These are not the droids you were expecting.

I keep falling into this trap. I keep thinking that I know where The Star Wars is going, and I keep being surprised. The comic is based on George Lucas’ first draft of Star Wars, before he stripped out the craziest ideas. (This review will go much smoother if we all agree that Star Wars is super crazy, and that is one of the reasons that we like it.) So, if the movie counts as sane, how awesomely bonkers was the first draft? It was the best thing ever.

Jedi-Bendu, General Luke Skywalker, his Padawan Annikin Starkiller, and Princess Leia are trying to escape the clutches of the Empire. Along the way, they run into two bickering droids named Artwo Detwo and See Threepio who are not quite like R2-D2 and C3-PO. Much of the difference is that Artwo speaks English or Galactic Basic or Whatever. It is surprising how much that changes things. Seriously, think about the movies. How much of R2’s personality is tied up in the fact that he doesn’t speak? Adding a voice fundamentally changes the character. This is what the entire comic is like.

I keep thinking that I know what is coming or how someone will act, and I keep being surprised. I never expect it when Luke Skywalker, who eventually became Obi-Wan, acts rashly or almost psychotically. I am not too surprised when Annikin, Luke’s rough draft, acts like an impulsive teenager. There are moments in this comic when the tension between knowing exactly how something will turn out and being surprised by staggering differences just makes you grin like a little kid on their birthday. I love that I can’t trust my past experience and frightening Star Wars knowledge. I love being surprised by this series.

I want so much to talk about everything that happens in this comic, but my editor would either kill me or –worse– take me off this series, if I gave any spoilers. (Editor: Yup.) Let’s just say that our heroes are in some trouble and on the run from “Varth Dader” and several imperial agents. Their only hope is to meet up with an ace pilot named “San Holo” and try to get past the imperial blockade. I have been having such a good time with The Wtar Sars, and I am excited to see a new and somehow weirder version of my favorite weird sci-fi.

Four and a Half Imperial Agents out of Five