"Star Wars #19: Dangerous Turn" by Charles Soule

"Star Wars #19: Dangerous Turn" written by Charles Soule, illustrated by Marco Castiello and Rachelle Rosenberg

Welp, this issue had SO much potential...and, personally, I feel like that potential was, for the most part, severely squandered. Not only do we have a dangling storyline with Shara Bey still evading capture, hiding out on a Star Destroyer (which is briefly mentioned as finally being a priority again, but isn't actually addressed at all in this issue), but there's also Luke seeking out information on the Jedi to help him further his training. This second bit is what this issue clings to, which is all fine and dandy, but we get teased with Ilum and Lothal which I found frustrating. Luckily, we do end up on Al'doleem so there is a connection to past material after all and some of the potential of the issue is met in the end.

In regard to the Rebel Fleet that was scattered all over the galaxy post-Hoth, Divisions Four, Seven, and Eleven are now all back together. And high command is acting like this is most of the Rebel Fleet while also saying that there are many Rebels still yet to be found. I find this saying one thing and doing another quite irritating...kinda like mentioning Shara Bey, having Kes Dameron voice his thankfulness at the new prioritization (see below), and then dropping it for the rest of the issue. Things just aren't lining up with this series at the moment. 

But we do have acknowledgement of Captain Holdo!!! According to Admiral Ackbar, "First among [our secondary goals] is re-establishing a supply chain. Captain Holdo has been working to make deals with the crime families to gather fuel and provisions...but the Syndicate War that just broke out is interfering with her efforts." Okay, hold up, the Rebels are working with known criminals now?? Again, this just seems off.

As for the hunt for Jedi information and artifacts? Luke first visits Ilum which has already started to be carved up for the eventual Starkiller Base (see below). He says the place feels like it used to be important, but now he just feels pain...and he quickly leaves. Arashar is his second stop and we learn nothing of this place before he determines the Star Destroyer blockade is too strong to try and get around or through. Then we're on Lothal!! (See below.) I was SO freaking excited and was hoping for something truly magical to happen, but "I can sense this place needs to be opened by the Force, just like the outpost on Tempes...but it's not responding to me. It feels...buried somehow. Long gone. Or maybe it's just locked, and I don't have the key. I feel like I've learned so much...but I still don't know anything at all." ...it's just another dead end connection that turns out to mean nothing at all. *sigh* Fourth, Luke flies to the River Moon of Al'doleem which was again exciting because this is where Vader went to find Kirak Infil'a to obtain a new lightsaber!! Will he stay here though and discover more about the late Jedi Master??

...the answer it turns out, is yes!! Thank goodness because the bait and switch in this issue was getting super annoying. Also, the black boxes with place identifiers are wonderful to have but using them for both planets AND locations on planets left me thinking we had already moved past Al'doleem the first time I read this issue, leading to much confusion over what in the world Kirak Infil'a was doing on another planet. Anyway, Luke flies over Mount Pasvaal and then into the Ruins of Am'balaar, where he finally gets out of his X-wing's cockpit and starts looking around. 

Luke comes across a mechanic, Colli, who is willing to help him with his Jedi quest, at least when it comes to providing information. The man mentions Kirak Infil'a (see below) and how the Jedi had saved his life once upon a time. In fact, it seems as if Kirak had warned this family in particular that something bad was coming and that they needed to escape...the something bad being Vader breaching the dam, which is an event we see quite vividly in an issue from the second "Darth Vader" comic series run. Colli and his sister made it out, but their parents did not. The mechanic then offers up information about Mount Pasvaal, it "isn't just the monastery, the whole mountain's hollow. Passages and chambers and temples--it's thousands of years old. The Jedi used it that whole time. The Empire's been exploring it for decades, and they're still bringing things out." A lot of cool information for sure, but it's all also very stinking vague. I really and truly hope that we find out something specific and mind-blowing as a result of this whole adventure...

In preparation for getting his hands on one of the artifacts in the mountain, Luke contemplates going full-throttle bada** Jedi (see below), but quickly dismisses this for a sneakier approach. And this brings me to another weird bit. Luke attempts a mind trick on stormtroopers once and miserably fails...only to try it again a few pages later and have it work miraculously. The only potential explanation being that he tried it the first time with his right hand, the one that was replaced by a cybernetic prosthetic, and the second time, he didn't use his hands at all. I still find this to be quite the discrepancy. Regardless, he does gain possession of one of the Jedi artifacts from the mountain, a holocron to be exact!! And who's the teacher on the holocron?? Just the person he was wishing he could talk to earlier in the issue...Yoda! Perhaps Yoda's lesson will be profound and not just rote Jedi stuff...one can only hope... But we won't know the contents of Yoda's message until a future issue. Definitely a good cliffhanger in a typical situation, but with the way this series in particular hops around to different storylines, cliffhangers are never guarantees of what's to happen in the next issue.

Overall, this issue was a miss for me. Yes, there's a great connection with Kirak Infil'a BUT everything is so vague with that. If we get more specifics next issue, then I'll be happy. And having Ilum and Lothal show up in a blink and you miss it sort of way was a huge misstep in my book. Either include them and delve into their history or don't include them at all. Oh well, at least the "Darth Vader" series is back on track!! Fingers crossed for this series to do the same.

-Marie E. Wilson a.k.a. @AliaMorgaine