Star Wars (2020) #23 - Comic Review

Imperial Commander Zahra, protégé to the late Grand Moff Tarkin, leads the crew of the infamous Star Destroyer the Tarkin’s Will. She’s tracked down the last hiding sect of Rebels that fled during the Battle of Hoth. About to wage war on this unsuspecting group of rag-tag people, she is suddenly blindsided by the appearance of what seems to be the entire Rebel fleet coming out of hyperspace to surround the Tarkin’s Will and demand their surrender. In an act of desperation, and absolute malice towards the Rebels, Zahra turns her Star Destroyer toward the surface of the planet she currently orbits and goes into a nose dive to attack the Rebel base on the surface. The Rebel Fleet moves in to attack, yet they don’t realize by doing that they are falling right into Zahra’s trap. On the opposite side of the coin, however, Zahra has no idea that at the same time a small group of Rebels, led by Kes Dameron, has snuck onto her ship and is about to do their best to wreak their own form of havoc!

With Star Wars (2020) #23, writer Charles Soule crafts arguably his best Star Wars issue yet! It’s an intense and epic issue, but what makes it the best is that he essentially swaps the roles of the Rebels and Imperials for this issue, making Zahra and her people the main focus of an underdog story with a leader and crew willing to do anything and everything to win the day. Most Star Wars stories set during this era are about the Rebels being surrounded and having to resort to wild and unique tactics to win, but this time it’s one Imperial Star Destroyer doing the act instead and it comes with incredible, and unthinkable, results. Whereas the Rebels would do all they could to make sure as many lives as possible are saved in the process of winning or escaping, the Imperials are on the flipside: destroying as much as possible and humiliating the Rebels in the process. It’s an incredible take on a Star Wars staple. Soule also has Zahra channeling her inner Tarkin and Thrawn with explaining her daring plans while enacting them at the same time and it makes for a very compelling piece of writing.

Along with the incredible writing in Star Wars (2020) #23 is a group of fantastic artists that deliver a breathtaking work of art. Artist Ramon Rosanas, colorist Rachelle Rosenberg, and letter VC’s Clayton Cowles are on point with this issue giving life to one of the wildest and most intense Imperial attacks in current Star Wars comics. To go into too much detail would also be going deep into spoiler territory, but let’s just say they way they all convey Zahra’s attacks on the Rebels is both breathtaking and horrifying in their visual exploration of the events in every panel.

The main cover art for Star Wars (2020) #23 comes from artists Carlo Pagulayan, Jason Paz, and Rachelle Rosenberg and details a massive one-sided fight between the entire Rebel fleet against the Star Destroyer the Tarkin’s Will with a strong and stern Commander Zahra looking down at the battle from the background. The first variant cover is John Tyler Christopher back with his Action Figure Variant featuring Yak Face, aka Saelt-Marae, from Return of the Jedi. Paul Renaud is also back with his Traitor of the Dawn variant which is extra cool this time! And last, but not least, we have Ken Lashley and Juan Fernandez with an intense piece that finds Shara Bey under fire from a few stormtroopers.

Charles Soule flips the narrative with Star Wars (2020) #23 by showcasing a group of Imperials as the underdogs in a fight against the entire Rebel fleet. It’s a story not often seen that goes above and beyond the already awesome storytelling Star Wars usually has to create a fascinating and epic piece of fiction. So hop in your TIE fighter and fly on down to your local comic shop to pick up a copy today!