Well, there has been quite a lot for Star Wars fans to discuss as of late. Most notably, the yet-more-changes-to-the-original-movies-and-what-is-George-Lucas-thinking?! But we also have the Timothy Zahn Thrawn Trilogy of books, those that effectively kickstarted the entire expanded universe, getting recognition on NPR's Top 100 SFF Books (covered in detail in this very issue!). And they even recently had "Star Wars Day" at the San Francisco Giants baseball game on September 4th (complete with umpires being escorted to the field by storm troopers and player pictures on the scoreboard cowled in Jedi robes). Into this mix, we have a new Star Wars Adventures graphic novel, Chewbacca and the Slavers of the Shadowlands.

The story, featuring Chewie (if you couldn't tell from the incredibly subtle title), officially takes place between episodes IV and V, but really takes place 180+ years previously when Chewie was young. (He’s quite old, if we didn't already know that.) Basically, Chewie, being the rebellious teenage Wookie that he was, wants to prove himself an "adult" by doing something he was told not to, heading out to…(dramatic pause)…the Shadowlands. Whilst there, he and the friends he managed to coerce into coming along encounter… (wait for it… )… slavers. Slavers bent on capturing and enslaving (as slavers are wont to do) Chewie's entire village. Chewie manages to both cause, and solve, trouble, but not without significant consequences. Ones that have shaped the rest of his life.

That's pretty much it. Nothing special in terms of plot. Given the setup, one could probably guess with reasonable accuracy what happens. He makes some bad decisions and has to deal with consequences thereof, just like in any sort of coming-of-age story. Just this is one that's fairly condensed, being only a graphic novel.

The art is somewhat stylistic, with softer edges than I personally prefer. It's understandable, since the majority of characters are Wookies, and thus covered in hair (Fur? Carpet?) -- something that wouldn't be easy to render artistically with any sort of realism. But the style did make it a bit hard to tell what was going on at places. Still, the story wasn't complex, so not that big of a deal.

Bottom line: this addition to the Star Wars Adventures graphic novels is…fine. I can't say it’s a necessary story -- unlike, say, the graphic novel about Shepherd Book from Firefly, where there had been unanswered questions left hanging that needed explanation. If Chewie is your favorite character, and you can't get enough of stories about him, then by all means check this out. If not… meh. You're not missing anything. It doesn't really screw with canon or anything, so it's not bad. But still, meh.

   -- K. Burtt