Story: Michael A. Stackpole
Pencils: Steve Crespo
Inks: Chip Wallace and Gary Martin
Colors: Dave Nestelle
Lettering: Vickie Williams
Cover Art: Timothy Bradstreet
Cover Colors: Grant Goleash
TPB Cover Art: Timothy Bradstreet and Grant Goleash
The Making of Baron Fel is the seventh installment of the XWRS series, and is also the first part of the trade paperback Blood and Honor, which combines both this comic and Family Ties. Since I own them as the separate issues and not as the TPB, that's how I have chosen to review them.
The Making of Baron Fel is also the only standalone comic of the entire series, unless you count the Rogue Squadron Handbook. This story picks up right after In the Empire's Service and is the story of Baron Fel, beginning with how he ended up in the Imperial Navy, his marriage to Wedge's sister Syal, and up to the Battle of Brentaal, where he was captured by the New Republic.
And what an interesting story Fel has to tell. We really gain an understanding of this character and what makes him tick. His story is straightforward and one of the only times we hear the Imperial side of things in the entire Star Wars universe. We also come to understand that comment he made in Empire's Service about now being the time to finally thwart Isard, and ultimately why he wants to join the New Republic.
Artistically, I really couldn't find any problems with it. One panel that stood out to me was where Fel and Solo are practicing formation flying at the Academy. When their instructor berates Fel for flying to close to Solo, I just love the smirk that Han has on his face. Yep, that's Han, all right. Even with all the hair shaved off so everyone looked pretty much alike, we could still pick him out.
There's only one comment I'd really like to make about the art in this issue. Nothing really serious, but more of a personal observation here. When the TIE fighters were drawn up close, they looked great. When they were shown at a distance, though, there seemed to be a slightly unreal aspect to them that made them look kind of silly. "Ooh, we'd better run, there's about twelve of these circles with things on the side coming at us!" Oddly enough, though, it's the one time I've looked at the things and could understand why they're called eyeballs. Rather silly ones, but take the things off the sides and they could look like eyeballs.
As for story, I thought it was extremely well-told. What I have to say isn't really about story mechanics as it is about the characters here. We come to see Fel as a man of honor and fierce loyalty to his family. Soontir mentions the Empire being full of irony at one point. The biggest irony I saw in the entire comic, however, came from him himself. When Tycho gets into a fight at the Academy, Fel tells Tycho that he is no longer a man of Alderaan, but of the Empire. It's interesting in that Fel ends up eating those words. I don't know how much of a man of Corellia he is, but he sure is a Fel, and Fels do for Fels. He enters Imperial service to protect his family, and he ends up leaving Imperial service for his wife. Makes me wonder if those words to Tycho ever ended up haunting him.
Speaking of Fel's wife, now here is a woman I just can't stand. The story she tells Fel about her family makes me sick. "Oh, Soontir, when I heard my parents were dead, I looked for my brother, I really did, but I just couldn't find him. Then I found out he was a Rebel." Let's think about what she's not saying in this.
Okay, she runs away from home when she's seventeen and her brother's seven. The Gus Treta incident happens at least seven years later, and perhaps nine years later, depending on how old Wedge was supposed to be when it happened. She is an actress with lots of money. At this time, none of the Antilles's are wanted by the law. You're telling me that this woman couldn't have hired someone to look for her brother? Or, better yet, she could've called up CorSec and gotten in contact with them. "Um, yes, hello, Inspector, my name is Syal Antilles. I just heard about the Gus Treta station disaster. My parents died on the station, and I'm calling to check on the welfare of my brother. Did he make it?" How hard can it be? Or, if they won't give you information over the comlink, go to Corellia for a week to find out yourself. That's the least a loving sister can do for what is most probably her only surviving family member.
In all this time, from the time she left to the time of the accident, we have the impression that she never once sent a letter to Wedge. Not one time! His home blows up, their parents die, and she doesn't do anything so simple as either taking a week off to go back home to look for her brother or hiring someone to find him if she can't break away. And it seems that, once she heard he was a Rebel and had confirmation of his existence, she still didn't find some way to get in contact with him. Although this last bit I am willing to grant her, since she seemed capable of reading between the lines and realizing the Empire was no one to mess with. To me, she seems like a lousy excuse for a sister, and I feel really sorry for Wedge. Soontir is awful darn lucky she loves him, for I believe that she really does love Soontir.
Okay, my rant is over. One last addendum to that, however, is Fel's comment made about his wedding. "Members of my family came to Coruscant for the wedding. Wynssa's brother did not." Um, excuse me, how was he supposed to? He wasn't invited, had no clue his sister was even there, let alone getting married, and had he shown up, would probably have been arrested and executed for being a Rebel. And let's not forget he was in the middle of fighting a war. How was he supposed to come to the wedding, Fel?
Okay, I'm done on this subject. As I said earlier, the story was well-written, although the one thing I thought might have been a little overdone was the multiple cameos here. I think Stackpole did use his cameos well, don't get me wrong, but there were so many. Let's see, we had Hal Horn, Han Solo, Loka Hask (the future slaughterer of Fel's wife's parents, I might add), Biggs Darklighter, Hobbie Klivian (yes, it's spelled Klivian, not Klivan), Tycho Celchu, Evir Derricote, Ysanne Isard, Darth Vader, Grand Admiral Thrawn, Grand Moff Tarkin, the Emperor himself, am I forgetting anyone? Some of these people I would expect to show up, mainly Biggs, Hobbie, Tycho, and Isard, but it just seemed like there were a lot of cameos thrown at the reader for a 48-page issue. If they weren't so well done, I'd be tempted to complain about this, but I don't really see much to complain about, so I content myself with commenting that there may have been a couple too many.
I mentioned back in my review for In the Empire's Service that the story was now starting to get into high gear. Although this may have seen like an interlude for one man to tell his life story, I feel that this helps the story as a whole. Sure, we have a slight pause here, but it is a necessary pause. We find out exactly what made Fel the way he is and why he chooses to join with Rogue Squadron. This was necessary for us to believe he's sincere, or else we'd have gone through the rest of the series believing Fel was about to pull a fast one at any moment. Plus we find out more about how he ended up married to Wedge's sister, something that we were just as interested to hear as was Wedge himself. The end of this comic, again, had a nice set-up for the next one. Fel decides to join with the New Republic in return for aid with finding his wife. Not quite what the New Republic was expecting, I bet, or the reader, for that matter.
Reviewed August 29, 2000 by Kelly M. Grosskreutz.
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