Review: Aurra Sing Takes a Vacation in Marvel’s Halcyon Legacy #2
The Halcyon Starcruiser has been making waves for the last several weeks for both good and bad reasons, and that trend continues as the second issue in the Halcyon Legacy has dropped. Ethan Sacks continues to bring us stories from the historic luxury cruiseliner, and in this one we discover its lure as one of the galaxy’s premiere vacation spots spreads its wings into even some of the more menacing Star Wars characters.
As Captain Keevan of the Halcyon prepares a dangerous move towards a solar storm to avoid the band of threatening pirates, host droid D3-O9 reminisces about a time when the famed bounty hunter Aurra Sing booked her vacation on the Halcyon. In a surprisingly fun tale, Sacks brings us a good old fashioned bounty hunter story with other familiar scum and villainy popping in throughout.
While it is difficult to ignore some of the cheap commercialism with some of these stories from the Halcyon, one can still enjoy this story. The usage of the Halcyon in these comics, upcoming books, and other forms of Stars Wars storytelling mediums continues to be a hot button topic. While I too am slightly unsettled by some of the usage of the Halcyon in storytelling, I will continue to put my best foot forward in separating the distasteful marketing strategies from the hard work put in by the content creators. With that being said, let’s get a bit spoilerific on the second issue of Halcyon Legacy.
Spoilers ahead….
We left the first issue with the Halcyon having been fired upon by pirates searching for a Resistance spy. These pirates quickly make it clear they aren’t the smartest band of brigands ever to roam the galaxy. Having to make a series of quick decisions, Captain Kreevan lulls the pirates into a sense of comfort before making her plan known to her crew. With a solar storm raging nearby, Kreevan decides making it quickly for the storm is the best means of a possible escape.
Cruise Director, Lenka Mok is quite unsure about this daring plan, but after divulging she had information on the Resistance Spy, we can assume this weariness on the plan is not out of cowardice. Nonetheless, the Halcyon prepares to make way for the solar storm.
Poor young Cimina continues to have a much greater adventure than she hoped for on her vacation. Cimina and her family are advised to head towards a more secure part of the ship as radiation from the storm could infiltrate less fortified areas. In what will be a failing effort to comfort the little Tholothian, D3-O9 tells a story of a time the Halcyon came close to a solar storm.
The meat and potatoes of this issue launches us into the heart of the prequel Republic era we know so well. Believe it or not, bounty hunters like to loosen up on a nice luxurious cruise. Aurra Sing is aboard the Halcyon looking forward to a little rest and relaxation, but as is often the case, she finds herself handed a nice paying job worthy of her special set of skills.
This was a fun image. Aurra is just leaning over relaxing and about to enjoy her vacation, but not without her famed blaster strapped over her shoulder.
Soon she meets Colram Vestig and his son Wilmar. Colram, like many before him, has fallen prey to being greatly indebted to the Hutts. Worried for his safety as he tries to make good on his debts, he wants to hire Aurra as protection for a short time. Having already been made aware of Vestig’s debt by current partner and Attack of the Clones favorite Zam Wesell, Sing agrees to the deal.
It doesn’t take long for trouble to spring itself onto the scene. Vestig’s son is taken prisoner by a Weequay who clearly doesn’t know who he is messing with. After Aurra delivers a bit of punishment onto the ignorant kidnapper, she is led to the child.
Before leaving the ship, D3-O9 does let her know a solar storm is approaching, and she has roughly ten minutes before the ship leaves without her. The Weequay then leads her to a gladiator ring of all places, where she is pitted up against a massive predavorexx for the amusement of the Hutts watching.
Aurra Sing is one of my favorite bounty hunters, so while this story felt geared for a younger audience, it was still funny to see a Weequay eaten by a massive monster and Aurra simply shruging it off and moving on. In stylish fashion, she vanquishes the beast and stares at her kill with what I can imagine to be an arrogant smirk of some kind.
With the help of the changeling Zam Wesell, she rescues Wilmar and returns the kid to his father. You could almost hear the Hutt’s displeasure of having Aurra escape and kill the beast. In fact, her victory over the predavorexx cost one a total of 40,000 credits as they gambled on her to lose. Zam and Aurra celebrate their victory and money earned with a couple of the famed beverages aboard the Halcyon. The camaraderie that exists between certain bounty hunters and the relationship dynamics at play have always intrigued me. The assassins for hire being able to sit back and enjoy some drinks over a “hard day’s work” strikes me as particularly humorous.
Back in real time, young Cimina is worried about the imminent threat of pirates and the looming storm. This particular uneasy story did nothing to squelch her worries. Captain Keevan sends a message to the crew to get ready for a bumpy ride as the Halcyon launches towards the storm.
This issue isn’t going to be one of the more memorable Star Wars comics, but it does provide a fun story for a niche fan favorite character. The current plot is overly disinteresting, and there is little depth to be found in the present timeline characters. In totality, this will likely remain a series intended on sharing the rich history of the ship in a strategy intended to provide a greater lure to those with the means to spend a few nights aboard Disney’s new luxurious resort.
Rating: 5/10
Finding ways to nonchalantly incorporate Star Wars quotes into 8th grade classroom, Tyler lives and breathes Star Wars. His morning tradition is sending the latest number in the countdown for different Star Wars projects and loves engaging in uplifting Star Wars dialogue. If you are passionate about Star Wars you can follow him on Twitter at TyBrad5.
