Review: Witness the Greatest Heist Aboard the Halcyon in Marvel’s Halcyon Legacy #4
The penultimate issue of the Halcyon Legacy series is its best one yet! We spend some time during the age of the Empire in this one. With the Halcyon on the brink of being boarded by the fearsome pirate Crimson Jack, everyone’s fear is heightened. Cimina’s grandfather Shorr is the Resistance spy the pirates are looking for and he is preparing something to keep the crew from any further harm. Cinema fears not only for herself, but now for her beloved grandfather. To calm the young Tholothian, hospitality droid D3-O9 tells her a story. In this one the good guys can team up together and outsmart the bad guys.
This issue made me smile, laugh and just have a grand old time. Some of these high stakes missions in previous issues have fallen short of feeling impactful in most ways. This story of daring with some familiar faces was exactly what I have been wanting. These stories shouldn’t be of major galactic consequence. This one provides some entertainment from start to finish with some unlikely team ups I never thought I’d get to see.
Spoilers ahead.
As I said before the pirates are closing in. Cimina and her grandfather are both worried about what is about to come and Shorr attempts to prepare his granddaughter for it. Uniquely, Shorr had an experience as a young boy with Padmé, when he learned about sacrifice. He explains to Cimina why sacrifice and standing up for what’s right is so important and how now Padmé’s daughter has given him the chance to do that. This image struck me in a powerful way. Padmé on one side and Leia on the other. Both are absolute beacons for justice in the galaxy.
Shorr’s conversation with Cimina is brief because the pirates have found them. The luxury cruise liner is no match for this beast of a vessel. Crimson Jack, the captain of the brigands, orders Captain Keeve of the Halcyon to prepare to be boarded unless they mean to be destroyed. In order to soothe Cimina’s growing fears D3-O9 tells her a story where the good guys outsmart the bad guys. This is where the fun begins. It starts with Maz Kanata surrounded by stormtroopers on her way to deliver a valuable item to General Kardan, the imperial in charge of the Halcyon. Kardan has a secret collection of valuable antiques and treasures he keeps all to himself. Of course, a collection so valuable is guarded by his self-proclaimed “Impenetrable safe”.
Maz hands off a fake version of the crown jewels of Alderaan to Kardan. She knows in his greed he won’t take the time to verify their authenticity. Her eyes are for something in the treasure within. A job like this requires stealth, but also a level of daring. A job like this is why she didn’t come alone. Two titans of this industry are here to help. The smuggler Lando Calrissian and the pirate Hondo Ohnaka remain in the lower decks ready to leap into action.
This image made me chuckle. Lando sitting with a smug smile with Hondo’s smile right behind him. The closest we have ever been to seeing these two team up is when Ezra tells Hondo his name is Lando Calrissian when the two of them first meet in Rebels.
With Maz occupying Kardan’s time, the two spring into action. Hondo plays a hide and seek game of sorts with the stormtroopers. The stormtroopers don’t turn out to be great seekers, believe it or not. They chased him around the ship while the true threat was right beneath their nose. With General Kardan thinking Hondo had somehow made it into his all-powerful safe he ordered the guards to open it up and take his box of treasures out. Lando, disguised as an imperial guard, takes the box and gives a good whack to the face of General Kardan. Something ultra-satisfying always exists in an imperial general getting a good whack to the face.
Once the three of them have the box of treasure, Maz dumps it all back into the safe. Hondo and Lando look in bewilderment as they wonder what on earth they came here for, if not the treasure. Assuring them they each had 40,000 credits safely transferred into their accounts she tells them they really only came for this box. It was made from a special tree on Kashyyyk and gifted to her by someone special long ago. This image of a young Maz with a mystery Wookie was rather special.
After D3-O9’s completion of the story the ship begins to rumble as the pirates have made their way on board. Shorr realizes he can wait no longer and says his goodbyes to Cimina. The love of a grandfather for his granddaughter was on full display. While we haven’t spent much time with these two as the bulk of these stories take place in past ventures, I can’t help but feel a little tug at my heartstrings with this goodbye.
Crimson Jack makes his way to the bridge and stares down Captain Keeve. Her steely resolve is to be admired as she hasn’t flinched a single time throughout the series. The icy glare she gives the long mustached pirate is enough to perhaps cause even a shiver down his spine.
Their conversation is cut short as Shorr’s plan becomes known. In an attempt to free the Halcyon from the clutches of the pirates he has taken an escape pod. It’s a desperate gamble, but if he succeeds perhaps the Halcyon can get away while the pirates pursue him. This once frightened boy who was saved by Padmé Amidala is now a resistance spy for her daughter Leia Organa. He’s ready to sacrifice himself for the cause.
With one issue left in this arc I am surprised how invested I became. This issue felt for the first time like Sack struck the perfect pacing and emotional tones for this type of comic. The flashback story of a time aboard the Halcyon was my favorite one yet, and Ethan Sacks wrote each of those big three characters perfectly. Honda had the right amount of smarminess and sarcastic wit. Lando was as smug and charming as ever and we got to see a bit of Maz outsmarting them all. The fourth issue didn’t feel like I was trying to be sold on the Halcyon itself. Instead, I felt comfortable and relaxed simply enjoying a Star Wars tale onboard another storied vessel. The final issue for the Halcyon Legacy arc teases a bounty hunter storyline with Bossk on the cover.
Rating: 8.0
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.
