George Lucas was interested in the dangers of humans melding with machines, but that concept was buried by the time he got to the final drafts of his “Star Wars” films. The machine aspects of Darth Vader and General Grievous (and Lumiya and the Hunter, if you delve into the Expanded Universe) were emblematic but […]
“It Follows,” the first great horror film of the year, mixes nightmare imagery with a poignant coming-of-age drama with a travelogue of economically depressed Detroit. The end result is something greater than the sum of its parts, and a film that invites subtext to be liberally applied.
“Dark Times” checks back in with Master K’Kruhk for “Fire Carrier,” Issues 23-27 (2013), which – despite not being drawn by Douglas Wheatley (Gabriel Guzman’s crisp art isn’t a bad substitute, though) – is my favorite arc from the series, and one of the elite arcs among all “Star Wars” comics.
After a couple of arcs focusing on the Uhumele crew, author Randy Stradley and artist Douglas Wheatley return to Jedi Dass Jennir – who went his own way after Issue 5 – for the next two arcs in “Dark Times.” As a means of catching readers up with Jennir, Issue 0 is the first issue of “Blue […]
John Jackson Miller doles out the answers to long-simmering mysteries fast and furious in the series-concluding “Knights of the Old Republic” Issues 47-50 (2009-10). The author’s meticulous crafting of the plot pays off in this final arc, titled “Demon” (illustrated by Brian Ching), while he still keeps personalities, relationships and funny moments at the fore.
With Zayne no longer hunted by Republic and Jedi officials, the focus of “Knights of the Old Republic” turns to Jarael in Issues 38-46 (2009). Earlier in the series, Jarael learned about her ancestry as an Arkanian offshoot, but because she didn’t grow up on Arkania, she never experienced that racism personally, and those issues weren’t truly […]
While it was satisfying from a purely aesthetic viewpoint to have the “Return of the Jedi” radio drama (1996) complete the audio trilogy after a 13-year wait since “The Empire Strikes Back,” I also have to say this project completely missed the point of what made the “Star Wars” radio drama cool: additional material.
Nearly three full years into its run, “Knights of the Old Republic” finally wraps up the “framing of Zayne Carrick” arc. It’s satisfying in the sense that Zayne’s name is cleared and he can now move freely throughout the galaxy without fear of arrest (at least for that particular crime), but it also illustrates a common problem […]
Dark Horse editor Randy Stradley begins his introduction to the first trade-paperback volume of “Vector” (2008) by apologizing for the “crass commercialism” of the crossover project. But he needn’t have apologized. The idea of a story that travels through the four ongoing “Star Wars” comics of the time may have been commercial, but it was also just […]
Coming off Cade Skywalker’s epic escape from the Sith Temple in the previous arc, “Legacy” Issues 20-27 (2008) mark an opportunity for the series to catch its breath. Rather than being a boring stretch of issues, it is enjoyable to bask in this world writer John Ostrander has constructed, especially since he shines with dialogue and humor […]