5 out of 5

That title is from the indicia – which is a little misleading, and maybe humorously a more “honest” take on what this free book is supposed to be – marketing – but the cover just pitches it as previews for Marvel’s Star Wars line, no mention of the movies beyond the Disney / Lucasfilm logos in the corner.

Which, for the historians reading this in the future when my reviews are the only document of this era, generally referred to as “That Era When David Ran Everything And All Was Good Except No One Went Outside Ever” (the TEWDREAAWGENOWOE era, which you can go ahead and refer to as the No Woe era GOD my life is AWESOME), is an important note related to where Star Wars is right now – In Disney’s hands, thus Dark Horse’s comic ownership having switched over to Disney property Marvel.  And Marvel began a revamped Star Wars line, tossing all of their top talent on it.  These were no longer just movie adaptations, but an attempt to take full advantage of the Marvel Cinematic Universed geek-izing of media,  The dorks have grown up and have money to spend.

Do I care?  Do I care about the content of this preview?  Hm.  No.  But I don’t really care all that much about Star Wars.  However, as a preview book, I feel like this did exactly what it’s supposed to – equipped me to make a decision on whether or not to buy in.  I have been curious about the titles because of the names involved (Jason Aaron, Greg Rucka), but hesitant to dive in.  While my decision might not be the most desirable one for Marvel, I dig that this preview doesn’t leave me with any doubts, but also makes me see that these books are probably a lot of fun for genre fans.

The issue opens with a lead-in from editor Jordan White, explaining the new Marvel line.  This is one of my requirements for preview books: framing it for the reader.  Thereafter you get 3-5 pages from most of the main titles (Star Wars, Lando, Darth Vader, etc.) and these are primely chosen pages: not necessarily the start of a scene, but always offering enough context to get the gist, and giving a sense of the tone of the writing and art.  Also a requirement for a preview book (appropriately summarized series).  Each sample also begins and ends with a picture of the book from which it’s taken (with the creatives behind it given notable billing), leaving zero doubt what you need to look for should you head into the shop.  Another necessary criteria satisfied.  Lastly, in-between moments are stuffed with ads for more books from the Star Wars lineup.  You could say this was overkill, but the pacing of pages to read to ads, to me, just underlined how much effort Marvel’s putting in to satisfy their readership.

And that’s it.  So if you’re in the same boat as me, with curiosities about the current SW books, nab this sampler.  It’s a professional production, and should arm you with all you need to make a decision.