Comics for Y'all

Who cares about Lando Calrissian? I apologize to the fans, but that was my first thought upon seeing the character’s miniseries come up next in my trek through Star Wars comics. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against Lando, but in terms of arc and story, there just does not seem to be much left on the bone. Introduced as a sort of alternate, darker Han Solo (quite literally), Lando even had a similar throughline; though he made some larger missteps, the rogue came around and fought for the good side in the end. From the 2026 perspective, we got even more of the character in the most recent films, and honestly, I don’t think it sparked any further curiosity. Needless to say, I went into this title with decidedly low expectations.

I would come to find out there are a plethora of advantages to placing a character like Lando in the title role of a comic in this context. Two major creative limitations typically hamper Star Wars spin-off material. The first is an insistence on tying every story in a galaxy far, far away back to the larger Skywalker Saga, as it is now known. Second, with such iconic characters leading most of the projects, the extended universe for Star Wars can often be stunted by an unwillingness to change the likes of Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader meaningfully. With their big names stuck in brand-enforced stasis, it turns out the second-stringers, such as a Lando Calrissian, are in prime position to inherit some of the more unique and fun storylines.

Lando, the 2015 five-issue limited series from writer Charles Soule and artist Alex Maleev, is a straight-up and down heist book, and it knows itself. The comic benefits immensely from the creative team’s awareness of the scope with which they want to work, and their restraint results in a particularly cohesive package, especially in terms of corporate comics.

The book follows Lando and his crew, an alien scholar known as Korin Pers, two cat-people assassins named Aleksin and Pavol, and his trusty sidekick, the augmented human Lobot, as they attempt One Last Heist. Hailing from Empire Strikes Back, the latter of the list, Lobot, was a background player and friend of Lando who had some sort of mechanical panel installed into his head, ostensibly to make himself more valuable to the fascist regime. In these pages, the character is shown as a man, but one who is fighting the implants installed by the Empire as they try to conform his psyche into an unfeeling logic machine.

I don’t hate the arc for Lobot, but I am never completely won over by the character. There is something hamfisted about the whole affair. I’m not sure if it’s the recreation of the Han Solo-Chewbacca relationship or just the fact Lobot feels more like a referential insert than a substantial one, but either way the augmented man has one of the weaker voices in the series, for my money.

As it turns out, evidenced by the appearance of some red-robed Imperial Guards, the big score Lando and the gang end up with is a cutting-edge, artifact-laden Sith ship, owned by the one and only Emperor Palpatine. Schlocky but clever, I found this plot detail an entertaining way to keep the adventure tied into the overall Star Wars web without placing massive weight on the events of the comic.

In response to the slight, Palpatine calls up a discreet contact, one who can handle sensitive situations such as the one he found himself in. The bounty hunter, Chanath Cha, is sent to intercept the stolen ship and see it recovered or destroyed. This begins a classic parallel narrative of hunter and hunted with Lando and his adversary, and the comic proves you don’t have to reinvent the wheel to make a fast car. I found the two sides of the story to be really quite effective in establishing stakes from opposite directions. Chanath Cha’s side of the coin set up the real dangers and scope of the conflict, while Lando’s half defined the individual character motivations and the consequences of their failure from their personal perspectives.

There were two plot revelations that defined the entire series for me. Spoilers ahead, so buckle up. The first was the Samus-like helmet removal of Chanath Cha, revealing the bounty hunter as a woman and tying her to the past shenanigans of Lando and Lobot. It’s not a small feat to make a gender reveal work as an interesting story development in the year 2015, and an even larger one for it to hold up in 2026, but it really does in these pages. The reason is that Chanath Cha's gender isn't really the interesting bit here at all; it’s her relationship with the protagonist and the toll that takes on her sizable image.

It comes out that Chanath Cha has a past relationship with Lando, and Lobot in particular. In an instant, all of the side stories and romantic conquests that have been musing from the protagonist throughout the series now apply to the bounty hunter. In a moment, she becomes a human, with flaws and aspirations, as opposed to a helmeted, heartless mercenary.

The second narrative shift is, ironically, another case of cold-blooded assassins showing their humanity, as a relative term in this instance. Established as imminently capable amidst a crew of self-serving personalities, the book still manages to make it a legitimate surprise when Aleksin and Pavol turn on Lando and the gang. Corrupted by some demonic Sith energy on the ship, the two warrior cats attempt a lightsaber-aided mutiny at just about the same time Chanath Cha arrives at the scene.

In a few short sequences, the comic is able to provide humanizing, so to speak, context to Aleksin and Pavol through their private conversation about the purpose of their being on the mission in the first place. It turns out they want to settle down and start a family together. One of the assassins is turned to the dark side first, creating an emotionally poignant scene between the two partners. Additionally, the book emphasizes the danger and apprehension the fighters feel about the red laser swords found on the ship. I think the distinction that lightsabers are dangerous and unwieldy for those untrained with the weapons is really interesting, and to me it works as a nice bit of logical realism in the wacky galaxy far, far away.

Lando’s conclusions, including an abundance of death and mutilation, and of course the protagonist's failure and forced abandonment of all his goodies, complete the best character arcs I have read so far in my trip through Star Wars comics. There is a clear climax and resolution, with the book leaving nothing on the field; this is a narrative whole, not an introduction to an ongoing Lando Calrissian series. Ironically, I have never been more interested in the rogues' continuing adventures.

Coming in far later to the discussion than is warranted is the comic's art. In short, it’s the best you’re gonna get from these types of books. While retaining the realistic proportions and cinematic perspective the entire Marvel Star Wars line adheres to, Maleev and company use color and subtle facial expressions to elevate the work. The cohesion of the darkness and poker faces pulls the reader into the heist aesthetic and mindset perfectly. This is not a book that would benefit from less dialogue or text in general; the opposite is actually true, the comic is quite well-written, but the art is narratively competent enough to stand alone in terms of storytelling more often than the audience might expect.

There’s just a lot to Lando that is plain neat. The relationships between the title character and everyone he comes into contact with are simply more mature and nuanced than almost anything presented in the contemporary comics of the shared universe. Small players like the imperial governor Lando is sleeping with at the outset of the book, or the mean Sith droid that works with, and against, Chanath Cha in service of the Emperor have more depth than half of the main players throughout the Star Wars scene. Self-contained, small even, Lando is a fun, fulfilling romp worthy of any sci-fi heist fan’s time.

Lando. Charles Soule. Alex Maleev. Paul Mounts. VC’s Joe Caramagna. Edgar Delgado. Heather Antos. Jordan D. White. CB Cebulski. Marvel. 2015.