Guru Review: 'Star Wars: DJ: Most Wanted'

Welcome to another 'Guru Review'. It has been several months since my last review. I apologize, but I do have some good news. I now plan on reviewing every piece of Star Wars canon. Of course, this will be a long series. Hopefully, you will be here for the ride. In this edition of GURU REVIEW, I will share my thoughts on the Marvel comic STAR WARS: DJ: MOST WANTED. This is a one-shot comic written by Ben Acker and Ben Blacker, with art by Kev Walker. STAR WARS: DJ: MOST WANTED was released on January 31, 2018. Caution as there will be major spoilers below.

To be honest, this comic book wasn't on the top of my "must read" list, but I finally got around to picking it up from my local comic book shop.

The comic starts off in a Canto Bight casino. Right off the bat, I spotted a Twi'lek, Zabrak, and Ithorian. Later I even spotted a Chadra-Fan, then we also had a Rodian. Nice to see some familiar species from the first six Saga Episodes. Something the Sequel Trilogy has been lacking. Not a dig at the Sequels, just an observation.

Another thing I am quick to notice is how incredible the artwork is. I think we can all agree the Marvel Star Wars comics have all had top quality artwork. I really love the colors used in this comic book. Reminds me a lot of the Prequel Trilogy. Canto Bight looks like something from the Prequels. No wonder it's beautiful. Just look at the page below. Big props to Kev Walker and Java Tartaglia, the penciller and colorist, respectively.

Concerning the story. There are no real stakes. The galaxy isn't in need of saving in the story. It is more small time action versus the galactic wide conflict we are more accustomed to. If you're looking for a story that has major ties to events in the films, this isn't that story. STAR WARS: DJ: MOST WANTED is just a fun story to show you why DJ is in that jail cell when we see him in EPISODE VIII.

A pet peeve of mine, when it comes to Star Wars, is when alien characters of the same species all look the same, or have the same body build. This comic challenges our idea of what a Rodian looks like, and I love it. Flestic Crupp is a welcome change to what Rodians can look like. For the most part, male Rodians we've seen have the body build of Greedo. Flestic Crupp, however, does not. I couldn't even tell at first he was an actual Rodian, until I studied him more closely. I like it. We humans do not all look alike. Aliens shouldn't, either.

I would say that DJ's dialogue in the comic book format matched his film counterpart. Both author and artist captured the spirit of Benicio Del Toro.

A small thing put a huge smile on my face. Podracing is mentioned. EPISODE I immediately came to mind. Always give thanks for those Prequel references.

The plot is basically DJ in trouble with some criminals, while also being in trouble with the law. All because of some person named Denel Strench. You'll be wondering who the Hell that is the whole comic. Trying to figure who it is happens to be a lot of fun when reading this for the first time. I was thoroughly surprised by the actual culprit behind Denel. Never would have expected the droid. Well played.

STAR WARS: DJ: MOST WANTED gets 3 kyber crystals out of 5. I'd recommend it, but you aren't missing out on anything in the bigger story, if you don't read it.

Credits for STAR WARS: DJ: MOST WANTED

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