After six issues of Luke searching for a lightsaber, we finally get into something I’ve really been looking forward to. That being, some back story on Commander Zahra, and why exactly she has it out for Leia. Let’s head to a galaxy far, far away, and see what Charles Soule has in store for us this month!

This issue takes quite a turn from our last several in a way that makes quite a bit of sense to this reviewer. After a brief introduction early on in this run, Commander Zahra has been nowhere to be seen for the most part. This issue gets back to her and is a breath of fresh air being completely honest.

We open with the traditional Star Wars crawl that serves as recap/credit. I’ve said it before but it deserves mention again. The opening crawl works SO well for a comic recap! It’s awesome. We then quickly dive into Zahra and Tarkin.

We see through scenes that bounce back and forth from the past to present how the relationship between Zahra and Tarkin was formed. How Tarkin decided on Zahra as his protege, and perhaps most importantly, how ruthless and cutthroat Zahra actually is.

By the end of the issue, in a form of yet another flashback, we see Zahra clearly as Tarkin’s next in command. He gives her a mission. A terrible mistake is made, and we then see the events that lead to Zahra’s pure hatred and the reason she wants Leia’s head.

These flashbacks work quite well and really do the cliched character /world-building in a Star Wars universe that certainly has a vast array of wonderful characters already.

The art overall is outstanding. There’s nothing like seeing A fleet of Rebel or Imperial ships in space! My only minor gripe is that in the scene of the three prospective candidates, I couldn’t actually tell which one was Zahra. I’m assuming since two of them had green hats and one had a black hat, that the one with the black hat is Zahra. I shouldn’t really have to rely on that though should I??

By the time we get to the ever-present cliffhanger, we’ve got quite a showdown set up!

Final Thoughts:

Charles Soule has done what few others have in the Star Wars universe. He’s created a top tier/main character that isn’t a Jedi, Sith, or cute droid! Think about that for a minute! He deserves quite a bit of credit for that!!

The Star Wars flagship title also continues to set the standard for all Star Wars books as far as top-notch stories! It continues to be one of my favorite books month after month.