REVIEW: ‘Star Wars Adventures,’ Issue #18

Published by IDW Publishing, Star Wars Adventures #18 continues the young adult series of anthology comic books for the Star Wars canon. Issue 18 is comprised of two different short stories: Raiders of the Lost Gundark and Flight of the Falcon, Part 5: “Grand Theft Falcon”. The two stories per issue have been a staple of the series since its inception in 2017 and provide adventures that are short, to the point, and are not related to each other.

Raiders of the Lost Gundark is written by Delilah Dawson and features art and color from Derek Charm and lettering from Tom Long. This story is the more light-hearted of the two stories being told in issue 18.  The story features Queen Padme Amidala and Jar Jar Binks prior to their Galactic Senate debuts in Attack of the Clones.

Jar Jar Binks begins the story by bringing a treasure map to Queen Amidala’s attention. Despite her queenly duties, Queen Amidala indulges Jar Jar with her assistance after his mentioning of the debt the people of Naboo owe Boss Nass, the leader of the Gungans. Dressed her iconic outfit from the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated show, Queen Amidala accompanies the gungan on a quest to find a mysterious “Gungan relic”.  Dawson, who has become well known in the Star Wars literature with her work on Phasma, takes the reader on an adventure filled with callbacks to Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Readers can expect events very reminiscent the way episodes with Jar Jar Binks played out in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Jar Jar stumbles his way along, sometimes inadvertently helping with his antics but more often than not places the duo in less than ideal situations that require heroics from his adventure counterpart. While there are not any galaxy defining moments or even major Easter eggs that will have Star Wars lore lovers gushing, it does provide a cute storyline to see the relationship between Padme and Jar Jar grow into what we see in Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

Flight of the Falcon, Part 5: “Grand Theft Falcon” written by Michael Moreci and features art from Adrianna Florean, colors from Adele Matera and lettering from Tom Long. The Flight of the Falcon series started in Star Wars Adventures #14 and takes place at different times in the Star Wars canon with the common theme being the Millennium Falcon. Part 5 involves a Han Solo riding solo without Chewbacca post episode 6.

Remember in The Force Awakens when Han Solo and Chewbacca finally return home to the Millennium Falcon and there a brief mention of the list of thieves who stole Han and Chewie’s baby? Han immediately accuses someone named Ducain. This is that story. We finally get to meet the alien who was sly enough to take the Falcon from under the nose from Han Solo from a number of years given how grey Solo is by the time we see him in The Force Awakens.

The story is primarily given through the perspective of Gannis Ducian, who Han meets at Maz Kanata’s Castle. Without giving too much detail into how the story plays out, I will say that it is stories like this that make me love the expanded universe that Star Wars is able to provide. This is the kind of story that is spawned from a one-off comment and does not need to be told on screen but by telling the tale in a comic isa great addition to canon, in the gaps that are able to be filled between movies. Unlike the first story in issue 18, this one is littered with Easter eggs from the universe that genuinely add context that deep-rooted Star Wars lore junkies will appreciate.

Overall, issue 18 gives me a mixed bag. Raiders of the Lost Gundark is an all but forgettable story that most fans could probably live without while Flight of the Falcon, Part 5: “Grand Theft Falcon” continues the series’s ability to provide more background information that can surely hold us over until the next time we see Star Wars on the big screen.

At a $3.99 price point, I am not sure if I could recommend going out to pick this up for just half of the issue as Raiders of the Lost Gundark isn’t the most riveting addition to the Star Wars canon and you don’t NEED to know about Ducain. Instead,  wait until IDW Publishing releases volume six of the Star Wars Adventure series in July which will contain all the issues of Flight of the Falcon.

Star Wars Adventures #18 is available everywhere comics are sold.