New Manga Review - Star Wars Rebels, Vol. 1

Name: Star Wars Rebels, Vol. 1

Based on the series created by: Dave Filoni, Simon Kinberg & Carrie Beck

Art by: Akira Aoki

Published by: Yen Press

I can't seem to get enough 'Star Wars' in my life at the moment. On a whim, I even decided to check out a manga based on the franchise. This first volume of 'Star Wars Rebels' manga doesn't really do anything new or groundbreaking, but it felt kinda good to see these characters and the universe in this new format. 

There is not much to say about the story, as this volume mostly follows exactly the plot of the first one hour television film 'Spark of Rebellion' barring a few minor changes. Although it's been quite a long time since I saw the first season of the show, this brought back some fond memories. We also get introduced to the main characters and their ship. Some more changes or a bit of depth in storytelling might have been better though. 

The art was the main reason for my interest in this, and while I didn't like all of the character drawings, the environment and the ships were done quite beautifully in the style of manga art. The action sequences were also done with enough charisma to make readers recheck for missing bits and pieces. 

The short side story featuring 'Darth Vader' at the end was very interesting, and as far as I can tell it adapts a small part of the novel 'Lords of the Sith'. This features some delightful drawing of Vader and made me interested to check out the novel. 

Overall, I liked this short read despite the lack of originality or innovation in the plot and will probably check out the next two volumes for the art and for refreshing my memory of the animated series before I watch the later seasons. 

I will give this, 3.5 out of 5 stars.