Star Wars Comics and Graphic Novels

[TheCorpulent1]

Newsarama has an interview with Knights of the Old Republic writer John Jackson Miller.

Anyone reading KotOR? I just finished the first trade last week. It's a pretty good comic, and I think it captures the feel of the games really well. I didn't even know there were other Old Republic comics out there, let alone that the games were based on them, but now I'm thinking I'll pick up the Knights of the Old Republic Omnibus as well. I really love the whole Old Republic era, probably even more than the movies' era.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I see it more as a combination of medieval law enforcement and modern politics. The Republic is structured so that everyone gets their say, but the Jedi are deployed pretty readily to deal with any problems, often lethally. Kind of a weird dichotomy. I like it.

 

[Mandi-chan]

I didn't realize there was a KOTOR comic...

How's the art, the story, are the characters from the game in it (and are there any relationships)?

 

[TheCorpulent1]

The art has been pretty impressive. Brian Ching was the artist for the first arc, and now he and Dustin Weaver seem to be sharing the penciling duties. One issue'll be Ching's work, the next will be Weaver, or maybe 2 Weaver issues and then a Ching issue, etc. Both of them are excellent artists, although I like Weaver a bit more because his art is a little more consistent.

The story is set during the Mandalorian Wars (the war that pretty much everyone in the games fought in, that Revan and Malak led Jedi into against the Council's wishes, that the Exile wound up ending on Malachor V, etc.), eight years before KotOR 1 takes place, but it's kind of on the fringes of the war. The comic follows a Jedi Padawan named Zayne Carrick. His master is part of the Jedi Covenant, a secret group of the most powerful prophets among the Jedi's ranks who swore to use whatever means necessary to keep the Sith from gaining power. The Covenant's members have a vision of one of their Padawans falling to the dark side and unleashing the Sith on the galaxy, but they don't know which one, so they decide to kill all of them. They do so at their Padawans' knighting ceremony, but Zayne is spared because he's late. The Covenant pins the murders of the Padawans on Zayne, but Zayne, with the help of some allies, manages to get off of Taris and go on the run. That's basically what the status quo of the series is right now--Zayne and his allies are fugitives, on the run from both Zayne's masters, who want to kill him, and the rest of the Republic, who want to arrest him.

There are a few game characters that appear every now and then. So far, Revan, Saul Karath, Carth Onasi, and Master Vandar Tokare have appeared. It's possible other characters have appeared but we're not aware of who they become for the games. Part of the fun of reading the series is trying to figure out who from the series becomes whom in the games, especially whom Zayne eventually becomes if the prophecy holds true and he really does become a Sith Lord. It's been pretty good so far. I recommend it.

 

[Spike_x1]

Revan's in it? How is he/she portrayed as?

 

[Red]

Does HK-47 make any appearances?

 

[TheCorpulent1]

No, but his predecessor HK-27 tries to assassinate Camper.

Revan's in it? How is he/she portrayed as?

He (Revan's canonically male) is portrayed as just a guy in a brown cloak. You don't see any details at all--no face, no mask, no armor, no robes--just a guy in a brown cloak explaining to the Jedi Council on Coruscant that the Jedi must intervene in the Mandalorian Wars, just before the Jedi Covenant prophets go in for their meeting with the Council. He also appears later, after a big massacre sends waves through the Force that shock most of the Jedi, with a suspiciously bald dude in some almost-familiar red armor who calls him "master."

Obviously, it's only 15 issues in and still very early in the Mandalorian Wars, so Revan's not quite the big name he'll become just yet. Like I said, it's fun to see where some of the game characters are at the moment and put the pieces of how they wind up where they do for the games together.

Seriously, guys, you should pick up the first trade and give the series a try. I had no interest whatsoever in Star Wars comics or novels or anything from the Expanded Universe other than a few games. I tried the KotOR series and now I'm hunting down the original Old Republic-era comics from Tales of the Jedi and considering reading Star Wars Legacy as well. The comics capture the mood of the original trilogy and the KotOR games really well. There's action, obviously, but also a lot of humor and some good interpersonal relationships starting to blossom.

 

[Darthphere]

I read the first trade a while back. Good stuff. I'll be picking up more in the future.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Sweet, another KotOR reader. It's about time. I was getting kind of tired of the hard sell.

 

[Darthphere]

Sweet, another KotOR reader. It's about time. I was getting kind of tired of the hard sell.

I just ordered the second trade off Amazon. I'm so backed up on trades.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I hear prunes help with that sort of thing.

 

[Darthphere]

Corp, what do you think about the Travis Charest covers?

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I think they're frackin' incredible. Especially the first one. I didn't even realize it was Charest's work, either; I had to find that out from the cover art credit inside the trade. His fully painted work is every bit as good as his pencil/ink work. I think I still like the Baroque lighting of the latter more than the brighter-yet-slightly-washed-out tones of the former, but they're both light years beyond most of the other artists in the industry. Charest's been one of my favorite artists ever since Wildcats vol. 2.

 

[Darthphere]

Yeah, I love them too. I've always been one of those dudes who said Dorman should do every Star Wars cover ever, but my mind is changed now.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I didn't know Dorman did Star Wars covers until recently, either. I wasn't into any of the EU stuff before I started reading the KotOR comics.

I kind of wish they'd put out comic adaptations of the novels. I want to see more of the post-Episode VI stuff with Luke, the Solo kids, and the New Jedi Order, but I don't really feel like reading novel after novel for it. So far my knowledge has been limited to the Jedi Knight games and reading Wookiepedia. I think I'm gonna pick up the Star Wars Tales trades, but those only cover little bits and pieces of the NJO stuff.

 

[Darthphere]

I'm with you dude, I never really been into the whole EU either, I only read the comics from time to time, and even then it's like "What, Boba Fett shot himself out of the Sarlaac Pit?"

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Yeah, apparently Boba Fett is the current Mandalore, too. I thought the Mandalore were supposed to be almost extinct by the original trilogy's time.

 

[Darthphere]

One of the main reasons I shy away from the EU. Way too many liberties taken to the point of confusion. I really wish Lucas or someone would embrace the EU and tell us what's really canon or not.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Lucas has embraced it to some extent. There's a dude named Leland Chee who runs this thing called the Holocron, which is the in-house canon tracker that Lucasarts adheres to for all its projects. The only problem is that it's not accessible to the public because it contains information pertaining to projects currently in production and future projects along with the canon stuff. Chee sometimes comments on things at the Dark Horse forums and the Lucasarts forums, though, so there are some official judgments on a lot of things. Wookieepedia is also really heavily researched and has a ton of canon information. For the games where you can customize your character, for example, the canon standings are that Revan was a light side male, the Jedi Exile was a light side female, and Jaden Korr (from Jedi Academy) was a light side male (no word on which species, though). So that's something. Of course, I had to adjust my thinking since my favorite version of Revan was a black female, my favorite version of the Exile was an Asian male, and my favorite version of Jaden was a purple female Twi'lek.

I just hate how the customizability of those games makes people shy away from actually constructing stories for the characters and using them in other things. Revan's the best of them, since he actually has a backstory with some specifics that tie into other characters', but even he's been relegated to just a totally obscured guy in a robe in the KotOR comics so far. Apparently Jaden Korr was involved in one of the New Republic novels to some extent, but I haven't read that. I doubt the KotOR comics will ever really delve into anything interesting about the Exile. I wish they could just pick a face and a name for all three of them and tell some stories with them. It doesn't make the games any less fun if they have canonical identities or anything.

Oh, have you read the second KotOR trade yet?

 

[Darthphere]

Lucas has embraced it to some extent. There's a dude named Leland Chee who runs this thing called the Holocron, which is the in-house canon tracker that Lucasarts adheres to for all its projects. The only problem is that it's not accessible to the public because it contains information pertaining to projects currently in production and future projects along with the canon stuff. Chee sometimes comments on things at the Dark Horse forums and the Lucasarts forums, though, so there are some official judgments on a lot of things. For the games where you can customize your character, for example, the canon standings are that Revan was a light side male, the Jedi Exile was a light side female, and Jaden Korr (from Jedi Academy) was a light side male (no word on which species, though). So that's something. Of course, I had to adjust my thinking since my favorite version of Revan was a black female, my favorite version of the Exile was an Asian male, and my favorite version of Jaden was a purple female Twi'lek.

I just hate how the customizability of those games makes people shy away from actually constructing stories for the characters and using them in other things. Revan's the best of them, since he actually has a backstory with some specifics that tie into other characters', but even he's been relegated to just a totally obscured guy in a robe in the KotOR comics so far. Apparently Jaden Korr was involved in one of the New Republic novels to some extent, but I haven't read that. I doubt the KotOR comics will ever really delve into anything interesting about the Exile. I wish they could just pick a face and a name for all three of them and tell some stories with them. It doesn't make the games any less fun if they have canonical identities or anything.

Oh, have you read the second KotOR trade yet?

It should be coming in sometime this week from Amazon. But don't worry about spoilers, I don't mind.

 

[Darthphere]

I took it upon myself to provide a tease for those who haven't read the series, some scans from the 25 Cents 0 issue

http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z139/darthphere_stuff/blz12.jpg
http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z139/darthphere_stuff/blz14.jpg
http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z139/darthphere_stuff/blz15.jpg
http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z139/darthphere_stuff/blz16.jpg
http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z139/darthphere_stuff/blz17.jpg
http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z139/darthphere_stuff/blz18.jpg
http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z139/darthphere_stuff/blz19.jpg
http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z139/darthphere_stuff/blz20.jpg
http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z139/darthphere_stuff/blz21.jpg

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Nice. That introductory issue was a perfect example of how good a balance between humor and action the series strikes. I love that Zayne is basically the worst Padawan ever.

It should be coming in sometime this week from Amazon. But don't worry about spoilers, I don't mind.

Oh, I was gonna ask you what you thought about he possible Malak reference. There's this Jedi who favors red clothing named Alek, who loses all his hair as a result of torture, and who was later seen calling Revan "master." All signs point to him losing his jaw at some point and becoming Malak, but it seems a little too obvious. I'm excited to see where it goes, though.

 

[Darthphere]

Oh, I was gonna ask you what you thought about he possible Malak reference. There's this Jedi who favors red clothing named Alek, who loses all his hair as a result of torture, and who was later seen calling Revan "master." All signs point to him losing his jaw at some point and becoming Malak, but it seems a little too obvious. I'm excited to see where it goes, though.

I heard about that, does he fit within the timeline though?

 

[TheCorpulent1]

He should, as far as I know. Alek was conducting investigations on worlds under attack by the Mandalorians at the hooded Jedi's behest, effectively starting to intervene in the war, and the hooded Jedi was seen trying to sway the Coruscant Jedi Council toward allowing Jedi to fight in the Mandalorian Wars. The hooded Jedi is most likely Revan, given what he's arguing with the Council for. So now that the Mandies have launched a full-scale assault on Taris and bombed the living hell out of Serrocco, the Mandalorian Wars are fully starting and I'm pretty sure we'll see an escalation in the hooded Jedi's stance on the war and eventually him leading the Jedi Crusaders into actual fighting. Alek still has his lower jaw, but we know he entered the war and recruited other Jedi while his jaw was still intact, so that fits. All Alek needs is for his skin to turn a bit paler and for him to get some blue tattoos on his head.

EDIT: Their body types fit, too, since they're both massive dudes. Check it out:

Alek, from the KotOR comic during the massacre at Serrocco.
Malak recruiting Jedi to fight in the war, from KotOR 2.

Alternately, I guess Alek might turn out to be Revan and the hooded Jedi might turn out to be Kreia. That seems less likely, though, given that Kreia was exiled from the Jedi Order for training so many of the Jedi who wound up going rogue and entering the Mandalorian Wars, not actually supporting the intervention herself.

 

[Darthphere]

He should, as far as I know. Alek was conducting investigations on worlds under attack by the Mandalorians at the hooded Jedi's behest, effectively starting to intervene in the war, and the hooded Jedi was seen trying to sway the Coruscant Jedi Council toward allowing Jedi to fight in the Mandalorian Wars. The hooded Jedi is most likely Revan, given what he's arguing with the Council for. So now that the Mandies have launched a full-scale assault on Taris and bombed the living hell out of Serrocco, the Mandalorian Wars are fully starting and I'm pretty sure we'll see an escalation in the hooded Jedi's stance on the war and eventually him leading the Jedi Crusaders into actual fighting. Alek still has his lower jaw, but we know he entered the war and recruited other Jedi while his jaw was still intact, so that fits. All Alek needs is for his skin to turn a bit paler and for him to get some blue tattoos on his head.

EDIT: Their body types fit, too, since they're both massive dudes. Check it out:

Alek, from the KotOR comic during the massacre at Serrocco.
Malak recruiting Jedi to fight in the war, from KotOR 2.

Alternately, I guess Alek might turn out to be Revan and the hooded Jedi might turn out to be Kreia. That seems less likely, though, given that Kreia was exiled from the Jedi Order for training so many of the Jedi who wound up going rogue and entering the Mandalorian Wars, not actually supporting the intervention herself.

I can see that, but as you said before, it may be too obvious.