Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews
Star Wars: Lando #1
Marvel Comics
Soule & Maleev
"Lando" launches with a solid issue. The latest Star Wars comic takes place around the time of the original movie and focuses on a caper that Lando finds himself involved in. The comic moves through a number of phases of the plot quickly to help this issue get over the set-up hump. It's an enjoyable read and is definitely in keeping with the slick nature of the character.
The comic opens with Lando pulling a fast one on a lady. A lady whom happens to be a Moff. Lando has a change of heart and that puts him in some hot water. His smooth talking gets him what he's after and allows him to save some face in the process. The first few pages are exactly the kind of behavior this character is known for based on his appearance in The Empire Strikes Back. He's charming, but unpredictable. He can turn on you one minute and help you out of a jam the next minute. This was a perfect opening to this mini-series.
Lando meets up with Lobot (also from Empire) and tries to pay off a debt. He gets double-crossed but does some wheeling and dealing to keep himself slightly ahead of the game. The next scam involves an easy mark but with a high profile owner. It's a great ending to the comic book.
The book works on so many levels. The plot bounces from scam to scam, double cross to double cross and the action seems to keep coming Lando's way. There are some downsides to the book though.
Lobot mentions his implants (the machine he wears on his head) too many times. It just doesn't seem practical that it would keep coming up in conversation as shown here. Lando seems to call everyone either 'brother' or 'friend' and it just doesn't work. He's a sophisticated man of apparent wealth and class and he just comes across as a wannabe street guy. He doesn't sound classy, he sounds phony.
The artwork is beautiful. I enjoyed the way the backgrounds on each page had a shade to them that seemed to set a tone per scene. The way the light bounces off of the character's faces really makes this comic have a certain shadiness to it that works so well with the plot. The pencils are detailed and the depiction of Lando is dead on for the actor. The artwork really helped to elevate this comic book to another level.
"Lando" looks to be a very solid series. The opening issue captures all of the charm, intrigue, guile and slickness of the lead character. The comic moves through three plot phases in the opening issue, which helps establish the kind of life Lando leads. The book stumbles with some of the characterizations of Lando and the over-use of Lobot's implants, but these can easily be corrected in future issues. This is definitely a different Star Wars coming than the others and it is worth checking out.
4 out of 5 Geek Goggles
