Ania Solo and her pal Sauk learn that they are in way, way over their heads with that salvaged lightsaber in this week’s Star Wars comic: Legacy #2.
In issue #2 of Star Wars: Legacy Volume 2 (DarkHorse.com profile), continuing the ‘Prisoner of the Floating World’ story arc, a little run in with the local law on Carrerras gets blown up to something bigger, and Ania Solo is thrown into an adventure with no turning back. Having recovered a lightsaber from a salvaged comm droid, Ania and her friend Sauk have to shake off the attention of the local authorities – and now, the newly arrived Imperial Knight is willing to kill to get his saber back. Corinna Bechko and Gabriel Hardman keep the thrill ride going with action as the scope of the story expands! Spoiler warnings for all!
Summary: Ania Solo, junk dealer, and Sauk, technician & refugee, are now fugitives after Ania attacked the bullying law enforcement on Carrerras. Being chased in their flyer down in the sewers, they manage an escape from Solo’s flying and Sauk’s accidental diversion. However, their freedom is short lived: the Sith masquerading as the Imperial Knight Yalta Val, visiting with the system’s governor to oversee the completion of a communications array, learns of the discovered lightsaber, and takes over the hunt. Confronting the two at her junkyard, he recovers Val’s saber, and orders the Carrerran troopers to kill Solo and the Mon Cal. After a quick chase in the junk, the pair are rescued by one of Ania’s customers, the assassin droid AG-37, who pilots them offworld. In space, Sauk repairs the comm droid that held the lightsaber, and the three make a startling discovery from its records: the Imperial Knight who claimed the saber is an imposter! Coming out of hyperspace, they discover a fleet of ships, possibly waiting for them.
Master Val’s fellow Imperial Knight, Jao Assam, is stationed at another comm relay project, but wonders why he hasn’t heard from his friend, and calls up the Empress and Master Antares, who take note but don’t allow the young Knight to follow up on Val’s silence. Meanwhile, the real Master Val is still held as a prisoner on a world in the Surd Nebula, with the Sith imposter hoping to break him to the dark side.
Review: Bechko and Hardman keep the action flowing while developing the larger storyline. We get introduced to another intriguing ally for Ania: AG-37, who looks like an IG assassin droid, and seems to be equally lethal, though favors wearing a tattered coat, and has been around for a very long time. He’s in it both as an honest customer of Ania’s and because there is some sort of mystery here in the Imperial Knight’s behavior. We are also introduced to Jao Assam, a younger Imperial Knight, and it seems that he’s likely to start to investigate Val’s disappearance. But nearly all the action here is with Ania and Sauk, with their high speed chase in the sewers, showing off Ania’s piloting, and then their run through the salvage yard with the blaster-happy Carrerras troops on their tails. But we also get some insight into the Sith imposter as he forces his way into local business by taking over the chase for the lightsaber (and his entrance into the junkyard is drawn very Vader-like).
Hardman’s artwork (with Rachelle Rosenburg’s colors) continues to give a dark, gritty feel, with lots of shadows and hatching and a choppy look, while minimizing the use of shots with lots of natural light. I’m not quite a fan of the use of halftoning patterns that often appear, but I do like the use of little insets to show detailed action in a larger setting: like Sauk working on the droid when the gesaw rat scares him in the junkyard. This scene is the set up for the rat diversion later on in the scrap yard, which also has some great action scenes. Probably my favorite panel is a nearly a full page of AG blasting Ania & Sauk’s pursuers away after the soldiers corner the pair. And the great shot above. There’s also some great moods – the Empress shows a good range of feelings in her conversation with Master Antares, and Ania gets a bit introspective as they catch their breath in space. And the impostor has some great evil looking shots to let us know that he’s the villain.
Overall, a fun issue that builds up the world of Legacy a bit more and brings us some action and a new droid to root for! We don’t learn as much about Ania and Sauk, but we do see them on the go, and we get some new players, and a closer look at the bad guy’s plans.