Star Wars (2020) #25 - Comic Review

After starting with the Lando comic mini-series back in 2015, writer Charles Soule has now gone on to publish over 100 issues within the Star Wars comic universe. Star Wars (2020) #25 happens to be the 100th script he’s written for the comics, and he took it as a wonderful time to write a few short stories based around his previous comic runs: Obi-Wan & Anakin: “The Lesson”, Darth Vader: “The Lesson”, Kylo Ren: “See You Around, Kid” , and Poe Dameron: “A Eulogy for Snap”. Each one focuses on a small aspect of the characters from each individual series that Soule either couldn’t find the right spot to write into the stories or had come to his mind after finishing them.

The writing for Star Wars (2020) #25 is, as expected, wonderful. Sure, the stories are very short and to the point, being a small anthology as opposed to a single issue of story to really explore through the entire page count, but each one has its moment of genuine beauty. It’s obvious how much Soule loves these characters he’s written before, and just how well he truly gets them. All four stories are great, but the ones that really stand out to me are the Obi-Wan & Anakin and Kylo Ren stories. The former is a training session that deals with Anakin wondering why the Jedi use lightsabers and don’t expand to other forms of weapons. It shows his ingenuity and curiosity, but also his lack of understanding in what it means to be a Jedi that the young Padawan has at this time in his life. The latter finds Kylo Ren searching desperately for the ghost of Luke Skywalker after the events of The Last Jedi—it’s a dark and haunting exploration of his feelings towards his former master and friend.

The art throughout this issue is equally wonderful. Being that Star Wars (2020) #25 contains four stories from four of Soule’s previous comic runs, the teams that make up the artists on each one consist of a slew of people that the writer has previously worked with in the franchise. Obi-Wan & Anakin has artist Ramon Rosanas and colorist Rachelle Rosenberg; Darth Vader with artist Giuseppe Camuncoli, inker Daniele Orlandini, and colorist Arif Prianto; the team for Kylo Ren is artist Will Sliney and colorist GURU-eFX; and Poe Dameron was done by Phil Noto. The lettering for the entire issue was done by VC’s Clayton Cowles. This issue is cool because it has so many different and varying artists throughout—there’s something for everyone to love here!

The main cover for Star Wars (2020) #25 was done by the absolute powerhouse trio of Carlo Pagulayan, Jason Paz, and Rachelle Rosenberg—featuring a huge cast of characters, mainly the title characters for each short, as well as the Grand Inquisitor and the Seventh Sister. Being such a huge milestone, this issue also has a ton of variant covers! The artists for these consist of Giuseppe Camuncoli and Elia Bonetti; John Tyler Christopher (Action Figure variant), JJ Kirby (Pride variant); Alex Maleev; Steve McNiven and Alex Sinclair; Phil Noto; Will Sliney and GURU-eFX; and Chris Sprouse, Karl Story, and Neeraj Menon (Choose Your Destiny). My personal favorite few would have to be Kirby’s gorgeous Pride variant, Alex Maleev’s piece depicting Vader running through a twin sunset, and of course the Choose Your Destiny cover from the always spectacular trio of Sprouse, Story, and Menon.

Charles Soule has done such an incredible amount of wonderful work within this entire sandbox. Star Wars (2020) #25 is a sweet and gorgeous celebration of the characters and stories he’s been able to explore over the years since he started working on Star Wars comics. This issue is not one to miss, so make sure to pick it up from your local comic shop today!