Han Solo is cool. That’s his whole thing. He looks cool, says cool shit and does cool things. In this week’s Han Solo #3 comic, he continues the trend, wearing a get-up so awesome that I want it to exist outside of comics.
The latest issue of Marvel’s space smuggler miniseries — written by Marjorie Liu, with art by Mark Brooks, Dexter Vines, Sonia Oback and Joe Caramagna — continues with Solo participating in a vicious death-race. The high-speed competition serves as cover for a mission that the pilot’s undertaken for the Rebel Alliance, which has him trying to rescue spies working for Princess Leia on different planets before a mysterious killer gets to them. The series has been great so far, doing an excellent job of delivering the kind of barbed dialogue that the character’s known for while also showing the cocky rogue juggling his ego with his compromised sense of duty.
But, for me, the best thing about issue #3 is what Han’s wearing at the end. Landing on a windy, dusty unnamed planet to refuel and surreptitiously pick up another Rebel spy, Han dons a pair of goggles and a tattered cloak. It’s not that big a change to his outfit but generates enough of dashing old-school adventurer flair that I don’t want it to go away.
Star Wars toys helped kick off the whole ‘multiple figures for one character’ shtick decades ago, immortalising outfits that heroes and villains may have been in for only a few sequences. Most of the toys in the film’s merchandising legacy have tended to come from movies and TV shows and — given the scale and reach of those mediums, along with financial expectations for profit — that makes sense. But, damn it, let’s get some new toys based on the costumes and characters showing up in Marvel’s new comics. Heck, it wasn’t so long ago that you could get figures and comics in one delightful package.
Marvel’s new comics are introducing great new personas into Star Wars lore, like Sana Solo, Dr Aphra, murderous droids Triple Zero and BT-1 and pseudo-Force-wielding twins Morit and Aiolin Astarte. These characters shouldn’t just be confined to the panels of these comics. Plans may be afoot to have Han Solo’s estranged secret spouse in the upcoming movie but why wait to make a toy of her or any of these other characters? At least some limited edition convention collectibles. Please?
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