Jeremy Barlow (1)

This is a continuation of storylines begun in Star Wars: The Clone Wars (animated series). The story here was unproduced, but written and adapted into this comic as a means to continue wrapping up some extra ds I the a story leading up to the conclusion of the Clone Wars resulting in Episode 3 and which is relevant to understanding Star Wars Rebels to a greater extent.

I am currently reading through the canon timeline for Star Wars and this was my next stop after completing the Clone Wars show more animated series. Darth Maul is one of my favorite characters in Star Wars so this one was a series I was really excited to read. I definitely was not disappointed. This is not intended to be an origin story, so anyone thinking that will definitely be confused. This is the second comic about Maul in canon that I'm currently aware of and neither serves as an origin.

This comic picks up after Sidious captures Maul, claiming to have plans where Maul will be useful to him in the future. We finally see how. One of the most compelling Hingis for me about Maul is his drive for revenge against all sides where he feels wronged. It's not a drive for power itself entirely but to regain his losses. He was once bloodthirsty just because but now he's bloodthirsty with full purpose, even if I don't entirely agree with the base need for revenge. Seriously though, after being cut in half and losing sanity, being left to die by everyone and dismissed by the master he served for most of his life, it's no wonder he's out to get Obi-Wan and Sidious with no regard to the actual politics of the Clone Wars he finds himself plotting in.

The art was nice and the storyline did feel very much like The Clone Wars. The depth of storytelling plot connections, characterization, and battles between different parties are still as strong in comic form as they are in the animated series itself. This is definitely worth reading for Clone Wars fans looking for just a little more story and a little more closure. I think I would have enjoyed it regardless of if I had seen the show, but I definitely enjoy it all the more since I watched the entire series and wouldn't be as in the know about it as I am currently (ex: How is Maul even alive?). That is answered within the show but it's also lightly touched on here (very very lightly). Overall I really enjoyed this one and I would read it again. I'm definitely going to recommend this one to my other Clone Wars loving friends. show less

This story has no Jedi in it; it focuses on a platoon of clone soldiers on a secret mission. I enjoyed the writing on this one a lot; unlike many of these novellas, which seem content to deliver a frothy action story, writer Jeremy Barlow gives us a story of character and complications. It is slightly let down by the art; Brian Koschak does well with action but struggles to draw convincing faces, which is a definitely downside in a story that not only needs to convey a lot of show more characterization via facial expressions, but needs to differentiate a bunch of characters who have the same face! show less

Apparently, the lamented Clone Wars Adventures series was so popular that it's spawned a new series of digest comics concerning the characters of the classic Star Wars trilogy. But instead of three or four stories in a volume like CWA, each volume has one "long" story like The Clone Wars quarterly digests do. Recently I've been bemoaning the tendency of tie-in fiction to become bogged down in minutiae or to lose the tone/appeal of the source material, and this book is the perfect antidote to show more that: Han Solo and Chewbacca, in their smuggling days, having a wild adventure. Jeremy Barlow captures both characters well (aside from Han's occasional weird preachy moment), and the story is a good, wild ride. My only complaint is that the Hollow Moon is not an actual hollow moon, but just a name. I'm really looking forward to more installments in this series. show less

i kinda hate that they introduced and just immediately wasted arvok, he’s such a good character. and honestly i still really hate jake being the leader of the omatikaya. this story does at least show that he has some good ideas about what leadership entails, which isn’t something he showed at all in either the first movie or the way of water.

in a way i can’t just keep holding this one thing against every iteration of the franchise for the rest of time (but also i totally can, fuck show more you).

it’s also great seeing jake consistently side with his adopted people over the sky people, and seeing the sky people get salty about it. stay mad about it! the more jake separates from the sky people, the more i like him. shocker, i know.

i love, love, love mo’at in this. she has some absolutely incredible lines. and it was great to see jake communing with tsu’tey’s spirit, and the advice his late comrade had for him. the best way to make people like me buy into jake at least a little is to continue to double down on the love he has for his adopted people, and the love they have for him. and having him continually defer to other people with more knowledge. which, again, the movies have consistently failed to do, but at least it happens a little here.

this is a good story told well. there’s pretty much always going to be the “yes, but” racism/appropriation hitch with any avatar media, but that’s just how that goes. and for what it’s worth, flawed anti-imperialist entertainment is still measurably better than pro-imperialist entertainment. show less