Kickstarter Spotlight On: Hexer Dusk

As I get ready for what looks to be a busy Memorial Day weekend, I just wanted to write a quick post about a Kickstarter I'm really excited about. I've written about the work from John Ostrander and Jan Duursema a bunch over the years, especially their work together on Star Wars: Republic,  Star Wars: Legacy and Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi. But now, the two of them are back together, working on a new original graphic novel Kickstarter, a sci-fi/fantasy mash up called Hexer Dusk.

I'm not going to talk too much, because Jan and John do that better than I could on the Kickstarter page and in this new interview on Comic Book Resources, but just check that out. It sounds amazing! It's got falling sky cities, demons, and is headlined by one of the last of the solider/magic users called Hexers, Xane Dusk. Looking at the sample art, it's got a touch of Legacy, with it's broken down, hardscrabble world, some of John Ostrander's classic Grimjack, and whole lot of Jan Duursema's amazing design work.

So, go read that interview, then visit the Kickstarter and pledge! It's just about 97% funded, so your pledge might be the one that puts it over the top. Have a safe and happy Memorial Day weekend, and see you Monday!

Step Into a Wider World: Favorite Star Wars Tales Stories

Dark Horse presented a lot of different comics over the many years it had the Star Wars license. Some are seminal and important works to the EU (Dark Empire, Tales of the Jedi), and some are always going to be on my list of favorite Star Wars stories (Rogue Squadron, Tag & Bink, pretty much anything John Ostrander wrote). But there's a special place for the Star Wars Tales anthology. It was a quarterly anthology series that ran for twenty four issues, featured some stories that were intended to be in continuity and some that were clearly outside it, and allowed a lot of Dark Horse's regular Star Wars creators to do shorts featuring side characters, while other stories had top tier creators doing their first or only Star Wars stories.

I had wanted to do a feature on my favorite stories from this series, and I originally was going to do ten, but found there were just too many, so instead I'm going to talk about twenty stories. Each entry will be short, so don't worry it won't take you all day to read this. I'm also focusing on issues one to twenty, since the editor changed after issue twenty and the series started to be more in continuity Star Wars stories, more tied into the bigger publishing plan.

Mara Jade: A Night on the Town (Star Wars Tales #1)- What better way could you imagine kicking off your brand new Star Wars anthology than with a story from the man who jumpstarted Star Wars publishing? Set early in her known continuity, "A Night on the Town" is a tale of Emperor's Hand and future wife of Luke Skywalker, Mara Jade, one of the best female characters in or out of Star Wars continuity. Created by Timothy Zahn for his novel Heir to the Empire, Mara is a tough, smart, and powerful character, and she shows it here, dealing with crooked Imperials, Rebels, specifically tactical genius Crix Madine (for those of you not big Star Wars people, he's the bearded guy leading the briefing with Mon Mothma and Admiral Ackbar in Return of the Jedi). Zahn wrote a lot of Mara shorts for various Star Wars publications, and this one is one of my favorites, full of action and espionage, the hallmarks of a great Mara story.

Skippy the Jedi Droid (Star Wars Tales #1)- One of the clearly non-canon stories, "Skippy the Jedi Droid" tells the tale of a force sensitive droid on Tatooine, as he makes it through various trials and travails to be on the Lars farm and chooses to blow his own motivator, knowing through the Force that it is important Luke Skywalker takes R2-D2 instead. It's a silly story, full of quirky humor and lots of visual gags (like Bender, Crow, and Tome Servo in he Jawa sandcrwaler) and inside jokes, along with a comment about how the gravity of dual suns would theoretically make any planet near it uninhabitable. If you're a reader of this blog, and have read some of my recommendations, that type of humor might sound familiar, as this is the only Star Wars story ever written by one of my favorite writers, Incredible Hulk and X-Factor legend Peter David.

Extinction (Star Wars Tales #1-2)- One of the few multi part stories in Star Wars Tales, "Exctinction" is the tale of Darth Vader hunting down one of the last Jedi, the Dark Woman, a character introduced in the monthly Star Wars title that would one day be renamed Republic. Featuring appearances by Palpatine and Mara Jade, the battle between Vader and the Dark Woman is gorgeously drawn by Claudio Castellini, and Ron Marz writes a great story, one that ends with a Force Ghist Dark Woman confronting Vader for a memorable exchange.

Deal with a Demon (Star Wars Tales #3) & Bad Business (Star Wars Tales #8)- Before their was Hondo Ohnaka, there was Vilmarh Grahrk. If you're more familiar with Star Wars in other media, TV specifically, you might know Hondo as the roguish pirate with a soft spot for Jedi. A similar character was created by John Ostrander, Vilmarh Grahrk, Villie for short, who was one of the major supporting characters in the adventures of Quinlan Vos, a character you'll be heroing about a few more times before the month is out. Ostrander, along with his regular collaborator Jan Duursema on the first, wrote two Villie shorts for Tales, both involving Villie at his most scoundrely, helping princesses for the money. But as opposed to another famous scoundrel who fell for the princess, Villie is really just in it for the money. These stories do show how much Villie will eventually change thanks to his interactions with Vos, but they're mostly great comedy, with Villie finding his way in and out of all sorts of problems in the most selfish way he can, always maintaining that Villie ego.

A Death Star is Born (Star Wars Tales #5) and Force Fiction (Star Wars Tales #7)- Kevin Rubio is probably best known in Star Wars fandom as the man who wrote and directed the pioneering fan film Troops, but he also wrote some great Star Wars comics, all drawn by Lucas Marangon. Two of those are the tales "A Death Star is Born" and "Force Fiction." Two more out of continuity comedies, as pretty much all of Rubio's works are, these two do a great job of mixing established character and conuity with comedy. "A Death Star is Born" show Grand Moff Tarkin and some of his design team bringing the Death Star plans to the Emperor, where all of the somewhat odd quirks of its construction that allow for an easy escape in A New Hope are called out, and the rivalry between Vader and Tarkin is on display for a great choking joke. "Force Fiction" places Yoda and Mace Windu in a diner discussing whether or not to train Anakin Skywalker. It's obviously a parody of the diner scene in Pulp Fiction, which of course also starred Samuel L. Jackson, and features some very funny dialogue along with all sorts of cameos in the diner patrons, but also features some very incisive dialogue about the nature of the prophecy about the Chosen One bringing balance to the force.

Jedi Chef (Star Wars Tales #7)- One more straight up comedy, and then some more serious fare, I swear! Starring Jedi Council members Plo Koon and Micah Giett (Giett is a comics creation, who was on the cou ncil until shortly before Episode I), it sees the two Jedi trying to save a famous chef from a Hutt, and it turns into a cook off! Parodying the then very hot TV show Iron Chef, the story sees Giett in a competition to beat Corpo the Hutt's cook droid in a battle of the chefs. I loved Iron Chef, so the story stuck in my head, and features some great gags as the not too great chef Giett tries to prepare his dish while Koon sabotages the droid's meal at every turn. Just plain fun.

Outbid But Never Outgunned (Star Wars Tales #7)- For some, what I'm about to say is blasphemy: I've never been a big fan of Boba Fett. He's not a bad character, but I feel he gets overused, when there are any number of other interesting bounty hunters in Star Wars. "Outbid But Never Outgunned" however is a great story and might be my favorite Fett story. In it, Fett finds himself being blackmailed by a businessman who says he has something that Feet wants, and if Fett doesn't pay up, it goes to the highest bidder. Fett goes on his usual ruthless path to take out the man blackmailing him, and is joined by another bounty hunter, a woman named Sintas Vel, with whom Fett clearly has history. Drawn by Mike Deodata, his first Star Wars work years before his current work on Vader Down, it's a stunningly beautiful action story, and ends with a revelation about Fett that would become hugely important in the later novel series Legacy of the Force.

The Secret Tales of Luke's Hand! (Star Wars Tales #8)- Ok, maybe one more straight up comedy. When young Anakin Solo, Han and Leia's youngest son, is having a hard time sleeping, Han goes in to ask him what's wrong, and he asks why Uncle Luke always wears a glove. When Han explains that Luke lost his hand in a fight with Darth Vader, he begins to conjure a story of the hand wandering the galaxy, fighting Vader's hand and the Emperor's foot. I've written before that I'm an uncle to two young nieces, and though they're growing now, when they were little they loved to hear me tell them stories made up on the fly, usually starring Felix, my cat at the time, who in the stories was a secret agent (in real life he was a lump of fur), so this one touches a chord for me. It's also charming to see Han Solo in such a domestic scene, not being chased through the galaxy but just being a dad.

Resurrection (Star Wars Tales #9)- The only story that takes up nearly an entire issue and it deserves every page. Long before The Clone Wars cartoon, when the idea of a resurrected Darth Maul was just fan talk, this story came out and pitted Maul against Darth Vader in a lightsaber duel for the ages. Resurrected by Prophets of the Dark Side, agents of the Emperor, Maul has been set to replace Vader, as the Prophets feel Vader is not worthy of being Palpatine's apprentice. Maul taunts Vader, saying he is unworthy, that a former Jedi could never understand the purity of hate it means to be a Sith. And when Vader falls before Maul (SPOILERS if you don't want to know exactly how this ends), Vader stabs himself with his lightsaber to reach his opponent, and as Maul dies, asks Vader what he could hate enough to give him the power to defeat Maul. Vader's reply is only one word: "Myself." Released before Episodes II and III, Ron Marz's statement of Vader's feelings are prescient, and the art from Rick Leonardi, who would go on to draw the General Grievous miniseries and one of the Vader solo miniseries, is some of the best of his long career.

The Princess Leia Diaries (Star Wars Tales #11)- Riffing on The Princess Diaries, this story tells of a young Princess Leia on trips with her adoptive father, Bail Organa, and her time in the Imperial Court as a young girl. It's narrated diary style by Leia, naturally, and shows that she was always the rebellious, stubborn kid with the tough streak we know from the movies. It's a good story, but why does it make this list? Because in it, Leia drops a water balloon on the head of Grand Moff Tarkin. It's a silly moment, but one that, for some reason, completely stuck in my memory. It's also the first of two Leia stories by Jason Hall on this list, but I didn't group them like some of the others because the two are tonally very different. The second will appear later on the list, so keep reading.

Ghost (Star Wars Tales #11)- "Ghost" is pretty much everything I would want from a Star Wars Tales story. It is written and drawn by Jan Duursema, who worked with John Ostrander as artist for most of his work and co-plotter for Dawn of the Jedi. It features a young Han Solo on a treasure hunt. There aren't a lot of comics that feature Han in his pre-Chewbacca days, and while this one's canonicity is ambiguous, even in the new Legends concept, it's a great story. Its full of action as young Han is on a treasure hunt, and he runs across a being very familiar to fans of Star Wars comics: Ostrander and Duursema's greatest Jedi creation, Quinlan Vos. The meeting between two favorite characters is a treat, and add in some of my favorite Duursema art, how well she captures both a slightly older Quin and a much younger Han, and you have a real highlight of a story.

Sandstorm (Star Wars Tales #15)- I'm following up the previous story, featuring a young Han Solo, with a story about a young Luke Skywalker. After a fight with Uncle Owen about not knowing anything about his father, young Luke runs away and gets caught in a sandstorm, where he meets another young Tatooine orphan, a boy called Annie. As the two travel through the storm, they encounter all the horrors of Tatooine: womp rats, sand people, and even a Krayt Dragon. Readers knowing who Annie is, whether a manifestation of the Force trying to teach Luke something, or something Luke summoned from the Force himself, get to see exactly how similar young Luke was to his father, how hungry for a greater universe. And seeing Owen's reaction when he hears of what happened, I felt a little more sympathetic to the gruff old moisture farmer who was trying to keep his nephew on the farm for one more season.

The Other (Star Wars Tales #16)- If someone asked me for a story that was a great intersection between the Star Wars novels and the comics, I would choose "The Other." The time between Return of the Jedi and the Legacy comics is a period with comparatively few comic stories; yes Dark Empire and Crimson Empire are in there, as are the Rogue Squadron comics, but other than those and a few mini-series, most comics take place in the distant past, the prequel era, or during the classic trilogy, and because of this, there aren't a lot that directly address continuity. "The Other" is the second Princess Leia tale by Jason Hall, and tells a story of an older Leia, who saves her children from an Imperial assassination team using her then burgeoning Force abilities with ruthless precision. But when she sees her own refelction, and sees a vision of herself as another Darth Vader, she stops. Maybe it's because Luke had training from full Jedi, or maybe because of his own brushes with the Dark Side, Luke rarely seemed to consider his own fall. But Leia, in this story and in the later novel, Tatooine Ghost, really considers what it might mean for her, or her children, to bow to the Skywalker legacy. It explains why Leia stopped training to be a Jedi, why she sent her children away, in a far more satisfactory way than any novel ever did, and unwraps another facet of one of Star Wars most loved characters.

Heart of Darkness (Star Wars Tales #16)- "Heart of Darkness" is an interesting story in that its a continuity band-aid that proves to be a great story in its own right. Written and painted by Paul Lee, with art assists by Brian Horton, it tells the story of Minch, a member of Yoda's species, chasing a dark Jedi onto a swamp planet and defeating him in a cave. This story is actually drawn from Timothy Zahn's Heir to the Empire, and featured Yoda slaying the Dark Jedi and inadvertently creating the cave that Luke would one day make his vision quest in on Dagobah, but the script for Revenge of the Sith established that Yoda had never been to Dagobah before, so Lee crated a new member of his species (who shares a name with one of Yoda's names in early drafts of Empire Strikes Back), and puts him through the ringer, having him fight the Dark Jedi and have his own brush with the Dark Side. Beautifully drawn, it's a striking story that moves beyond what felt like a story simply there to fix a hole in continuity to an exciting piece of the history of the Star Wars universe.

Revenents (Star Wars Tales #18)- Star Wars doesn't tend to do thrillers or horror stories. There are a few here and there, but generally, the Star Wars galaxy sticks to mash-ups of fantasy, sci-fi, and Westerns. One of the better exceptions to this rule is the thriller "Revenants," where a shuttle Han Solo is flying is shot down over the junk world of Raxus Prime by Slave 1, and Solo spends weeks hunted across the world by a seemingly unkillable Boba Fett. Han fights his way across the moon using is wits and making jury rigged weapons to help him survive. Han Solo might be down, but he's never out, even against the character who might just be considered his archenemy The story ends with a nice twist, and while at the time it seemed at odds with the current events in the New Jedi Order series of novels, it was eventually referenced in a cool way in a novella by Karen Traviss.

The Lost Lightsaber (Star Wars Tales #19)- While I often like to maintain my personal picture of what characters from novels look like, it's always nice to see one make their first appearance in a comic. This story, which features a young Jedi attempting to recover the lightsaber of Darth Vader, which has been stolen by Dark Side adepts to make a powerful weapon of the Dark Side is the only comic appearance by Ben Skywalker, son of Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade. It's a fun story, but it always sticks in my head for that reason, as Ben was a character who didn't have a lot of personality at the time (he was developed in later novels in the Legacy of the Force and Fate of the Jedi series)

Into the Great Unknown (Star Wars Tales #19)- "Into the Great Unknown" is another story like "Resurrection" that could really only happen in comics or animation, one of those fan wish fulfillment stories, outside of continuity, although this one has a darker ending than most fans would expect. Han and Chewie are piloting the Falcon and forced to make a blind hyperspace jump, crashing on a planet where Han is sadly killed by natives. Over a century later, an archaeologist arrives, looking into tales of a great beast, clearly referring to Chewbacca. The archaeologist finds Han's corpse and finds it oddly familiar. The archaeologist is referred to as Dr. Jones, and its clear that this is Indiana Jones, making this the only sanctioned Star War/Indiana Jones crossover, although boy that's a downer of an ending. Still, it does stick in the memory.

Melvin Fett (Star Wars Tales #20)- If I could recommend any one issue of a Star Wars comic to a comic fan who doesn't do licensed comics, or mainstream comics in general, it would be Star Wars Tales #20. The issue features stories by various important independent creators, including Gilbert Hernandez, Jason, Peter Bagge, Tony Millionaire, and a couple favorties of mine, Rick Geary, of the Treasury of Victorian Murder series, and creator of Monkey Vs. Robot, James Kolchaka. While any of these odd and eclectic stories could make this list, and I waffled between Geary and Kolchaka for my pic, I went with Kolchaka's "Melvin Fett" about Boba's incompetent cousin, who accepts a bounty to kill Jar-Jar Binks, and winds up instead shooting a Jar-Jar sippy cup. None of these stories are what you'd expect from Star Wars, but all of them have the flair of their creators, and show that the world of Star Wars is wide enough for all sort of interpretations from "A certain point of view."

So, I'm curious, my fellow Star Wars fans: What are your favorite stories from Star Wars Tales? Do they crossover with mine? Do you think I'm out of my mind for picking one of these stories? You can reply here, on Twitter @mattlaz1013, or on The Matt Signal Facebook page. I'd love to hear your opinions.

Lost Legends: Classic Star Wars- The Early Adventures

Welcome to Force Fridays here on The Matt Signal! For the next few weeks, we'll be featuring Star Wars related columns leading up to the release of The Force Awakens! It's an exciting time to be a Star Wars fan, and I'm hoping to spread some more excitement.

A long time ago (1979 to be exact) in a galaxy not at all that far away, there was very little Star Wars content out there. Just the original movie, a movie adaptation, the first Star Wars original novel, Splinter of the Mind's Eye, and very earliest of the Marvel comics. It seems strange now that, if you were a fast reader and dedicated, that you could get through all the Star Wars content in existence in a weekend, but it was possible,

The late 70s was still a time where comic strips were a vast media power, with numerous genres filling pages of daily and Sunday papers, and so having a strip was a big deal. And in 1979, Star Wars graduated to the big leagues with its own daily strip. Full of wild stories and fascinating new characters, as well as work form some big names in the strip and comic book world, the strips were lost for years, until ion the early 90s, Dark Horse started reprinting them, cutting up the panels to lay out on a comic book page, and coloring them all. They were released in a few different series, but the one we'll be talking about today were called The Early Adventures, which were released as a nine issue mini-series, and feature the work of comics legend Russ Manning.

Manning is a big and important name in comics, but isn't as big as a Stan Lee or Jack Kirby, so for those of you who are more casual fans, a little background. A master penciller, Manning is best known for his work on Tarzan, both for publisher Gold Key and for the Tarzan comic strip, as well as European original graphic novel about Tarzan. He was also the artist credited as creator of Magnus, Robot Fighter, a hero in the future who fights rogue robots (sort of like a bladerunner but he needs only his fists) for Gold Key, a character who, while not in constant publication, has seen numerous revivals over the years from such companies as Valiant, Dark Horse, and most recently Dynamite. Manning is important enough that an award has been named after him, the Russ Manning Most Promising Newcomer Award, given out at the Eisner Award ceremonies at San Diego Comic Con, whose recipients feature so many top talents it would be take far too much space here, but a couple with links to Star Wars include Star Wars: Republic, Legacy, and Dawn of the Jedi artist Jan Duursema and Edvin Biukovic, who pencilled the adaptation of Timothy Zahn's The Last Command and some of the early X-Wing: Rogue Squadron mini-series.

The nine issues of early adventures start with a three issue arc, and then continue with six single issue stories. The thing that impressed me about these stories is how well they hold up to modern Star Wars stories. There are some canonical glitches (the mining world of Kessel shown to be a lush paradise, for instance), but those are found all over early Expanded Universe (EU) stories. What's exciting is how Manning captures the spirit of Star Wars, the mix of action and humor, while introducing many concepts that feel very Star Wars. There are also some completely insane concepts, like the Empire encoding secret data in a virus that shows up in the infected person's eyes, but that's still less nuts than anything in the Lando Calrissian novels, which include the Silly Rabbit Constellation and Lando meeting an alien who looks suspiciously like Big Bird (both not terrible things, just completely insane), so I'll take it.

The opening three-parter really shows off what Manning is doing with the Star Wars universe (I'm going to continue to address Manning as sole creator on these stories, even though it has been revealed over the years that many were ghost written by either Archie Goodwin or Steve Gerber. I don't know who wrote what, and the comics are credited solely to Manning, so I'm sticking with that). Luke, Leia, C-3PO, and R2-D2 have been sent to Vorzyd-5, the Gambler's World, to contact a high ranking official who is sympathetic to the Rebellion. Sent to stop them is Blackhole, one of Darth Vader's operatives, who appears only as a shadowy figure with patterns of starts shifting on his body, and his black armored stormtroopers. On the planet, Luke and Leia make their way through a series of encounters with Blackhole and his men, while the droids are chased by a teen gang who for some reason really want a droid. The two stories intersect at the end in a pretty brutal confrontation between the stormtroopers and the gang.

Manning really gets the look of Star Wars right throughout the story. Vorzyd-5 feels like a planet you would have seen on the big screen of the Prequels, when technology could keep up with the mind of an artist. It's full of billboards, big lights, and all kinds of crazy creatures. And the shifting stars on Blackhole are a very cool visual that I would love see someone try to capture in Star Wars: Rebels, say casting him as one of Vader's Inquisitors. Storywise, we see that Luke is still new to using the Force and the galaxy at large, as he draws a little too much attention in one of the casinos by his "luck" which is a subconsious manifestation of the Force. There's a well drawn and exceptionally silly sequence where Threepio and Artoo stop at a a weapons store to get upgrades to protect themselves if they ever run into that gang again, and basically in an almost Pink Panther sequence, wind up doing exactly that through a series of mishaps with the weapons they're testing; it's a bit over the top for Star Wars, but is well choreographed and pretty funny,

Missing from this first story are two of Star Wars most famous characters: Han Solo and Chewbacca. These very early EU stories often omitted Han and Chewis since Harrison Ford's contract did not include sequels, and it was in doubt if he would be appearing in any future Star Wars films. This story replaces them with two local rebels, Paxin and Falud, who are a dark haired human and his big shaggy sidekick, although the sidekick more resembles a large bipedal badger than a big apeman. Fortunately, Han and Chewie would start appearing after this story, and with goof effect.

The highlight of the series for me is issue five, "Princess Leia, Imperial Servant." After narrowly escaping an Imperial attack on her ship, where a Rebel pilot sacrificed himself to save her, showing Lei'a import to the Rebellion, she crash lands on a world that is controlled by the Empire, and has slave mines pulling the highly explosive megonite from the ground to be used as a weapon. To make matters worse, when she hides among the workers, she is picked to be the servant of the woman who runs the mines, the wife of Grand Moff Tarkin, the man who commanded the Death Star, who has a deep hatred for Rebels and who believes they are out to get her. Lady Tarkin is holding an Imperial Diplomatic Conclave, gathering high ranking Imperials from around the galaxy, including Darth Vader himself. Leia must use her wits, and the help of two disreputable miners trying to escape with some megonite themselves, to contact the Rebellion and escape before Lady Tarkin or Vader discover her.

This story is important as it is one of the first Leia solo stories, if not the very first. Leia isn't a damsel in distress anywhere in the story. Sure, she has to contact Han Solo to get her off Lady Tarkin's world, but that's classic spy thriller stuff, waiting for the exfil, something spies both male and female have to go through. And sue, the serving girl outfit is a bit slinky, but it's way more covered than the Slave Leia outfit. Even when being menaced by the two crooked miners, Leia doesn't quaver, says one has no brains, and gets them to help her get to the communications device. Leia is also completely combat competent, blowing up one guard with some megonite to hide her contacting of the Rebellion, and wielding a blaster better than any other character as she escapes. Also, I love the design for Lady Tarkin, with the black and white Cruella DeVille hair and these wide eyes that absolutely scream paranoia.

The final issue of the series features an early appearance by Boba Fett, and is actually one of my favorite Fett stories. It doesn't have the years of baggage that often way Fett down, and instead sees Fett and Luke teaming up, Luke having crashed on an ice planet fleeing Imperials and Fett on a bounty run for Darth Vader. There are wild natives, an Imperial spy on the run, and the entire classic Star Wars cast on a big adventure together. It again spotlights Manning's art, mixing his great handle on high tech backgrounds and more natural backgrounds, as we see both the ice world and the high tech the natives have claimed as their own.

The other four stories are also enjoyable, including a story of a weather machine controlled by the Empire, a lizard man kidnapping children to lure out the Rebels, the first of innumerable stories about Luke returning to Tatooine, and a diplomatic mission to convince weapons makers to stop selling to the Empire. These weren't the only Star Wars strips drawn by Manning, but often finding these old strips and the original art and proofs is not easy, and so they were the only ones Dark Horse published from the Manning era.

For those of you newer to the blog, this column is a Lost Legends, which means the comics I'm talking about are currently out of print in singles and trades (digital is harder to tell, and so I'm talking print exclusively). The nine issues aren't hard to track down, and can usually be found in dollar bins at conventions and stores. There are also twenty issues of Classic Star Wars from the Archie Goodwin and Al Williamson era strips, and a mini-series that was the strips that adapted one of the best early Star Wars novels, Han Solo at Star's End. I'm hoping Marvel gets around to reprinting these sometime in the future, or better if Lucasfilm publishing contacts one of the publishers who of high end strip reprints, and gets the complete series represented in the original form. If you're a Star Wars fan who's curious to see what the early days of Star Wars publishing were like, I can think of few better examples then these Russ Manning strips.

Reviews of Comics from Wednesday 4/8

Birthright #6
Story: Joshua Williamson
Art: Andrei Brissan

After a brief hiatus, Birthright is back and picking up right where it left off, both in story and quality. Brother Mikey and Brennan are now on the run together, and Mikey is using all the skills he learned spending years in the fantasy otherworld of Terrenos. There's some nice binding moments, as the two brothers act brotherly, playing and teasing in the way siblings do. But there's the darkness in Mikey, not just the fact that some aspect of the evil God King Lore is driving him, but what seems like PTSD from his years of adventuring. The jumping up from nightmares, the callous way he kills, it's clear that there's a darkness driving him. While the two brothers are off having this adventure, their parents are once again left to pick up the pieces of "real life." Aaron, the boys' father, is once again being interrogated by Det. Brooks, the officer who has been investigating the case form the start, and just as Wendy, the boys' mother, is getting through to Aaron, the NSA arrives in the form of the pompous Agent Kylen. As Kylen immediately says that Aaron's son is a threat, he seems to have less of problem with the idea that Mikey has aged twenty-plus years in the space of a year, so I'm wondering if he's just playing Aaron or if the government has some idea of what exactly is happening with Terrenos. Artist Andrei Brissan seems to have stepped up over the course of the short hiatus; while his art was excellent before, it's on a new level. The two pages spread that shows Lore and his realm is creepy and disgusting in the way you'd want the domain of a dark lord to be. There's a scene with a bear coming across the boys in the woods that really stands out, not just because the bear is gorgeously rendered (which it is), but also for the way Mikey acts towards it. The last couple of pages introduce who look to be Mikey's new nemeses, and while we know Mikey's the "bad guy" in this situation, we know him and care about him enough to want him to defeat them, which is a sign of how well written he is. Joshua Williamson amazes me; some writer have a hard time getting one book out in a month, and he writes three very strong creator owned titles, each with a different flavor. Birthright is one of most original books on the racks, mixing fantasy with modern family drama. The first trade is out now, so grab it and this first issue of the second arc now.

Convergence: Nightwing/Oracle #1
Story: Gail Simone
Art: Jan Duursema

As Convergence starts is earnest this week, we got the first week of mini-series set in old worlds, this week focusing on the pre-Flashpoint world. They were kind of a mixed bag, but shockingly, one of the really strong ones was Nightwing/Oracle from Gail Simone, who wrote Oracle longer than nearly anyone, and Jan Duursema, whose return to DC after years at Dark Horse doing some of the best Star Wars art ever is welcome. After a year under the mysterious dome, Barbara Gordon, better known as Oracle in this world, is starting to lose hope. She's been partnering with Dick Grayson, Nightwing, and they've been keeping Gotham safe. The issue is narrated form Barbara's point of view, and we see just how close she is to sinking into despair. It's hard to see Barbara, who is such a string character and been through so much, at this point, but it does make the situation seem all the more dire. Meanwhile, Nightwing is still full of so much joy and energy; Simone writes a Nightwing who is a big, grinning kid, not dumb, but as Barbara says, living every moment in the now. Duursema's kinetic style works perfectly with the acrobatic Grayson. As the issue progresses, we get the standard Convergence set-up, the gladiatorial conflict between heroes of two cities, and after seeing them wipe out the Justice Riders at the beginning of the issue, it's not a shock that our heroes will be facing the dark versions of Hawkman and Hawkwoman from the Flashpoint reality. But the deal that is offered isn't like anything else going on, and it leaves Dick and Barbara in a bad place. Barbara has just turned down Dick's marriage proposal and now tells him she's not going to fight the Hawks. But after Dick leaves, the last panel of the issue is one of those knock you off your feet ones, not for action or shock, but because it's so perfectly Oracle. Gail Simone writes a better Barbara Gordon as Oracle than pretty much anyone, and if these are the last two issues we're ever going to get, well, that last panel sums up what I want from an Oracle story and makes me even more excited for the next issue.

Convergence: The Quesion #1
Story: Greg Rucka
Art: Cully Hamner

And equally not shocking, the second Convergence title that really blew me away was The Question from Greg Rucka and Cully Hamner, who wrote the excellent backup stories featuring the character on Detective Comics. And as you'd expect from Rucka writing the Question, this is a very personal and human story about Renee Montoya. Most of the characters who formed Renee's supporting cast are all here: Huntress, Two-Face, Batwoman, and while they don't physically appear, her family's presence is felt. Renee's relationship with Two-Face has always been complicated, and while the two are working together at the beginning of the issue to find morphine to her father, who is dying, Two-Face doesn't realize Renee is the Question and they have a very different relationship. Rucka's Two-Face is one of the most sympathetic and well-rounded presentations of that character, and his time in the dome has clearly not been going well. Meanwhile, the easy camaraderie between Renee and the Huntress makes for some great interplay between the two. I don't think I'd realized how much I've missed either character more than when they were simply bantering in the apartment they share. But Huntress warms Renee not to trust Two-Face, but Renee still has faith in him. But when the dome falls, Two-Face decides it's time to leave the dome and finally act on the death wish he has by finding another Harvey Dent to finally kill him. Renee does care about Two-Face, just not in the way he cares for her, and so she does try to stop him, to not much effect, and the issue ends with Renee once again meeting the one that got away, Batwoman, another character I can't wait to see Rucka write some more. I have one minor quibble/question that if either of the creators happen to see this, maybe they can answer: historically, Two-Face has a two headed coin, one side scarred, that he flips. That's part of the shtick: Two-Face with a two-faced coin, and it's an important part of his origin. The coin he has here clearly has heads and tails, as he both says it and we see the scarred side is a tails side. Did I miss something? Is this not the original coin? Other than that, which is at best a minor quibble, this was a great character piece featuring one of the characters who has been lost to the sands of time. No one writes these characters better than Rucka, and as with Simone and Oracle, I'm glad to see one more go around for this combination of writer and character.

Copperhead #6
Story: Jay Faerber
Art: Scott Godlewski

Another Image series returned from its between arcs hiatus this week, and it's return was also strong and impressive. Copperhead, the frontier Western in space, is back, and the events on the mining colony aren't getting any easier for Sheriff Clara Bronson. After a very cool action opening where Bronson and her alien deputy Budroxifinicus (Boo for short) stop someone from robbing secrets from the local mine, she finds herself stymied as local land baron and mine owner Mr. Hickory refuses to press charges. Hickory proved at the end of the last arc that he is no fan of Bronson's, and while she warns him not to take justice into his own hands when the man goes free, it's clear that Hickory is not pleased. This becomes more clear when he later goes to talk to Boo about a... change in regime. It's nice to see more of Boo's home life, meeting his mate, seeing another of his flashbacks to the war between his people and humanity. We don't get Meanwhile, Bronson's son Zeke sneaks away from home to talk to Ismael, the artificial human who saved him in the first arc; since this is a good jumping on issue, despite this being a brief scene, it's nice that all the principle characters show up. Bronson's night is a little more action filled, as she goes to local saloon "undercover" since it's pay day for the miners and that usually means things get rowdy in town. She stops a particularly sleazy specimen named Nestor from beating one of the local ladies of negotiable affection (a phrase from Terry Pratchett I've always loved), and meets a new character, Madame Vega, the local, well, madame, who appreciates another strong woman in town, and I find myself wondering if Vega will be a friend in whatever is coming between the sheriff and Hickory. We also see local school teacher Thaddeus Luken, a purple skinned near human, talk to Barton at the bar and ask her out, something that is interrupted by Nestor, but an invitation she accepts later at the schoolhouse. One of things that Jay Faerber is doing with this book is playing on a lot of the classic Western tropes, and so having the school marm and the sheriff as a couple works as one of those tropes, but here the genders are reversed. Copperhead is a great genre mash-up with strong characters and great designs for its world; if you ever enjoyed a Western or a sci-fi series set out on strange new worlds it's a great book, and this is a perfect time to jump on.

Descender #2
Story: Jeff Lemire
Art: Dustin Nguyen

After last month's strong start, Descender returns with a powerful second issue. The first issue ended with a group of robot scavengers arriving at the moon where boy robot Tim-21 had just awakened. This issue begins with a single page that has narration boxes talking about a memory download. The story then moves in alternating pages. One page is in the present, where we see Tim and Bandit (his robo dog, fleeing the robot hunters, while the opposing page is a differently colored page showing Tim's memories, from the moment he awakened for the first time to when he went to sleep ten years prior. we get to see his creator, Dr. Jin Quon, who we met last month, from his point of view, and then we see him meet the family he was sent to, Ms. Travers and her son, Andy. It's heartwarming to see how Tim becomes part of this family, and it's juxtaposed against the hunt for Tim and the violence that is perpetrated both by the hunters and by Tim in defense of Bandit and himself. The story winds up looping back around to the first page in a clever narrative device, and gives a view of the scene from that first page pulled further back to show the full, painful scene. The issue ends with Tim in mortal danger and a new possible friend entering his life. For a story about a robot, Tim is one of the most human characters, and his heartbreak as he finds the body of one of the victims of the catastrophe that killed most of the moon's residents is palpable. Dustin Nguyen puts in some of the best work of his career on this title; it works perfectly with Jeff Lemire's script. With two issues down, it looks like Descender is another strong title from Image.



And Dan Grote bids a fond farewell (temporary as it might be) to Deadpool...

Deadpool #250/45

Story: Gerry Duggan and Brian Posehn

Art: Mike Hawthorne, Terry Pallot, Jordie Bellaire and Joe Sabino

Backup strips: Ben Acker, Ben Blacker, Scott Aukerman, Mike Drucker, Jason Mantzoukas, Paul Scheer, Nick Giovannetti, Matt Selman, Mirko Colak, Todd Nauck, Ty Templeton, Jacob Chabot, Natalie Nourigat, J.J. Kirby, Scott Koblish, Val Staples, Veronica Gandini, Ruth Redmond and Irene Y. Lee.

Well, as promised, Deadpool’s dead. But so’s everybody else. Without spoiling things too much, there’s a reason this is happening right before Secret Wars.

That said, the main story of Deadpool #250/45 (gotta love Marvel’s selective numbering) is actually a happy ending for Wade Wilson. The last few pages find DP surrounded by the supporting cast of the Duggan/Posehn/Hawthorne/Koblish era, the closest thing he’s ever had to family, from his illegitimate daughter to the Life Model Decoy of his SHIELD handler to the ghost of Benjamin Franklin. When the end comes, Wilson loves and is loved – a far cry from the psychopath who used to keep a blind old lady prisoner. Matt went into greater detail on this last week, but for my money, the Marvel NOW volume of Deadpool is easily the best since the original Joe Kelly run in the late ’90s.

And now, backup strips galore! Duggan and Posehn’s comedy-writer friends fill half of this supersized issue, with mini tales by Thrilling Adventure Hour’s Ben Acker and Ben Blacker, Comedy Bang Bang’s Scott Aukerman, The League’s Paul Scheer and Jason Mantzoukas, and more. Deadpool’s demon wife, Shiklah, catches up on ’80s pop culture! The Prestons get a talking dog (my favorite strip)! Kid Apocalypse tries to be bad but fails! Agent Adsit takes wisecracking lessons from Spider-Man! The Thing and Ghost Franklin team up (favorite single panel)! And Michael the Necromancer goes on a date!

Finally, we come to the last of the Scott Koblish-drawn flashback stories, in which Deadpool steals the Infinity Gauntlet from Thanos and throws himself a roast guest-starring the entire Marvel Universe, which subjects him to a merciless barrage of jokes, many of which are fart-based. After he’s had enough, Wade freezes the scene and turns to camera, calling the reader out for making his life so miserable, reminding us once again that he is the ultimate self-aware sad clown. To which emcee Howard the Duck replies, “Kid, I was you before you came along,” bringing the curtain down on a money’s-worth read.

Reviews of Comics from Wednesday 3/19

American Vampire: Second Cycle #1
Story: Scott Snyder
Art: Rafael Albuquerque

Scott Snyder and Rafael Albuquerque's American Vampire returns with a new volume in an issue that i a great place for new readers to jump on. The final issues of the previous volume did a great job of closing that first chapter, and so our series two principle characters, American vampires Skinner Sweet and Pearl Jones are in very different places than the last time we saw them; set in the sixties, a decade after the end of the last arc, Pearl is running a halfway house for vampires trying to flee they're past and make good lives without killing, and Skinner is, "The Sugar Man," a highway bandit riding a motorcycle, not the evil mutant. Each character has a gorgeous two page spread beautifully put together by Albuquerque that gives a montage of their pasts, and no knowledge of the previous series is required. The issue opens with a scene of Pearl defending her newest charge from a lynch mob, which is done very cleverly, playing off reader expectations, since the reader doesn't find out until later the girl is a vampire, and seeing a large group of white people with pitch forks and torches chasing a young African American girl conjures images that aren't out of horror movies, but historical horrors. There is more to the girl than seems, as she is tied to the mysterious Gray Trader, the villain who was hinted to in the final issue of volume one. Skinner, meanwhile, heads to hijack a cargo that is not what he expects, and seems to run afoul of the Gray Trader himself. The Gray Trader is the new mystery to keep readers guessing, and to draw Pearl and Skinner back together in the dance they have danced since Skinner turned Pearl. American Vampire has done an excellent job of building its mythology and developing different threads, and it looks like the second half of the series will be drawing those threads together into a new, terrifying tapestry.

Buffy the Vampre Slayer: Season 10 #1
Story: Christos Gage
Art: Rebekah Isaacs

While I thought Season 9 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer was an improvement on the somewhat meandering Season 8, the real highlight of the Whedonverse comics last year was the wonderful Angel & Faith by Christos Gage and Rebekah Isaacs. Gage knew the character well, and wrote character driven stories that explored his two leads and pushed them to new places they hadn't been before, while mixing in humor and action in big doses. Isaacs is an artist who has quite a few credits under her belt, and is just waiting for that one big project for her to become a breakout star; her characters are distinct, well wrought, and she draws great action, great character pieces, and some creepy monsters. When it was announced this team would be moving over to the main Buffy series with the new season, I was excited to see what they would do with the whole Scooby Gang, and it has paid off. While Willow and Spike appeared in Angel & Faith, Buffy herself didn't, and Gage hits it right out of the park in issue one with his narration from Buffy's point of view; he captures her voice, while also making her the confident character that she has completely developed into over the course of the last season. This issue ties up a loose end from last season, using that as a way to bring all the relevant characters into play, as Buffy and her allies fight off an horde of zompires, the mindless vampires created by the lack of magic the previous year. By issue's end, the zompires are destroyed, but the new breed of vampire introduced at the end of season nine confronts Buffy, and while it looks like things might end poorly, a couple old allies reappearing tip the balance. OK, SPOILER hats on, so stop here if you haven't read the end of Angel & Faith, or want to avoid knowing a bit of the end of the issue, even though it was telegraphed at the end of A&F. Buffy's reunion with the de-aged Giles is a scene that warmed my heart. Giles was one of my favorite characters in the Whedonverse, and his loss was keenly felt when he left the series (something Buffy references in her narration). I'm sure there will be plenty of humor down the line from a father figure in the body of a thirteen year old, but for the end of this issue, the teary moment when Buffy and Giles embrace is done so beautifully and wordlessly that it was definitely the moment of the week for me.

Daredevil #1
Story: Mark Waid
Art: Chris Samnee

For the past three years or so, Mark Waid's Daredevil has been a breath of fresh air. Since Frank Miller, Daredevil as a character has been mired in so much darkness that it's been hard to see the red costume in all that black. But when Waid came on, he brought some joy back to the character, making him fun and fearless without making him a poor man's Spider-Man. This was vastly helped by his artistic collaborators, especially Chris Samnee, who worked on much of the run. Last month saw the end of that volume, and this month sees the dawn of a new era. While many All-New Marvel Now! number ones introduce new creative teams on their books, the change in Daredevil is very much internal and plot driven. After the end of the last volume, Matt Murdock, Daredevil, has had to move to San Francisco, where he lived back in the 70s briefly. With his powers and identity public, Matt can work with the government of the city. I'm curious to see of Waid actually uses some of the material established with the Marvel Universe San Francisco back in Uncanny X-Men, or if he'll just start fresh; I have no problem with either, frankly, but am curious. We get an issue that has Daredevil going to rescue a kidnapped girl, and then must escape the terrorists who kidnapped her. It's a good place to start, because you get a good impression of exactly how Daredevil's powers work, something that Samnee has developed a great visual representation for, and to see the new status quo with his new partner, both in law and crime fighting, his maybe-sorta-ex-girlfriend, Kirsten McDuffie (in all fairness, there are very few female characters in the Marvel Universe who aren't Matt Murdock's ex). The two have an easy banter that is charming, and Kirsten is willing to stand up to Matt, and even hit him back in a metaphorical way. The final page sets up a mystery that I don't expect to last long, but definitely left me scratching my head in a good way. If you have heard good things about Daredevil, this is a perfect place to jump on, so go for it.

Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi- Force War #5
Story: John Ostrander & Jan Duursema
Script: John Ostrander
Art: Jan Duursema

So far today I have written up three new number ones that are places to start a series. The final review of the day is a final issue, and more than just the final issue of a series or mini-series, but the end of an era. John Ostrander is one of my three favorite writers in comics, and he has had a run on Star Wars comics that stretches over a decade. With the license shifting from Dark Horse Comics to Marvel Comics in 2015, a lot about Star Wars comics is up in the air, so this is definitely the last Star Wars comic by John Ostrander published by Dark Horse, and maybe ever. And it's a perfect send off. Working with his regular collaborator on these comics, artist Jan Duursema, Ostrander brings the story of the war between the Infinite Empire of the Rakata and the Jee'dai, the order that will someday become the Jedi of the films, to a close. Each of the major characters gets a resolution to their arc, and that's an achievement with such a large cast; but then again, Ostrander crams more into one issue than most writer do into three. Xesh, the Force Hound and sometimes Jee'Dai, and Shae Koda, have a showdown while Daegon Lok, the mad Jee'dai general, faces down Skal'nas, the leader of the Rakatan invasion. Sek'nos Rath, the Sith Jee'dai, faces his won darkness when he confronts Trill, the woman who betrayed him. And Tasha Ryo, the Twi'lek Jee'dai seer, finds her connection with the Force after it was severed. It's a very satisfactory end, and it leaves the world open if anyone wants to revisit it in the future. I am going to miss Ostrander and Duursema on Star Wars more than any other creative team, and I'm going to look forward to revisiting all their work in a re-read soon, something I intend to write up later in the year.

Reviews of Comics from Wednesday 11/18

Batman Beyond Unlimited #10
Story: Derek Fridolfs & Dustin Nguyen/ Adam Beechen/ JT Krul
Art: Dustin Nguyen & Derek Fridolfs/ Norm Breyfogle/ Howard Porter

DCs anthology of stories from the world of Batman Beyond continues with the conclusion of the first arc of Justice League Beyond. Writer/artist team of Derek Fridolfs and Dustin Nguyen have a great feel for all the characters on their team, and while there are some nice character beats in this issue, with Superman saying goodbye to an old friend, Bruce having a brief moment with a surprise old flame, and the reunion between Big Barda and Mister Miracle, the story was more an amazing and gorgeous action piece. While half the team fights the Kobra cultists, Superman and The Demon Etrigan face down the giant serpent they have summoned. Nguyen draws an excellent Demon, and watching him cut loose on the giant serpent is awe-inspiring. In the Superman Beyond segment, Superman is settling into the new identity he has taken up as firefighter Kal Kent, but a mysterious alien pops up that seems to have not so good intentions for the man of steel. The Batman Beyond segment continues the "10,000 Clowns" story. The Batman family is all back, with Dick Grayson helping the future Batman, Terry McGuinness, and Catwoman Beyond on the street, while Tim Drake runs the Bat computer. Taking story elements from the first Batman Beyond comic mini-series and from Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, the story is full of action and character. While the heroes fight off a legion of suicide bombing Jokerz, the Joker King gives his frightening world view, and heads to the hospital to have a final talk with his family, including his sister, Terry's girlfriend, Dana. But Bruce Wayne, dying of liver failure, happens to be with the Tan's, and the issue ends with Bruce smiling as he plans to fight one final Joker. Aside from the breakneck pace and great story, the Batman Beyond segments are drawn by Norm Breyfogle, one of my favorite Batman artists of all time, whose work is always something to look forward to. There are few comics that cram as much good stuff between their covers than Batman Beyond Unlimited, so if you're looking for more bang for your comic buying buck, this is great place to start.

Batman Incorporated #5
Story: Grant Morrison
Art: Chris Burnham

This issue of Batman Incorporated sees a return to the future from Batman #666, and if you thought things couldn't get worse from their, you were wrong. Framed around Bruce telling Damian he must return to his mother to avoid the dark future, and seeing Damian's heartbreak, we see the vision of the future Bruce had while travelling through time on The Return of Bruce Wayne, the one he has been trying to prevent all along. With a Joker plague on the loose, the only sane people in Gotham are left stranded in Arkahm Asylum, surrounded by armies of the mad. Damian finds a baby that he thinks might hold the key to curing the plague, and brings it to Jackanapes, one of the villains who cameoed in the previous future story, who seems to be a superintelligent molecular biologist gorilla. The story ends with the twist of a metaphoric knife, where the scheme of Leviathan comes to fruition, with the destruction of Gotham. This series seems to be taking the loosest view of New 52 continuity, with appearances by the Outsiders, and with the appearance of Dr. Hurt, a character who is inextricably linked to Darkseid, a character whose interactions with the heroes of the DC Universe seem to have changed greatly. But I take this as an example of one of those cases where continuity doesn't matter as much as the story were being told. Morrison is telling a story of Batman and Talia playing an intricate chess game  with Gotham as the board and Damian as a piece, and I'm curious to see who is put into check next.

Before Watchmen: Silk Spectre #4
Story: Darwyn Cooke
Art: Amanda Conner

The first Before Watchmen to reach its conclusion, the final issue of Silk Spectre does a good job of wrapping up all the threads that the series has built. While Laurie Jupiter, the young Silk Spectre, deals with her boyfriend disappearing from her life, Hollis Mason, the original Nite-Owl comes to talk to her and bring her home. Meanwhile The Chairman moves to get rid of all the evidence of his scheme and anyone who might know anything about it. The whole action part of the series, with the manipulation of the flower children, has struck me as secondary to the more personal story of Laurie trying to start a new life away from her hovering mother, and that has been the parts of the story that have interested me the most. Cooke does a great job of portraying Sally Jupiter as a woman who cares about her daughter, but is completely unable to show it, and more who just doesn't understand how to not say the wrong thing. It doesn't make the reader forgive Sally's needlessly cruel and confrontational attitude, and maybe not even understand it, but you don't see her as a monster either. The series ends with the first meeting of the Crimebusters, a scene directly from Watchmen, and a scene that has been featured in nearly all the series so far. It's interesting to see the scene told from the point of view of each of the characters involved, and I wonder if that was something that each writer was asked to do. The art on this series by the always excellent Amanda Conner was outstanding. I can think of few artists who draw better and more expressive faces, and so the scenes that are talking scenes are visually interesting. This has been one of my favorite of the Before Watchmen mini-series, and one I recommend highly.

Gambit #6
Story: James Asmus
Art: Diogenes Neves & Al Barrionuevo

The new Gambit ongoing (his third, if you can believe it) has proven to be a fun superhero-meets-crime comic. James Asmus has a good feel for crime, as evidenced by his cowriting the current arc of Thief of Thieves with Robert Kirkman, and this issue sees Gambit involved in what might be the biggest heist of his life. As I mentioned in this past Friday's recommended reading, MI13 is appearing in this arc, so its not too surprising that Gambit, who has fallen afoul of international criminal mastermind Borya Cich and is currently strapped to a bomb, has to go steal Excalibur, still in the possession of MI13 agent Dr. Faisa Hussain. This doesn't go well, and leaves Gambit to the not too tender mercies of Pete Wisdom, who wants to know exaclty what Gambit was up to. But with international criminals, things aren't always what they seem, and pretty soon Gambit and MI13 are in the middle of a firefight with Cich's henchmen, and the real object of their raid becomes clear. Asmus is writing a Gambit who is the perfect rogue (no pun intended), with a devil may care Han Soloesque grin and just enough scruples to know that working for Cich is something he needs to get out of not just because it's someone controlling him, but because Cich is a really bad guy. He also handles Wisdom well, having the protective Wisdom particularly miffed that Gambit went after Faisa, once of Wisdom's people. Things end with Gambit in a bad place and Wisdom on his heels. I kind of now want a series with Wisdom and Gambit doing The Odd Couple thing, only with more trenchcoats and accents.

Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi - The Prisoner of Bogan #1
Story: John Ostrander
Art: Jan Duursema

John Ostrander has been doing some great work on Agent of the Empire, but he's never more on fire than when he's working with one of his regular artistic collaborators, so seeing him and Jan Duursema together again for  the second Dawn of the Jedi mini-series is a treat. Picking up shortly after the previous series ended, most of this issue is spent with Xesh, the Force Hound who crashed on the Jee'dai (the name of the order that will someday become the Jedi) homeworld of Tython last arc. Xesh has been banished to the moon of Bogan, where he encounters Daegon Lok, a former Jee'dai who the order banished when he had a force vision and seemingly went mad. It seems Lok's vision was correct, presaging the arrival of The Rakatan Infinite Empire, but that doesn't mean he hasn't fallen to the Dark Side. Xesh is an Ostrander protagonist, pulled in multiple directions and unsure of what is right and where he should be going. Xesh and Lok are off on a Butch and Sundance mission to assemble a Force Saber, the weapon of the Force Hounds, but its clear that before this is done, the two will come to blows. Aside from these two characters, we stop in to see the three Jee'dai journeymen who confronted Xesh in the previous arc, and the Rakata and another Force Hound who are preparing to hunt down Xesh and his masters. Ostrander and Duursema are setting up a lot of action for this arc, and moving the pieces of what will most assuradely be war between the Jee'dai and the Rakatans into place. I just hope that, with the probable changes on the horizon for Lucasfilm Licensing and comics due to Disney's purchase of Lucasfilm, we get to see the payoff.

Recommended Reading for 8/20: Star Wars: Legacy

This weekend is Star Wars Celebration VI, the big semi-annual (I think it's every two or three years, but don't quote me on that) official Star Wars convention, and so I thought for this week I'd spend some time talking about my favorite Star Wars series of all time.

Star Wars is probably my second greatest geek love, behind Batman, and I've pretty much read all of Dark Horse Comics' Star Wars comics over the years. I've found that, when it comes to Star Wars comics, most readers are Star Wars fans who pick up Star Wars comics and not much else, versus comic readers who happen to enjoy Star Wars comics. This is a shame, since Dark Horse has produced some amazing comics with some excellent creators over the years.

In the timeline of Star Wars stories, Dark Horse has published plenty set in the familiar eras, stuff set between the classic trilogy and stuff set right before, during and after the prequel trilogy. But some of the best stories they've told are the ones set furthest afield from those eras, ones that give their creators the toolbox of Star Wars tropes to play with, but then throw out most of the rules. For instance, the Tales of the Jedi and Knights of the Old Republic series take place three thousand plus years before the classic trilogy, and are a galaxy very different from what the movies present. Legacy is set about 130 years after the destruction of the first Death Star, and the galaxy is still a different, and dangerous place.

The galaxy in Legacy bears many similarities to the galaxy at the beginning of A New Hope. There's a tyrannical Sith emperor, Rebels on the run, and a Skywaler at the center of everything. These similarities allow readers unfamiliar with the Star Wars Expanded Universe (the term for all the books, comics, video games, etc. that take place outside the movies and TV shows, from here on out abbreviated as EU) to slip easily into this setting. There's everything familiar in Star Wars, but things are different and possibly even darker than a galaxy ruled by Emperor Palpatine.

The Skywalker at the center of Legacy is Cade Skywalker, a not too distant descendant of Luke, who is the character standing at the center of the trio in the image at the top of this entry. But Cade does not share many traits with his legendary ancestor, aside from his name and an affinity with the Force. Cade starts out the series as a bounty hunter. Writer John Ostrander said in an interview he wanted his protagonist to be, "Han Solo with a lightsaber," and Cade is exactly that at the series outset. With the Jedi on the run and hunted by the ruling Sith class, Cade has given up his name and using the Force, and has taken to a life on the fringes of society, travelling in his ship, The Mynock, with his crew, and keeping his head just above water. He's addicted to death sticks, drugs that keep the Force Visions and the pain of losing nearly everyone he loved at the hands of a Sith massacre at bay. Cade is in a bad place, and is not a very good guy.

John Ostrander, legendary comic book writer and former Dewey's customer, has been one of my favorite comic book writers for years, and it's interesting to see how Cade fits into his pantheon of main characters. From his earliest comic works, Ostrander has had a fascination with anti-heroes. His opus, Grimjack, stars a character who, at his best may be heroic, but is a similarly flawed protagonist. Ostrander made his name writing some of DC's more disreputable characters on Suicide Squad, and while he has written many true heroes, his work tends to feel most natural when treading the thin line between good and evil. His earlier Star Wars work, in the series originally just called Star Wars and later retitled Star Wars: Republic, starred Quinlan Vos, another Jedi who struggled with the Dark Side of the Force. I'm going to leave a discussion of Ostrander's body of work here, since I plan on November to feature John Ostrander week here on The Matt Signal, with time spent discussing these works, and most of his other principal works.

Clearly, a series featuring Cade just bumming around the galaxy, avoiding trouble and picking up the occasional bounty might be fun, but would not be much of a Star Wars story. So pretty quickly, Cade draws the attention of both the ruling Sith and the remnants of the Jedi Order. Both want him: the Sith to serve their master, Darth Krayt, and the Jedi to serve as a rallying point for their members and allies. And Cade wants nothing to do with either. This is where Cade differs from Luke Skywalker, and many Star Wars protagonists, the most: when presented with his destiny, Luke embraced it with open arms, and ran towards it. Cade, on the other hand, runs from it, trying to hide or simply outpace it.

While Cade might not be walking in the glow of the Light Side of the Force, he's by no means the bad guy. That title goes to Darth Krayt, the leader of the One Sith. Everyone who's seen the prequels know that there are supposed to be only two Sith, a master and an apprenticce. Krayt has created a new sect, one that believes there is only one Sith, the order itself and it's leader, that all must serve, and he is, of course, their leader. Krayt was the number one character in my list of ten favorite Star Wars comics characters, and I have a lot of reasons. Krayt makes an interesting counterpoint to Darth Vader. Krayt started out life as A'Sharad Hett, a Jedi who was a Tusken Raider on Tatooine, so he and Vader share a home planet. Krayt is also a broken being, only he has had his parts replaced by biotechnology instead of mechanics. Krayt's appearance also has shades of Vader, only instead of black metal, Krayt is clad is grey, rocky armor from head to toe.

But the differences between Krayt and Vader makes the comparison more interesting. Vader fell to the Dark Side through manipulation and ignorance. Palpatine played on all of Anakin Skywalker's insecurities, and the Jedi Council at the time simply ignored all the problems with Anakin, so blinded by the Clone Wars and their own traditions. Krayt fell willingly and knowingly. His fall was a slow one, taken in steps brought on by years of pain and anger. His biological enhancements were also not a blessing, as they were slowly killing him. It was for this reason he sought Cade Skywalker, who had an unusual gift: he could heal any wound using the Force, or even prevent death, but only by drawing deeply on the Dark Side. Krayt sought to use this ability to save himself, setting a collision course for Cade, whether the young ex-Jedi liked it or not.

The galaxy can't just be populated by two characters, and Ostrander builds a whole cast surrounding Cade and Krayt. Cade has two loyal crewmembers on the Mynock: Deliah Blue, the engineer and his love interest, who is an earthy, fun character, nothing like Leia and her regal bearing, and Jaraiah Syn, the closest thing to a Han Solo type rogue in the series, always with a quip and a cocky grin. Krayt has his seemingly loyal major domo Darth Wyyrlok, his two hands (personal agent and assassins, pictured above with Krayt from left to right) Darth Talon and Darth Nihil, and his mistress of torture, Darth Maladi. All of these characters get time over the course of the series to show who they are and what they can do.

Even more than these characters directly related to the two principal antagonists, Ostrander spends much of Legacy world building. Issues in between arcs tended to be one or two issue stories featuring other characters throughout the galaxy. The remaining Jedi, headed by K'Kruhk, a character Ostrander wrote often in his Republic run, come in and out of Cade's life. The emperor betrayed and deposed by Darth Krayt, Roan Fel, and his Imperial Knights, have their plotlines, attempting to reclaim what they believe is rightly theirs. The remnants of the Galactic Alliance fleet, headed by Admiral Gar Stazi, nip at the Sith Empire, and serve as the analogue for the scrappy Rebels from the classic trilogy. The Council of Moffs, Krayt's non-force using advisers, scheme to claim power, and include the mysterious Nyna Calixte, who has some secrets of her own that deeply affect the series as a whole. And beyond these grand and mighty figures, there are little people too, like Hondo Karr, who appears as a soldier for various factions over the course of the series. All of this does a great job of creating a galaxy around the main characters, and showing just how much goes on that doesn't directly involve them.

Thematically, Legacy has two chief motifs that play through it: choices and, well, legacy. While Cade is presented with a series of choices, of whether to move further down a dark path, or to try to claw his way back to the light, the central conflict of his character, each of the others are presented with choices that will impact their lives. Most of these come at critical juncture points in the plot of the series, so I don't want to talk about them here, but the smallest personal choices can have great impact on events far beyond them. The Skywalker legacy is something that Cade must face down from the moment he is discovered. Can he really live up to the name that has brought destruction and redemption on the galaxy? Cade struggles with that for the entire series, and the fact that the Force spirits of various famous ancestors have a habit of popping up to lecture him doesn't help. Who we are and how that relates to the people who have come before us is a universal theme, and seeing it writ large on a sci-fi canvas makes for great reading.

While Ostrander worked with various artists over the course of the series, the principal artist was Jan Duursema, one of his regular collaborators, who also was his principal artist on Republic, and who has worked on many other Star Wars projects, including a Darth Maul mini-series and the adaptation of Episode II. Duursema does excellent work, really stunning stuff. She is just as comfortable in giant space battles as in a dive bar full of aliens or during a Sith/Jedi lightsaber battle. Her versions of familiar movie characters are easily recognizable but have touches of her style; she doesn't lose the fact that this is art and not photoshopping in actor's faces on drawn bodies. The characters she created for the series all have unique looks that are stunning and iconic, very much in the Star Wars tradition; Sith assassin Darth Talon, the red skinned Twi'lek, has become a fan favorite. Her art is very detailed, with fully fleshed out backgrounds. She and Ostrander work wonderfully together, and any collaboration between them is something that is worth checking out.

Star Wars: Legacy regular series ran fifty issues, and was followed up by a six issue mini-series, Star Wars: Legacy- War, that wrapped up the main plot of the series. The series and mini-series have been collected over eleven trades, all of which should be available at your local comic shop. There's a lot more to say about this series, but it's a great ride with a lot of twists, and I don't want to ruin any of them for you. Go, check it out, and may the Force be with you.