Tag & Bink Are Dead #2 Story: Kevin Rubio Pencilling: Lucas Marangon Inking: Howard M. Shum Coloring: Michelle Madsen Lettering: Steve Dutro Cover: Lucas Marangon, Michelle Madsen Released: 12/05/2001 Reviewed by: JF Boivin (01/14/2007) SUMMARY: Tag and Bink escape the destruction of the Death Star aboard the stolen Imperial shuttle Tydirium. Unfortunately, the hyperdrive was knocked out and by the time they get back to Yavin months later, the Rebels have already evacuated. They meet Boba Fett and make him angry, so they quickly leave the planet to meet one of Tag's old friends. They arrive on Bespin's cloud city just in time for the Imperial occupation but the two get knowcked out by Chewbacca right before Han solo gets frozen in carbonite. When they awake, they manage to rejoin the Alliance aboard Home One where they give the shuttle Tydirium to Mon Mothma.

[regular cover] [preview cover]

THE STORY

So the two heroes have survived! Turns out that Kevin Rubio, as he explains in one of the panels, used a red herring in the last issue. Tag and Bink are not the ones who flew as Vader's wingment during the tench run. Instead, they steal the shuttle Tydirium and leave the Death Star before it explodes. Every fan knows that this is the shuttle that will be used to land on Endor's moon in Return of the Jedi. But back to the story... The explosion took the hyperdrive offline and they estimate it would take 2-3 months to reach Yavin. Unfortunately, this is the one part I didn't like. I know this is a comedy and not part of Star Wars canon, but the writer seems to have forgotten that there are 3 years between the two movies, not months. I can forgive the fact that it seems the Rebels evacuated Yavin right after the celebration when in reality they stayed there for about six months after (as depicted in several comic book series), but it's hard to believe that the two heroes would spend three years in space.

Anyway, the finally reach Yavin and have an unfortunate encounter with Boba Fett (Rubio had to fit him in somewhere!). Fortunately, Tag has Chewbacca's medal to protect him from Fett's shots. Then it's off to see Lando, who dated both of Tag's sisters in the past (sometimes at the same time). Lando owes Tag (whose last name is Greenley) a favor because of the whole Battle of Tanaab thing, so he agrees to fix the Tyderium. In a funny scene, Bink gets revenge on See-Threepio for having them captured aboard the Tantive IV last issue when the droid walks in the apartment where they are removing their stormtrooper uniforms. But then the two guys get mixed up in the Rebellion again when Han, Chewie and Leia get captured. They are again dressed up as stormtroopers (they didn't stay out of costume for long!) to keep an eye on Leia but are the closest ones to Chewie when he lashes out in anger. So the two heroes miss the rest of the action but manage to get back to the Alliance fleet and meet up with Mon Mothma and Admiral Ackbar. But Boba Fett is following them, probably because of a personal grudge so the story is open for further adventures.

Aside from the little problem with the timeline as previously mentioned, the story is consistently fun to read. Lando is depicted as this "mac daddy" who dates a lot of good-looking women which creates another funny scene. Turns out the Battle of Tanaab is an alibi that Tag gave Lando when the latter was seen with Senator Krystal's daughter on Malastare but stood up Tag's sister De-hoff on a date on Corellia. So Lando then took credit for the Battle of Taanaab ever since. The two unwitting heroes seem to be tossed from one event to another, staying in the periphery of the main events from the movies but never having a chance to participate. They have very simple goals and are resourceful, which makes them so real and likeable.

THE ART

The art is good enough that we can easily recognize all the elements fromt he movies, from the Imperial shuttle to Boba Fett to Cloud City. Boba Fett looks suprisingly realistic compared to the other characters who are depicted more as square-jawed caricatures. The visual jokes are still there, including the monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey and a walk-by appearance by the artist himself with editor Dave Land (check out Rudio's interview on Echo Station for more).

CONCLUSIONS

Fun two-part story. Try it for something different.

Rating: 7 / 10 Recommended.