Comic Review – Star Wars Omnibus: X-Wing Rogue Squadron Vol. 1

So, with that long-winded title, we come to what is, to my knowledge, the first Star Wars comic review at Bureau42. If I’m wrong, I apologize. This review is of the first omnibus volume from Dark Horse comics of their X-Wing: Rogue Squadron series.

General Information

Title: Star Wars Omnibus – X-Wing Rogue Squadron: Volume 1
Contains X-Wing: Rogue Leader, X-Wing Rogue Squadron: The Rebel Opposition, X-Wing Rogue Squadron: The Phantom Affair.
Story by Michael A. Stackpole

X-Wing Rogue Leader
Script: Haen Blackman
Art: Tomas Giorello
Colors: Michael Atiyeh
Letters: Michael David Thomas

X-Wing Rogue Squadron: The Rebel Opposition
Script: Mike Baron
Pencils: Allen Nunis
Ink: Andy Mushynsky
Colors: Dave Nestelle
Letters: Steve Dutro

X-Wing Rogue Squadron: The Phantom Affair
Script by Darko Macan
Art by Edvin Biukovic, Gary Erskine, John Nadeau & Jordi Ensign
Letters by Evid Biukovic, Dave Cooper and Annie Parkhouse
Colors by Dave Nestelle

Available through Amazon.com

The Premise

Following the events of the Battle of Endor, the Rebel Alliance’s Rogue Squadron is tasked with many special operations missions to continue the fight against the Imperial Remnant…

(In Rogue Leader)

Luke Skywalker & Rogue Squadron are sent to the Corellian system to evaluate the state of the system, and the Empire’s presence.

(In The Rebel Opposition)

The Rogues are assigned to escort a food convoy to Mylrrst, only to be ambushed by the Imperials at Cilpar, and to discover that their contact on the Cilpar has gone to ground, and rumors are circulating that the local Alliance group has joined up with the Empire…

(In The Phantom Affair)

The Rogues are sent to Mylrrst to negotiate with the local government for control of a powerful weapon being developed there. However, the Empire has sent their own delegation, lead by a man that Wedge has a long history with…

High Points

I’d say that The Phantom Affair is the best of the bunch. The story has more humor to it than the other installments of the series, as well as the introduction of Mirax Terrik. The story’s plot point is possibly more hard SF than most other Star Wars stories as well – being that the device is basically a black hole generator.

Low Points

The Rebel Opposition got a bit too convoluted, in my opinion (The Imperials have a mole amongst the Rebels, and the Rogues end up having one of their own become a mole with the Imps, etc.).

Content Notes

This is a Star Wars comic – no nudity, no graphic violence.

The Scores

Originality: I can’t say these stories cover entirely new ground for Star Wars comics in general, though they certainly would have at the time (particularly considering the comic’s focus on supporting characters from the films, plus a lot of new characters). 4 out of 6.

Artwork: The artwork is generally good, with the colors and art in The Rebel Opposition in particular being very close to the old Marvel Star Wars comics (which makes sense, Nunis was an artist on those comics). 4 out of 6.

Story: The Rebel Opposition‘s story feels a bit more convoluted than I’d like. Now, it’s not that I don’t like convoluted stories – it’s just that the time given to the story doesn’t quite give the time the story’s plot contortions need, so it feels convoluted and contrived, instead of occurring naturally. Otherwise the other two stories are fine. 3 out of 6.

Characterization: They do a pretty good job of fleshing out Wedge’s backstory, as well as setting up the personalities of most of the new Rogues, as well as other new supporting characters, like Mirax Terrick (who is one of my favorite of the new characters so far). 4 out of 6.

Emotional Response: Maybe because this story features a lot of new characters and supporting cast from the films, this story gets much more of an emotional impact than Star Wars comics that feature more recognizable characters (like Luke, Han, Leia, or Lando). 4 out of 6.

Flow: 6 out of 6.

Overall: This is probably one of the best Star Wars comics I’ve read thus far. 5 out of 6.

In Total, Star Wars Omnibus: X-Wing Rogue Squadron Volume 1 gets 30 out of 42.

3 replies on “Comic Review – Star Wars Omnibus: X-Wing Rogue Squadron Vol. 1”

  1. As the resident Star Wars nut, I have a few comments on this.

    The story is probably a bit convoluted because it’s happening at the same time as some of the X-Wing novels and is tied to them in terms of continuity, etc.

    I’m glad you liked these comics. I have the entire run, and they’re not among my favorites. Ditto for the related novels. Not sure why that’s the case, but different strokes for different folks.

    To do the series justice, I’d suggest getting all three of the X-Wing Omnibus volumes and reviewing the whole series in one shot.

    • I don’t really favor taking that route with Comic TPBs and Manga Tankobons, just on the general principal that they’re divided into individual units for sale, and because some comics series and manga volumes are more stand alone than others.

      • That makes sense, especially since most collections are divided that way.

        In this particular case, however, they pretty much split them based on the size of the Omnibus volumes. Most of the story lines were 4-issue arcs.

        But you had no way of knowing that unless you’d already read the comics.

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