STAR WARS: KNIGHT ERRANT - AFLAME PARTS 1 & 2 (ISSUES 1 & 2)
May 8th 2011 00:32
Category: Graphic Novels/Comics
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Production Team: John Jackson Miller – script, Federico Dallocchio – art, Michael Atiyeh – colours, Michael Heisler – lettering, Joe Quinones – cover art
Cost: AU $4.95/US $2.99
Knight Errant the latest Star Wars comic series to be set in the time of the Old Republic when men where men, women were women and there was nary an Ewok or Gungan in sight. It is a time of bold and daring deeds when the forces of light strive valiantly against the forces of darkness in spite of the darkness having overwhelming advantages and numerical superiority. One could almost compares this period in the Star Wars universe to the real world period of when the legions of Rome attempted to hold back the barbarian hordes and preserve what glimmer of culture and civilization remained in Europe. Yet even though there is this parallel and even though there is action aplenty something doesn’t quite jell with this…
The drama beings on a world known as Chelloa, a system under the sway of the Sith; Lord Daiman, currently though the ‘good’ lord is absent from his holding. Instead he has left his minions to tend to things whilst he is no doubt off somewhere else in the galaxy no doubt attending to matters of great import. Never a good thing to be an absentee ruler…history is littered with the bones of conquerors who failed to hold what they had gained and possibly this might be the fate of Lord Daiman. Still only two issues into the series it might be a big call on my behalf to make. Still it seems that this rather uninteresting world is about to become the focus of a three way showdown between opposing Sith and Jedi.
Of course it goes without saying that Lord Daiman possessing a world with rich deposits of Baradium isn’t going to be something other Sith are going to be too happy over. In fact one of them is downright peeved at the whole idea and has launched his own effort to resolve this particular thorn in his own grandiose scheme. Lord Odion is the brother of Lord Daiman, whether this is genetic or just because they’re Sith is not revealed, but like brothers often do he is at odds with Daiman and intends to destroy his treasure trove of Baradium. Unfortunately for the Sith he’s launched his attack on the same day the Jedi have staged their raid and thus conflict ensues as the Jedi not only battle Daiman’s underlings but Odion’s minions as well.
When the dust finally settles though the efforts of the Jedi, Odion and Daiman have in essence all gone rather pear shaped. In fact the only side to make anything out of the whole mess is Lord Daiman, the world is still in his possession and he is able to consolidate what is left and restart his operations much to the chagrin of his brother and the sole remaining Jedi – Kerra Holt. In all the chaos and carnage going on she has been the only member of the strike force to survive this mission, looks like somehow she’s going to have to do something about the sorry state of affairs in this part of the galaxy and her only real ally is the Force…
The artwork of these two issues is absolutely stunning it looks more like a still of a television/video picture than your usual standard printed medium artwork. The colours whilst muted make things appear far more vibrant and with a sense of solidity that I haven’t seen in comics for a while – like I say it’s fantastic, it’s almost crying out to actually be somehow turned into real life either as an animated feature or live action film. But even though this series has begun with superb artwork and a very interesting storyline there are a few glitches…which brings me to the point I mentioned at the start. You see this story is said to be set one thousand years before the events of the prequel films…now as far as memory serves me correctly according to the accepted history a thousand years before the prequel films was when Darth Bane effectively formed the Rule of Two, thus there wouldn’t be hordes of Sith running around the galaxy. There should in essence be Darth Bane and his apprentice…
Secondly the other glitch as it were is the protagonist in this series. OK I have nothing against a female lead protagonist, in fact I’m surprised it hasn’t been done previously, but for me it’s hard to like this character. Kerra Holt seems to be a rather unconvincing lead, granted its only two issues into the series but I just couldn’t get my head around the fact that she’s the key protagonist when it seems like she’s more of a supporting character between Odion and Daiman. In fact after reading these two issues Gorlan Palladane, the leader of slaves on Chelloa has more of the hallmarks of a lead protagonist. Of course maybe the whole notion is for Kerra to grow into her role as the story progresses…I certainly hope that that’s the case. In fact I suspect that the series is going to be one where you’ll have to follow it avidly and let it grow on you in order to truly appreciate it…perhaps Dark Horse is planning for it to be around for a lot longer than Knights of the Old Republic and want a fair degree of sustainability…who knows always in motion the future is…
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