It has been a really tough summer for Star Wars fans. With High Republic on hiatus, Disney switching publishers of its Star Wars youth line to Dark Horse and the worst crossover in Star Wars history with Crimson Dawn. Unfortunately things are not getting better with Star Wars Hyperspace Stories which is a watered down line of stories for kids of all ages who want to fall asleep while reading a comic. This book wants to be the Usagi series but lacks the humor and metaphorical depth of that series.
Issue 2 is representative of the overall problem as Luke and Leia go on an entirely unimportant mission to battle characters we don’t care about. The bright colors and energetic visuals are hampered by the fact that Luke and Leia are unrecognizable. No kid flipping through this issue would ever know these are the siblings we love.
Luke and Leia head to Banas to see if the Rebellion can use it as a base of operations. They quickly discover a massive imperial presence and spend much of the issue trying to escape. They hide in a shop where the owner Halorum first seems unfriendly but eventually helps them evade capture. They hide under some carpets and imperial troops ransack the store.
Halorum sends them up a mountain to meet his cousin Moular on the other side. Luke and Leia make the journey and then trip onto an imperial mining operation. Imperials chase them before themselves becoming prey to mountain beasts. Leia presumes Luke dead until she meets up with Moular and he pops out of the ship. Moular agrees to work with the Rebellion to monitor imperial activity and the twins leave.
The talent involved on this book is way too good for this simple pointless story. Cecil Castelucci as writer and Megan Huang at art understand how to craft a simple, fun action tale. But because it has no narrative impact within the larger Star Wars universe it feels like a wasted opportunity to visit the most powerful duo in the galaxy.
Writing: 3.5 of 5 stars
Art: 2.8 of 5 stars
Colors: 3.3 of 5 stars
Overall: 3.0 of 5 stars
Writer: Cecil Castellucci
Art: Megan Huang
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics