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Star Wars (2015) (Single Issues)
Star Wars #55
“HOPE DIES” PART 6! If anyone is to survive this disaster, sacrifice is needed... Who’s going to make it? If hope dies, what survives?
24 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 3, 2018
2 people are currently reading
23 people want to read
About the author
Kieron Gillen
1,472 books1,907 followersKieron Gillen is a comic book writer and former media journalist.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
October 3, 2018
The story was interesting but unfortunately spoiled by the dodgy artwork!
October 3, 2018
If i Wasn’t So far in this series I would have quit already. At this point there is no bigger story to me anymore and i don’t even know anymore What the end goal is.
October 15, 2018
Fantastic! Scrumptious. Real, real good stuff! And just plain yet another superb Star Wars effort from ever wickedly wonderful and profoundly prolific writer Kieron Gillen. And master artist Salvador Larroca, too, who somehow ALWAYS manages to serve up panel after exquisitely rendered panel of picture perfect imagery set in everyone's favorite galaxy far, far away.
I was very saddened, however, when reaching the end of this six issue story arc, to read on the very last page, that this will apparently be Larroca's final work on this series for... who knows how long. That's hideous! That's horrific! That's... well, unexpected, and not in any way, shape, or form ideal, but one does have to admit that, thus far, Marvel has been extra careful to almost always put some of the absolute best of the best in the comic book business to work on their various Star Wars franchise titles.
Therefore, hopefully, Andrea Broccardo won't disappoint for issue number 56. After that, Angel Unzueta will apparently be at the helm, more or less for the long haul. Guess all us Jedi loving junkies just have to cross our fingers and hope for the very best. I am seriously going to miss Salvador Larroca's work though. Seriously.
I've also really got to point out that this particular story arc, "Hope Dies," turned out, by the very end, to be much better than I'll just bet a whole lot of Star Wars fans and habitually grumbling little critics thought it ever would. I think the main problem nowadays, is that since the comics industry is now geared to offering up five to six part story arcs, that can later be conveniently marketed as graphic novels, a lot of readers simply lose the overall long term momentum of the story from having to wait from month to month.
I mean, it's not like the old days, when most issues of comics were stand alone stories (even if there definitely was an overall long term continuity of characters and thematic development), and when, for the most part, those single issue stories could stand up reasonably well all on their own.
Sure, as a kid back then, if you missed an issue, you'd feel positively bummed out, and you'd pine to one day eventually fill that gap in your collection of that particular title, but in general, things really weren't like they are today, with all these snide, quickly dashed off iphone "reviews" that just get hastily ejaculated out into increasingly polluted cyberspace. The ones I unfortunately come across every now and then. When I make the mistake of actually bothering to read all that quick-take, simple-minded, YouTube comments section style negativity and vitriol, that is.
Bottom line: Yes, this graphic novel story arc, "Hope Dies," did take a little while to "get good," so to speak, but come on, people! These things are written to be movie-length, movie adaptation-style stories these days, you know! Therefore, logically speaking, every single issue cannot possibly be of blockbuster quality! They just can't. It just doesn't work that way in the Real World, kids. I mean, come on! NO HUMAN WRITER, even the likes of marvelously talented Kieron Gillen (much less poor... well... FILTHY RICH old George Lucas), could possibly grand slam, clear out of the ball park, an absolutely pitch perfect story every single time he comes up to bat. Duh.
Okay, fine. So some of us (okay, a lot of you, not me) got seriously tired of George Lucas and the increasingly "wrong" direction that he was consistently choosing to take HIS VERY OWN saga in, and then... the "fans" just went BONGO APE SHITE (or Bantha poop, or whatever) on the poor man. You know, THE man who created Star Wars in the very first place, no less! The man who just happened to be my biggest hero when I was growing up. And though I'm much older now, and no longer an easily pleased, starry-eyed kid, eagerly gobbling up every Star Wars morsel that comes and goes down the cosmic pipe, I STILL think Lucas has always done his absolute best when it comes to his very own, rightfully much beloved creation.
But, I obviously digress. But guess what? I'm actually going to do that even more. That's right, Sith Lords and Ladies, I'm taking the BIG DIVE. I am going... THERE. So hold onto your gaffi sticks, kids! Because, come on, for crying out loud! What did we get after poor, underappreciated old George finally and much too fatalistically gave his very own keister the boot? We got the likes of J. J. Abrams, and... dare I even write the name... Rian - 'all men suddenly and inexplicably become mostly useless in the Star Wars Universe after Han Solo kicks the bucket' - Johnson.
And... tell me again, will you, EXACTLY WHY did Han Solo REALLY have to die in a mostly USELESS scene like that anyway? And why does Kylo Ren actor Adam Driver NOT look all that much like Harrison Ford OR Carrie Fisher? And if Han's going to get wasted like that, don't you think that his beloved pal Chewie would really want to have gone out with him, in a blaze of galactic glory? Like Bonnie and Clyde, Thelma and Louise, or Butch and Sundance, for pity's sake! Crikey! And it's not like Chewie had much to do in The Last Jedi but interact, rather badly, and really quite embarrassingly, with the newest little Star Wars Universe critters that everyone now loves to HATE. Ugh!
And then... we got FORCED (Star Wars pun most definitely intended) to have our visual memories permanently scarred by the baffling visage of a grizzled, TOTALLY OUT OF CHARACTER, now suddenly and inexplicably cowardly and neglectful hermit version of Luke Skywalker, who was just wasting his final days out on an obscure Irish island. And he was... drinking green milk from a... a.... GOD ALMIGHTY! Somebody PLEASE, PLEASE get that scene out of my aching head!
I mean, it's just been way, way too much over the past couple of Disney's Star Wars-esque efforts, you know. But then... this "little" review has now somehow jumped itself into unplotted hyperspace, taking us pretty much helplessly spinning out of control and completely and totally OFF COURSE into a big, scary asteroid field. And yet... good old scoundrel Han Solo isn't even around anymore to get us out of this sorry mess! Which is one terribly sad metaphor, really, for the way Disney's new Social Justice Warriorized Star Wars saga seems to now have been totally pole-vaulted into increasingly unrecognizable and horrifically uncharted terrifying territory.
Thank the Force then, that we still have these as yet wonderfully written and drawn classic trilogy era Star Wars comics. So PLEASE, fan boys and girls, STOP WHINING about the sequential art version of Star Wars. Because, by and large, it's all been pretty good stuff. Real good. Better, in fact, than most of what Disney has been sausage factory style churning out at the theaters of late.
Okay. Okay. 'Nuff said. So may the Force be with us all, anyway. From here on out. Even and especially for the upcoming (fingers firmly crossed yet again) Episode 9. Good luck, fellow kids of the Star Wars faith. As dearly departed Han Solo always used to say (or at least he said something pretty similar once, at any rate), "We're gonna need it."
I was very saddened, however, when reaching the end of this six issue story arc, to read on the very last page, that this will apparently be Larroca's final work on this series for... who knows how long. That's hideous! That's horrific! That's... well, unexpected, and not in any way, shape, or form ideal, but one does have to admit that, thus far, Marvel has been extra careful to almost always put some of the absolute best of the best in the comic book business to work on their various Star Wars franchise titles.
Therefore, hopefully, Andrea Broccardo won't disappoint for issue number 56. After that, Angel Unzueta will apparently be at the helm, more or less for the long haul. Guess all us Jedi loving junkies just have to cross our fingers and hope for the very best. I am seriously going to miss Salvador Larroca's work though. Seriously.
I've also really got to point out that this particular story arc, "Hope Dies," turned out, by the very end, to be much better than I'll just bet a whole lot of Star Wars fans and habitually grumbling little critics thought it ever would. I think the main problem nowadays, is that since the comics industry is now geared to offering up five to six part story arcs, that can later be conveniently marketed as graphic novels, a lot of readers simply lose the overall long term momentum of the story from having to wait from month to month.
I mean, it's not like the old days, when most issues of comics were stand alone stories (even if there definitely was an overall long term continuity of characters and thematic development), and when, for the most part, those single issue stories could stand up reasonably well all on their own.
Sure, as a kid back then, if you missed an issue, you'd feel positively bummed out, and you'd pine to one day eventually fill that gap in your collection of that particular title, but in general, things really weren't like they are today, with all these snide, quickly dashed off iphone "reviews" that just get hastily ejaculated out into increasingly polluted cyberspace. The ones I unfortunately come across every now and then. When I make the mistake of actually bothering to read all that quick-take, simple-minded, YouTube comments section style negativity and vitriol, that is.
Bottom line: Yes, this graphic novel story arc, "Hope Dies," did take a little while to "get good," so to speak, but come on, people! These things are written to be movie-length, movie adaptation-style stories these days, you know! Therefore, logically speaking, every single issue cannot possibly be of blockbuster quality! They just can't. It just doesn't work that way in the Real World, kids. I mean, come on! NO HUMAN WRITER, even the likes of marvelously talented Kieron Gillen (much less poor... well... FILTHY RICH old George Lucas), could possibly grand slam, clear out of the ball park, an absolutely pitch perfect story every single time he comes up to bat. Duh.
Okay, fine. So some of us (okay, a lot of you, not me) got seriously tired of George Lucas and the increasingly "wrong" direction that he was consistently choosing to take HIS VERY OWN saga in, and then... the "fans" just went BONGO APE SHITE (or Bantha poop, or whatever) on the poor man. You know, THE man who created Star Wars in the very first place, no less! The man who just happened to be my biggest hero when I was growing up. And though I'm much older now, and no longer an easily pleased, starry-eyed kid, eagerly gobbling up every Star Wars morsel that comes and goes down the cosmic pipe, I STILL think Lucas has always done his absolute best when it comes to his very own, rightfully much beloved creation.
But, I obviously digress. But guess what? I'm actually going to do that even more. That's right, Sith Lords and Ladies, I'm taking the BIG DIVE. I am going... THERE. So hold onto your gaffi sticks, kids! Because, come on, for crying out loud! What did we get after poor, underappreciated old George finally and much too fatalistically gave his very own keister the boot? We got the likes of J. J. Abrams, and... dare I even write the name... Rian - 'all men suddenly and inexplicably become mostly useless in the Star Wars Universe after Han Solo kicks the bucket' - Johnson.
And... tell me again, will you, EXACTLY WHY did Han Solo REALLY have to die in a mostly USELESS scene like that anyway? And why does Kylo Ren actor Adam Driver NOT look all that much like Harrison Ford OR Carrie Fisher? And if Han's going to get wasted like that, don't you think that his beloved pal Chewie would really want to have gone out with him, in a blaze of galactic glory? Like Bonnie and Clyde, Thelma and Louise, or Butch and Sundance, for pity's sake! Crikey! And it's not like Chewie had much to do in The Last Jedi but interact, rather badly, and really quite embarrassingly, with the newest little Star Wars Universe critters that everyone now loves to HATE. Ugh!
And then... we got FORCED (Star Wars pun most definitely intended) to have our visual memories permanently scarred by the baffling visage of a grizzled, TOTALLY OUT OF CHARACTER, now suddenly and inexplicably cowardly and neglectful hermit version of Luke Skywalker, who was just wasting his final days out on an obscure Irish island. And he was... drinking green milk from a... a.... GOD ALMIGHTY! Somebody PLEASE, PLEASE get that scene out of my aching head!
I mean, it's just been way, way too much over the past couple of Disney's Star Wars-esque efforts, you know. But then... this "little" review has now somehow jumped itself into unplotted hyperspace, taking us pretty much helplessly spinning out of control and completely and totally OFF COURSE into a big, scary asteroid field. And yet... good old scoundrel Han Solo isn't even around anymore to get us out of this sorry mess! Which is one terribly sad metaphor, really, for the way Disney's new Social Justice Warriorized Star Wars saga seems to now have been totally pole-vaulted into increasingly unrecognizable and horrifically uncharted terrifying territory.
Thank the Force then, that we still have these as yet wonderfully written and drawn classic trilogy era Star Wars comics. So PLEASE, fan boys and girls, STOP WHINING about the sequential art version of Star Wars. Because, by and large, it's all been pretty good stuff. Real good. Better, in fact, than most of what Disney has been sausage factory style churning out at the theaters of late.
Okay. Okay. 'Nuff said. So may the Force be with us all, anyway. From here on out. Even and especially for the upcoming (fingers firmly crossed yet again) Episode 9. Good luck, fellow kids of the Star Wars faith. As dearly departed Han Solo always used to say (or at least he said something pretty similar once, at any rate), "We're gonna need it."
January 6, 2023
Hope died a long time ago for this "Hope Dies" story arc of being anything spectacular.
"It was okay." - 2 out of 5 star rating.
Overall this ~5 issue spread is mediocre at best. I didn't come to Star Wars originally because of the space battles, but overtime it has grown on me and I do enjoy X-Wings, Y-Wings, Star Destroyers, TIE Fighters of all variants, and of course the Millennium Falcon, etc. etc.
This arc was heavily focused on the like, which is fine and not the issue here - it just feels weak overall, with very little contribution to pushing the Star Wars 75-issue comic marathon forward in anyway and also provides absolutely nothing when it comes to additional layers of character depth whatsoever.
Ships fly around, lasers go pew, Vader says some ominous commands to his fearful subordinates, and status-quo/nothing special Han, Leia, Luke 100% as expected dialog.
Not my favorite story arc, speaking kindly.
Thankfully, announced on the last page they are doing the per-usual author/artist swap and a new arc is kicking off. Excited to see what will be brought to the table next!
"It was okay." - 2 out of 5 star rating.
Overall this ~5 issue spread is mediocre at best. I didn't come to Star Wars originally because of the space battles, but overtime it has grown on me and I do enjoy X-Wings, Y-Wings, Star Destroyers, TIE Fighters of all variants, and of course the Millennium Falcon, etc. etc.
This arc was heavily focused on the like, which is fine and not the issue here - it just feels weak overall, with very little contribution to pushing the Star Wars 75-issue comic marathon forward in anyway and also provides absolutely nothing when it comes to additional layers of character depth whatsoever.
Ships fly around, lasers go pew, Vader says some ominous commands to his fearful subordinates, and status-quo/nothing special Han, Leia, Luke 100% as expected dialog.
Not my favorite story arc, speaking kindly.
Thankfully, announced on the last page they are doing the per-usual author/artist swap and a new arc is kicking off. Excited to see what will be brought to the table next!
October 3, 2018
This is a fantastic conclusion to what I would say is the best arc in this series since the second one, Showdown on the Smuggler's Moon. I'd say that throughout this series, the three arcs advertised as the "big events" have been Vader Down, The Screaming Citadel, and Hope Dies. Kieron Gillen had a hand in the crossovers, but they weren't as good or important as they should have been. But with Hope Dies, he has brought the series back to a peak. This is what I was hoping for when I first heard he'd be taking the reigns starting with Ashes of Jedha. We get to see the efforts of rebel leaders like Dodonna and Ackbar. And we even get a Hera cameo! The result of the battle here brings the Rebel Alliance to the state it seems to have in The Empire Strikes Back. I expect that the next arc will be a bit "quieter," but I'm looking forward to seeing how everyone and everything comes together after this point.
January 13, 2019
I'm sorry to see this arc ended, but looking forward to the next one...
June 6, 2020
An epic conclusion. Very good story
December 25, 2021
Gran final de arco. Aventura de lo más interesante con una flota rebelde en jaque y una historia de la misma que le da mil vueltas al guión planteado en el Episodio VIII.
November 16, 2022
#55 – “… I may have an idea.” – Han
September 19, 2021
this was probably one of my favorite arcs from this run
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews