Review: “Star Wars – Sana Staros: Family Matters”

Finally, a fan favorite has been brought to the fore. Take a look at Sana's first adventure.

Contents (fuss)

Powerful smuggler Sana Starros actually did some devious things with Han Solo and was in a relationship with Dr. Aphra. Since the end of this relationship, she has preferred to fend for herself on her own. But nothing goes as it should, and Sanaa finally returns to her family's ancestral home for a break. But the time she spends at home is not comfortable at all because her cousin is married to an imperial captain who wants to kill the rest of her clan.

criticism

Not only Doctor Aphra, Sana Starros has also become a fan favorite. Well, she's nowhere near as popular as Aphra, so what does she do to increase her popularity? The two quickly turned into former lovers.

But things aren't all bad in this volume, as Aphra is only mentioned briefly in flashback and has no role in this volume. Sanaa will likely be remembered not only for her role as Han's wife, but above all for her appearance in the series Aphra. The interaction with the good doctor was really fun there, so it made sense to have our own comic series.

In terms of drawing technology, the graphics remained at the usual good level compared to other Star Wars series and provided a high level of detail, whether in terms of action scenes or the characters’ emotions reflected on their faces. There's nothing to complain about on that front.

But I also have to evaluate the story and that… I can't at all this time because there's a case and a half missing. I'm sorry, what? Yes, in the review copy I have, in Issue 3 (or Chapter 3, the comic book has 5 issues of the American series, which, as always, are divided into chapters) it suddenly goes back to Chapter 2 and repeats the last chapter and a half, before We continue. This means that an important part of the story is missing, which revolves around stealing the Rancor and reuniting with Phel (the heroine's brother).

We can only hope that this was not the case in later printed editions or that this was simply a mistake in the review copy. Fortunately, there is still an e-book version in which you can read the missing pages. Of course it's always annoying.

Back to the story. Like the other comics in the current series, this takes place in the third year of NSY, i.e. between episodes five and six, so it runs parallel to the other series that has just been published. But apart from the Aphra connection mentioned above, there's not much to them and you can start here completely inexperienced. Of course, you'll also miss a lot of nuances if you don't know the history.

Sana returns to her family with her pregnant sister Arisha and her imperial husband. He immediately appears, kidnaps her, and the family has to chase her down and rescue her. But that's not actually the plan, because he also stole a data cube that needs to be returned. After all, one of the ancestors left behind valuable insights there.

So you can already say things are getting pretty mixed up – and this brings us to the biggest issue of scale. Not only have we never met the Sana family before, but new members are constantly being introduced. It even gets to the point that in the end you can't even remember all the names.

Although there is an attempt to explain some of the relationships between siblings and cousins, including brief flashbacks, it doesn't really help. Furthermore, not all characters are brought to the fore equally and many are lost in the end. However, this does not spark conflict between Sanaa and her brother, because you as the reader do not develop a strong emotional bond with either of them.

For this reason, scenes such as the liberation of Rancourt (“First help me, then I will help you against Cerasus”) unfortunately feel more like filler to extend the plot over the five chapters than meaningfully integrated into the plot. As a result, women sometimes chase the cube or serasus in question, despite always asserting that they have one.

The whole thing is then peppered with funny scenes and “surprising” twists in order to generate more interest, but unfortunately this doesn't work at all. Sometimes, you have to admit that humor works, but it's not enough. Neither the lightness of a Han Solo comic nor the humor of an Aphra comic are achieved here. And the story, which strongly reeks of cliché, rattles off a bit at the end. It doesn't help that the family doesn't tell Sanaa at all, so that not only does she not react “sincerely,” but any developments also come as a surprise to the reader. Minor spoilers: There are no major surprises, the story ends as one would unfortunately expect after the first few pages.

And this needs to be said (or spoiled) at this point: the MacGuffin of the story, and the data cube in question, is destroyed by Sana at the end without a sound. This may suit Sanaa because she is angry and reacts this way, but everyone accepts it. The thing probably had more sentimental value anyway. It may have been okay so far, but it also means that all the hardships were, strictly speaking, completely in vain and once again shows the story clearly as ridiculous.

But what works to leave a positive impression in the end is the Star Wars movie shown here.