Rebellion Volume 1: My Brother, My Enemy

This book is part of the current trend of strong comics being put out in the Star Wars series. The premise is clever: in A New Hope, Luke mentions that two of his friends have gone to the academy. One, as we find out, defected to the Rebellion. This book tells the story of the other and of his reunion with his childhood friend on the opposite side of enemy lines. In my opinion, the storytelling is strong, exploring both Luke's and Tank's perspectives in depth. The ending leaves the reader itching for a sequel. The art - well, it's not bad, but there are parts where you get the sense the artists were really rushing to meet a deadline, like when you see three pages in a row of panels with nothing but a plain gray wall as the backdrop. The likenesses of the movie characters are pretty good, though. Overall, it's a strong comic. Although it's not necessary to read Star Wars Empire Volume 7 before picking up this book, since Rebellion #0 is included in the collection and summarizes the essential plot points from the Empire series, the reader may find it helpful.

I've read quite a few Dark Horse offerings in the continuing Star Wars line. To date, none has been as exciting as the first volume in the new Star Wars Rebellion series, "My Brother, My Enemy," set at the perfect time in the Star Wars chronology. Luke Skywalker has destroyed the Death Star and is the hero of the Rebellion, but the rebels are still on the run and Darth Vader is turning up every stone in the galaxy to find them. There's no mention anywhere of Vader being Luke's father. And there are no siblings involved, either; Luke still has a crush on Leia, it seems, so the whole ick factor that spilled out in "Return of the Jedi" is still far away. Besides Luke, Leia and the immortal Wedge Antilles, the Rebels in this tale have a strong and diverse cast of characters. On the other side, besides Vader, there's Janek "Tank" Sunber, a Tatooine native who was one of Luke's boyhood chums. Just how does it feel when one of your best friends is on the other side of a brutal conflict? This book examines the question from both perspectives. Rob Williams has scripted a brilliant new chapter in the Star Wars saga. He has a firm grasp on the central characters from the legendary first film, and his new creations fit into the story like old friends. The tale itself is exciting, a page-turner that will only disappoint you when it ends. The art, by illustrators Brandon Badeaux and Michel Lacombe and colorist Wil Glass, is exquisite. Lush, full and highly detailed, with rich depth and colors that leap from the page, this is the real deal. Heck, Luke and Leia even look like themselves, which is no sure thing in comics. by Tom Knapp, Rambles.NET editor

Last seen questioning the motives of the Empire and taking a beating from his childhood friend Luke Skywalker, Imperial Lieutenant Janek Sunber has grown out of his naiveté, thrown of his doubt, and is dedicated now to nothing more than hurting his old chum from Tatooine. My Brother, My Enemy is a collection of the first five issues of Rebellion (plus the promotional issue #0), one of four new series from Dark Horse Comics launched in 2006 following the completion of the film franchise. This particular series is a retooled version of the rebellion in the days following the destruction of the first Death Star, and this volume picks up where The Wrong Side of the War (Star Wars: Empire, Vol. 7) left off, with the rebels' mathematician Jorin Sol recovering from Imperial torture. What the Rebels don't yet know is that Sol has been programmed by the Empire to betray the location of the Alliance fleet. Lt Sunber, aka "Tank," meanwhile reveals to Darth Vader his relationship to Luke Skywalker, a confession that puts Sunber on the hook as bait for the farmboy hero of the Alliance. Following their work together on Nomad, one of the better and longer stories of the now defunct anthology series, Star Wars Tales, British author Rob Williams and American artist Brandon Badeaux prove here that they are more than one-hit wonders. Badeaux presents some exceptionally fine work, particularly in a two-page space battle, a depiction reminiscent of the opening sequence from Revenge of the Sith, as well as the uniform design for Rebel Alliance special ops, tight-fitting black coveralls with matching black helmet and insignia. Badeaux's style is so distinct that it is sorely missed in the middle chapter, penciled by Michael Lacombe (who has since taken over regular artwork on this ongoing series). The change in style is noticeable, but the switchover happens at the start of a dream sequence and by the time you're out of the dream, you've not noticed that it's the artist, and not the style, that's changed. For reasons that are not evident from the story, Williams has written in the first person for three different characters, switching to third person for bridging scenes and for the finale. Besides having no obvious reason for this authorial conceit, especially for one of the minor characters, there seems in one case a clear reason not to use it - the reader is prematurely tipped to a character's motivation. Where the scripter excels is in recapturing Luke's youth, who in this period is often written as an experienced pilot, fighter, motivator, strategist, and jack-of-all-military trades. In fact he should be more as portrayed here, a wide-eyed farm boy wanting to help and do well but with still much to learn and prone to misjudgment and mistakes. Williams also does a good job capturing Luke's old friend and current nemesis, Lt Janek Sunber, a boy from Tatooine who once showed some regret at having joined the Imperials but whose doubt has been consume