Star Wars (2020) #9 - Comic Review

Still reeling from the Imperial attack at the Rebel base on Hoth and subsequent attacks from Commander Zahra and her Imperial Star Destroyers after cracking the Rebel Alliance’s encryption codes, the Rebels are tasked with figuring out any way possible to gain the upper hand and keep all of their fleet safe at the same time.

In Star Wars issue #9, Operation Starlight Part I: The Ancient Relic, we find out faithful Rebels under the charge of Princess Leia in search of a way to contact the rest of the Rebel Alliance now that the Imperials have cracked their codes. Quite a few people offer up their own suggestions, but in the end it’s C-3P0 who provides the one that just might work. Using an ancient linguistics droid that can speak the long dead and formerly rarely used language of Trawak to create a new set of encryption codes. The catch is the Alliance is going to have to steal this droid from a museum on what is arguably the most secure planet in the galaxy: Coruscant. It’s a job that only the right people can pull off. People like the special forces squad the Pathfinders, as well as the old smuggler turned reluctant Rebel himself Lando Calrissian. Of course, being a small group of “whatever it takes” Rebels, the plan just might go awry in this month’s issue!

With the name of this arc being Operation Starlight giving us the idea we will be finally getting a glimpse of what this High Republic era inspired project is, series writer Charles Soule really only gives us just the beginning of the tip of the iceberg. It’s definitely a fun and intriguing issue, though, ripe with great Rebel characters doing what they do best: causing trouble for the Empire. Artist Jan Bazaldua gives us some great work here, especially their work with expressions on all of the characters, especially Needle. They also deliver a great character design for the museum Curator who, along with colorist Rachelle Rosenberg, looks as fun and unique as you’d expect a sleazy annoying Curator hired by the Empire would look. Also worth mentioning is the few action sequences in the book and how they really come to life on the page!

While the Rebel Alliance continues to search for ways to prevent the Empire from knowing their every move, we get a glimpse of what’s sure to be a fascinating tie in to the High Republic era that will be starting up just next month! It’s an important start to what’s sure to be an epic new era to be explored.