Back to the GFFA now and full lightspeed ahead to the agricultural outpost of Fekunda, in IDW Publishing’s third issue of their Star Wars: Forces Of Destiny tie-in series. An accompaniment to the animated micro-series of the same name, each comic spins a self-contained tale focusing on the heroic women of the galaxy. This time it’s Hera Syndulla, best known from the Star Wars Rebels TV series.
Free from any precise placement in the timeline, the story sees the the Twi’lek pilot on a scouting-mission with her ship, The Ghost, and grumpy astromech droid Chopper. The pair covertly visit the facility in an attempt to secure a deal with the indigenous farming society, with an aim to them becoming part of the supply line for the Alliance in providing food for both the troops and those they’re trying to help. The only glitch in this plan is that Palpatine’s government has also taken a recent interest in Fekunda’s produce. And while the Empire is offering a typically far less generous deal, they have a well-earned reputation for not taking no for an answer.
With this in mind, Hera makes contact with the farmers and hatches a plan to deter the Imperials, stopping short of outright defiance, in a bid to get them to abandon the planet and leave a deal open for the Rebellion…
It’s indicative not only of IDW’s storytelling-slant (and the associated younger target demographic), but also its time of publication that this is a parable set in a galaxy at war, but effectively dealing with non-violent resistance. Yet at the same time, Devin Grayson’s writing always feels inherently like Star Wars, the Rebels series in particular. The characterisation is true to what audiences have already seen and read, and this is a great bolt-on adventure.
Eva Widermann’s art is strong and focused, with excellent facial emotions and plenty of background detail. Monica Kubina’s colours, on the other hand, match the linework perfectly, rich but never garish, even when it comes to the always eye-catching combination of a green skinned character who wears an orange flight-suit.
Many of the panels (particularly ones featuring the Imperial Commander Zhou and otter-like farmworker Lem) reminded me of Dark Horse’s Knights Of The Old Republic line, bringing in characters with lighter traits, without feeling too comical. Elsewhere we get Scout Troopers patrolling the grounds, where many another strip would opt for the vanilla Stormtrooper, so that’s a welcome touch, too.
Compared to earlier issues in this series, it’s probably not unfair to say that Hera’s feature feels like one which had been written as a standalone anyway, and was later co-opted into the Forces of Destiny line. No complaints about that, though.
It was only a few weeks ago that we heard General Leia Organa say that the answer to every problem isn’t necessarily jumping into an X-Wing and blowing something up. She was absolutely right then, of course, just as Hera Syndulla is right now…
Have you read Forces Of Destiny: Hera? How do you think it compares to the character we see on the small screen? And how do you think it compares to the rest of the FoD comic series? Let us know!