Review – ‘Thrawn: Alliances’ #2 Continues Its Strong Start With a Shorter Installment
The second issue of Thrawn: Alliances is just as strong as the first, though noticeably shorter in length as it is mainly focused around bar brawls, or thr aftermath of them, occurring in both of its dual storylines. As was pointed out in our review of the first issue, this series makes a good case for comic adaptions of existing Star Wars stories, particularly novels.
While Timothy Zahn’s original novel spent entire chapters in one story before switching over to the other, the comic is able to do so in just a few pages, leaning into the mirrored similarities between Thrawn’s missions with Anakin and Vader. This allows for much quicker pacing than the novel — while the original material is able to get into much greater detail in the minds of Anakin, Vader and Padmé, the comic can get to the action and pivot between storylines much faster.
Cover by ROD REIS
It also cannot be underestimated how enjoyable it is to actually see Thrawn working with both Anakin and Vader, rather than imagining it in the reader’s mind. I was a big fan of Thrawn: Alliances when the novel originally came out, but admittedly the comic adaption brings some strengths to it that the novel can’t match. While the story is still in its early stages and we’re yet to get to any exciting developments now the premise has already been set up, it’s still great fun to read.
It does struggle to match the novel in other areas, though. The narration boxes feel a bit odd sometimes, as they are only needed for one page at a time, so when they first popped up I was initially confused if Vader was talking to Thrawn or if we were reading his thoughts. It turns out it was the latter, but I feel such a narrative device works best when used consistently across the issue, not as a method to verbalize a character’s thoughts in the brief moments when there is no dialogue.
That isn’t to say it couldn’t have been done better — the Darth Vader comic series has proved that using narration to verbalize Vader’s thoughts in particular can work extremely well — but this problem crops up again in the final page, when we return to Padmé setting down on Mokivj. As she has no one to talk to, all her thoughts are expressed via narration boxes and it feels a bit jarring. This won’t be an issue later in the adaption, but right now it doesn’t quite fit.
Overall though, the comic adaption continues to be a success. I had a lot of fun reading both Vader and Thrawn’s fight with the Darkshi in the present day, and their detective work in the past storyline. Thrawn’s dynamic with the two characters continues to be interesting; it appears even clearer to me this time around that Vader is eager not to dwell on Thrawn’s past mission with Anakin, and it makes for fascinating reading.
The issue doesn’t give us any new level of insight into this story, but given that we’re adapting a novel and not a TV show, it doesn’t need to. When it comes to everything else though, it’s a great read.
Rating: 7/10
Josh is a huge Star Wars fan, who has spent far too much time wondering if any Star Wars character could defeat Thanos with all the Infinity Stones.
