Luke Skywalker Stares Into Darkness In Marvel’s Star Wars #41

marvelsw41- cover

Back to Jedha in this rollercoaster ride writer Kieron Gillen has us Star Wars comics fan. I’d like to say “rollercoaster” in the sense of adventurous and surprising, but unfortunately I’m referring to the quality of the issues. The good news is this issue is a step up for the previous train wreck #40. SPOILERS AHEAD….

 

 

marvelsw41- behold

 

When we last left Luke and his new guide to the ways of the Force, aspiring disciple Chulco Gi, were being lead by the mysterious Cult of the Central Isopter. As a refresher, remember these folks worship death and often flock to wherever they can observe it. They have taken Luke and Chulco to their temple. It’s implied this is the exact spot where the Death Star’s laser hit Jedha’s surface. Luke is feeling all sorts of bad vibrations in the Force, but the cult and Chulco assure him this will be something of a learning experience for him. Just as he’s starting to shake off the disturbance he feels, he sees something very large descending in the distance.

 

marvelsw41- planet digger

 

What Luke sees is Queen Trios’ planet miner. It’s a ship so big and powerful that when she launched it she wasn’t even sure if it would be able to break Jedha’s gravity to return to Shu-Torun. This ship is on Jedha to pillage what little is left of the kyber crystals for the Empire. Leia, Han, and the Partisans are the only ones that can stop it.

 

marvelsw41- binocs

marvelsw41- in progress

 

Han gets a look at the monstrosity and is pretty discouraged. Benthic assures him that despite the cautious approach Rebels would usually take when planning their attack is not how the Partisans get things done. Ubin is already on it, whether it’s a suicide mission or not.

 

marvelsw41- death and stuff

 

Back to the Cult of the Isopter. The cult lets Luke know the knowledge they seek is a moving target. The cult reconciles death as it’s the culmination of life’s events. Here, they point out that death is what sent Luke on his journey to learn more about the Force. They don’t claim to have any lesson to teach him and tell him staring into the abyss below him will present him a chance to understand life. This is some really interesting stuff. As mortals, we humans are constantly trying to understand life and the meaning of it, where these people try to look at death as an equally important event that helps teach the living. The cult doesn’t pretend to know what happens after death, only that if they observe it they may better understand life. At this point, it isn’t presented as touching the dark side, more of looking at the darkness, but Luke doesn’t like it and it feels wrong to him. Chulco encourages Luke to take whatever knowledge he can get about the Force.

 

marvelsw41- attack

 

In case you forgot, Ubin was once Rebel Special Forces, and she defected to the Partisans because she felt the conventions of war the Alliance adhered to hindered their fight against the Empire. Ubin is also a badass – and in my opinion, seriously underused in this arc – leading the charge against a ship even Han Solo was nervous to attack. The ship Ubin flies against the mining vessel doesn’t fare well. It’s shot down as the fight starts, and although Ubin manages to attach a bomb to the mining vessel, the blast does no damage. Jedha is in trouble.

 

marvelsw41- han pilot

marvelsw41- harpoon and tow cable

 

Fortunately for Ubin, Han and Leia are not too far behind in a speeder. They manage to fly through the storm of rock and blaster fire to give Ubin’s ship a much needed tow out of the wreckage. My complaint from Star Wars #40 about Salvador Larroca’s art has not changed with this issue. These action scenes are still very claustrophobic when they should be grand and epic. It makes the action very hard to follow, as the frame above looks like Leia and Han could pretty much be towing anything. I’m not claiming to be an artist myself and I know it’s easier to critique than to do, but I think this series could use a different artist. That’s all and I promise I won’t keep bashing on Mr. Larroca. Just my opinion.

 

marvelsw41- pre rose

 

Ubin went all in when she planted that explosive on the mining vessel, live or die. Han’s not very happy that Ubin turned her attack run into a suicide mission. It’s great spin on one of my favorite moments from The Last Jedi…fighting for the things you love. Instead, Han explains there’s nothing to fight for if by the end of this war they’re all dead. Ubin’s courage and skills are assets not only to the Rebellion’s fight against the Empire, but once they win, they’ll need people of her caliber.

 

marvelsw41- blah

marvelsw41- saber time

 

Luke is still feeling uncomfortable by staring into the abyss, but doesn’t feel like it’s affected him or given him any better understanding of the Force. Chulco, on the other hand, is feeling it. The dark side has shown up and it consumes Chulco, as he’s opened himself up as a sort of receiver, and it’s consumed him. He attacks Luke with that gnarly looking blade and gets a lightsaber in return. Once he’s disarmed, Chulco returns to his normal self and tells Luke to stay away from the abyss. Chulco didn’t expect the dark side to consume him as quickly as it did. The Cult of Isopter proved that there is a lesson to be learned in death. Luke learns he needs to be patient in his search for the Force and recognizes he’s been walking dangerously close to the unknown. He also remembers the sense of duty Leia scolded him for ignoring in the previous issue when he ran off with Chulco. I think in these books we’ll be seeing a different Luke, more of the military officer than the aspiring Jedi.

 

Also…Luke’s friends need him!

 

 

That’s the parting message the Cult of Isopter pass on to Luke, and just in time. Chewbacca has returned to the fight and is met with a trigger-happy TIE Fighter. Luke takes out the TIE Fighter and manages to bring Chewbacca back to the surface of Jedha. He’s in possession of something…a Shu-Torun secret.

 

marvelsw41- turn the tide

 

I’m curious. Sounds like it’s something much bigger than an exhaust port that leads to the mining vessel’s main reactor. My money is still on Queen Trios turning against the Empire at the last second. The next issue should be interesting.

 

As I mentioned earlier, I enjoyed this issue much more than the previous one. I’m happy that we may get more of “soldier Luke”. The titular series so far has pretty much exclusively focused on Luke getting himself into trouble while searching for knowledge about the Force. It’d be nice to see more of what made him such a legendary part of the Rebel Alliance, other than the fact he was the last Jedi. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for Ubin, as I’d love to see her become more of a regular in these comics.

 

Speaking of regulars…where the hell is Sana Starros? She was mentioned in the crawl of the first issue, as if she was with the three heroes, and I’ve yet to see her. I hope that wasn’t sloppy editing, as her presence seems much needed in this dire situation. Let’s get Sana back in the game!

 

RATING: 5/10

 

 

 

 

+ 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.

32 thoughts on “Luke Skywalker Stares Into Darkness In Marvel’s Star Wars #41

  • January 4, 2018 at 6:13 pm
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    Not a comic guy, but just looking at this… are they tracing over still photos and calling it illustration?

    • January 4, 2018 at 6:27 pm
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      it sure looks bad, whatever it is.

    • January 5, 2018 at 9:25 pm
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      Yubyub, and it’s terrible.

  • January 4, 2018 at 6:27 pm
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    I know it is probably just me, but I just can’t get into these back stories any more, knowing how it all ultimately ends with Luke. Unfortunately, it has just made me not care as much or feel the same about any of the OT timeline.

    • January 4, 2018 at 6:31 pm
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      Stories are always better when we don’t know how they end…. but yes, Luke’s ultimate end does place a shadow over these stories.

      • January 4, 2018 at 7:20 pm
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        Ultimate end? He’s only now more powerful than we could have possibly imagined. 🙂

        • January 4, 2018 at 9:36 pm
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          I think its not that Luke becomes a force ghost, but that he gave up and hid. Everyone who reads a book or comic from now on will be wondering ” Is this the time we loose all respect for Luke?” “Will he save the day, or just Forcequit?”

          • January 5, 2018 at 6:14 am
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            Agreeing with Jordan, I don’t think we’ve seen the last of Luke Skywalker and I don’t think Luke quit. He thought he was doing the right thing, in my opinion.

            I hope that we get to see more of Luke’s role as a soldier in the Rebellion. That’s a dimension of his character that hasn’t gotten very much coverage and I’d love to see.

          • January 5, 2018 at 6:48 am
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            If I remember correctly Gillen has stated that it’s his intention with his overall arc.

          • January 5, 2018 at 1:08 pm
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            There seems to by a new way of describing Lukes actions on other sites
            1 – What Rian Johnson thinks Luke would do
            2 – What Mark Hamill thinks Luke would do
            One is now canon, the other is not. Trying to say Mark Hamill was wrong when he spoke out for so long, just sounds silly. Anyone with half a brain can tell Disney asked him to change his tone.
            Dont hold out hope for Luke to do anything in ep9, other than a role similar to Obi-Wan in Empire. A good days pay. They have cleaned the slate of OT actors, something they wanted from the start

          • January 5, 2018 at 2:29 pm
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            ‘lose’

      • January 5, 2018 at 2:14 pm
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        Unless, of course, you just enjoy the journey. Besides, these comics are set between the first two films and are quite a bit off from even the end of the Empire, let alone the Sequel Trilogy. If you’re that upset about where the grand story ultimately does go, maybe you should just let it go altogether and keep to the things you love.

      • January 6, 2018 at 12:50 am
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        Yes and I bet you said the same thing about the prequels

    • January 5, 2018 at 1:55 pm
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      If you think ‘The Last Jedi’ can kill off enjoyment of the OT, you’d hate being a ‘Harry Potter’ fan with ‘The Cursed Child’ around. Now that thing REALLY messes up your favourite characters unless you take it with a pinch of salt.

  • January 4, 2018 at 8:26 pm
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    None of Luke’s searching for force story feels believable knowing it leads him to give up and not even bother reading the books.

  • January 4, 2018 at 8:26 pm
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    None of Luke’s searching for force story feels believable knowing it leads him to give up and not even bother reading the books.

  • January 4, 2018 at 8:56 pm
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    …is that Jackie Chan..?

    • January 4, 2018 at 11:15 pm
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      I thought the same!….ugh… it’s time for Larroca to go. He has outstayed his welcome.

      • January 5, 2018 at 6:10 am
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        Agreed. Pack your stuff and hit the road, Salvador

  • January 4, 2018 at 9:47 pm
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    And so this is how democracy dies

  • January 4, 2018 at 11:28 pm
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    I liked the older story arcs. This jedha one feels forced. Pun intended. But yea it’s just not that great. Jedha was kinda boring to me and don’t care what happens to it after the Death Star.

    I would rather see scarif or Luke searching on mustafar at Vader’s castle for clues to what made his father Anakin become Darth Vader. They really need to go post ESB at this point. Shadows of the empire was one of my favorite EU storylines because the timeline between V-VI.

    • January 5, 2018 at 7:30 am
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      yeah thats stupid

  • January 5, 2018 at 1:18 pm
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    These books will probably suffer now after Last Jedi, In fact I expect that the massive decline in toy sales has not gone un-noticed. Interesting days ahead with the DDC (disney damage control) so far we have witnessed:
    1. Mark Hamill doing a complete 180 regarding his comments
    2. Pablo claiming its Georges Vision put to screen
    3. Rian wrote the script for 8 before 7 was finished
    4. the return of JJ to clean up the trilogy mess
    5. Almost nothing in Last Jedi is True or Final
    6. The rumored release of the Ep 8.5 novel, attempting to satisfy the disillusioned
    7. The tired tropes of racist, sexist, homophobe, transphobia, masogynist, hater talk.
    when I left the theater I was really mad “child killer?” this is what they though of Luke?. Expressed my opinion here only to find I was vastly outnumbered in my view, That has changed recently as more and more people shed the herd mentality and begin to think for themselves. This gives me hope that ep 9 can be saved and made into a proper Star Wars film, Why?
    Because Disney is listening

    • January 5, 2018 at 2:29 pm
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      Child Killer – didn’t Luke say something along the lines of and I’m paraphrasing as I can’t remember exactly “the thought flashed through my mind in a split second, and just as quickly vanished and I was ashamed’ – but to you that equates to child killer. Typical internet hysterical, hyperbolic response. Of course if the majority of people agree with you – they’re thinking for themselves, if they disagree they’re succumbing to a herd response. And wouldn’t you be at least tempted if you had the chance to off a potential Hitler?

      • January 5, 2018 at 3:45 pm
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        yes he thought about killing Ben Solo, his nephew, Leia and Hans child, I think you get my point exactly. Now i’m trying to get yours Its ok that the thought flashed through his head? it that something everyone experiences or just Jedi Masters?
        It happens to everybody? and please dont bring baby hitler into this, we have the luxury of history itself to decide, Luke didn’t

        • January 5, 2018 at 3:58 pm
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          No – but Luke does have the ‘luxury’ of being able to sense great evil within someone, and lets face it – the last time a Skywalker turned dark it didn’t exactly turn out well for the galaxy. And Luke said the thought flashed quickly through his mind and just as quickly went. (perhaps the dark side within the Skywalkers trying to take hold?) My point is – that he didn’t kill a child, which you well know, yet you’re still labelling him a child killer.

        • January 6, 2018 at 12:48 am
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          Luke thought about killing his for father too. For a brief moment he felt killing Vader was the easiest path to saving Leia. When he saw Ben’s future he had the same conflict. Kill Ben or risk losing Han, his students, his legacy, his temple, and the millions that died with Kylo’s aid. Just as with Vader, it was a brief consideration and it left him very quickly. Why is it so hard for you to understand. This isn’t new for Luke. He was never an infallible god who was immune to the dark.

    • January 5, 2018 at 7:34 pm
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      I will admit; I am biased as I am not that big of a fan of the NC. I see it a mixed bag. But I will play devil’s advocate.

      1. I personally believe the truth with Mark’s words lies in between. I do suspect he did not like the movie and a part of does think he did not know Luke was going to be killed.

      And his 180 is a byproduct of LF asking him. Understandable as this is a business. And perhaps JJ Abrams reassuring him his role will be better.

      2. I cannot comment much on this. I will admit; I am biased as I do not like Pablo at all. So really, I will plead the fifth

      3. When i heard this I thought this is absolutely nuts. Who does this?! This is a followup to another film. I get wanting to craft one’s own vision and identity, but this is unacceptable.

      James Cameron watched the first Alien extensively, taking notes and in turn built his movie around the consequences of that movie, while also forging its own path.

      4. JJ’s arrival had happened before TLJ’s divisiveness. Trevorrow, we won’t know the true story of what happened, but I again suspect there is some gray in that Trevorrow was hard to work with, BUT because of LF’s laize faire take on the ST and him disagreeing.

      Again, speculation on my part and I will happily concede if I see some good evidence.

      5. See number 3 and how LF didn’t really plan this ST out that well.

      6. That is a rumor. As in we shouldn’t take that as something tangible, unless we are given more substantial evidence.

      7. No comment on this matter but if you are curious I will elaborate.

      I don’t blame you, man. Yeah, I liked TLJ, but I wasn’t over the moon about it. Not that I expected something amazing. But not the mixed bag that I saw with this movie.

      Being the black sheep outside the herd does suck. I was like that for TFA when the hype was big. But much like that film, it seems like more and more people are approaching this movie with a level head.

      Not to say they have to dislike it, but really hype is like a sugar rush. It is exhilarating, but it does die down. Episode Nine, I do think could be unique.

      I’m more curious about seeing it and less excited. For really, I do not envy JJ Abrams. Hopefully, he can do something cool and prove naysayers wrong. Because, I respect how he owns up to his critics issues with the movie. Now he just needs to show us he is committed to doing so

      • January 7, 2018 at 1:34 am
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        thanks for your intellegent and well thought out reply, nice to see that for a change.
        Agree with everything you said and I want to make clear my #7 tired tropes, You can dislike the way a character is created, portrayed or even the way the actor/actress handles the role without being a bigot. That seems to be a common go to response about anything these days

  • January 7, 2018 at 5:55 am
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    Luke looks like a thug here. I like the robes.

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