Force Matters: Sad Han Elevates ‘Hunt For The Falcon’ #1

Like many of us, Han sets out to reacquire reminders of his lost youth in Han Solo – Hunt for the Falcon #1 while the new leader of the Knights of Ren is introduced in Legacy of Vader #8

Star Wars: Han Solo – Hunt For The Falcon #1 by Rodney Barnes & Ramon Rosanas

Tried of his life on the ground, Han Solo sets out to reclaim his beloved Millennium Falcon.

• Barnes & Rosanas previously worked together on the Inquisitors miniseries.
• To Barnes’ credit, he writes this aging Han in such a way that he sounds very much like cranky Harrison Ford.
• I’m a bigger fan of Solo than most, but one of my big pet peeves about the movie is that it led to Disney making Lando’s yellow shirt in that film his default look, such that he’s wearing it in all subsequent appearances (like Rise of Skywalker and here), despite it obviously not being present in the Original Trilogy. He’s a cool guy! He can wear different clothes!
• Malastare, where Han is living at the start of the issue, is a world known for its racing (Qui-Gon mentioned it as a location that hosted podraces in The Phantom Menace). Pixelito is one of its major cities (Sebulba was from there). Oskatoon, where Ducain pulls his heist, appears here for the first time.
• Han is accompanied throughout the issue by a Threepio-esque droid named C-4DO.
• The Wyyyschock spiders were first mentioned in Brian Daley’s Han Solo And The Lost Legacy (an early tie-in novel) and have made scattered appearances in various media since then.
• Chewbacca’s family — his wife Mallatobuck and his son Lumpawaroo — first appeared in the much-reviled Star Wars Holiday Special.
• Han calls Lumpawaroo “Lumpy” before being corrected and using “Waroo”; this is a reference to an old Expanded Universe trilogy (the “Black Fleet Crisis”) in which he received the name “Lumpwaroo” and the diminutive “Waroo” in place of “Lumpy” as part of a coming-of-age ritual.
• There’s a weird sequence where Waroo just wants to go along with Han and his dad, but Chewbacca gets really mad at him (their dialogue isn’t translated so it’s unclear what they’re saying to each other).

• Chewbacca also seems way too eager to ditch his family and run off with Han.
• Ducain was mentioned as a post-Solo, pre-Unkar Plutt owner of the Falcon in The Force Awakens; he first appeared in Star Wars Adventures #18 (2019).

A bit heavy on the setup, but Barnes has Han’s voice down, creating a compelling portrait of a man adrift, desperate to reclaim a symbol of his lost happiness.

Star Wars: Legacy of Vader #8 by Charles Soule & Stefano Raffaele

Tava Ren, the new leader of the Knights of Ren, learns the history of Kylo Ren and sets about to reclaim the Knights reputation.

• This is the first appearance of Tava Ren, though the character was introduced in a panel at this year’s Star Wars Celebration convention.
• Much of this issue draws on Soule’s earlier work fleshing out the backstory of the Knights of Ren in The Rise of Kylo Ren miniseries, which amongst other things established that the Knights take their name from an old Sith lightsaber called the “Ren” that had traditionally been wielded by their leader before Kylo took control and adopted his own lightsaber.
• The history Tava learns of the Knights’ actions as, essentially, mercenaries of the First Order under Kylo Ren’s leadership is mostly new, however, and helps bridge the gap between the earlier Kylo Ren miniseries and The Force Awakens (it also mirrors the role the Knights will later play again in Rise of Skywalker, which is set after this series).

The Knights of Ren backstory is probably the highlight of this issue, in part because it doesn’t provide enough of a sense of who Tava is to make her compelling in her own right. Also, while Raffaele’s art is decent, Luke Ross’ absence is felt.

Cover of the Week

Maybe Tava would have landed better as a character if this Stephanie Hans cover had been used as the “prime” cover.