Writer: Ethan Sacks
Art: Will Sliney and Rachelle Rosenberg
Letterer: VC’s Joe Sabino
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Price: $4.99
Release Date: February 2nd, 2022
Star Wars: The Halcyon Legacy #1 simultaneously shows the history of the galactic star cruiser The Halcyon while showing the current status of the 265-year-old ship, which carries passengers across the galaxy. It’s a combination of Star Wars and Star Trek, and as we flashback to an early crisis on the ship, in the current timeline, the Halcyon faces pirate Crimson Jack and his Star Destroyer-sized vessel. The Halcyon design was created as part of Disney’s Star Wars resort property, but this is actually a very interesting concept that adds a great new layer to Star Wars mythology.
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The Story
Star Wars: The Halcyon Legacy #1 is a great introduction to the Halcyon star cruiser and pulls in Riyola Keevan (who is Captain of the ship) from the Black Spire novels, forming an ever-more connected universe. Though we only see Captain Keevan briefly this issue, I look forward to seeing more of her in the next few issues. She reminds me a bit of Captain Janeway from “Star Trek: Voyager”, definitely not a bad thing.
The bulk of the issue is a flashback to 265 years earlier, during the High Republic era, where Jedi Master Nib Assek and her padawan, the Wookie Burryaga, are stationed on The Halcyon to guard it as it traverses a dangerous area of space. The ship is attacked by a Nihil fleet while simultaneously boarded by bounty hunters and assassins. As Nib Assek battles the assassins invading the ship, Burryaga takes a fighter out to face the Nihil fleet.
What we get are several pages of furious fighting, as Jedi Assek plows through everyone with her whirling lightsaber and acrobatics, ultimately having a showdown with one fierce bounty hunter wearing a monolithic Mecha-type battle suit and wielding a huge hammer. It’s an amazing battle, brute force versus Jedi dexterity.
The space battle with Burryaga isn’t quite as thrilling, but still is fun to watch Burryaga take out Nihil fighters in his own fighter, which looks similar to an X-Wing.
I like the High Republic era, so it was nice getting this great flashback to that time period. Though we don’t learn anything new about their characters, it’s wall-to-wall action and it’s a fun read. Back in the present (which is during the sequel trilogy and the First Order’s rule), Captain Keevan faces down Crimson Jack, and we get a cliffhanger ending. I can’t wait to see how it’s resolved next issue, since The Halcyon seems heavily outmatched by Crimson Jack’s ship. Dare I hope a Jedi pops up again to lend an assist?
The Art
Will Sliney’s art on Star Wars: The Halcyon Legacy #1 is especially great in capturing the seemingly endless number of species and characters that occupy this book. His action scenes are dynamic and capture the flow of battle. It was fun watching a fight between an agile Jedi and a hulking Mech. You could almost feel the lightsaber hitting the Mech’s armor in a sizzling spray of sparks.
Great work all around.
Final Thoughts
Star Wars: The Halcyon Legacy #1 transcends its cringe-worthy Disney theme park origins to become an interesting new area of the Star Wars universe to explore.
The series will continue to flashback to different periods in Star Wars history, and it seems like every major Star Wars character has come into contact with the ship at some point, so it’ll be interesting to read their stories, as well as see how the siege of Crimson Jack is resolved.