REVIEW: ‘Star Wars Adventures,’ Issue #25

Star Wars Adventures #25 hits comic book shelves with a new story for the Star Wars canon. Published by IDW Publishing, Star Wars Adventures #25 follows political upstarts Leia Organa and Amilyn Holdo on Coruscant. Unlike the normal format where Star Wars Adventures provides a main story and a secondary story, Star Wars Adventures #25 has only the one story allowing for a deep dive through the issue. Writer Delilah S. Dawson, who is no stranger to the Star Wars universe, works with artist Marguax Saltel, who also provided art for the recent Star Wars Adventures Annual 2019, to provide a compelling story with the two long time friends. Tom B. Long rounds out the team as letterer as well.

“The Right Wrong Turn” opens with Leia preparing to give Amilyn a driving lesson for a speeder. Amilyn is eager to learn but almost immediately begins to ask questions about the lower levels of Coruscant, infamous for its dangerous underworld and the deepest levels are nearly inaccessible. A young Amilyn Holdo’s adventurous nature, a spontaneous request for a speeder lesson, and insistent probing about the depths of the city planet all point to a possible deception on the part Amilyn.

Despite Leia’s warning about the lowest levels being unreachable, Amilyn is adamant about seeking out a dangerous adventure. Without much warning, Amilyn plummets the speeder down to the city depths. What follows is the duo attempting to navigate the city’s underbelly to discover its secrets. Since Leia is the princesses of Alderaan and the lower levels are not filled with the most reputable beings, the two risk much by embarking on this trip. However, through their tight knit friendship Leia and Amilyn look to uncover the long lost secrets of Coruscant and bring new perspective to the upper levels.

Star Wars Adventures #25 is definitely one of the best in the Star Wars Adventures series. The highlight of the story is certainly the exploration of the relationship of Leia and Amilyn in their younger years. Although their relationship is explored in Leia, Princess of Alderaan by Claudia Gray, Dawson hits on many of the same tones but in a digestible fashion for the younger target audience.

That said, even older fans of Star Wars who may not have read Leia, Princess of Alderaan will be able to see a different side of Amilyn than we see in Star Wars: Episode VIII The Last Jedi. Her disregard for the rules in search of a thrilling quest stands in stark contrast to her chastising Poe Dameron in The Last Jedi. Given Dawson’s body of work with Phasma, and Galaxy’s Edge: Black Spire  and Star Wars Adventures #25, I would love to see her explore Amilyn’s transition into her adulthood in further Star Wars Adventures issues.

The art in Star Wars Adventures #25 is also fantastic.  Saltel was the perfect choice given her bright color choices she made in Star Wars Adventures Annual’s secondary story “So Much More”. Young Amilyn Holdo wore rainbow color hair proudly. Each panel the adventurers is in shows why she was seen as the oddball during her youth.

Coupled with Dawson’s characterization, Saltel really provides the extra layer to show a different side of Amilyn than we are used to on the big screen. Further, Saltel’s color palette choice shines by not just painting the underbelly of Coruscant in drab, dark colors. Instead she brightens the background and the characters the duo encounter as if they were no different than the colorful choices of Amilyn’s hair. This reveals that not all who dwell on the lower levels of Coruscant live up to the dubious reputation.

Overall, I really enjoyed Star Wars Adventures #25. The single story issues are quickly becoming my favorite in the Star Wars Adventures series. The amount of story that is able to be fleshed out is just unmatched compared to the two-story norm. I hope that Dawson continues to return to the Star Wars Adventures series as a writer. Her ability to convey relationships between characters is some of the best in the Star Wars canon. This story alone will bring younger readers, and even older readers not familiar with novelizations, into seeing that Star Wars is much more than what we see in the movies.

Star Wars Adventures #25 is available now.