In the latest of a series of comic-book one-shots celebrating the 40th anniversary of Return of the Jedi, Marvel Comics presents a story following Poe Dameron’s parents Shara Bey and Kes Dameron as they attempt to track down a bounty hunter planning to assassinate Rebel Alliance leader Mon Mothma.
Star Wars: Return of the Jedi – The Rebellion begins with a flash-forward to three days prior to the Battle of Endor, when Mon Mothma meets with a shadowy figure on a frozen planet as the aforementioned bounty hunter– a member of the Arcona species named Lan-Drus who wears the head of an IG-series assassin droid as a mechanical eyepiece– watched from nearby with a high-powered sniper blaster rifle. Then we cut back to three days earlier, as Admiral Ackbar receives a chilling message from a trusted source about the impending attempt on Mothma’s life. But Mon isn’t having it– she insists the Rebellion is bigger than one person and refuses to waste any rebel resources protecting her, especially with such an important battle coming up. So Ackbar goes behind her back and calls upon the married soldiers Kes Dameron and Shara Bey to form a team of two, pathfinder and pilot, and track down whoever is plotting to kill the adored rebel leader. This comic was written by Alex Segura, author of the enjoyable 2020 young-adult novel Star Wars: Poe Dameron – Free Fall, and he returns to utilize some of those same characters here, even going so far as to involve the Kijimi spice runners that young Poe will join forces with later on in the timeline.
And this, too, is a fun story that brings to mind the style and execution of World War II spy movies, though I was a little confused by the plot in the back half when Dameron and Bey cajole some information out of a smuggler named Alfris Sotin (another character returning from Free Fall). The couple use Sotin’s datapad to decode coordinates to the planet where Lan-Drus plans to off Mon Mothma, but Mothma already has that information, so why not just follow her there and protect her? Also Lan-Drus seems to have wanted Shara and Kes to find him, but not as quickly as they did? It wasn’t clear why. I don’t know, it all seems a little muddled to me. But it’s still an interesting read that moves along at a good clip, and the art by Matt Horak (Kang), Brent Peeples (Ghost Rider), and Rafael Pimentel (Daredevil) with colorist Jim Campbell (X-Men Legends) works really well in conveying the back-alley tone and wartime atmosphere that I think Segura is aiming for. This is the kind of story I’d like to see more of in the Star Wars universe, and after the critical and fan response to Andor last year, it makes sense that the powers that be at Lucasfilm Publishing have followed suit, at least in one-shot form.
Star Wars: Return of the Jedi – The Rebellion is available now wherever comic books are sold.