Han Loses His Mind In Marvel’s Star Wars #32 – Screaming Citadel Part 4

marvelsw32sc3- cover

We are reaching the end of the “Screaming Citadel” event. In all honesty, I’m looking forward to getting back on track to where our respective titles, Star Wars and Doctor Aphra, left off. Since we are on Part Four, I will assume anyone reading this is up to speed with the other issues, and of course, SPOILERS AHEAD….

 

 

marvelsw32- knock knock

 

Leia and Sana are still trying to make their way into the Citadel, where Luke and Han are trapped. Black Krrsantan opens the issue by beating the piss out of one of the strange guards we see roaming the Screaming Citadel. As he joins up with the duo, accompanied by Triple Zero and BeeTee, the Wookie is compelled to continue his thrashing of the guards so they can make their way inside. Oh yeah, and he’s infected with a parasite that leaves him relatively open to suggestion.

 

marvelsw32- jedi gems

 

The Queen of the Screaming Citadel has paid off Aphra for delivering Luke to her. The Rur Crystal contains the soul of a Jedi. No doubt this Jedi is an old one, but there is obviously something up if the Queen is parting with this crystal and keeping Luke. The Queen has been revealed to be something of a vampire, but instead of blood, she sucks the life force out of people.

 

marvelsw32- luke's fate

 

The Queen is not interested in controlling Luke’s mind, as you will see she is doing to someone else we know. She is sucking the life, or the Force, out of Luke using this machine. Aphra doesn’t seem to mind that she’s leaving Luke to a fate of torture and eventual death. The Queen has a special taste for Jedi.

 

marvelsw32- not snoke

 

I had to put this up here for any Snoke theorists reading. No, I don’t think Snoke’s grand reveal will be in “Screaming Citadel”, but this fella next to the Queen sure caught my eye. I don’t think it’s Snoke, but still interesting how similar he looks to some of the Lucasfilm concept art of the eventual appearance. If you’re paying attention to the Queen, it looks like Aphra just got double-crossed herself.

 

marvelsw32- Han gone wild

 

Well, if the Queen is saving Luke for dessert, she’ll get the soldier she needs in Han. By infecting him with the symbiont/parasite, she takes control of his mind, and he is the replacement for her chief guard taken out by Black Krrsatan. Han is ready to serve the Queen, just as Leia and company have entered the Screaming Citadel.

 

marvelsw32- han patrol

 

Despite not being thrilled by this issue, I must say the concept of the Screaming Citadel guards is pretty cool. Their armor looks like something I’d expect from the Old Republic days. Everything about Screaming Citadel feels ancient and it’s cool to see these characters in a very unique setting. I’m not crazy about the story, for the most part, but the concepts are very cool. Here Han and his new friends are about to corner Leia after a shootout.

 

marvelsw32- awakening

 

Just as Aphra is about to make her big exit, the gem comes to life. It’s a voice that calls itself Rur, and it appears to know a lot about Aphra. Despite her affinity for Vader, I do believe that we will continue to discover Aphra is a truly good person who has become misguided due to unfortunate circumstances. Rur sees right through Aphra and she realizes that she can’t leave Luke to the fate in Screaming Citadel.

 

marvelsw32- sana

 

Just in case you forgot, Sana still VERY much wants Aphra dead. She makes a deal with the two droids, and BeeTee goes to work taking out Han’s guards. As for Han, well, let’s just say Sana handles that herself. As this all goes down, Luke makes an escape from his dental chair-like restraint, and tries very hard to take a lightsaber to the queen. The only problem is that the Queen appears to be some kind of projection. It’s a bit confusing, but once Aphra joins the fight with a massive explosion, things become quite complicated when the symbiont joins with Luke.

 

marvelsw32- king Luke

 

All hail King Luke! Looks like it’s about to get crazy in Screaming Citadel.

 

Gripes with the story aside, I love the art by Salvador Larroca, in tandem with colorist Edgar Delgado. This issue is great on the eyes. I’m not sure why I feel “Screaming Citadel” is so tired and it could entirely be that I’m still frustrated we seem to be hovering between the events of A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. Sure, there are a lot of stories to tell in that three-year window, but I wish it felt like we were moving a bit faster towards TESB. I’m sure we’ll get there and perhaps the final issue of this event will bring it home for me. I hope you all are enjoying it!

 

marvelsw32- next issue

 

 

+ posts

Kyle Larson lives in Portland, Oregon. When he's not running trails, he's reading and writing.

Kyle Larson

Kyle Larson lives in Portland, Oregon. When he's not running trails, he's reading and writing.

22 thoughts on “Han Loses His Mind In Marvel’s Star Wars #32 – Screaming Citadel Part 4

  • June 16, 2017 at 5:45 pm
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    I don’t like what they had done with Aphra, I preffered the Aphra from Vader’s series when she was pro Imperial and more expert in the crime world of the galaxy

    • June 17, 2017 at 3:46 am
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      One of the dumbest ideas they kept from the old EU is making all the great Imperials turn Rebel.

      • June 17, 2017 at 11:36 am
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        I completely agree

  • June 16, 2017 at 7:10 pm
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    I haven’t gotten to this crossover yet, but I did just finish Vader Down, which was disappointing. They certainly didn’t need six issues to tell that story.

    • June 16, 2017 at 8:29 pm
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      You think so? I found Vader down quite packed with action from the beginning to the end. Why was it bad?

      • June 16, 2017 at 10:06 pm
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        I just thought there wasn’t enough story to cover six issues and it would have been nice to see Vader take a little damage from the rebels. I guess I was expecting more. It wasn’t terrible, it just wasn’t great either. But that’s just me.

  • June 17, 2017 at 12:21 am
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    Force Awful….

  • June 17, 2017 at 12:40 am
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    seriously why making portraits of some characters photorealists ? it’s so distractive and it’s a comic book

    • June 17, 2017 at 11:45 am
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      If they looked very different, as they did in few arcs, others would complain.

      • June 17, 2017 at 3:19 pm
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        Lesson: people are going to complain regardless, so the artists will do as they wish.

        • June 19, 2017 at 8:39 pm
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          yes, i complain… but it’s not that often. it’s strange for me because you go from from classic artwork in one strip and after you ve got these full pages portraits (very well executed with photoshop :P) It’s not homogenic IMO but you right artists do what they want. i was flami,ng for no reason

  • June 17, 2017 at 12:52 am
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    I hope they make a story about when Han and Leia were confronted by the Bounty Hunter that Han mentioned in ESB. If they do it please make it Cad Bane

    • June 17, 2017 at 3:12 am
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      I think Cad Bane died.

      • June 17, 2017 at 3:19 pm
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        Yup. Apparently Boba did it.

      • June 17, 2017 at 3:49 pm
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        I forgot about that

        • June 17, 2017 at 10:23 pm
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          It could be Embo, though.

  • June 17, 2017 at 1:09 am
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    Does anyone get a Temple Of Doom vibe from this? (especially considering what happens to both Harrison Ford characters)

  • June 17, 2017 at 3:45 am
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    But why does Han look so effeminate on the cover?

    • June 17, 2017 at 10:22 pm
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      He looks good to me.

  • June 17, 2017 at 3:53 pm
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    I’ve enjoyed the content but they need to get rid of that artist. The characters don’t need to be exact copies of Harrison Ford and mark Hamill. Do your own interpretation.

  • June 17, 2017 at 5:16 pm
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    This series has gone totally bonkers. And yet I’m looking forward to seeing how it wraps up in the next issue. Will they bring down the vaping Queen? And I wonder who the Queen’s face is based upon — she’s pretty! 🙂

  • June 23, 2017 at 6:00 pm
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    This story is a real mess, and don’t even get me started on the different artists continuity… in each different book, depending on the artist drawing it, Han is either wearing his New Hope vest, or Empire jacket… I’m giving the Star Wars comics up, they’re steadily getting worse and worse. This canon cannot be taken seriously, it doesn’t make any sense with the characters we know in the films – it’s just another way to milk the fans of money. I’m done with this medium, I’ll stick to the films.

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