Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (KOTOR) 23
April 22nd 2008 02:16
Category: Graphic Novels/Comics
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics.
Production Team: John Jackson Miller – script, Dustin Weaver – pencils, Dan Parsons – inks, Michael Atiyeh – colours, Michael Heisler – lettering and Colin Wilson – cover art.
Cost: AU $7.95/US $2.99.
As I have no doubt mentioned before way back when, before the prequel movies before even the computer games that would be known as Knights of the Old Republic Dark Horse Comics had already been blazing a trail into the era of the Star Wars universe known as the Old Republic, when this mighty state was literally at the peak of its power. It was a halcyon day for the Star Wars universe, Star Wars fans and probably no doubt for Dark Horse comics as well, it is interesting to note that now in this new incarnation of the Old Republic the original stories that Dark Horse released have not been forgotten but have instead become part of a larger whole. The Exar Kun war that made up part of the focus of Dark Horse’s Tales of the Jedi series is a historical event in both the KOTOR comic series and the original computer game. That conflict was well and truly over by the time the next one began, the one in which the two Sith Lords Darth Revan and Darth Malak were born and from which they forged a new darkness to plague the galaxy, as detailed in the original KOTOR computer game.
So far as I am aware there hasn’t been an appearance put in by either Revan or Malak in this series, still I do hold out some hope as just as Dark Horse has drawn on some of their older stories to provide a little background they have used some of the details and background from the computer game already in this series. The Mandalorian Wars, the conflict in which both Revan and Malak were forged first as Jedi generals then later as Dark Lords of a resurgent Sith, provides the backdrop for the current saga. Already Carth Onasi and Admiral Saul Karath, major figures in the events of the KOTOR game, have made their first appearances in this saga (Issues 16 – 17) as the Mandalorians were attempting to board Admiral Karath’s flagship in orbit around Serocco. Now it seems that we return to Taris, the world in which the events of the KOTOR game begin and strangely also where this saga also got its start.
Like Coruscant in the prequel movies Taris is a world that is covered in one vast endless city scape, this city scape is in turn divided into the Upper City, the Lower City and the Under City. The Upper City is the one that the vast majority of those from off world see, strangely in the comic it’s referred to as Highport; no doubt due to the fact that the starships and space ships land on this level of the world city and as mentioned most off worlders never go below this level. Highport is where the rich and well to do of Taris live, the lower classes live in the lower city amongst the various gangsters and swoop gangs and in the Under City live various political exiles, Gamorrean slavers, condemned criminals and rakghouls; hideous mutant creatures whose bite and claws carry a disease that can cause those infected to become rakghouls. As you can no doubt guess the Under City is not something mentioned in the travel brochures nor is the rakghoul problem either. On the plus side they make some fantastic ale on Taris, in fact this locally brewed beverage is legendary and famed throughout the known universe.
This is where the saga initially began, with Zayne Carrick, a padawan learner fleeing offworld to escape his masters, masters who had slaughtered their learners and pinned the crime on Zayne. Wanted for ten bounties totalling eighty one thousand credits and including crimes such as murder, treason, destruction of property and escape you’d think that Taris would be the last place he’d return to. Still it seems that he’s keen on finding his friend, the Snivvian con man and racketeer Marn Hierogryph, aka Gryph and various other aliases. Gryph in turn is back on Taris in order to try and find that systems senator who did not flee the world at the start of the Mandalorian attack. Like anything involving the force and the Jedi things do not go according to plan and Zayne finds himself in a rather sticky situation, confronted by one of the masters who is after him, the unhinged Ranna Tey, and the sister of one of the learners he was accused of murdering.
Now you’d be forgiven for thinking that things cannot get any worse, being confronted by a mad Jedi and the sister of someone many believe, including her, you killed but it is…much worse. The Mandalorian war machine which caused extensive devastation and loss of life at Serocco, at Duros and at Wayland has now reached Taris which is only to be expected. Waging war is all part of the Mandalorian ethos, and frankly when it comes to combat, to destruction and intimidation it could easily be considered that the Mandalorians make the Sith look positively wimpy, Mandalorian wannabes almost. As the pages of this particular issue open up on the drama the first thing that appears is the helmet of a Mandalorian commander gazing on a holoprojection of the battle field that Taris has become since the occupation. This is no ordinary commander; this is Cassus Fett, no doubt the possible progenitor of the family that would many generations later produce the pre eminent bounty hunter Jango Fett. Cassus is a commander who is obviously focused on a disciplined campaign and retaining his conquests, as he explains to his subordinate Gormer if everyone pays attention their sons won’t have to worry as the Mando’ade will have conquered everything.
Naturally though there are a few parties who have something to say about this, though they are opposed to the occupation and could be considered the resistance they are not as unified as they should be. Senator Goravvus is keen to throw the Mandalorians off Taris and is willing to take whatever help he can get, it seems that even though isn’t exactly a moral paragon he is someone who doesn’t want to see his world and his people suffer under an enemy occupation. Allied to the Hidden Beks and their leader Gadon Thek, another character from the KOTOR game, Goravvus has the makings of a resistance that could cause potential problems especially when he has the forces of the Taris Constabulary behind him and a Jedi. Unfortunately this coalition is rift with problems, Ranna Tey has her own agenda and it seems that she is more than willing to put the resistance at risk in order to further this agenda, she is convinced that Zayne is a Sith and has convinced Shel, the sister of a padawan Zayne is alleged to have killed, that this is the case and they must gain justice.
And the internal pressures are not the only problem that could bring about the resistances downfall, there is no aid coming in from the Republic, from the fleet or from any of the major corporations that once backed Goravvus in his campaign to become senator. Without armaments or even communication that can get past the Mandalorians jamming things are going to be hard for the resistance, if not catastrophic. On a complete tangent away from the story it seems that in this particular issue Zayne looks a lot less like Anakin Skywalker as he did in Issues 16 – 17 did someone from Dark Horse read my reviews and decide to implement some changes? Meanwhile whilst the drama unfolds in orbit two of Zayne’s comrades, the Arkanian offshoot Jarael and the Mandalorian renegade Rohlan the Questioner, await to hear a signal from the world below. Their vessel is held under the watchful eye of the Mandalorians and if they make a sudden move they’re likely to be blasted from the sky, as the cover suggests.
It seems that Dark Horse just keep going from strength to strength with their various Star Wars lines, and this issue is only two away from the start of the multi era spanning saga that is Vector, something that the Lantern will be looking out for with its vigilant viridian gaze. Oh and it seems that characters aren’t the only things that crop up in this particular comic from the KOTOR game, if you do get a hold of this comic have a look closely at the holoprojection that Cassus Fett is looking at in the second frame of the first page, you’ll notice a ship that is very familiar to those that have played KOTOR. If that isn’t you then this little remark will make no sense whatsoever but as so as I noticed it, and this was after my second read of the comic, I laughed loud, long and hard. Very amusing.
Production Team: John Jackson Miller – script, Dustin Weaver – pencils, Dan Parsons – inks, Michael Atiyeh – colours, Michael Heisler – lettering and Colin Wilson – cover art.
Cost: AU $7.95/US $2.99.
As I have no doubt mentioned before way back when, before the prequel movies before even the computer games that would be known as Knights of the Old Republic Dark Horse Comics had already been blazing a trail into the era of the Star Wars universe known as the Old Republic, when this mighty state was literally at the peak of its power. It was a halcyon day for the Star Wars universe, Star Wars fans and probably no doubt for Dark Horse comics as well, it is interesting to note that now in this new incarnation of the Old Republic the original stories that Dark Horse released have not been forgotten but have instead become part of a larger whole. The Exar Kun war that made up part of the focus of Dark Horse’s Tales of the Jedi series is a historical event in both the KOTOR comic series and the original computer game. That conflict was well and truly over by the time the next one began, the one in which the two Sith Lords Darth Revan and Darth Malak were born and from which they forged a new darkness to plague the galaxy, as detailed in the original KOTOR computer game.
This is where the saga initially began, with Zayne Carrick, a padawan learner fleeing offworld to escape his masters, masters who had slaughtered their learners and pinned the crime on Zayne. Wanted for ten bounties totalling eighty one thousand credits and including crimes such as murder, treason, destruction of property and escape you’d think that Taris would be the last place he’d return to. Still it seems that he’s keen on finding his friend, the Snivvian con man and racketeer Marn Hierogryph, aka Gryph and various other aliases. Gryph in turn is back on Taris in order to try and find that systems senator who did not flee the world at the start of the Mandalorian attack. Like anything involving the force and the Jedi things do not go according to plan and Zayne finds himself in a rather sticky situation, confronted by one of the masters who is after him, the unhinged Ranna Tey, and the sister of one of the learners he was accused of murdering.
Now you’d be forgiven for thinking that things cannot get any worse, being confronted by a mad Jedi and the sister of someone many believe, including her, you killed but it is…much worse. The Mandalorian war machine which caused extensive devastation and loss of life at Serocco, at Duros and at Wayland has now reached Taris which is only to be expected. Waging war is all part of the Mandalorian ethos, and frankly when it comes to combat, to destruction and intimidation it could easily be considered that the Mandalorians make the Sith look positively wimpy, Mandalorian wannabes almost. As the pages of this particular issue open up on the drama the first thing that appears is the helmet of a Mandalorian commander gazing on a holoprojection of the battle field that Taris has become since the occupation. This is no ordinary commander; this is Cassus Fett, no doubt the possible progenitor of the family that would many generations later produce the pre eminent bounty hunter Jango Fett. Cassus is a commander who is obviously focused on a disciplined campaign and retaining his conquests, as he explains to his subordinate Gormer if everyone pays attention their sons won’t have to worry as the Mando’ade will have conquered everything.
Naturally though there are a few parties who have something to say about this, though they are opposed to the occupation and could be considered the resistance they are not as unified as they should be. Senator Goravvus is keen to throw the Mandalorians off Taris and is willing to take whatever help he can get, it seems that even though isn’t exactly a moral paragon he is someone who doesn’t want to see his world and his people suffer under an enemy occupation. Allied to the Hidden Beks and their leader Gadon Thek, another character from the KOTOR game, Goravvus has the makings of a resistance that could cause potential problems especially when he has the forces of the Taris Constabulary behind him and a Jedi. Unfortunately this coalition is rift with problems, Ranna Tey has her own agenda and it seems that she is more than willing to put the resistance at risk in order to further this agenda, she is convinced that Zayne is a Sith and has convinced Shel, the sister of a padawan Zayne is alleged to have killed, that this is the case and they must gain justice.
And the internal pressures are not the only problem that could bring about the resistances downfall, there is no aid coming in from the Republic, from the fleet or from any of the major corporations that once backed Goravvus in his campaign to become senator. Without armaments or even communication that can get past the Mandalorians jamming things are going to be hard for the resistance, if not catastrophic. On a complete tangent away from the story it seems that in this particular issue Zayne looks a lot less like Anakin Skywalker as he did in Issues 16 – 17 did someone from Dark Horse read my reviews and decide to implement some changes? Meanwhile whilst the drama unfolds in orbit two of Zayne’s comrades, the Arkanian offshoot Jarael and the Mandalorian renegade Rohlan the Questioner, await to hear a signal from the world below. Their vessel is held under the watchful eye of the Mandalorians and if they make a sudden move they’re likely to be blasted from the sky, as the cover suggests.
It seems that Dark Horse just keep going from strength to strength with their various Star Wars lines, and this issue is only two away from the start of the multi era spanning saga that is Vector, something that the Lantern will be looking out for with its vigilant viridian gaze. Oh and it seems that characters aren’t the only things that crop up in this particular comic from the KOTOR game, if you do get a hold of this comic have a look closely at the holoprojection that Cassus Fett is looking at in the second frame of the first page, you’ll notice a ship that is very familiar to those that have played KOTOR. If that isn’t you then this little remark will make no sense whatsoever but as so as I noticed it, and this was after my second read of the comic, I laughed loud, long and hard. Very amusing.
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