Star Wars/Amazing Spider-Man

I discuss the special Obi-Wan Kenobi throwback issue from Star Wars #7 and picking up a sweet variant of Amazing Spider-Man #3.

Star Wars #7

My friendly-local-comic-book-store kindly obliged me in putting aside a variant cover of Star Wars #7. After issue #6's bombshell that Han was married and had a wife issue #7 departs completely from the normal story arc and instead reveals an excerpt from Obi-Wan Kenobi's diary (I wonder if he means old Ben Kenobi...).

Simone Bianchi steps in as the artist to work on this issue with Jason Aaron continuing the writing. Bianchi's signature is all over this issue, using dark shadows to accentuate his character's expressions. Aaron shows glimpses of Luke's life on Tatooine with iconic images from the movies like Luke staring out at the horizon with the two settings suns approaching turned into young Luke sitting on the roof of the old stone building in the same cinematic shot but looking up to the sky dreaming.

Another scene has Luke captured by *insert generic Tatooine gang-member* and has resonance with his father's childhood on the same planet when Luke says he's scared. The same conflict of emotion was evident in young Anakin Skywalker when he runs back to his mother's arms as he's leaving but later when he's asked "Are you afraid?" by Padme he just says he's cold. The parallels between the two young Skywalkers and their lives on Tatooine before leaving the planet behind are revealing and well-portrayed, if only briefly in this issue. Maybe a sign of more young Luke stories in the future of the title? Here's hoping.

Amazing Spider-Man #3 Variant

I also did some impulse shopping in Dublin over the weekend and, while rooting through a big back-collections of comics, found a variant cover I absolutely love. It's the Tim Sale variant cover (1:25) of Amazing Spider-Man #3. For me it really rolls back the years to older Spider-Man covers but with really nice, muted tones and pastel colouring. I think I'll be selling this one rather than keeping it but until then I'll be looking at it and drooling all over the plastic.

-J