As part of the 40th Anniversary celebrations for 1983 Star Wars trilogy climax Return of the Jedi, Marvel are releasing a short series of one-off issues focusing on different characters and situations related to the third movie.

The first one – Jabba’s Palace – was a fun, if tragic tale of why the Hutt was so displeased with his previous protocol droid, necessitating the use of C-3PO as his new translator.

In the Ewoks One-Shot, the lovable little tribespeople gathered around a campfire to tell each other stories. Three stories, as well as the framing tale, were featured – all without any speech – including a surprisingly scary story!

Next up was Lando – in which the titular ex-smuggler (with Chewie) looking to get the plans to Jabba’s Palace, as part of the plan to retrieve Han Solo from the Hutt’s clutches.

The fourth issue was titled Empire – and was a surprisingly ground level peek inside the Imperial Bunker on Endor, from the perspective of a green-behind-the-gills tech specialist – who had a legitimate grievance with the Empire.

Each issue has been great – and a fitting tribute to one of my favourite films. Sure, it’s flawed, but Return of the Jedi will always be special to me.

In The Rebellion, the Mon Calamari meme machine Admiral Ackbar learns of a plot to assassinate one of the Rebellion’s most important figureheads: Mon Mothma.

When Mothma is contacted by an old friend who supposedly has some valuable information for her, Ackbar is determined to warn her off from the meeting – but Mothma is just as determined to ensure that no stone is left unturned in the fight against the Empire.

So, the question then becomes: can Ackbar entrust the safety of Mon Mothma to a pair of Rebel agents?

Though Mon Mothma made only a short appearance in Return of the Jed as she briefed the Rebel forces – before their plan to take down the second Death Star began – her character has been expanded upon brilliantly in the last four decades.

Disney Plus show Andor in particular has added fascinating, sometimes tragic layers to the character and her past – in fact, I struggle to think of any other character who’s been elevated so successfully in Star Wars after such a brief initial appearance.

That continues here, but Admiral Ackbar himself also gets some great dramatic scenes that make him so much more than the butt of the never ending ‘It’s a trap!’ jokes.

Though I didn’t enjoy this particular story as much as others in the series of 40th anniversary one shots so far, it wasn’t bad at all – and definitely had its moments.

The central plot point of the assassination and who’s involved is resolved a little unsatisfactorily, however.

That said, the sequences featuring Mon Mothma and Admiral Ackbar discussing the former’s importance to the Rebellion are fantastic.

So this is another comic that Star Wars fans should enjoy. There are better entries in the series of one shots, but there’s nothing here that makes it ‘bad’, however.

Except for that awful assassin droid design. Who approved that?

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