Star Wars: Rogue One - Chirrut & Baze #1 (Marvel Comics)
Hello there! Padawan J here, the resident Star Wars expert from the ODPH! This week I'm going to be reviewing the FIRST issue of Star Wars: Rogue One - Chirrut & Baze from Marvel Comics!
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the release of Rogue One in theaters back in 2016! To commemorate the occasion, Marvel Comics is releasing a series of 5 seperate one shot issues surrounding some of the major characters from the film! The last issue was about Jyn Erso and this one focusing on Chirrut & Baze, so let’s jump into it!
Credit: Marvel Comics
Star Wars: Rogue One - Chirrut & Baze #1 by Stephanie Phillips (Writer), Sean Chen (Artist), Yen Nitro (Color Artist), VC’s Ariana Maheer, David Marquez & Laura Martin (Cover Art)
*** POSSIBLE SPOILER WARNING ***
The Story
Stephanie Phillips is writing the story for this issue and she does a great job at telling a story with two of the most compelling characters in Rogue One, while also capturing the same themes as the film. It features hope, luck and just how much a small group can do with the right tools and a little bit of motivation.
I really liked this story because it took two characters from the film that were some of the most compelling ones of the entire film, and gave their backstory a little bit of fleshing out. If there’s one thing I wish we could’ve gotten more of, it’s the backstories of Chirrut & Baze. In a film entirely devoid of Jedi they’re the closest thing we get to it, except they’re not. So to see Stephanie flesh out their story, even a little bit, was awesome to see and was a blast to read.
The story does a fantastic job capturing some of the same themes from Rogue One, and does a great job also amplifying them when you go to rewatch the film. In the final pages of the issue that so closely mirror the final moments of the film is when this comes through in it’s most clear and truly make reading this issue sincerely shine through.
The Artwork
Sean Chen & Yen Nitro are in charge of the art for this issue and they really did a fantastic job with it. They did a great job bringing to the 2D format the actors in the film and bringing Jedha to life that made the settings very familiar for anyone who’s seen the film. The artwork really does a great job complimenting the story and enhancing it.
Overall Grade: 8/10
An easily accessible issue to even the most casual Star Wars fan. Stephanie Phillips pens a fantastic issue and along with artwork that is stunning in every panel, this is an issue you can’t pass up on!
