
Published: July 16, 2025
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Writer: Alex Segura
Artist: Phil Noto
Letterer: VC’s Clayton Cowles
Cover Artist: Phil Noto
The synopsis;
RETURN TO CLOUD CITY!
• Han Solo, Beilert Valance and Lando Calrissian must help an old friend.
• Witness the long friendship of Han, Chewie and Lando in exciting flashbacks to bygone eras!
• And a mysterious figure from the past re-emerges using a new model CLOUD CAR!
The review;
This series is still in its infancy, still finding its path. Last issue really helped the direction of the story, focusing on Luke. With references to the Fantasy Flight Games roleplaying game added a new level of depth, an older way of how references use to be made in Star Wars and just a touch of coolness that really raised the bar on this young series. With Alex Segura at the helm, I’m starting to have more faith in this series (and for his Daredevil book out at the end of the year). With him is artist Phil Noto, who has been drawing Star Wars for years and has an uncanny skill when it comes to the faces of characters. Tied together, it’s a great package of a story. Let’s unwrap the next comic and see where the two lead us.
The issue starts well enough. We are back on Bespin, which for fans, is an instant win. Seeing the familiar place, the security guards dressed correctly, trying to solve an unidentified ship, it all sounds fantastic, like the sort of story I want to read. We see a man come out of the ship asking for Han and Lando. With this we instantly start cutting to flashbacks, showing that this new character clearly knew Han and Lando. The familiarity of this sort of story set-up works really well; it’s going to be a story that has flashbacks to allow us to understand the new character being presented to us. The opening is very far removed where the story finished last issue, but with such a good start, it isn’t jarring, in fact it’s drawing me in!
We then shift the story to Suboreen, where Valance and Han are having a drink. The comical styling of this is superb and I want to mention Noto’s work here. As I stated in the introduction, his work on faces has always been brilliant, but the detail on Valance in this issue is outstanding. He really adds some depth to the character with that unforgettable style. Not only does he do that, but we see this face all the while he is holding a drink with a little umbrella. Genius!
We see Han and Valance trying to sort things out, when Lando calls saying they need to get to Bespin. This is when things take an odd turn. We then move the story to Fenril and Ryan Zenat to see Luke return. After a few quick panels of dialogue, they are off back to the New Republic. Full stop. End of. It is completely random to have this show up in the story. It’s smack in the middle of it, interrupting the flow of Garlev (the new character) and doesn’t actually go anywhere this issue. It just brings the pace of the story, which started so well, to an abrupt stop. I said for issue two, that focusing on just Luke was a breath of fresh air, this comic has done the exact opposite! I get Luke needs to head back, but for me, that could have either gone at the end of the last issue or the start of whenever we return to Luke’s story.
From there, Han and Valance land on Bespin and we have another flashback of a completely different time. You might notice that the story just seems to keep shifting. There is a lot to get into a comic, I understand that, but this one just felt very jolting. We are going from place to place, flashback to flashback, chuck a bit of Luke in just because, it just seems a little messy and not with the flow that was so prevalent in the last installment. It’s frustrating after the great start and the ending – well, the one that takes place on Bespin – flows so well. And I mention that last part because even at the end we jump again from Bespin to the Fenril system. There is just too much in this comic. It needs to slow down and allow more depth to the story. Segura can do it well; we saw that in issue two. Here, he’s tried to do something a little different and for me, it just doesn’t work.
One of the things that does work are all the little nods to different parts of the franchise. In one of the flashbacks, Garlev is flying a YT-2400, the same type of ship as the Outrider from Shadows of the Empire. This was a real delight to see on the panels and Noto does a great job capturing its likeness. Valance also mentions the ‘Fortuna’ gang, referring to what is happening on Tatooine after the death of Jabba. The single panel flashback to The Empire Strikes Back, was timed to perfection and really hits home when Han and Lando are meeting at Bespin. There are a lot of little details that Segura and Noto get just right.
The character of Garlev I don’t really care enough about to really mourn his death, but I don’t think that was the point of the character. He is supposed to give us a bit of perspective on Han and how over the last few years, he’s gone from surviving (and all that entails) to now being a hero. It was interesting to see Han Get so worked up when Valance calls him a smuggler. He almost seems ashamed of it. Would the character that we know and love ever really be embarrassed by his past? I’m not sure he would, yet I’m also someone who is steeped in the Legends timeline where Han was proud of who he was, that it had led him where he needed to go. While I might not agree that Han would be like this, I’m very curious to see what sort of road this takes Han down.
Issue two was a huge hit for me: the focus, the pace and the story. This next instalment, which I had high hopes for, just misses the mark for me. It feels like it’s all over the place, never letting the reader really settle into the story. The small little asides do show how well Segura knows the galaxy and they are great when they do show up, but this isn’t enough to help keep the focus of the overall story. While this issue may have not been the bets, I’m hoping this is the exception and part five will be more in keeping from what I saw in part two.
Availability;
Star Wars (2025) is an ongoing series published by Marvel Comics. This issue retails at $4.99 and is available from comiXology and your local comic book store.
The post Comic Review: Star Wars (2025) #3 appeared first on Jedi News.











