X-Wing Rogue Squadron #20 [Requiem for a Rogue (Part 4 of 4)]

Reviewed 07/17/97 First off, if you don't remember my review of 1-3, I gave it a 7 mainly because of nice color work and Stackpole's obvious intelligence. I didn't get into the book much, but... Story The Bothan commander Girov walks in on the Imp tech (now Sith master) who holds Dllr captive. It turns out Girov himself has been mastering Sith power and overpowers the Devoronian to takeover rule of the native beasts. The Rogues and remaining Bothans reluctantly team up to attack Girov, without Herian who sustained a brain injury from the last attack. The attack is much harder than expected as Girov is orchestrating the defense through the dark side of the Force (as the Emperor did, and Zahn's cloned Jedi master). In order to distract him, the barely alive Dllr telepathically leads Herian to the Sith temple where she launches her torpedoes... blowing it, Girov, Dllr and herself to bits. Let me tell you what, issue 4 completely changed my mind on this one. There were many fantastic story hilites.. the fact that 2 main characters died (let's see that in Trek... and not have them revived), the cost to the Rogues, the alliance meeting with Wedge and the Bothan. A secondary favorite was the uneasy conversation between a Quarren and a Calamari (whose race relations makes this a deeper universe). Art The characters were drawn to the same high standard as the previous issues. For 1-3 I rightfully criticized the weak technology (especially TIEs, of all things). All complaints are gone here... the ships all look great. In fact there are some very memorable pictures here... the cover, the last page with the "Spirit of" Dllr and Herian, but best of all is the two page temple explosion shot. Now THAT's what SW comics are about!!! Summary The best X-Wing comic I've read. Art and story, both great. (Too bad you need #1-3 to get the story.) 8.5/10. Recommended.
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