Rogues, Rebels & Andronian Ink Portraits – Checking Out Star Wars: Lando – Double Or Nothing #1

Lando Calrissian has been a character I’ve always liked. I was one of the kids that dug through every Star Wars expanded universe novel and comic book, and it was always a pleasant surprise to find Lando with a role within the story.  Hell, I even loved the Lando Calrissian Adventures, an obscure trilogy of novels set shortly before Lando lost the Falcon to Han. Unfortunately, I haven’t had an opportunity to check out Solo yet, but I know that I’m going to enjoy Glover’s take on the character just as much as I love Williams’.  That’s a long-winded way to say that, naturally, I was excited to pick this mini series up.
Lando and L3-37 are in the market for jobs. Lando needs to redecorate the Falcon (including a large-ish portrait of himself). So when a pretty girl who needs to run some guns to free her people from the Empire approaches, he’s in, as soon as he knows the money’s right.
The set up is simple, but that’s what makes Rodney Barnes’ story work. It’s a caper, and when it comes to caper stories, the initial plots don’t need to be complex. We want to see the character interactions, the schemes, and (often) everything go wrong horribly so our heroes have to scramble to get out of it. That’s exactly what Barnes seeds here. I also love his Lando. He’s young, immature, and trying to figure out his way in the galaxy. This isn’t the charmer we love yet, but you can see him in there.  He’s lucky that he’s charming as hell, because he’s so selfish that it’s clearly going to come back on him hard.

Paolo Villanelli knocks the line art out of the park. Lando is clearly Glover’s version, but he’s not overly photo referenced or stiff, and carries the familiar body language of the rogue we’ve come to know and love. The alien designs are fun too. Interestingly, all but a single Trandoshan look like new designs, which gives the story a feel of being set on a frontier of the galaxy we know and love. And the other essential Star Wars element, the ships, look great.
Color artist Andres Mossa deserves some great props for his work here. He keeps the colors bright and vibrant. It helps everything seem shiny, poppy, and energetic. It’s a great feel for Lando, and is the perfect choice here.
If this  issue is any indication, this is a series that any Star Wars fan is clearly going enjoy.  Pick it up!
Star Wars: Lando – Double or Nothing #1 is currently in shops from Marvel Comics.