Star Wars Legacy: Claws of the Dragon Parts 1 - 3.
February 4th 2008 22:33
Category: Graphic Novels/Comics
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics.
Production Team: John Ostrander – script/story, Jan Duursema – story/pencils, Dan Parsons – inks, Brad Anderson – colours, Michael Heisler – letters, Trevor Charest – cover art and Sean Cooke – Imperial Hangar drawing.
Cost: $US 2.99/$AU 8.50.
Cade Skywalker, scion of the legendary Skywalker line, at some stage in his chequered career as bounty hunter, pirate and mercenary committed an act for which he has to atone for. Namely he turned in a Bothan Jedi called Hosk Tey’lis for a bounty, something that he had never done before. This Jedi has been taken to the Sith temple on Coruscant for the Sith were very keen to speak to Hosk for various reasons unknown to anyone outside of Darth Krayt’s inner circle. Consequently in order to try and restore his connection to the force and resume his path as a Jedi Cade must try and make this situation right somehow, he must go into the bowels of the temple of his foes and rescue Hosk from the clutches of the Sith. Sounds relatively straight forward, right? Hmmm always in motion the future is, as a wise old Jedi Master used to say, and visions from the force should not always be interpreted literally or trouble it could lead to.
Like his great great grandfather and his great grandfather before him Cade just decides to leap into action not realising what will result as a consequence of him acting before thinking. Let’s face it Anakin Skywalker did the same with his visions of Padme and look what that led him to, Luke did it with the visions of his friends being tortured on Bespin and we all know how that ended…”No Luke; I am you Father.” Patience does not seem to be a Skywalker trait and so Cade as he flies off from Ossus in his beat up freighter the Mynock is just seemingly heeding the call of genetics. Still it has been said that often only through adversity and trial can bona fide truths about ones self be genuinely known and discovered, and lets face it after that confrontation on Cloud City Luke Skywalker did gain a modicum of patience that he slowly nurtured for the rest of his life as a Jedi Master. Perhaps the same will be said of his descendant, Cade, only time and the Force will tell.
The action in this story arc opens with Cade and the redoubtable astromech droid R2D2 flying into Coruscant chased by the members of Skull Squadron; a unit of Imperial TIE Predator fighters, through the highways and byways of the sprawling city planet. It seems that Cade is very much a wanted man, the Sith have offered a substantial reward for his capture and they have marshalled all of their considerable resources as well as those of the Empire in their efforts. Even though Skull Squadron is comprised of the best of the best that the Imperial Navy can offer and lead by a top pilot, Gunner Yage, the daughter of Moff Yage, they are still no match for Cade. It seems that amazing piloting skill is something that runs true through all the males of the Skywalker line along with an affinity in the force.
Pursuers ditched Cade hides his ship, tells Artoo to take care of things as well as let in his former comrades Deliah Blue and Jariah Syn, and records a holo message for them before embarking on his mission. Getting into the Temple apparently is no problem as the Sith built their edifice in the exact location of the Jedi temple and Cade having grown up in the area knows all the ways in and out, he also knows Coruscant’s under levels like the back of his proverbial hand. Though he is doing this to save someone Cade doesn’t precisely have the most positive of motives for performing this current mission, he seems to be more like a man who is embarking on a task that will mean the end of his life for good. Still a broken individual he is seeking not healing but an ending and to his mindset walking into the literal heart of darkness to rescue a captured Jedi seems like the best bet for this outcome.
Unfortunately for Cade the ability to seek into his opponent’s stronghold is insignificant when compared to their mastery of the dark side. Darth Talon and Darth Nihl, the two hands of the Dark Lord, prevent Cade’s escape and drag him before their master. Unlike the Sith of yesteryear (primarily the movies and computer games) obedience is a survival trait and the two follow the dictates of their lord. The capture of the last surviving member of the Skywalker line proves to be problematic, certainly it is what the Dark Lord; Darth Krayt, desires as he seeks Cade’s unique abilities for his own sinister purposes yet it seems that as events unfold the leader of the Sith may come to regret getting what he desired.
Always in motion the future is and it seems that Darth Krayt is solely focused on what he can achieve; not what the consequences his actions may have for both himself and the Sith Order he has managed to forge, to say nothing of his alliance with the Empire. In true Star Wars tradition Claws of the Dragon uses the device of mirroring what has gone before to give an extra emphasis to the story; the old maxim of those who do not learn from the mistakes of the past are doomed to repeat them. Darth Krayt is at the top of his game in much the same way as Emperor Palpatine and like his predecessor the new dark lord seems unable to conceive of the possibility that all is not hunky dory with his new order, cracks have formed and are beginning to gradually widen. Hubris and unthinking, perhaps blind, faith in the dark side is as much a flaw with Darth Krayt as it was for his predecessor Palpatine.
Once again the production values in this series is top notch, the production team seem to pull out all the stops when putting out an issue of Star Wars: Legacy and as I have said before it gives the whole thing a very active and lively feel to the drama. The characters come across as dynamic three dimensional individuals with substantial depth that makes the reader appreciate the story just that little bit more. And the other atmospheric facet about this particular story arc in the Legacy series is that it draws upon events set in the aftermath of the Clone Wars to finally reveal exactly who Darth Krayt is under that mask of his baroque armour. Granted unless you’re someone who has been a fan of Dark Horse’s previous Star Wars comics which are out in graphic novel format under the title of Clone Wars the identity of the new Dark Lord of the Sith will probably be a bit anti climactic if not down right confusing. Still on the plus side it does feature the appearance of one of the most well known Jedi in the entire Star Wars universe, a guy who lived out in the Jundland Wastes of Tatooine and claimed to a then young Luke Skywalker that he was a Jedi like his father.
It’s stirring stuff and from the way things are building up in this series it only looks to get better and better, Dark Horse and the production team involved in this line should definitely be proud of this artistic wonder that they have created. My prediction for this line is that over the next couple of issues there is going to be a major build up of characters and factions that will lead to one major confrontation with the Sith temple getting trashed big time and as a result the Sith-Empire alliance suffering something of a set back. Certainly this fits in well with the whole Star Wars shtick, and as this is the opening stanzas of the series it would work well. Still I have every confidence that whatever occurs next in the Legacy era it’ll be both surprising and entertaining.
May the force be with you…
Production Team: John Ostrander – script/story, Jan Duursema – story/pencils, Dan Parsons – inks, Brad Anderson – colours, Michael Heisler – letters, Trevor Charest – cover art and Sean Cooke – Imperial Hangar drawing.
Cost: $US 2.99/$AU 8.50.
Cade Skywalker, scion of the legendary Skywalker line, at some stage in his chequered career as bounty hunter, pirate and mercenary committed an act for which he has to atone for. Namely he turned in a Bothan Jedi called Hosk Tey’lis for a bounty, something that he had never done before. This Jedi has been taken to the Sith temple on Coruscant for the Sith were very keen to speak to Hosk for various reasons unknown to anyone outside of Darth Krayt’s inner circle. Consequently in order to try and restore his connection to the force and resume his path as a Jedi Cade must try and make this situation right somehow, he must go into the bowels of the temple of his foes and rescue Hosk from the clutches of the Sith. Sounds relatively straight forward, right? Hmmm always in motion the future is, as a wise old Jedi Master used to say, and visions from the force should not always be interpreted literally or trouble it could lead to.
Pursuers ditched Cade hides his ship, tells Artoo to take care of things as well as let in his former comrades Deliah Blue and Jariah Syn, and records a holo message for them before embarking on his mission. Getting into the Temple apparently is no problem as the Sith built their edifice in the exact location of the Jedi temple and Cade having grown up in the area knows all the ways in and out, he also knows Coruscant’s under levels like the back of his proverbial hand. Though he is doing this to save someone Cade doesn’t precisely have the most positive of motives for performing this current mission, he seems to be more like a man who is embarking on a task that will mean the end of his life for good. Still a broken individual he is seeking not healing but an ending and to his mindset walking into the literal heart of darkness to rescue a captured Jedi seems like the best bet for this outcome.
Unfortunately for Cade the ability to seek into his opponent’s stronghold is insignificant when compared to their mastery of the dark side. Darth Talon and Darth Nihl, the two hands of the Dark Lord, prevent Cade’s escape and drag him before their master. Unlike the Sith of yesteryear (primarily the movies and computer games) obedience is a survival trait and the two follow the dictates of their lord. The capture of the last surviving member of the Skywalker line proves to be problematic, certainly it is what the Dark Lord; Darth Krayt, desires as he seeks Cade’s unique abilities for his own sinister purposes yet it seems that as events unfold the leader of the Sith may come to regret getting what he desired.
Always in motion the future is and it seems that Darth Krayt is solely focused on what he can achieve; not what the consequences his actions may have for both himself and the Sith Order he has managed to forge, to say nothing of his alliance with the Empire. In true Star Wars tradition Claws of the Dragon uses the device of mirroring what has gone before to give an extra emphasis to the story; the old maxim of those who do not learn from the mistakes of the past are doomed to repeat them. Darth Krayt is at the top of his game in much the same way as Emperor Palpatine and like his predecessor the new dark lord seems unable to conceive of the possibility that all is not hunky dory with his new order, cracks have formed and are beginning to gradually widen. Hubris and unthinking, perhaps blind, faith in the dark side is as much a flaw with Darth Krayt as it was for his predecessor Palpatine.
Once again the production values in this series is top notch, the production team seem to pull out all the stops when putting out an issue of Star Wars: Legacy and as I have said before it gives the whole thing a very active and lively feel to the drama. The characters come across as dynamic three dimensional individuals with substantial depth that makes the reader appreciate the story just that little bit more. And the other atmospheric facet about this particular story arc in the Legacy series is that it draws upon events set in the aftermath of the Clone Wars to finally reveal exactly who Darth Krayt is under that mask of his baroque armour. Granted unless you’re someone who has been a fan of Dark Horse’s previous Star Wars comics which are out in graphic novel format under the title of Clone Wars the identity of the new Dark Lord of the Sith will probably be a bit anti climactic if not down right confusing. Still on the plus side it does feature the appearance of one of the most well known Jedi in the entire Star Wars universe, a guy who lived out in the Jundland Wastes of Tatooine and claimed to a then young Luke Skywalker that he was a Jedi like his father.
It’s stirring stuff and from the way things are building up in this series it only looks to get better and better, Dark Horse and the production team involved in this line should definitely be proud of this artistic wonder that they have created. My prediction for this line is that over the next couple of issues there is going to be a major build up of characters and factions that will lead to one major confrontation with the Sith temple getting trashed big time and as a result the Sith-Empire alliance suffering something of a set back. Certainly this fits in well with the whole Star Wars shtick, and as this is the opening stanzas of the series it would work well. Still I have every confidence that whatever occurs next in the Legacy era it’ll be both surprising and entertaining.
May the force be with you…
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