Star Wars: The Force Awakens #2 Review

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The pursuit of the Millennium Falcon takes center stage in The Force Awakens #2.

This article contains spoilers for The Force Awakens #2.

The Force Awakens #2

 Writer: Chuck Wendig | Artist: Luke Ross | Colorist: Frank Martin | Letterer: VC’s Clayton Cowles | Cover Artist: Mike Mayhew

Summary

The Marvel comic adaptation The Force Awakens #2 resumes the story with Rey, Finn, and BB-8’s escape from Jakku. Of course, they steal the Millennium Falcon from Unkar Plutt. The trio evades and fights off TIE Figters as they flee from the First Order. Once off planet, a First Order officer informs Kylo Ren that BB-8 eluded capture. In response, Kylo throws his trademark tantrum. Returning to the Falcon, Rey and Finn must repair a gas leak threatening to poison them.

As Rey makes repairs, Finn confesses to BB-8 that he is not with the Resistance. Finn then admits he is just trying to escape the First Order. Initially shocked, BB-8 agrees to disclose the location of the Resistance base. Before Rey can lay in a course, a large freighter engulfs the Falcon. Fearing the First Order, Rey prepares to sabotage the gas line hoping to poison the Stormtroopers.

However, no Stormtroopers board the Falcon. Instead, Han Solo and Chewbacca storm the ship. They quickly find Rey and Finn hiding below the deck. As the three make introductions, a Guavian Death Gange boards Han’s freighter. Bala-Tik commands the gang. Shortly thereafter, Kanjiklub, another gang, boards the freighter. Both gangs want money they loaned to Han back. The situation gets ugly quickly. In an attempt to help, Rey mistakenly frees the Rathtars, monsters Solo was hauling, into the ship. The issue concludes with a Rathtar hauling off Finn in a tentacle.

Pursuit on Jakku

The Millennium Falcon’s escape on Jakku admirably attempts to recapture the thrill of the chase from the film. Rey and Finn’s improvisation as they attempt to fly the Falcon and fight off TIE Fighters clearly comes through. However, some of the comedic timing is absent, but that cannot be helped when the film is translated to the page. The chase really shines when it progresses through the crashed remains of the Super Star Destroyer. In a few panels, Wendig and Ross successfully capture the tight passages the Falcon is flying through and the speed at which they fly. This sequence suffers after the Falcon emerges from the wreckage. Unless you are familiar with the movie, it would not be apparent that Rey sent the Falcon into a free fall upside down to give Finn a shot at the pursuing TIE Fighter. Instead, the maneuver appears as more of an ambush.

Han’s Reflection

One of the clear advantages of the comic over the film comes with the opportunity for character introspection not possible in a movie. Wendig utilized this after Han Solo met Rey and Finn. When Rey realizes they are on the Millennium Falcon, she also figures out Han Solo’s identity. She asks, “You’re Han Solo?” Han replies, “I used to be.” The following panel contains scenes of his past. The Battle of Endor, riding a Taun Taun on Hoth, and his relationship with Princess Leia crowd the panel. It is a fantastic touch. This series needs more of these moments. While getting the story of The Force Awakens in comic form is nice, comics contain drawbacks compared to film. Touches like these enhance the story and overcome those shortcomings.

Kylo Ren’s Tantrum

As in issue one, not every scene from the movies can or will be included in the comic adaptation. For instance, this series omits very opening scenes of the movie from the beginning of the last issue. Therefore, it is odd that certain scenes are included. In this issue, In The Force Awakens #2, Marvel included Kylo Ren’s tantrum upon hearing BB-8 escaped Jakku. However, the sequence of events is very muddled. It almost appears that Kylo ignites his saber and impales the poor lieutenant delivering the bad news. Perhaps that is the impression they wanted to make. If you hadn’t seen the movie, you wouldn’t know that the lieutenant was cringing as Kylo was destroying the console at which he had been standing. Likely, Wendig, Ross, and the editorial team attempted to duplicate shots from the movie, but it doesn’t work clearly here. Furthermore, this contains no information particularly critical to the story.

Conclusion

This comic adaptation of The Force Awakens #2 adequately captures the story. The more familiar with the movie one is, the more the action scenes make sense. Without motion, the reader must rely on their memory to fill in some of the action and gaps. For example, it isn’t easy to tell that Rey sent the Falcon into a loop and spin to avoid the oncoming TIEs. It will be interesting to see how much more of the Rathtar sequence will be shown in this next issue. Finn’s capture by the Rathtar served as the cliffhanger for this issue. Therefore, that scene seemed a little abrupt. Each issue of this series might be better analyzed when the series is complete.

The Art and The Force Awakens #2 Favorite Panel

The art is a tad uneven in this issue. It is clear who Rey, Finn, and Han are. Although recognizable, at times the likeness suffers. For instance, Finn doesn’t always look like John Boyega. In some panels it appears a different actor served as the reference model. In some panels, Han Solo’s likeness to Harrison Ford suffers. The same could be said of Rey’s similarity to Daisy Ridley, but she may have been the best illustrated character. The real issues arise the farther away characters appear in the panel.

Character likeness issues aside, the art featuring starships stands out. Ross excellently illustrated the Millennium Falcon and TIE Fighters in the opening panels. In fact, I chose a panel from the chase as a representative of the entire sequence for this issue’s favorite panel.