Life Day (2021) (4.5/5)

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Over this past year, I have become a huge fan of comic books, thanks to Star Wars. Most of that love is thanks to Charles Soule, Cavan Scott, and Daniel Jose Older, and so of course any Star Wars comic with Cavan Scott’s name attached to it is something that I will buy. As a huge fan of The High Republic, I was thrilled when I found out that we were going to get Burryaga and Nib Assek in this comic in addition to our lovely original trilogy favourites, Han Solo and Chewbacca.

The art in this story was beyond incredible. We haven’t seen Burryaga and Assek in live action or very many artistic depictions because I don’t recall them being in the main High Republic comics (I might be wrong, I do need to do a full re-read of them), however, the depictions of Chewbacca and Han blew me away. Comic storytelling really does rely on the art to tell half the story, and the art in Life Day really does tell half the story and build the other half of the story. The style worked for both the original trilogy characters and the High Republic characters, which I really enjoyed because the tones of the two stories have their differences. They hold onto the same themes, but the tones are different with those themes. The original trilogy tone is darker and the heroes are the underdogs, but in The High Republic the heroes are the ones with the power.

I have always been fascinated with the concept of Life Day in Star Wars, since I was younger because holidays say very important things about our societies, values, and where we came from. They unite people, and they change over time, but Life Day feels as though it has held onto its roots more than some of our own Earthling holidays. I love how in Life Day, it feels like a slice-of-life with the adventure being very similar to what the characters are used to in their eras. The behaviour of the characters is very much in line with what we know about them.

My one critique is that I really could have taken more of this story, which I find is my number one complaint with comic books. Even though I love them, I always want more from them. This is usually easier on me because another issue will be along soon enough, but this was only a one-shot. And while I love that, it’s painful that I can’t have more. Maybe next year we will get more Life Day stories from the incredible authors that work with the Star Wars IP!

I rated this one-shot 4/5, but it probably is closer to 4.5/5, and that’s merely because I wish that there was a bit more of the Burryaga and Nib Assek storyline, even though it was well contained in the work. Also because I feel as though this work, even though it was a one-shot, could have been a bit longer. I’m just greedy when it comes to High Republic content, and Star Wars content in general.

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