LITREP: The Last Flight Of The Harbinger

I really don't read the Marvel comics much, so I only picked this one up because of special forces.  Does it deliver?

-NON SPOILER SEGMENT-

So I read it with the SpecForce in mind.  I don't think it really delivered.  Just a buncha super hero stormies.  Karen Traviss really put it best: "Special Operations was as much—no more—about detailed surveillance, observation, and rehearsal than going in with [guns] blazing and blowing stuff up.".  All the SCAR Troopers did was blow stuff up.  The comic ever got into tactics or any of the cool stuff.  Also the SCARs aren't really the focus; It's really about the "Big Three", which was a personal disappointment.  

         The art isn't much to look at.  It fell into the uncomfortable crevasse between realistic and cartoonish.  The heroes looked quite weird and the SpecForce troopers looked a tad obnoxious.  If anything, the cover art wasn't bad.  

        What I really wanted was a nice story from an Imperial perspective and getting to see the nicer sides of the Empire.  This was not the case.  The Imperials outside of Scar Squad were just awful, while Scar themselves don't seem very nice either.  I was hoping they would be the Imperial counterparts to the OT heroes, with maybe even their own series.  This seems unlikely.  A real missed opportunity in my opinion.

   'Special Commando Advanced Recon' is an awful acronym. It doesn't make grammatical sense.  'SCAR' doesn't even sound cool to me.  Scar Squad clearly doesn't know how to equip for a mission.  The comic involves a mission to a star destroyer (The Harbinger).  Onboard this ship the Imperials use flame throwers, sniper rifles and rocket launchers.  How does this make sense?  Flamethrowers don't work in a fireproof environment, sniper rifles are useless in a tight indoor area and bazookas can punch a hole through the ship's interior.  The SCAR Troopers aren't tactical- they're just OP.

        The story mostly pertains to the Big Three, but it's fairly enjoyable and contains enough SpecForce troopers for my liking.  Better than trying to squeeze enjoyment out of Gambler's World, I'd say!  For this I'd give it a 6/10.  It really isn't bad; It's pretty fun.  If you're a SpecForce fanatic like me, you'll probably like it.

-SPOILER SEGMENT-

So the dialogue was pretty cheesy.  There's a point where the sergeant asks Luke what to call him, to which he replies "REBEL!",which I thought was fairly cringey.  The "I've got a bad feeling" line is quite cliche at this point, but the comic nicely subverted it's usage, so credit for that.  Han and Leia bicker so much it makes them look like BFFs in ESB.  It's like the author couldn't think of any other way they could interact.  There's this one part where they are fighting over who commands the ship, and they literally race to the bridge to settle the argument.  Han commandeers a speederbike and Leia takes a space suit to fly to the bridge.  It's so childish I can't take it seriously in the slightest.  

        Vader abruptly appeared, though in the end when they inevitably failed he fires his TIE Fighter on the Harbinger in rage.  I thought this was awesome and in line with Vader's nasty temper.  Another great moment was the ending when the reader discovers C-3PO was captured.  It's shocking and sudden, packing a nice punch.  A rebel admiral is captured in the beginning and the audience doesn't know his ultimate fate.  However, when his ship strangely appears he is strapped to the front!  It was honestly a bit scary.  Sarge using his lightsaber against Luke was also a great scene.
        In the end I thought it was okay.  Not really memorable, while it had a ton of potential.  It focuses way too much on the Big Three and delivers hardly anything new.  If you like that kinda pulp then read it---If you like special forces then read it---But if you like great stories then don't read it. 

Let's Get This Straight: Shadow Troopers

Shadow Troopers are another convoluted piece of Star Wars lore.  Also known as Shadow Stormtroopers and informally referred to as Blackhole Stormtroopers, these soldiers are the premier special forces of the Empire's Military Intelligence.  Let's get into this tricky topic.

Shadow Troopers are a very old concept.  They first appeared in the 1979 comic strip series, Gambler's World.  In this story Shadow Troopers were the personal agents of the mysterious character, Blackhole.  They were rooted deep into the Imperial areas of spycraft and surveillance.  In a few scenes they were rather competent, being some of the few troopers to actually defeat Luke and Leia (Albeit briefly.).  Their blend of special tactics and black armor would set a precedent for later elite units.

Years later a similar unit would appear in Dark Empire.  These troopers were known as Darktroopers and wore identical armor.  Were they the same?  Who's to tell?
        Crimson Empire followed Dark Empire.  Shadow Troopers made a clear appearance in this series.  In the comic a unit of these troopers are the personal guards of the current Emperor.  Despite their relocated position they are functionally identical to the Shadow Troopers of the 70's.  If anything, Crimson Empire shows that Shadow Troopers are no match for a Royal Guard.

You see this was the original interpretation of the Shadow Trooper.  Later sources would say Shadow Troopers were nothing more than the marines from Blackhole's star destroyer, given fancy armor.  I said it would get convoluted; Let's get into that!
        Long after these initial appearances the origin of Shadow Troopers would be called into question.  Behold the Clone Wars-era Shadow Trooper!

Shadow Troopers now originated during the Clone Wars.  This goes against the idea of them being former marines.  Shadow Troopers would go on to survive through the Clone Wars and the following Dark Times, making an appearance in The Force Unleashed.  

        Some people have decided to consider the two interpretations separate entities.  My rebuttal is simple; If they look like Shadow Troopers, if they act like Shadow Troopers, if they share the same spot in the ORBAT, and finally if they have the same name, they're the same freaking thing!  

        I basically explained the out-of-universe history of the group.  Now I'd like to explain what I've gathered on their in-universe history.

         Republic Intelligence was an important asset during the Clone Wars.  Special Forces was an essential part of their organization.  For the majority of the Clone Wars, Intel relied on Covert-Ops Troopers.  These troopers were lower in skill than their counterparts in the Special Operations Brigade.  By the last months of the war Director Armand Isard decided to give Intel SpecForce a rebrand.  This new unit was the iconic Shadow Troopers.
        They specialized in infiltration, espionage and target extraction to name a few.  Shadow Troopers were known for a more delicate touch which set them apart from some of their rival units.  Black was a paint job sometimes used by Republic Commandos.  This was merely a personal modification, and was unsupported by the military (With Commandos having to make do with white jetpacks!).  Shadow Troopers colors were quite official and would go on to be the standard for special forces.  These troopers had a great deal of armor and modifications available to them.

The original Shadow Troopers wore a special variant of the standard armor.  This particular suit was laced with durasteel fibers.  This made their armor much stronger than the regular kit and also gave them a greyish appearance.  Sometime after the beginning of the Rebellion Shadow Troopers received an upgrade.  This new armor was made with a stygian triprismatic polymer, which itself was a harder form of duraplast (The material Clone Commandos were known for using.).  Besides the obvious durability it provided, it also enhanced the trooper's stealth and provided them the infamous black appearance.  This stealth boost was itself aiding the Shadow Troopers most famous gadget, the Cloaking Device.  Indeed they were known for their ability to rapidly turn invisible.  

        Shadow Troopers were Intel agents through-and-through as well as being stormtroopers.  They were known to carry Spyeye Drones with them and had the clearance to divert local spies and security streams to their operation.  Shadow Troopers reported directly to the Director of Intelligence, originally Armand Isard.  They were one of the more mysterious units in Intelligence and were sometimes paired with Inquisitors.  When Isard was removed from his position, a mysterious agent named Blackhole became the Acting Director.  During Blackhole's breif reign the organization was put to great use, nearly capturing Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa.  It was during this series of counter-terrorism operations that the troopers earned their nickname, Blackhole Troopers.  

Shadow Troopers survived until the end of the original Empire, at least.  In those last days they served as the personal unit of Sovereign Protector-turned-Emperor, Carnor Jax.  A squad was known to accompany him as personal guards.  Unfortunately all of these troopers and Jax himself were assassinated by rogue Royal Guardsmen, Kir Kanos.  This act crumbled the Empire and, shortly after, the organization ceased to exist.  

Later the Empire would be revived, though it is unknown if Shadow Troopers ever made it into the New Empire.  Black-armored special forces were still the standard, so their legacy lived on, at least.