Star Wars: Rebel Heist

Star Wars Legends: Comics

by Matt Kindt (Writer), Marco Castiello (Illustrator), Marco Castiello (Penciler)

The Rebel Alliance's newest recruits are teamed with its greatest heroes to hatch a plot and pull off a heist right under the noses of the Empire's finest. Can Han Solo, Princess Leia, and others live up to their legends, or will they be found to have feet of clay? Or, is it possible, that their most obvious weaknesses might also be their greatest strengths?

Matt Kindt, the acclaimed author of MIND MGMT and 3 Story, and artist Marco Castiello of Halo: Initiation, step into the Star Wars galaxy to weave a tale of danger, intrigue, and outrageous misdirection.

Collecting: Star Wars: Rebel Heist 1-4

Genres: Star Wars, Comics, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Comic Book

94 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2014

Reviews

[April Cote · Rating 4 out of 5]

This beautiful cover with Han Solo had me sold without reading it. Drooling! But I did read it and loved it. It's Star Wars, with Ham Solo being his cool, handsome self. Can't wait to read more of this series.

Merged review:

This issue was all Princess Leia being her bad-ass self. Love the cover art! Enjoyed this issue.

[A Voracious Reader (a.k.a. Carol) · Rating 4 out of 5]

*Book source ~ Library

From Goodreads:
The Rebel Alliance's newest recruits are teamed with its greatest heroes to hatch a plot and pull off a heist right under the noses of the Empire's finest. Can Han Solo, Princess Leia, and others live up to their legends, or will they be found to have feet of clay? Or, is it possible, that their most obvious weaknesses might also be their greatest strengths?
Matt Kindt, the acclaimed author of "MIND MGMT" and "3 Story," and artist Marco Castiello of "Halo: Initiation," step into the "Star Wars" galaxy to weave a tale of danger, intrigue, and outrageous misdirection.

While I like the artwork it tends to be a bit on the Dark Side. <--see what I did there? hehe I crack me up. Anyway, what I mean is a lot of it is in the greys and blues. Which I guess makes some sense because the Alliance works in the shadows and such. Or am I putting too much thought into it? So, it’s not all sneaky-looking. There are some very colorful scenes as well.

The story is told from several POVs and I really enjoyed how all the pieces came together in the end. There’s action, mystery, suspense and fun to be had in this volume. I recommend it for any Star Wars fan.

[ScottIsANerd (GrilledCheeseSamurai) · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a great way for Dark Horse to say goodbye to its long and illustrious friendship with Star Wars. Rebel Heist was far to short, and I would have been happy reading at least another 4 issues of it. I loved the different viewpoints, the narration from B-list characters talking about our beloved Star Wars heroes was a nice refreshing spin on things.

All in all, a great little caper. I can only hope that Marvel will bring us new Star Wars tales that will live up to the legacy that Dark Horse has already provided.

[47Time · Rating 5 out of 5]

Each issue seems to be a one-shot, but is part of a larger story featuring some of the most well-known members of the Rebellion. They are narrated by supporting characters, some of which have high hopes for the rebels, though the Empire is still at the height of its power. The covers are much prettier than the interior art, but the latter doesn't look bad either. Overall, the story doesn't change the status quo or reveal anything we didn't already know about the protagonists. Still, it's a fun spy story with plenty of action that highlights the Rebellion's struggle with a much stronger foe, the courage of its leaders and their willingness to put their life on the line for freedom.

Newbie Jan's first mission for the Rebellion starts well. He has the legendary Han Solo on side. They get captured and Jan's hopes about the Rebellion crumble to dust. He gives up everything he knows about the rebels while Han is tortured.

A red-skinned Twi'lek named Sarin is working for the Rebellion as a spy. When her cover is blown before obtaining a vital code from an Imperial officer she is assisted by Leia Organa. Together they finish the mission, but Leia is captured.

The code is within the DNA of a clone trooper who willingly follows the rebels since he never saw eye to eye with the Empire. Chewbacca takes him to where they ca send the code in his blood to Han.

Luke Skywalker is featured in the final chapter, the one that reveals that everything that happened so far, even the rebels being captured,bwas according to a well-laid out plan. He is being followed by an Imperial spy who, upon seeing their camaraderie, switches sides. In the end the rebels reunite and their mission is a success. Before long they expect to head to their next mission.

[sassafrass · Rating 4 out of 5]

the art was a LIL fugly in places (i think its just that 80s comics style of putting a million lines on everyone's faces so they all look like they are melting or 100 years old) but i am a sucker for a story that looks at the heroes from an outsiders perspective. i really do appreciate the one guy at the end who was the top imperial spy and defected to the rebellion after spending a day in luke skywalker's company. excellent character work.

[Donavon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four stories, each centering on one of main characters from New Hope, yet told from a companion's point of view.

[☮ morgan ☮ · Rating 2 out of 5]

not my favorite

[Adam · Rating 1 out of 5]

A "heist" story only as a technicality, Rebel Heist is a kind of self-congratulatory retrospective on our favorite "Star Warriors." Each issue creates a new side character who intersects with the portion of a heist Han, Leia, Luke, and Chewie are responsible for, so that we can have the chance to I guess reflect on how great they actually are? The plot breezes by effortlessly, without our understanding of what they're trying to do or whether it's going as planned or not, so it's not really a story or even a character study. It's like a funeral speech, a sense amplified by learning these were some of the last comics DH released before they lost the SW license. They just say how remarkable these individuals were, without showing us anything we haven't already seen before.

Except, that isn't really true either. The carefully orchestrated plan we see play out through these four issues bears almost no resemblance to the seat-of-the-pants adventure style these characters practically trademarked. And because the new POV characters don't interact much with the heroes, often literally just trailing them in the shadows, there's no new relationships to develop there. We only see these very narrow traits for each one. Han is reckless but he always wins in the end (though again, this time it's because he has a master plan?) Leia is brave, sassy, resourceful, and compassionate (and sexy! This is maybe the most egregiously sexualized Leia I've seen since RotJ). Chewie is, uh, strong, I guess? Luke is Force Sensitive (or as they put it, there's just something special about him). And when you put it all together, they will defeat the invincible Empire because they have something it could never have: friendship. Seeing it melts the heart of an Imperial spy and makes him defect. Yawn!

[Ruel · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars.

Set during the time between Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back, Rebel Heist features Luke, Leia, Han, and Chewie in a mission to get an imperial code. It's a familiar story with plenty of Star Wars-isms. Unfortunately, the multiple points of view all read like a fanboy appreciation of whatever character is being followed. All of the rah-rah-go-Luke-Leia-Han-Chewie-go-aren't-they-great of the different narrators gets real old real fast.

The ending was corny, but at least the art was terrific and the pace of the story was fast. Bonus: no Jar Jar! I'd recommend Rebel Heist for diehard Star Wars fans only.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having all the story lines connect at the end worked really well. I enjoyed each individual story, but not always the narration. Two of the narrators come to some kind of realization at the end, and their change of heart wasn't very convincing to me. The ending didn't make much sense to me. Was this going to continue at one point?

[Katie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oops, forgot to review this. This was a weird time. It wasn't really a story? It was more like a bunch of perspectives of new rebel recruits as they encounter the OG Star Wars crew. I kinda...didn't like how they portrayed them, either? But it was different, I'll give them that.

[Monika Cacev · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is... not what I thought it would be? Maybe it gets better, but honestly I have no patience or desire to read 3 more issues in hopes it does. One was enough of wasted time.

When I read the title Rebel Heist, I thought it was going to be a fun side mission of the original 4 having to infiltrate and steal something from the Empire, maybe set between A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back. But no, instead, issue 1 is from the perspective of an entirely nameless idiot who wants to join the rebellion and is unlucky enough to have his contact be Han Solo.

You see the cover? It has that Cowboy Bebop feel right? Han is front and center, Leia in the corner. Well Han is in this all right, has maybe 4 lines of dialogue and is entirely useless. Leia isn't even in it. The comic takes place on Corelian but it might as well take place in any futuristic space port. There's no flare, no interest, no personality. The bar is just a rip off of Mos Eisley, and we spend 100% of this issue reading this insufferable character tell us about how cool and capable, and vain, but also suicidal Han is. It's written by someone who's clearly a fan of the character but has no idea how to actually write him; instead someone else gushes about him for 24 pages.

I hoped maybe this guy will redeem himself, we'll find out something else about him that makes him interesting, but no. For all I know maybe he gets better by the end of the story, but 24 pages of non-stop dialogue from him didn't make me care, so I doubt an additional 72 will.

And the art? Awful. It was plain awful. All the characters look the same, they have weird facial and body proportions, but it isn't stylized, it's just wrong. The pencil-work is scratchy, with unnecessary lines that make everyone look either old or like they're deflating and the composition and angles are flat and uninspired.

Sorely disappointed by this. I have no desire to continue; Han in theory is the easiest one of the trio to get right, and if Kindt got it this wrong, I don't even want to think about what his take on Leia or Chewey might be.

[Michael J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Among the plethora of Star Wars comics, this is one of the better ones. Matt Kindt is a skilled comics writer who knows how to spin an engaging tale. This one spotlights the four main characters of Star Wars: A New Hope (Han Solo, Princess Leia, Chewbacca, and Luke Skywalker) in separate adventures that take place between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. They are all fulfilling different assignments of the same mission, which Kind weaves together in the final chapter. Marco Castiello's art is exquisitely detailed, with great action scenes and good facial expressions on the close-ups. This one is a winner.

[Gabby · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wanted to rate this higher but there are so many issues. Luke’s haircut is awful. The male gaze in Leia’s section is so much worse than usual. Like really so much worse, it made me uncomfortable. Treat your female characters like people, not sexual objects. Also everyone was strangely incredibly buff? It was really comedic.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this graphic novel. It was very entertaining.

[Jamie Connolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly it was really, really good. I was pleased. Nothing extraordinary about it but I was entertained and engaged the whole time.

[Soheil S · Rating 4 out of 5]

The art was a sometimes less than ideal specially Luke's face which was terrifying at times. The story was very entertaining would recommend as it is a quick read.

[Laura Sedano · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Esperanza y plegarias no ganan batallas"

[Jared · Rating 2 out of 5]

Star Wars Legends Project #277

Background: Rebel Heist, released in October of 2014, collects a 4-issue standalone run (Apr-Jul 2014). All 4 issues were written by Matt Kindt and drawn by Marco Castiello. This is Kindt's only Star Wars credit, but Castiello has done a couple of additional issues.

Rebel Heist is set about 3 years after the Battle of Yavin, just before final preparations are completed on Echo Base. The main characters are Han, Princess Leia, Chewbacca, and Luke (each one gets a single issue). The story takes place on various random planets.

Summary: The Rebel's best-known heroes are up to something big, and it doesn't seem to be going well. At least, that's how it looks to the ragtag group of spies, fresh recruits, and defectors who are supposed to be helping them. How did this bunch of misfits win against a Death Star? But slowly, as each piece comes together, the other Rebels start to see the bigger picture and they realize . . . It's the Empire who should be running scared.

Review: The concept here at least sounds interesting: Tell a story about the central characters of Star Wars from the perspectives of regular characters who don't know them like we do. The execution, though, is forgettable, at least where it isn't just flat-out irritating. Because we never get any sort of hint as to what the plan is, or even what the end goal is, until practically the final page, there isn't any plot. It's just several dozen pages of things happening and then other things happening, with the same repeated framing device of a one-off character (ranging from totally bland to downright hateable) going through some variation of either being in awe of or being skeptical of whichever hero they're paired with, to an even greater level of respect for their abilities.

All of these characterizations, both of the throwaway characters and the central characters, are as one-dimensional as it gets. I found the intricacies of the plan impossible to follow even as it unfolded because I spent the entire story seeing it exclusively through the eyes of characters who have no idea what's going on, and I couldn't piece it all together when we finally get the payoff at the end. But I'm pretty sure it was one of those breed of absurdly overelaborate heist plans that work because they're laid out with a level of foreknowledge only possible when there's a writer backstage pulling every string.

Some of the art is nice, but this is pretty much a waste of paper.

D+

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

0-3 ABY

This was an interesting side series, to say the least. Each issue features a spy playing for one side or the other. These are the perspectives of random participants in the war as they see the major characters go through their key events. The first issue features a rebel who encounters Han. When Han is not quite as amazing as he is cooked up to be, the rebel changes sides like the changing of the tide. In the second issue, Leia is aiming to get some codes while the rebel spy assisting her finds the princess to be nothing more than a liability in the field. The third issue an ex-Imperial now Rebel assists Chewbacca in barraging through his mission, but the kid cannot understand a word the Whookie says! In the final issue, the ploys of the four main characters come together to form a solid plot-line from four different outside perspectives.

This graphic novel was interesting in that we get to see a different lens on how the main heroes appear to others. That perspective gives us another side of the Rebellion story that adds a bit more insight. The art is interesting in a chic kind of way.

[Cynthia Ayala · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awesome. Chewbacca is one of those silent and strong characters in the world, and those are the most difficult to write because all the strength revolves around their actions, how they interpret the world around them and how they influence the characters around them. So Kindt did an amazing job with this issue, as it follows Chewbacca while he gets the codes to the rest of the Rebel Forces. He’s leading a traitor of the Empire, who carries important codes of the Empire within his DNA, and the man doesn’t have much respect for Chewbacca, spending half the issue calling him and “it”. But that’s the cleverness of the writing, it shows not only that characters growth, but it also shows the strong dynamic, the impressionable air that Chewy carries.
Weekly Comic Reviews

[La Espada en la Tinta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Los héroes de la trilogía clásica protagonizaron el año pasado en Dark Horse una miniserie de cuatro números ("Rebel Heist" en el original) antes de que Marvel tomara las riendas de los cómics de la saga galáctica. La edición en rústica de esa miniserie es la que ahora ha publicado Planeta Cómic en España con la portada alternativa de Adam Hughes, artista que ha trabajado para diferentes editoriales como DC, Image o la propia Marvel.

Asalto Rebelde está protagonizado por los héroes de las películas originales de Star Wars, esto es, Han Solo, la Princesa Leia, Luke Skywalker y Chewbacca. Cada uno de ellos...

Sigue leyendo...

[mercurialmadness · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first issue of Rebel Heist was brilliant and promising, and now that I have finished the last issue I am entirely disappointed. All of the comics explore the different main rebels from a third person, birds-eye kind of view, which is interesting but evolved into a repetitive annoyed fan dedication. All of the issues basically said the same thing, "I am in awe blank persons, don't blanks persons kick ass? Look how dedicated blank persons are,"....and then the story just sort of evaporated. My suspicion is that Dark Horse simply brushed this series under the rug and didn't care about a cohesive or progression story like for the redundant last HOO-RAH!

[Malcolm Cox · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a bit different to other Star Wars graphic novels I’ve read. It is told through the eyes of new Rebellion fighters as they meet and work with the heroes and have to make an adjustment between the legend and the flesh and blood beings before them. The story itself is a little basic, but as it’s more of an exploration of altering perceptions, that’s only a minor thing. Due to the three-pronged approach, sequentially introducing all the characters, this story is a bit laboured getting going, but once I understood what it was trying to go for, I was happy to go with. The ending was particularly rewarding.
The artwork was also reasonably good..

[Tony Romine · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed this on a certain level. The artwork is great, the multiple perspectives, and the way the writer cleverly ducks and weaves through the standard Star Wars tropes. My biggest problem is that I'm not entirely certain what the plot is. The way the story is told, it's quite confusing to understand why things happen that happen. It seems less like the author was interested in telling a cohesive tale and more interested in hyping up these characters that have already been hyped up to the highest tier. It's not terrible, but it's not something I'm willing to re-read to try and completely understand what's going on.

[Cale · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a kind of strange piece - it's kind of a recruitment collection, with each issue focused on a different person's perspective of the classic Star Wars characters, although they all end up tying into one main story. The perspective is interesting - especially the first one whose perspective on Han is definitely colored by circumstances. It's an interesting approach and it does succeed, but it's hampered a bit by an art style that doesn't quite capture the classic characters. It's a nice addition to the Star Wars canon, but it's not something I would point new readers to read first.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good graphic novel, but not the best send off from Dark Horse. The characters seemed very violent, which I didn't like that much. I find it hard to believe that Leia would poison Imperial Spies to death and that Chewbacca could kill a Rancor single-handedly...

Other than that, the book was paced well, fit together in the end, and had an interesting narrative. Would have been better if the art weren't so sketchy, but the characters were easy enough to read.

[John Bonilla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Esos últimos 5 cuadros me desconcertaron, Sí, robaron el generador para la base en Hoth, eso lo entendí, pero esos últimos 5 cuadros ¿qué?

Al menos estuvo genial como relacionaron los 5 tomos para un solo rescate, aunque estuvo de más que se entregaran o aún no capto la idea de los rebeldes al hacer eso, o tal vez sí.

Estuvo medio confuso, pero me gustó al final, la parte de la guerra sin super combates, solo estrategia.

[wbforeman · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn’t love this the art was OK. Basically, the story tells this one long heist told each chapter through a different person’s perspective. Left a bad taste in my mouth was the first chapter of this guy meeting Han Solo and him fanboying out over Han Solo. The other chapters were fine as these new people within the rebellion meet the famous movie characters like Princess Leia, or Chewbacca I think this just felt very average.

[Michael Alexander · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick 4 issue Star Wars story. The story takes place in between Episodes IV and V and was quite fun. Each issue focuses on one of the core heroes, Han, Leia, Chewie, and Luke. At first each issue feels disparate and doesn't seem to have anything to do with the others, but they are all tied together in the end. Good stuff.