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Star Wars: Hidden Empire #1
- WRITER:
- Charles Soule
- Artist:
- Steven Cummings, Victor Olazaba
- Letterer:
- VC's Travis Lanham
- Cover Artist:
- Paulo Siqueira, Rachelle Rosenberg
- Publisher:
- Marvel
- Price:
- $4.99
- Release Date:
- 2022-11-16
- Colorist:
- GURU-eFX
The world of Star Wars is ruled under the iron fist of Darth Sidious, Emperor Palpatine. Lady Qi'Ra, the leader of the crime syndicate Crimson Dawn, wants nothing more than to kill him. She hires the Knights of Ren and has an entire fleet of agents sabotaging and distracting the Empire every step of the way. But now, the crime lord has the inherited powers of the Dark Side from the late Darth Maul, and she has the formidable Fermata Cage as an amplifier for those Dark powers, so she can get the job done herself.
Written by Charles Soule, art by Steven Cummings and Victor Olazaba, colors by Guru-eFX, and letters by VC's Travis Lanham, Star Wars: Hidden Empire #1 has Qi'Ra taking a stand against the Empire. She has cemented herself and all of Crimson Dawn as Emperor Palpatine's most powerful enemy, but unfortunately for her, the Empire's enemies have a nasty habit of dying.
Star Wars: Hidden Empire #1 is told from the Force historian and archivist Sava Sun's perspective as she recounts the final days of Qi'Ra's reign to an unknown third party as a hologram. As a result, this issue reads almost like a fairy tale or an apocalyptic captain's log. From the beginning, the fate of Crimson Dawn is a forgone conclusion, but Soule keeps up the dramatic tension enough to pique the reader's curiosity.
Considering the seriousness and gravity of this issue, it seems natural that Soule would want to infuse some comic relief. This is achieved entirely in the dialogue, with the visuals remaining stonily serious -- much to the issue's detriment. Only one character, Ladybright, has anything close to a sense of humor, which unfortunately comes across as awkward. Other attempts at witty humor fly under the radar, hindered by their subtlety.
True to the franchise, Star Wars: Hidden Empire #1 boasts stunning visuals. Cummings and Olazaba regularly utilize two-page spreads, especially during montage scenes displaying Crimson Dawn's great reach across the galaxy and the breadth of Qi'Ra's plan. Cummings utilizes wide, cinematic angles to display the stunning detail of planets and machinery and give colorist Guru-eFX plenty of room to work with. Olazaba's inking style helps toe the line between heady realism and cartoonish escapism. Characters are outlined with thick, heavy lines to separate them from the backgrounds. Olazaba utilizes scratches, hatching, and spot blacks to add dimension to the more intense close-ups.
Guru-eFX adheres to the classic Star Wars palette. The colors of the Empire especially factor in, with dark, red tones offset by the cold blues and turquoise shades of hologram tech, the weirdly ominous pink light of the Fermata cage, and the unsettling unnatural lighting of greens and purples. Qi'Ra's costume is the brightest part of the issue, setting her apart. In fact, many of her scenes take place in her aptly named flagship, Vermillion, and are highlighted by bold red-orange tones, further cementing her as leader of Crimson Dawn.
Star Wars: Hidden Empire #1 is an excellent return to form for the franchise. Although the ending is a foregone conclusion, Soule and the rest of the creative team have crafted a perfectly-paced story that builds dramatic tension to keep readers on the edge of their seats and set the stage for an intriguing series.