Publisher: Dark Horse
Written by: Matt Kindt
Penciller: Marco Castiello
Star Wars: Rebel Heist is a downright, balls to the wall, fun comic book. Better yet: it’s a Star Wars comic book in the very spirit of Star Wars. It’s the type of content that the Expanded Universe generally lacks, because it’s just a fun adventure story, centered around the main cast of the original trilogy. That being said, none of the chapters are told from the point of view of the main characters, and this is part of the reason that the comic is so successful. The characters are almost deified by their counterparts, who are generally just relatively normal people in the galaxy. The past two issues have centered around Han Solo and Princess Leia, and now it’s Chewbacca’s turn to step up and take center stage.
As with the previous chapter, his companion’s initial impression of Chewie is far from flattering. Despite claiming to hate the Empire, this former stormtrooper maintains much of the xenophobia associated with the Empire. As such, he sees the worst in Chewie. But, over the course of the issue, he warms up to him, realizing that he’s much more than just a Wookie. The moment where this happens is an extremely powerful, well written moment that does great things both for Chewie’s character and for the former Stormtrooper. The inner monologue is some of the best I’ve read recently, and Matt Kindt really takes advantage of it in terms of his story telling, using it both as narration as well as to advance character arcs.
As the title of this series would suggest, it is a heist story. It’s a very intricately planned heist, that’s for sure, with multiple layers to the Alliance’s plan. As a result of this, each individual issue ends on a cliffhanger, none of which have really been resolved at this point, which is a double edged sword. On one hand, it makes each issue feel like a self contained story, which is beneficial to the issues. That being said, it makes each chapter feel disconnected from the last, which actually hinders the overarching story of the series. While this isn’t a problem for this specific issue, it is a problem for the story as a whole.
The plot of this book is fairly simple, but its nuance comes entirely from the characters and the world. The Star Wars universe, of course, already feels lived in. But it’s series like Rebel Heist that add layers to that nuanced universe, specially by focusing on more normal people living within the galaxy. Introducing new characters is always beneficial, especially if they’re written as well as Kindt writes them. Seeing these new, somewhat inconsequential, characters interact with major players in the universe is great. Throwing them on missions together really serves to solidify who the existing characters really are. That being said, it is starting to feel a little bit repetitive at this point. Each issue follows a very similar formula, and while it’s consistently well written, each issue feels, to an extent, like a re-skinned version of the previous issue.
Even with this flaw, Star Wars: Rebel Heist #3 is a stellar, stellar comic book, that is worth picking up. Even if you haven’t read previous issues, this issue is standalone enough that you can just dive into the series. This is probably the best Star Wars book coming out right now, so all Star Wars fans will find something to love here, but it is definitely not only for Star Wars fans. This is a really, really fun heist story that just happens to take place in the Star Wars universe, and both of these components work to each others’ advantage.
