Star Wars: Clone Wars Volume 6 (On the Fields of Battle).
March 12th 2008 02:39
Category: Graphic Novels/Comics
“Hm. Quinlan where’s my starfighter?”
“Had to blow it up to keep it from falling into Skorr’s hands. A good Jedi doesn’t need possessions anyway.”
“You have your ship.”
“Yeah but I’m not a very good Jedi am I?”
Conversation between Obi Wan Kenobi and Quinlan Vos, ‘Dreadnaughts of Rendili’.
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics.
Production Team: John Ostrander – writer, Dan Parsons – inks, Jan Duursema – pencils, Randy Stradley – writer, Brandon Badeaux – art, Brad Anderson – colours, Michael David Thomas – lettering & Tomas Giorello – cover art.
Cost: US $17.95
Seventeen months have passed since the fateful confrontation on Geonosis where both the Confederation of Independent Systems (CIS) and the Grand Army of the Republic were forged in the fires of battle. Many died on that day including a great many luminaries of the Jedi Order who arrived on Geonosis in order to rescue Senator Padme Amidala, Master Kenobi and his wilful padawan learner Anakin Skywalker from death in the arena of Archduke Poggle the Lesser. Since that moment the Clone Wars have raged across the galaxy with neither the Republic nor the CIS managing to gain any significant advantage over the other. It is a time of endurance and patience as all seems to hang in the balance and a single misstep by either side could result in catastrophe.
Four stories comprise this particular graphic novel, two of them featuring Obi Wan Kenobi and three of them featuring the shadowy Jedi Master Quinlan Vos who is something of a Dark Horse mainstay in this particular series of graphic novels. His padawan Aayla Secura also stars as the protagonist in one of the stories though interestingly the actual point of view for the tale she is involved in is not from her perspective but from that of her Clone Trooper commander; Bly. As usual with all the other Dark Horse efforts in detailing the various dramas and actions that occur throughout the period of the Clone Wars the artwork and storytelling is simply top notch, you definitely get great value for money with these graphic novels. And as I have no doubt said before it’s not simply just good artwork, it really conveys a cinematic sensation to the stories portrayed as with each page you can almost here that seminal theme music playing in the background and the various sounds of lightsabers, explosions and blaster bolts whizzing around. There is a palpable feeling of atmosphere to reading these works.
So as the fate of the galaxy hangs at a precarious position with each side struggling for some kind of advantage but only maintaining an uneasy status quo what is actually going on in this particular volume? Glad you asked, the action beings with ‘Show of Force’ a story featuring Mace Windu, a Jedi whose skill with the lightsaber is generally considered to be so great that it has resulted in him being ranked as one of the greatest sword beings in the galaxy, if not the greatest. Strangely Master Windu’s own estimation of his ability as a lightsaber wielder is not so glowing and couched in superlatives. The action begins on the planet of Null, a world once owned by Count Dooku and currently a battleground between Republic and Separatist forces. Here we see Master T’ra Saa and Bariss Offee, two members of the Jedi order tending to the wounded and preparing to have them evacuated to somewhere further back from the frontlines on Null.
Armies are always vulnerable when attempting to move either their wounded or their supplies and this moment proves exactly that for both the Republic army and their Jedi leaders. From literally out of nowhere mysterious assailants attack, strangely though they focus their attentions not on causing significant casualties or further demoralisation of enemy forces but on killing Jedi and grabbing their lightsabers. This incident is, to use a Dungeons & Dragons term, an attack of opportunity and the attackers are mercenaries and bounty hunters looking to make a quick buck rather than fighting for some idealistic cause. It’s all about the credits, not the war. Prior to this attack there had been rumours of bounties being offered on Jedi and the Crimson Nova chapter of the Bounty Hunters Guild was backing the contract. Naturally such a stance cannot be tolerated and Mace Windu feels that a show of force needs to be made to the guild to make them back away; in true Mace Windu fashion he feels that it might only need one Jedi to do just this – him.
From such small statements are great actions unleashed, from the forests of Null the drama moves to the Rig; a space station in the Stennes Node that serves as the headquarters of the Crimson Nova chapter. Master Windu has told the head of the chapter that he is coming and when he arrives he doesn’t bandy words or deal in euphemisms, he tells the chapter leaders what’s going to happen if they comply with the order, namely in stopping the bounties on Jedi, and what will happen if they don’t comply. Once again Mace is informing a bunch of villains in no uncertain terms that “This party is over”. Of course though everyone on the Rig believes that he’s the only Jedi present he has not come alone, via various means and disguises Masters Kit Fisto, Agen Kolar and Saesee Tinn have also infiltrated the Rig and are ready to strike. In the end the bounty hunters have no idea what hit them.
‘Forever Young’ is the next story and its action takes place on the world of Zaadja in the Outer Rim where the Geonosians have built one of their hive cities to serve as a manufacturing facility for the droid armies of the CIS, as a result the city and its factory has to be destroyed. Master Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker are leading the Clone forces involved in this mission, they and their troops will provide cover for Master Tohno, a young female Jedi master, to infiltrate the facility and place charges at key locations so that the base can be destroyed. It seems that Master Tohno is a student of architecture and engineering and this knowledge will help her place the charges at the right spots, other wise taking out the Separatist facility on Zaadja will cost a great many lives.
The next story to follow on from this is simply called ‘Armour’ and it involves Jedi Knight Aayla Secura on a mission to secure the Scientific Instrument Package (SIP) which contains data on a new defoliant chemical weapon that the Separatists have manufactured and initially intended to use against Naboo. Unfortunately for the Separatist the ship carrying the weapon and the SIP was intercepted by Republic forces and shot down over a little known system called Honoghr, fans of the works of Timothy Zahn will recognise this world as the home planet of the implacable Noghri species. As previously mentioned the story is actually told from the point of view of Clone Commander Bly and not the primary protagonist Aayla Secura, it’s an interesting departure considering that the bulk of the other tales are told from the Jedi perspective. With Bly as the narrator the audience gets something of an insight into the mindset of the Clones and of the Clone Commander who are as much a pivotal force within the war as the Jedi, if not more so, as it mainly the clones who are doing the bulk of the fighting.
After the action that takes place on Honoghr this volume wraps things up with the ‘Dreadnaughts of Rendili’ a story which sees trouble in the Rendili system as the Republic seeks to merge that systems defence forces and Dreadnaught heavy cruisers into the central command structure of the Republic’s fleet. Naturally some of the officers aboard the dreadnaughts are not to keen about the situation and trouble looks like it’s about to erupt. The first part of the story involves negotiations between the Republic and the Rendili home defence fleet, Anakin Skywalker has arrived on the scene in charge of his and Master Kenobi’s forces whilst Obi Wan himself is involved in trying to discover what happened to a missing exploration vessel. It is whilst investigating this particular blue milk incident that Obi Wan encounters an old friend and a world of trouble.
Quinlan Vos is trapped on board the vessel being hunted down by Asajj Ventress and Skorr, two of Count Dooku’s dark Jedi lackeys. With his usual aplomb Obi Wan pulls his old friend’s fat out of the fire only to find himself relying on Quin to do exactly the same at a later stage. Eventually the two manage to escape the vessel and head for the Rendili system where things have reached a critical mass, it seems that aboard the dreadnaughts of the home system defence fleet a cabal of officers who are sympathetic to the Separatists have taken control and are planning to implement some drastic actions. The mutineers though are not aware that their plan is about to see a whole world of hurt with the return of Obi Wan and Quinlan not to mention some inventive and brilliant flying by Anakin Skywalker as the forces of the Rendili fleet and the Republic engage in open combat.
In the end though the pieces are finally put in place for the final stages of the Clone Wars, the stage has been set and the drama moves on into the closing moments. The precarious balance that existed in this volume is no longer and the slow slide from status quo into eventual defeat and triumph of the dark side begins…
“Had to blow it up to keep it from falling into Skorr’s hands. A good Jedi doesn’t need possessions anyway.”
“You have your ship.”
“Yeah but I’m not a very good Jedi am I?”
Conversation between Obi Wan Kenobi and Quinlan Vos, ‘Dreadnaughts of Rendili’.
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics.
Production Team: John Ostrander – writer, Dan Parsons – inks, Jan Duursema – pencils, Randy Stradley – writer, Brandon Badeaux – art, Brad Anderson – colours, Michael David Thomas – lettering & Tomas Giorello – cover art.
Cost: US $17.95
Seventeen months have passed since the fateful confrontation on Geonosis where both the Confederation of Independent Systems (CIS) and the Grand Army of the Republic were forged in the fires of battle. Many died on that day including a great many luminaries of the Jedi Order who arrived on Geonosis in order to rescue Senator Padme Amidala, Master Kenobi and his wilful padawan learner Anakin Skywalker from death in the arena of Archduke Poggle the Lesser. Since that moment the Clone Wars have raged across the galaxy with neither the Republic nor the CIS managing to gain any significant advantage over the other. It is a time of endurance and patience as all seems to hang in the balance and a single misstep by either side could result in catastrophe.
Four stories comprise this particular graphic novel, two of them featuring Obi Wan Kenobi and three of them featuring the shadowy Jedi Master Quinlan Vos who is something of a Dark Horse mainstay in this particular series of graphic novels. His padawan Aayla Secura also stars as the protagonist in one of the stories though interestingly the actual point of view for the tale she is involved in is not from her perspective but from that of her Clone Trooper commander; Bly. As usual with all the other Dark Horse efforts in detailing the various dramas and actions that occur throughout the period of the Clone Wars the artwork and storytelling is simply top notch, you definitely get great value for money with these graphic novels. And as I have no doubt said before it’s not simply just good artwork, it really conveys a cinematic sensation to the stories portrayed as with each page you can almost here that seminal theme music playing in the background and the various sounds of lightsabers, explosions and blaster bolts whizzing around. There is a palpable feeling of atmosphere to reading these works.
Armies are always vulnerable when attempting to move either their wounded or their supplies and this moment proves exactly that for both the Republic army and their Jedi leaders. From literally out of nowhere mysterious assailants attack, strangely though they focus their attentions not on causing significant casualties or further demoralisation of enemy forces but on killing Jedi and grabbing their lightsabers. This incident is, to use a Dungeons & Dragons term, an attack of opportunity and the attackers are mercenaries and bounty hunters looking to make a quick buck rather than fighting for some idealistic cause. It’s all about the credits, not the war. Prior to this attack there had been rumours of bounties being offered on Jedi and the Crimson Nova chapter of the Bounty Hunters Guild was backing the contract. Naturally such a stance cannot be tolerated and Mace Windu feels that a show of force needs to be made to the guild to make them back away; in true Mace Windu fashion he feels that it might only need one Jedi to do just this – him.
From such small statements are great actions unleashed, from the forests of Null the drama moves to the Rig; a space station in the Stennes Node that serves as the headquarters of the Crimson Nova chapter. Master Windu has told the head of the chapter that he is coming and when he arrives he doesn’t bandy words or deal in euphemisms, he tells the chapter leaders what’s going to happen if they comply with the order, namely in stopping the bounties on Jedi, and what will happen if they don’t comply. Once again Mace is informing a bunch of villains in no uncertain terms that “This party is over”. Of course though everyone on the Rig believes that he’s the only Jedi present he has not come alone, via various means and disguises Masters Kit Fisto, Agen Kolar and Saesee Tinn have also infiltrated the Rig and are ready to strike. In the end the bounty hunters have no idea what hit them.
‘Forever Young’ is the next story and its action takes place on the world of Zaadja in the Outer Rim where the Geonosians have built one of their hive cities to serve as a manufacturing facility for the droid armies of the CIS, as a result the city and its factory has to be destroyed. Master Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker are leading the Clone forces involved in this mission, they and their troops will provide cover for Master Tohno, a young female Jedi master, to infiltrate the facility and place charges at key locations so that the base can be destroyed. It seems that Master Tohno is a student of architecture and engineering and this knowledge will help her place the charges at the right spots, other wise taking out the Separatist facility on Zaadja will cost a great many lives.
The next story to follow on from this is simply called ‘Armour’ and it involves Jedi Knight Aayla Secura on a mission to secure the Scientific Instrument Package (SIP) which contains data on a new defoliant chemical weapon that the Separatists have manufactured and initially intended to use against Naboo. Unfortunately for the Separatist the ship carrying the weapon and the SIP was intercepted by Republic forces and shot down over a little known system called Honoghr, fans of the works of Timothy Zahn will recognise this world as the home planet of the implacable Noghri species. As previously mentioned the story is actually told from the point of view of Clone Commander Bly and not the primary protagonist Aayla Secura, it’s an interesting departure considering that the bulk of the other tales are told from the Jedi perspective. With Bly as the narrator the audience gets something of an insight into the mindset of the Clones and of the Clone Commander who are as much a pivotal force within the war as the Jedi, if not more so, as it mainly the clones who are doing the bulk of the fighting.
After the action that takes place on Honoghr this volume wraps things up with the ‘Dreadnaughts of Rendili’ a story which sees trouble in the Rendili system as the Republic seeks to merge that systems defence forces and Dreadnaught heavy cruisers into the central command structure of the Republic’s fleet. Naturally some of the officers aboard the dreadnaughts are not to keen about the situation and trouble looks like it’s about to erupt. The first part of the story involves negotiations between the Republic and the Rendili home defence fleet, Anakin Skywalker has arrived on the scene in charge of his and Master Kenobi’s forces whilst Obi Wan himself is involved in trying to discover what happened to a missing exploration vessel. It is whilst investigating this particular blue milk incident that Obi Wan encounters an old friend and a world of trouble.
Quinlan Vos is trapped on board the vessel being hunted down by Asajj Ventress and Skorr, two of Count Dooku’s dark Jedi lackeys. With his usual aplomb Obi Wan pulls his old friend’s fat out of the fire only to find himself relying on Quin to do exactly the same at a later stage. Eventually the two manage to escape the vessel and head for the Rendili system where things have reached a critical mass, it seems that aboard the dreadnaughts of the home system defence fleet a cabal of officers who are sympathetic to the Separatists have taken control and are planning to implement some drastic actions. The mutineers though are not aware that their plan is about to see a whole world of hurt with the return of Obi Wan and Quinlan not to mention some inventive and brilliant flying by Anakin Skywalker as the forces of the Rendili fleet and the Republic engage in open combat.
In the end though the pieces are finally put in place for the final stages of the Clone Wars, the stage has been set and the drama moves on into the closing moments. The precarious balance that existed in this volume is no longer and the slow slide from status quo into eventual defeat and triumph of the dark side begins…
| 61 |
| Vote |
Comment by The wonderful Peter Yang
The wonderful Peter Yang's Variety blog
Power Ranger Online
Comedy TV Online
BEST MOVIE EVER!!!