Comic Info
Comic Name: Star Wars: Lost Stars
Publisher: Yen Press
Writer: Yusaku Komiyama
Artist: Yusaku Komiyama
Release Date: 2019
Will Ciena and Thane find a common ground?
Once in love, Ciena Ree and Thane Kyrell find themselves on the opposite sides of a war. Ciena is a staunch defender of the Empire and resents the Rebels in the deaths of her friends and allies on the Death Star. Thane Kyrell has decided the atrocities committed by the Empire cannot be tolerated and has joined the Rebellion. Despite a deep love and history between the two, a war has driven a wedge between them, and love may not prevail.
Written and illustrated by Yusaku Komiyama, Star Wars: Lost Stars—Volume 2 is a Yen Press manga comic. Following Star Wars: Lost Stars—Volume 1, the series is an adaptation of Claudia Gray’s 2015 young-adult Star Wars novel Star Wars: Lost Stars.
Star Wars: Lost Stars—Volume 1 was a nice set-up. It introduced both Ciena and Thane and places them squarely in well-known events to Star Wars fans. Through the characters different perspectives, the series gives a humanizing feel to the Star Wars saga and looks at the “average man” caught up in the war.
There have been a lot of jokes about Star Wars and the “average man”. Kevin Smith’s Clerks talked about all the “private contractors” who died when the Death Star was destroyed and the people who were killed just doing their job. This series seeks to explore that idea but not as a joke. You had a functioning moon size military base destroyed with all the soldiers and employees on it…and that has consequences.
Ciena seeks revenge
The flipside to this is the flippant destruction of Alderaan by the Empire to essentially prove a point. It would be like Earth and the entire population being completely wiped out because someone fibbed a bit. Families, cities, and countries all destroyed to show the power of the Death Star. It is war on an unimaginable scale, and that type of war leaves scars.
The story manages to demonstrate the larger consequences of mass war by creating to humanized characters in Ciena and Thane. While Thane is character generally seen in the right due to a series of movies based on the Rebellion winning, Ciena has some valid reasons to hate the Rebellion including the death of her friends and the pride of her family in her standings in Empire. It is easy to bash the Empire and their heinous crimes, but it is harder to bash Ciena who believes in the good of the Empire.
Star Wars: Lost Stars—Volume 2 is a nice continuation of a pretty fun manga. Even if you don’t like manga, but you are a fan of Star Wars, the series might be fun read for you. It is thoughtful and a quick read. It also leaves you wanting more. If you’ve read through volume 1 and volume 2, you want to see if Ciena and Thane end up together…or if the star-crossed lovers are destined to fail. Star Wars: Lost Stars—Volume 2 is followed by the final volume Star Wars: Lost Stars—Volume 3.
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