Star Wars: Han Solo - Hunt For The Falcon (2025-2026) #1

by Rodney Barnes, Ramon Rosanas (Cover Art)

IN THE TIME BEFORE THE FORCE AWAKENS, WHERE IS THE MILLENNIUM FALCON?! Less than satisfied with a settled life, HAN SOLO lands on the idea of reclaiming the Falcon and returning to a life of adventure. The problem is, he can't find it. After enlisting a less than enthusiastic CHEWBACCA, the duo embarks upon a quest to reclaim the greatest ship in the galaxy. Standing in their way are a laundry list of rogues who have staked a claim to the Millennium Falcon as well, like the villainous scoundrel who stole the Falcon, DUCAIN.

Genres: Star Wars, Comics, Marvel

Kindle Edition

Published September 3, 2025

About the author

Rodney L Barnes has had the privilege to accomplish so much in a short time on Earth. At the age of forty-two and surviving a major traumatic brain injury, writing and publishing the book, My Miracle outlines and talks about experiences he had undergone that might contribute to the events in your life. From past to present, he had learned how to accept what life has to offer, not struggle with life. He was raised on the principles of ordinary life, take nothing for granted! Rodney now clearly understands those principles of living because of his development. Through events of his life, the accident, coma, and relearning life at twenty-one years of age, he has to give all these accomplishments to the Lord Jesus Christ. Rodney is praying for his book to get into the hands of people who need a source of comfort, strength, or knowledge to learn more how strong and powerful Jesus Christ is and can be. Visit him at Facebook.com/mymiraclethemovie and together, we all can help each other understand the meaning of life.

Reviews

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I went back to the only thing I was ever any good at.

This quote perfectly shows how creatively bankrupt The Force Awakens was beneath the surface. But, even with that, I still can't believe it took Lucasfilm Publishing this long to tell the backstory of how Han Solo lost the Millenium Falcon!!! And, even in its first issue, it does something I thought would be impossible: the next time I watch The Force Awakens, I'll be able to hear Han say that and perfectly imagine why he chose to return to his old ways. With that, writer Rodney Barnes joins Adam Christopher (who achieved the impossible in Shadows of the Sith by recontextualising the absurd Rise of Slywalker scene of Rey matching the dagger to the wreckage of the Death Star ) in making J.J. Abrams's bare-bones storytelling make sense. For that alone, I'm determined to see Hunt for the Falcon through to the end.

I vaguely knew this story was in the pipeline, but expected very little from it. What few novels or materials about Han in the period between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens give a very simple picture of what he got up to: he married Leia (The Princess and the Scoundrel), fathered Ben and led the resistance to liberate Kashyyyk from the Imperial remnants (the last two Aftermath novels), felt a bit listless in the early years while the New Republic was being built (Last Shot), and became a racing pilot who also ran his own racing teams while Leia remained a senator and Ben was sent to become a Jedi (Bloodline). That was what we knew of Han's activities in the 30 years between Episode VI and VII. Until now.

Barnes has clearly done his homework. What is Han doing when #1 starts? Overseeing a racing team. Is he living with Leia and Ben? No. And how does he feel at this point in his life? Listless.

What I really like is how restless Han is portrayed, absolutely fitting his character. A biggest criticism for the otherwise excellent Aftermath trilogy is that it wrote Han against character, turning him into a coward when, no matter what flaws he might have had, Han was NEVER a coward. But Han being unsatisfied with the life he had? Han is old, he's overthrown the Empire, married a princess, fathered the first of a new generation of Jedi and beat every odd he ever went up against. Of course he grew restless when all he had to do all day was coach fliers who just didn't care about the joy and excitment as much as he did. No wonder he feels the need to jump in recapture even a scrap, a speck, of that excitment. And when he tries to get reassurance from his friend, receiving nothing but assurance that 'boring' is what they should be aspiring for, is it any surprise that he chooses to break the mold and reclaims the life he once had when he had everything he feels is missing from his life?

'I went back to the only thing I was ever any good at' will never have the same ring as before.

Don't expect to go into #1 and get every answer about Han's pre-Force Awakens though. What it deals with is showing where Han is at this point, his decision to find the one thing he has always loved without question and provided him with a life he felt was worth living, and then getting the team back together when he travels to Kashyyyk to recruit a reluctant Chewbacca. But somethings haven't been answered yet. For one, it is unclear whether Leia and Han have already separated or are just living their separate lives while still being married as they did in Bloodline. Han watches wistfully a holo-image of his family, including one with an adult Ben, at one point, but it isn't specificed whether his son has become Kylo Ren yet. And the one big question I have remains unanswered, although I still hope it will be at some point: how was the Falcon actually stolen from Han?

In a single issue, Hunt for the Falcon gives Han something he never had in this period of his life in the exisiting Disney Star Wars materials: a proper story, that also works as a satisfying backstory.

[Marcus · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid start to the series, Han tries to live an honest, quiet life as the owner of a pilot racing team but he can’t help but feel unfulfilled being stuck on the ground. He yearns to get into some trouble again one last time with his trusty ship, the millennium falcon, which has been stolen for some time. Old age be damned, he wants his ship back and takes matters into his own hands.

I really dig the artwork and Barnes captures the essence of Han Solo really well through the dialogue. I liked how natural this felt, sometimes Star Wars comics can feel a bit forced like they’re trying to hard but this feels right. I hope further issues keep up this authenticity.

[Ryan Parker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really solid start here, this is great. Good backstory for Han leading up to his time in Force Awakens. And Lumpy is all growns up, ha!

[Myles Gerber · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

Really great stuff.

[Steven Shinder · Rating 4 out of 5]

This turned out to be a pretty good read for Life Day, as Chewie's family shows up!