Star Wars: Thrawn #2 Review - Marvel Monday

Thrawn of Justice

Written by: Jody Houser
Art by: Luke Ross
Publisher: Marvel
Reviewed by: Andrew McAvoy


Just as I was starting to denounce Marvel Star Wars and began to threaten to knock it off Jabba's Sail Barge, it garnered itself a stay of execution. The last issue of the new Thrawn title really impressed me both in terms of Jody Houser's distillation of the story from Zahn's 2017 book, but also in terms of Luke Ross' knock out artwork. Let's see how issue 2 was.

Well, let's accentuate the positive. Luke Ross continues to really pitch in at a higher level than most and delivers some really top quality work again in this issue. It glows off the page and I am truly impressed at how well he renders the characters, many of which are new ones to the saga.

In fact, I would go as far to say that Ross captures Thrawn much better on the pages of this comic book than other iterations of him, including the depiction in Star Wars Rebels. So all I can say is thank goodness for Mr. Ross. He is an asset to Marvel Star Wars, and given that the artwork in Marvel's Star Wars books has been a serious minus I hope we see him on more books.

The story this issue suffers more than the first because of the source material. Yes, I know it is sacrilege to criticize Timothy Zahn, but don't get your undergarments in a knot. I liked the Thrawn book, I just wasn't that keen on this particular part of it. This particular section was always going to be hard to duplicate in comic book form. It is a complex game of bluff and double bluff between Thrawn and some pirates. Houser manages to get through it okay, but it was a tough gig.

Bits and Pieces

If you loved the first issue, but felt that this one was a bit dull by comparison, I would suggest that you stick with this mini-series. This was one of the duller elements of the source novel, and there are better aspects still to come. If I may be so bold, I would recommend that you stick with this until issue 3, and in the meantime simply enjoy the fine art. Much like Thrawn himself would.

7.2/10