Marvel’s ongoing Star Wars comic book has employed several different artists, with the current arc showcasing the talents of Jorge Molina. The Mexican-born artist started out 12 years ago working on Street Fighter comics before doing design work for video games and finally breaking into mainstream comics with work for both DC and Marvel, including titles Birds of Prey, Wolverine and the X-Men, Thor, Captain America and A-Force.
Now on a two-year exclusive contract with Marvel, his current Star Wars story arc with writer Jason Aaron titled “The Last Flight of the Harbinger” sees the Rebels trying to liberate a planet by stealing a Star Destroyer and using it as a battering ram through an Imperial blockade. Naturally, nothing goes according to plan and the Imperials gain the upper hand when they send an elite team of Stormtroopers called the SCAR Squad to board the stolen Star Destroyer and deal with the Rebels. Their leader, Sergeant Kreel, even wields a lightsaber and has history with Luke Skywalker.
Luke vs. Kreel. Art by Jorge Molina. (Marvel Comics)
Though not a lifelong Star Wars fan, Molina told us in an email interview that he’s still excited to take a crack at that galaxy far, far away. The concept for the SCAR Squad comes from an unfinished episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars called “The Bad Batch,” which was going to feature an unorthodox, elite squad of Clone Troopers.
“Jason put a list of all the characters and their descriptions along with a couple of notes from Lucasfilm to keep in mind. From there I started sketching various ideas, and I tried to give the characters their own personality that would be instantly recognizable even through the armor,” Molina said. “The main idea of all the designs was to make them look much more powerful than the regular Stormtroopers but at the same time make each one unique. I’m a huge fan of sci-fi so I stepped away from the regular Stormtrooper design and added some personal touches to their armor, more sophisticated tech here and there to give them the extra edge.”
SCAR Squad art by Jorge Molina. (Marvel Comics)
What sets the SCAR Squad apart is that unlike most Stormtroopers, they actually hit their targets. The scene where they infiltrate the stolen Star Destroyed has a high Rebel body count. The issue reads like a horror movie where they move undetected through the ship striking from the dark and taking out one Rebel after another.
Molina’s favorite to draw among the bunch is the Scout Stormtrooper equipped with knives and a robotic arm (center in the image below), and he’s holding out hope to see an action figure of it one day.
SCAR Squad art by Jorge Molina. (Marvel Comics)
Molina spoke about the unique experience of not just working with Aaron and the editorial team at Marvel but with the folks at Lucasfilm, too.
“Working with Jason has always been a lot of fun. Not only does he have a great sense of storytelling by keeping the pages fun and simple in a smart way, but I think we have a good rapport. It’s like he likes to write what I love drawing. I’m always amazed at all the fun scenarios he throws in the books,” Molina said. “I also had the chance to work with fantastic editors, Jordan White and Heather Antos, who gave me enough freedom to play around. At first it was quite challenging keeping all the notes from Lucasfilm because they are very determined to keep all the visuals consistent with the Star Wars license, but once I got the hang of it after the first issue, it was smooth sailing.”
SCAR Squad art by Jorge Molina. (Marvel Comics)
While Molina was tight-lipped about what to expect next from the current story arc, he did tease a lot of action and a “game-changing end.”
The next and final chapter in “The Last Flight of the Harbinger” hits in Star Wars #25, out November 23, and sees none other than Darth Vader enter the fray. That issue marks Molina’s final issue of Star Wars and also features another short story by writer/artist, this time featuring R2-D2. Check out a preview of the issue below by clicking through the slideshow gallery.
Joshua is IGN’s Comics Editor. If Pokemon, Green Lantern, or Game of Thrones are frequently used words in your vocabulary, you’ll want to follow him on Twitter @JoshuaYehl and IGN.
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