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Star Wars: X-Wing Rogue Squadron
Star Wars: X-Wing Rogue Squadron, Vol. 9: Mandatory Retirement
When acting Emperor Pestage makes a secret deal with the Rebel Alliance to betray the Empire, the Rebels' chance to gain the Imperial Center may be threatened.
96 pages, Paperback
First published December 13, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
April 18, 2024
(Review from 2024)
This was one of those Star Wars comics I read a solitary issue of as a kid and as an adult finally got bored/curious enough to track down the rest of to see what actually happened. Set in the pre-Disney EU continuity, Rogue Squadron and a few other Rebels/New Republic soldiers are sent on a tough mission to extract a defecting Imperial official (Sate Pestage, one of Palpatine’s top advisors) in exchange for immunity and information for taking Coruscant from the Imperial Remnants. It’s entertaining enough but the writing/characterization could be cringe at times, particularly for the Imperials.
This was one of those Star Wars comics I read a solitary issue of as a kid and as an adult finally got bored/curious enough to track down the rest of to see what actually happened. Set in the pre-Disney EU continuity, Rogue Squadron and a few other Rebels/New Republic soldiers are sent on a tough mission to extract a defecting Imperial official (Sate Pestage, one of Palpatine’s top advisors) in exchange for immunity and information for taking Coruscant from the Imperial Remnants. It’s entertaining enough but the writing/characterization could be cringe at times, particularly for the Imperials.
June 3, 2020
Dark Horse Comics: Star Wars: X-Wing Rogue Squadron - Issues #32-35. A good book to end the series. At least they had some sort of wrap up to leave the door open for future stories, but as we all know that never happened. It was a fun read but it was hard keeping all those stupid Imperial leaders straight since so many of them didn't have much personality.
July 9, 2018
I liked this comic. It was not as good as the others in my opinion but it was still okay. It was a one time read for me. So I guess I would recommend it, but if there is another one you want to read, read it first.
December 31, 2022
Star Wars Legends Project #314
Background: Mandatory Retirement was released in December 2000, collecting issues #32-35 originally published Aug-Nov 1998. It is the ninth and final Rogue Squadron story arc. It was written by Michael A. Stackpole and drawn by Steve Crespo and John Nadeau. Stackpole concludes his run as the writer of the whole series, reuniting with Crespo and Nadeau, both series regulars who had been absent for several issues.
Mandatory Retirement takes place 1 year after the Battle of Endor, 5 years after the Battle of Yavin. The main characters are Baron Fel, Wedge, Tycho, Wes, and the rest of Rogue Squadron, with appearances by the New Republic leadership (Princess Leia, Mon Mothma, Admiral Ackbar, General Cracken, Borsk Fey'lya, etc.) and the Imperial regulars, Sate Pestage and Ysanne Isard. The story takes place on Coruscant and Ciutric IV.
Summary: All of Ysanne Isard's plotting has led to this, as she launches her bid for full control of the Empire. Even as she sets her plans in motion to eliminate the troublesome ruling elite, Sate Pestage remains the one loose thread in her carefully-woven scheme. And she knows where he is. Now, the race is on between Isard, who wants Pestage captured or dead, and the Rogues, who also want Pestage dead, but find themselves putting their lives on the line to save him. It almost feels like whatever happens, the Rogues lose.
Review: I can't help but assume that the title of this final arc is a well-deserved jab at Dark Horse for cutting this series short at a point when Stackpole clearly had more stories to tell. Despite that, he still manages to deliver a satisfying conclusion to the series, and particularly to the plot he'd been building over the past few arcs. After some slight missteps in the previous arc, this feels like a return to form as the series goes out on a high-note. Everyone gets their moment to shine, and I particularly enjoyed the spotlight on Mon Calamari pilot Ibtisam and Quarren pilot Nrin. Somewhat less enjoyable was a character death that felt dictated by emotional manipulation of the reader more than anything else . . . although I still found the way it was handled moving, even as it made me mad. Having finally read this series, I'm looking forward with even greater anticipation to re-reading Stackpole's X-Wing novels in the coming months.
B+
Background: Mandatory Retirement was released in December 2000, collecting issues #32-35 originally published Aug-Nov 1998. It is the ninth and final Rogue Squadron story arc. It was written by Michael A. Stackpole and drawn by Steve Crespo and John Nadeau. Stackpole concludes his run as the writer of the whole series, reuniting with Crespo and Nadeau, both series regulars who had been absent for several issues.
Mandatory Retirement takes place 1 year after the Battle of Endor, 5 years after the Battle of Yavin. The main characters are Baron Fel, Wedge, Tycho, Wes, and the rest of Rogue Squadron, with appearances by the New Republic leadership (Princess Leia, Mon Mothma, Admiral Ackbar, General Cracken, Borsk Fey'lya, etc.) and the Imperial regulars, Sate Pestage and Ysanne Isard. The story takes place on Coruscant and Ciutric IV.
Summary: All of Ysanne Isard's plotting has led to this, as she launches her bid for full control of the Empire. Even as she sets her plans in motion to eliminate the troublesome ruling elite, Sate Pestage remains the one loose thread in her carefully-woven scheme. And she knows where he is. Now, the race is on between Isard, who wants Pestage captured or dead, and the Rogues, who also want Pestage dead, but find themselves putting their lives on the line to save him. It almost feels like whatever happens, the Rogues lose.
Review: I can't help but assume that the title of this final arc is a well-deserved jab at Dark Horse for cutting this series short at a point when Stackpole clearly had more stories to tell. Despite that, he still manages to deliver a satisfying conclusion to the series, and particularly to the plot he'd been building over the past few arcs. After some slight missteps in the previous arc, this feels like a return to form as the series goes out on a high-note. Everyone gets their moment to shine, and I particularly enjoyed the spotlight on Mon Calamari pilot Ibtisam and Quarren pilot Nrin. Somewhat less enjoyable was a character death that felt dictated by emotional manipulation of the reader more than anything else . . . although I still found the way it was handled moving, even as it made me mad. Having finally read this series, I'm looking forward with even greater anticipation to re-reading Stackpole's X-Wing novels in the coming months.
B+
November 30, 2017
Once again, I was impressed with this book. It has a story that follows the lives of Rogue Squadron from before the mission and throughout. The way it sets up the relationships between several of the characters made me certain that at least one pair wouldn't survive the mission, and I was right. I also liked the way the mission leaves a bad taste in everyone's mouth, because they are trying to save the life of a man who led the evil Empire. In the end, his prejudices keep him short-sighted and in the domain of "evil", and nobody trusts a traitor. On the other hand, we have Baron Fel, who is also a traitor, but is accepted, because his actions show that he is trustworthy. In all, a great story.
February 5, 2023
This one didn't quite land for me. I get what they were trying to do with the story, particularly the comparison between Pestage and Fel, but it just didn't quite work. Maybe if the art had been better, or less of the story taken up with Isard's take over of the Imperial remnant. (Which seemed sort of poorly thought out anyway. I feel like killing off the leaders didn't clearly automatically transfer power to her.)
Also, there's so much infighting in the Imperial remnant that it almost feels like the rebels could just leave them to it and in a week all the leadership would've killed each other anyway.
Oh well.
Also, there's so much infighting in the Imperial remnant that it almost feels like the rebels could just leave them to it and in a week all the leadership would've killed each other anyway.
Oh well.
March 31, 2020
Unlike the rest of the series, this story takes place straight after the last book, with bruises still in place making for some nice continuity. The story in this one really did take second place to the characters and their relationships to one another. Filled with likeable characters and starfighter action, this was a pretty good conclusions to the graphic novel series with some impactful scenes.
The artwork was okay, not the best but good enough to show who's who.
The artwork was okay, not the best but good enough to show who's who.
July 19, 2012
Fantastic conclusion to a great series. Mandatory Retirement took everything that made the previous volumes great and turned it up. Great action, lots of humour, unexpected twists, moving sacrifices, and of course, plenty of thrilling starfighter combat. The art was gorgeous, and the writing superb. Sorry to see the series end, but glad it went out on such a high note!
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July 5, 2010SW xwrs
January 30, 2024
5 stars
I miss this series so much!😭
I miss this series so much!😭
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews