvel's collections of the film adaptations since the "remastered" re-release of Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi four years ago.

The artwork by Michael Walsh, Josh Nixon (who assisted on Issue #6) and colorist Mike Spicer reflects Marvel's more lifelike 21st Century style that contrasts with the more impressionistic look of the Thomas-Chaykin Star Wars comic from 1977. The panels, location blurb fonts, and lettering are done in a style similar to the 2016 adaptation of J.J. Abrams' Star Wars: The Force Awakens. As a result, the two Sequel Trilogy adaptations are visually consistent, even if the writer/artist teams are different.

As in all of Marvel Comics' collections of multi-issue adaptations and original stories, Star Wars: The Last Jedi also features several pages with a selection of reproductions of alternate versions of individual issue covers. Interestingly, one of the most striking variants is Rod Reis' depiction of Vice Admiral Holdo (Laura Dern) in a James Bond-like pose in front of a backdrop of First Order ships.

Art by Rod Reis. © Marvel Comics and Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL)

Though Star Wars: The Last Jedi can't, by the limits of the comic book medium, replicate the movie shot by shot and line by line, it does a good job of capturing its essence and themes on the printed page. The script by Gary Whitta is surprisingly touching, especially when the reader is allowed to see Luke's perspectives on the Force, the transformation of his nephew Ben into Kylo Ren, and the growth of the saga's new characters, including the resourceful and stalwart Rey, the defecting First Order stormtrooper Finn, the dashing but reckless Resistance X-wing pilot Poe Dameron, and the sweet but determined Resistance tech Rose Tico.

I'm an unapologetic fan of Rian Johnson's movie, and I have enjoyed both Jason Fry's novelization and this Marvel Comics take on the eighth Episode in the Skywalker Saga. I loved Whitta's keenly insightful writing, and the art by Michael Walsh is truly worthy of the Star Wars brand. As a certain Jedi Master would say, "Worthy of any fan's must read list, Star Wars: The Last Jedi is."