A confession here: Even though I'm happily married now, I've always hated Valentine's Day, and so I get a little reactionary to sappy romance around this time of the year. So that may factor in to my not enjoying this story as much as I wanted to. Or it may just be that this is something of a waste of two talented creators, exploring a relationship that is goofy and cliched on its best days and set in a franchise that has seen its better days as well. Winick does an able job of showing how utter dislike came to be romance (even though it's a cliche, and one I hate), and an even better job demonstrating the bond between Han Solo and his friend Chewie, but at this point it feels like well-trod ground, and the story doesn't have that much new to offer.
I have to admit, when I was a young'un watching Empire Strikes Back, I didn't quite get where the Han Solo/Princess Leia romance came from. They hated each other, they had nothing in common, why was it these two getting together? It wasn't until I got older that I learned that this was a time-honored cliche in fiction, the couple that hates each other because of their passion and the "opposites attract" notion. It was shortly after that when I started to hate that cliche, as it makes little sense and from what I've seen rarely if ever happens in real life. So I have to give credit to Winick for making the relationship between Han and Leia seem a little more plausible, as we see the softer side of the character that she fell for revealed in this issue.
Unfortunately, getting to that point takes a lot of doing. There's a plot point about twin fighters that doesn't make much sense, as we're never told why they have to fly together other than that it forces the characters together, and plenty of time is spent early on establishing the baseline relationship of Han, Leia, Luke and Chewbacca, which hardly feels necessary given that the audience for this special will know it well. Because once we get past that stuff, and into the interaction between a stranded Han and Leia, talking about themselves and the relationship Han has with Chewbacca, it's pretty solid characterization.
Chadwick is actually pretty impressive on all aspects of the story, whether it's the character-based work or the more technology-based aspects. His shots of the Rebel fleet or the ships going down in the snowfall are pretty impressive. However, his strongest work is probably down to the characters, as he gives Han, Leia, Luke and the rest a human, real look to them while remaining true to the likenesses that made the characters famous. There's some particularly nice work on Leia and Han as they start to lose their coiffed, wardrobed looks and start looking messier, more human as the conditions degrade around them, and it's probably no coincidence that Leia starts to look less like a princess and more like just a beautiful girl throughout that change.
If you've always had trouble reconciling how Han and Leia could have gotten together other than the notoriously bad plotting of George Lucas, or if you just wanted to see mainstream talent like Winick or Chadwick tackle Star Wars, this is the book for you. If you're looking for a touching romance or anything but a quick snapshot of a relationship in the middle, rather than the beginning or the end, though, you probably won't find much here to appeal.
