Review: Lando Mini-Series

This is a review of the mini-series 'Lando' by Marvel. As such it contains spoilers of the series.

The short version: Lando sucks.

The long version: Lando sucks a lot.

The slightly longer version:

We start in bed with a woman. Marvel feel the need to point out how suave and better with women than I am Lando is in every series apparently (see Shattered Empire which I helpfully reviewed here... you're welcome.).

We are told that the woman is in fact some big governor of an Imperial world and Lando (that old dog) is trying to steal some artifact from her. She doesn't appreciate this. Why don't you just use your smooth moves on her Lando?

That's exactly what he does. She pulls a gun and he's all like "Netflix and chill, bae."

Next up, after stealing all her nice stuff, we meet Lobot, the rather silent type from The Empire Strikes Back who helps Lando run Cloud City on Bespin. It's actually nice to see a bit more of this character and the series is as much about him as it is about Lando.

Lando gets cornered by [insert generic crime boss] and is told he owes him money but, as luck would have it, the crime boss has one lined up nice and easy like. By easy I mean go and rewatch Firefly to see how the easy jobs usually end up. On an unrelated by more pleasant note, I'm currently taking part in an awesome Firefly RPG run by my good friend Dave, see the first write up here.

At the end of the issue they successfully acquire the ship and we pan out to see that it belongs to none other than Emperor Palpatine himself. Oh what a wonderful twist which no one was expecting. But wait, there's more! Issue two to be precise, the cover of which looks like Lando is scratching Lobot's belly...

Here the Emperor takes some action to get his ship back and that's about it up until the last page where Lobot opens one of the doors in the ship and gets stabbed by the Emperor's Royal Guard. If you're unfamiliar with the Emperor's Royal Guard then you can see glimpses of them in Return of the Jedi or catch them in their pinnacle series: Crimson Empire. 

We're on to issue #3. They kill the Royal Guards.

We're on to issue #4. The Sith artifacts on the ship drive everyone a little insane and the Emperor's Bounty Hunter catches up to Lando and the ship. Lo and behold, it's a woman who Lando knows...

Issue #5 moves with sluggish predictability. The only actual gap that was plugged by Marvel in this story is how Lobot ends up not being able to speak or be human any more. His implants have taken over his mind since he wasn't able to fend them off since he was stabbed. 

That's it.

Don't you wish you'd read the short version now?

Star Wars Shattered Empire #2

Issue #2 Variant Cover I picked up on release day

What a blast that issue was to read. A-Wings, Y-Wings, Imperial AT-ATs attacking a civilian city and Leia visiting a familiar place, this issue had a lot of bang for your buck and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

So before I talk about the story there is one little tidbit I spotted in this issue which could be something or could be nothing.

Lieutenant Shara Bey has been flying non-stop since the Battle for Endor and her commanding officer is concerned. At one point he asks her:

"When did you last hear from Kes? Or your boy?"

"I talked to my father and Poe last week but...Kes [ ]"

So hold on, her son's name is Poe? And the new character just released for the X-Wing Miniatures Game is Poe also? Something tells me it's not an overly common name in that far-far-away galaxy. 

The Poe Dameron card for the X-Wing Miniatures Game

We're reading the story about Poe Dameron's parents!

In fact I should have spotted it in the first issue when Green Four addresses her lover as Sargent Dameron!

The story itself revolves around the fact that Green Four has been flying too many combat missions since Endor so she gets assigned transport duties for Princess Leie to visit Naboo. While on Naboo the eerily familiar event of planet-wide communications blackout occurs, only this time it's not a droid army in orbit, it's the Imperial Navy!

Issue #2 was a blast. It's an impressive book so far, looking forward to the rest of it.

PS: Keep an eye on how they deal with the AT-AT problem...