With all the recent news about Marvel getting the rights to Star Wars, there's a many reasons why I'm against this move, and the ending of Star Wars Legacy - in my opinion, the best Star Wars series, ongoing or otherwise at the moment - is one of them. Seriously - if you're a Star Wars fan who's not reading this book then you're not doing yourself any favours - Volume 1 is already released and after that there's not that many issues that require catching up on. This issue itself is even the start of a new arc for Ania Solo, who may have escaped from danger in the previous issue but is still far from close to stopping Darth Wredd, one of the series main antagonists and in this series she runs into an old flame - and as the cover suggests, it leads to a repeat of a Han/Leia kiss from the original trilogy.
Although Ania has left the Junkyard, she's no short of enemies chasing after her and questions are raised about the location of Ania herself from not just the owners of the moon - the authorities are claiming that she's the murderer of an Imperial Knight - and Jao has just discovered this for himself. With this new arc kicking off it's great to see Gabriel Hardman back on the artwork duties and he really excels, with the transition from Brian Thies not really being too drastic allowing for the change to filter through seamlessly, with some stunning action sequences drawn by Hardman that help show why he's just such a good artist.
Corina Bechko and Hardman are also on excellent form as the writing talent on the book. Ania is an incredibly good character and has quickly risen to one of my favourite Star Wars Expanded Universe ones, and once again this is why I'm against the transition to Marvel from Dark Horse, because depending on what Disney does with the canon it means we may not see characters as awesome as the likes of Ania cropping up again in the future. But for now though, I'm really enjoying the ride - Star Wars Legacy is just an incredible title with some really strong characters - and I'm glad to see that Bechko and Hardman are keeping the character, the story and the art in great quality despite the recent news. Just to show how good this title is in a week with Batman, Hawkeye, All New Invaders and Deadly Class this could well end up emerging as a Pick of the Week - because the strength of this series is just so damned good.
The first two thirds of this book may be a bit slower in pace than the previous issues but that's far from a negative aspect, giving depth to the issue and preventing it from feeling rushed. The book itself is also a good beginning of a new arc for Ania so chances are high that you could jump on here provided you are familiar with the Star Wars Universe - but I'd recommend going back and reading Volume 1 just to be on the safe side because it certainly is something that's worth a place on your shelves.
Character-wise, I've already mentioned how great Ania is, but the other cast are also worth mentioning as well. There's an enigmatic female bounty hunter sporting a weapon that I don't remember coming across often in the Star Wars Universe, a lightwhip, and is one of the several new cast additions in this book, with a new direction allowing both the writers and the readers to explore Ania's past.
So a great read then, and certainly a strong contender for Pick of the Week. This is certainly one of my favourite series that nobody seems to be reading, and it's a book that I'd recommend to any Star Wars fan. Go pick this book up - now. Trust me, you won't regret it.
VERDICT: 4.5/5
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