Star Wars Adventures: Flight of the Falcon by Michael Moreci

"Star Wars Adventures: Flight of the Falcon" written by Michael Moreci, illustrated by Arianna Florean

     Wow!! I have to say, Moreci REALLY knows his stuff! This comic was bursting with canon connections and they were all joyously pulled off. Nothing felt stilted or forced, it all flowed super well and each new surprise character appearance was as exciting as the one before. We get a number of stories of Bazine Netal talking to a variety of people about the whereabouts of the Falcon...leading her right up to Pirate's Price and the debacle that was the end of that book (Hondo's new companion Mahjo [see her pictured below! I love how she doesn't take any of Hondo's nonsense!] tricked Bazine into thinking she was a First Order officer--Bazine actually had the Falcon in her possession but then unknowingly gave it right back to Hondo). So at the end of this comic, we get the story after Pirate's Price as Hondo and Mahjo meet up with Chewbacca to return the Falcon. But of course Hondo doesn't want to give it up so easily and he barters with Chewie over letting him keep it for his company--Ohnaka Transport Solutions. Interestingly enough, it is not at all clear whether Chewie gives in or takes the Falcon back to the Resistance. Very strange. I guess they want us to be surprised when The Rise of Skywalker hits theatres. You know, this would be the perfect way to include Hondo in the movie!!! How my heart would sing at that reveal! Perhaps Chewie does leave the Falcon with Ohnaka Transport Solutions and the Resistance goes to Batuu to get their ship once the big battle is eminent...a girl can dream.

     As for the wide variety of stories told involving the Falcon's whereabouts, we get the following:
- Agent Kallus and IG-88 working together to track down Rebels on Savareen!!
- 2 hybrid droids who liberated themselves from a controlling Duros named Akar Duel on Lotho Minor courtesy of some choice words from good ole 3PO!! One of the enslaved droids--"Why has this droid left the ship? Who gave him permission?" 3PO--"Permission? Why, I come and go as I please." Enslaved droid--"You mean it's true? You can act...for yourself?" 3PO--"Of course. I do it quite often." Haha!! I'm sure that reality is much to the chagrin of his human counterparts. Then another enslaved droid realizes that 3PO also doesn't have a restraining bolt! I hadn't ever thought of that before. Very interesting...
- Lando and Nien Nunb post-Death Star destruction unable to get the Falcon to fly because Embo is aboard!!
- Lady Proxima and Moloch accosting Han years after Han left the White Worms Gang, proclaiming that he still owes them a debt. You can see Lady Proxima's scars from when Han threw the stone at the window in Solo--the continuity is beautiful (see below).

- We even get Ducain's back story and learn how he was able to steal the Falcon (see an image of him below--we can see now that he is a Kajain'sa'Nikto)!! Apparently he was a janitor at Maz's Castle, dreaming of making it big as a smuggler or pirate. He found his chance when Han showed up minus Chewie (who was home on Kashyyyk with his family). Han reluctantly took him on since he was short-handed and left the ship with Ducain while he went to meet his contact...yeah, Ducain stole the ship and became somebody with it. Han had warned him, "The only thing that ever really mattered was doing what was right. It's messy, and it's not very convenient, but, well...doing what was right turned out to be more important than anything else. Keep that in mind...there's more to this galaxy than looking out for yourself." It's so heartwarming to hear Han say these things!!! Keep in mind this is post-marriage to Leia and birth of Ben and all of his adventures in the original trilogy. Perhaps he's finally learned what the Rebellion was really about after grumbling for so many years. Ducain ignores the advice and starts running guns across the galaxy. He even makes his way to Canto Bight!! But it turns out he's working for the First Order and he decides to give up his life of crime.

- And then we're back on Batuu with Hondo/Mahjo, and Bazine is long gone (read Pirate's Price for that story as mentioned above). We get one last adventure with the Falcon (involving Bala-Tik and the Guavian Death Gang--yes! He apparently survived the rathtar massacre on the Eravana) and then are left hanging, not truly knowing where the ship ends up. Oh yeah, and porgs still infest the ship! See an adorable one eating away at some cables below.

     My one question in all this is where in the world does Lando's Luck fit into the picture? We get 5 stories of Bazine Netal shaking down information from folks which leads us right up to Pirate's Price, but the events in Lando's Luck are never mentioned. Being a completist, I need to know the answer!! And Choose Your Destiny: A Luke & Leia Adventure was also part of the Flight of the Falcon publishing program but had no connection to Bazine Netal...Lando's Luck did. I feel like things could have been a bit more consistent with this campaign but I will say that Pirate's Price and "Star Wars Adventures: Flight of the Falcon" matching up like they did made it all very very worth it. I'm loving the canon connections and the media cross-over (novel--comic) is truly magical!
     So all in all, this entry into the Flight of the Falcon series, was quite wonderful. It had my rapt attention from the very beginning and the story just kept getting better and better with canon connections abounding!! I would absolutely love to see Moreci on more Star Wars in the future!!