Jan DuursemaReseñas

An interesting look at the origins of the Jedi.

Final story arc starts with the bang - Rakata arrived in the Tython system and established their foothold, conflict rages for quite some time but it seems that both combatants are evened out for the moment so war and destruction wont be finished any time soon.
While Jedi managed to repel the direct attack on Tython they are aware that sheer size of Rakata's army will defeat them in the end. So they decide to strike at the heart of the invaders, strike force led by Xesh begins the attack and things seem to be going in their favor, but Rakata seem to have few more tricks up their sleeves.

Battle scenes are gorgeous, especially situations where it is visible how new weapons introduced by Xesh take toll on the Jedi. Based on the Dark side of the Force (only one that Rakata utilize) they start to drain the Jedi and cause unbalance that makes them ever more pliable to the Rakata machinations (imagine hundreds of dark blades so like one wielded by Elric of Melninbone used to defeat the very evil that empowers them - great, right :))

I wont go into more details because of spoilers but as in every good action adventure story there are twists and turns, betrayals and redemption at the end. I especially liked the actions of the ancient Kwa and the role of Tython the planet (I like the parallels with W40K and Old Ones from that universe).

Art is gorgeous (as was in volumes #1 and #2). Only thing I did not like is that this was final chapter in the story about Jedi origins. I truly hope somebody picks this up and further develops it.

Highly recommended to fans of action adventure and SWKOTOR-like stories.

Holy plot twist batman... this series just gets more and more interesting!

I bought this graphic novel when amazon had a Star Wars graphic novel kindle deal and every single one of them cost $2.49 apiece. I think I bought five of them, which is actually very restraint for being me.

Anyway, I was a bit curious about this one, the others I bought was mostly Dark Vader centered. (what can I say I like my baddies, tall and dark! ;)).

The main story in this graphic novel was good, not brilliant good, but entertaining to read. Cade Skywalker is no Luke Skywalker, he is a bit more Han Solo kind of character. He is a space pirate so that isn't that surprising (hehe) But I liked him and I enjoyed reading about his troubled past. The story in itself was good, not extraordinary interesting, but I liked it and that he had visions of Luke Skywalker gave the story some extra spice.

In the end was an issue that felt very misplaced, it was as they needed to reach a certain number of pages and throw in an extra issue that had nothing to do with the rest of the story. I didn't like that story a bit!

It was a good graphic novel (90% of it at last) and I would without doubt read more about Cade Skywalker.

I bought this graphic novel when amazon had a Star Wars graphic novel kindle deal and every single one of them cost $2.49 apiece. I think I bought five of them, which is actually very restraint for being me.

Anyway, I was a bit curious about this one, the others I bought was mostly Dark Vader centered. (what can I say I like my baddies, tall and dark! ;)).

The main story in this graphic novel was good, not brilliant good, but entertaining to read. Cade Skywalker is no Luke Skywalker, he is a bit more Han Solo kind of character. He is a space pirate so that isn't that surprising (hehe) But I liked him and I enjoyed reading about his troubled past. The story in itself was good, not extraordinary interesting, but I liked it and that he had visions of Luke Skywalker gave the story some extra spice.

In the end was an issue that felt very misplaced, it was as they needed to reach a certain number of pages and throw in an extra issue that had nothing to do with the rest of the story. I didn't like that story a bit!

It was a good graphic novel (90% of it at last) and I would without doubt read more about Cade Skywalker.

Summit -- or Valentina Resnick-Baker, the hero of this book -- is sort of Firestorm shoved into an Iron Man costume. Like Ronnie Raymond she talks to people inside her head between blasts of plasma fusion from her hands. There's a confusing and vague backstory about her being the sole survivor of a mission to space to destroy an asteroid on a collision course with Earth. There's a dull and predictable present day story about her trying to save the daughter of a friend who has been killed as part of a big conspiracy.

On the plus side, Valentina Resnick-Baker is a strong and intelligent LGBTQ+ character. On the minus side, she's emotionally withdrawn due to her many traumas and hard to warm up to for most of the book.

It's all b-level superhero fare, but I might give the second volume a shot to see what direction they go after this origin arc. Maybe.

Had a minor heart attack after finishing reading this book, since I thought for a second that it was the final book in the series and had left us with a stunning cliffhanger. Thankfully, there's one more volume in which Cade Skywalker and company have the chance to wrest control of the galaxy back from Darth Krayt and the One Sith.

Touching on readers' memories of the attrocities of the Yuzzhan Vong wars and Cade's memories of his youth as a Jedi padawan, this is the most emotionally frought collection of this series yet. Blue's (and Cade's own) life is at stake since she has been infected with an alien virus by the master poisoner of the Sith, Darth Maladi, and only Cade's Force abilities can possibly save her. The authors are being a bit predictable in their storytelling, since Cade must clearly use his healing abilities through the light side of the Force (something that he was not convinced until now was possible) and turn away from the dark side, but I rather liked how even after he has made the right choice Cade turns around and retains his independence between both the light and dark sides of the Force. If nothing else, Cade is not like any Skywalker before him!

This was a quick and entertaining read, because unlike the previous collection this storyline was action packed and brought back a lot of themes from the original trilogy. Cade and company are stranded on Tatooine with a busted ship (starting to sound familiar) after their escapades stealing from Black Sun start getting them into trouble, and they face off against not only a trio of assassins (the soul-sucking abilities of which are kind of alarming), but a duo of Imperials led by none other than Cade's mother. The major theme of this story arc is bringing Cade right to the edge of his dabbling with the Dark Side - as if his stint with the Sith wasn't enough - but he barely manages to pull back, even with the influence of Luke's Force ghost. Maybe the faux-lightsaber battle was a bit much, even for Cade, and it's just more proof that he's losing his mind.

Another volume of setting things up for major storyarcs later on... Not that this book wasn't totally entertaining, but it did feel an awful lot like waiting for things to happen. The Mon Calamari are enslaved by the Sith, the New Empire and Alliance have formed a shaky partnership, and Darth Wyrrlock has secretly seized control of the Sith through his deception over Darth Krayt's death. And of course Cade Skywalker & company are wreaking havoc and making bad choices as always. It's been made pretty clear in previous stories that Cade is not exactly the best judge of a situation, and when it comes to his dying friends he is proven even less capable of doing the right thing when he lies to ensure that his former Jedi-now-Imperial Knight friend will live with the help of a bacta suit similar to Darth Vader's. A lot of the action that did occur in this book is clearly in preparation for some major drama in the future, so I'm looking forward to seeing how it all turns out.

Yes, finally a proper crossover storyline with the original trilogy events! This book starts off at an undisclosed point in time (I figure somewhere between the first and second films, since Luke has just lost his first Jedi master and still doesn't know much about the Force), with a plot by Vader to destroy the Rebel Alliance. He send them on a fool's mission to a planet near the core where a Jedi/Sith has been imprisoned due to her ability to turn non-Force users into creatures called Rakghouls. This is a rather random (and slightly unbelievable) ability, but I can definitely see why she was kept away from humanity and how useful this ability could be in destroying the Rebels from within. Thankfully Vader's plan doesn't work, and she remains trapped on a dead starship until Cade Skywalker and company stumble upon her. She decides to team up with them on their mission to assassinate Darth Krayt, since she hates the Sith as much as anyone, and for once our crew is successful in their hairbrained scheme - with the added bonus of Cade being able to destroy the talisman that contains the essence of the Sith lord who is the cause of the Rakghoul curse through his healing powers. Now that Krayt is dead, though, we're still left with the Sith running the galaxy (I sense a power struggle coming on), and the old Empire's forces are still trying to regain their power. Cade still has no interest in becoming a leader in the galaxy, but I doubt that he'll be able to just escape back to his old life like he wants to.

A third (and hidden) base for the Jedi? They're pulling more and more reference material from the original story lines... It's kind of good to know that the Jedi aren't as completely decimated as the Sith think and that they're actually making plans to enter into the expanding political conflict at the urging of Cade Skywalker. He may not follow along the Jedi's neat and controlled path, but he may be the only one who is capable of thinking outside of their rather closed mind-set and being able to see the greater picture of the galaxy in crisis.

Finally we're back to the main action of the story after all the backstory and political intrigues of the previous volume! Cade Skywalker is captured by Darth Krayt with the intention of turning him to the Dark Side, but Krayt's reasoning is a little more interesting than that of his Sith predecessors. Unlike Sidious and Palpatine, Krayt's motives are driven by his selfish concern with self-preservation - specifically in getting Cade to use his unique healing powers to purge the coral seeds that have infected his body. Krayt may be working as an agent of the Dark Side in the current story, but his backstory (which is extensively explored in this volume) gives him a role as more of an anti-hero. I quite like how his evolution into a Sith Lord isn't painted simply as "he went bad because of greed/anger/etc," but more as a survival mechanism in reaction to the catastrophic galactic events of the Clone War and his capture and torture by the Yuuzhan Vong. Krayt's past is played alongside the current events of Cade's imprisonment by the Sith, providing us with further potential comparison between two characters who don't easily fit into the neat boxes of Light and Dark sides of the Force. Cade is more successful in evading turning to the Dark Side, but he is such a conflicted character that the authors have made it clear that his story won't be wrapped up so easily.

I was incredibly sceptical about picking up this series of graphic novels, because there was a point when Star Wars was everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) to me but I was so disappointed with the developments of the late 1990s/early 2000s-era novels that I quit the genre entirely. I had grown up and found different (read other - anything else really) books to read and obsess over. But, as this series proved, Star Wars is a slippery slope for me, and once I was in again it was 5-graphicnovels-in-a-day deep into the chasm that is the Star Wars universe of publications. I was googling - sorry, Wookiepedia-ing - things left, right, and centre, and being pleasantly surprised to discover all the events that had happenned in my 15-year absence. Maybe it was having another Skywalker at the helm, maybe it was an improvement of storyline, or maybe it was just easier to keep up with the intricacies with the aid of a centralized online resource for quick-facts that just wasn't available way back when. Regardless, I'm officially back in the genre, and I'm definitely happy about it!

And here comes the final showdown between Darth Krayt and all those who oppose the Sith rule of the galaxy, led by none other than Cade Skywalker! I can't imagine reading this as it came out in single magazine issues, since they totally set the reader up for the final battle to happen when the Sith attack the hidden Jedi temple, but then have the Allies barely manage to escape from the Sith Troopers. It was pretty obvious while reading the collected edition though that things were far from over, since there was still 2/3rds of the book to go! As much as this was a really entertaining conclusion, there was far too much of it that was taken from the original trilogy to make it truely interesting. Cade goes up against Darth Krayt in single combat, as his friends fight what seems to be a losing battle against the Sith Troopers, but he survives the manipulations of the Dark Side to emerge triumphant and having found his place in the Galaxy as a Jedi. I'm kind of surprised that they didn't continue the story though, since many of the Sith are still alive, and are basically forming a plan to take over the galaxy through chaos... Oh well, fodder for some other author, I guess!

Another great installment in the series. Out of the volumes I've read so far (this one, Noble 1 and Kino 1), this is probably my most favourite so far. I'm definately curious for the rest!

The wars continue as the Jedi battle on Jabiim, and then move on to another system after a costly retreat. We get to look a bit more at Anakin's character. Personally, I like these stories of the final days of the Republic, even if I do not like Anakin per se, who is often too bratty. There is a brief appearance by Bariss Offee, the healer from the Medstar novels (which I reviewed here). My favorite character was the Tusken jedi master this time. And this volume does feature a cliff hanger, which I am not revealing. Overall, another good and entertaining read, but I liked the previous volume better. Still, a good series to keep following.

A set of three connected short tales from the Clone Wars era. They take place after the Geonosis battle and before the last of the new films (Episode 3). Art was decent, and the plot was pretty good. Overall, a nice quick read. If you like Star Wars in the Clone Wars era, you will probably like these and get through them quickly. Of the three tales, I liked the last one best with Jedi Master Shaak Ti, who does ponder what the wars will do not only to the Republic, but to the Jedi as well.

I'm gonna be honest, Darth Maul is right up there with Boba Fett on the list of silent killing machine characters that I just don't care about at all. The obsession with these murderous super characters is just so tiresome and I'm never gonna be super hyped about a comic that's focused on them. I will say, that I did appreciate the way this story was told. There was very little dialogue, so the story was mostly conveyed through really expressive artwork. This fit well with how Maul was portrayed in The Phantom Menace and visually was a good work. Just not a story I actually care about.

Surprisingly good...too bad it's only part of Legends since Marvel/Disney acquired the Star Wars universe.

Excellent exercise in world building.

The origins of the Force, and the modern Jedi are revealed here, although in a convoluted way. The story goes from an historical account, to a Master and his apprentices, then jumps across the galaxy to Tatooine, a familiar planet, although lush with life. Here, on a familiar-named planet, we encounter another race, enslaving the planet through the assistance of a hooded creature referred to as a "Force Hound".

As the story bounces back and forth a bit, we get a glimpse of the possible origins of the Empire (and the Dark Side) we know so well. When the Hound arrives at the homeplanet of the je'daii, Tython, three young je'daii from strikingly different backgrounds join to bring the Hound down before his darkness destroys the delicate balance of Tython.

A very different look at the mysterious side of a familiar story, themes arise that will be seen again and again throughout the story. But Xesh's banishment can only have disastrous results, as the young je'daii, Tasha senses.

As mentioned before, the story jumps back and forth a bit much between story lines, and there is no origin of the Empire offered of suggested beyond being behind the Force Hounds. It may be shown in later stories in this collection, but left me guessing, and I kept having to flip back to previous scenes. They were beautifully rendered, but the story in some places actually detracted from the art, as I merely tried to keep up.

Good for fans of everything Star Wars, or those who have a complete knowledge of the mythos, but lightly suggested for anyone else.

4.5

4.5