Placeholder post
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
32 BBY: Episdoe 1 Adventures: Search for the Lost Jedi: Novel & Gamebook
In my post on Handling 32 BBY I had the collected Episode 1
Adventures listed as one source I was going to examine, but now that I’m at the
threshold of these books I’ve realized I’ve grossly underestimated what these
books actually are, and I’ve come to the realization that each one deserves its
own write-up. So in the spirit of my chronological journey I’ve decided I want
to look at both the novel and game book as one item.
To be honest, when I was going through the sources I’d have
to look at for this year in Star Wars history I didn’t have an appreciation for
how noteworthy these books are. I bought
adventures 1-4 last year, and when they came in the mail I quickly placed them
on my bookshelf without really looking at them.
As I started to approach these books for my quest I began to look at
them a little more closely. Adventure 1,
Search for the Lost Jedi, is itself 85 pages in length, and has a narrative
significant enough for discussion. Not
only that, each novel has attached to it a game book. I really didn’t know what they were all
about, but after taking a look at this website,
I think I have a clearer understanding of just how much material is actually
here.
To make matters more complicated, the entire series is
difficult to collect. Not impossible,
but it’s defiantly out of my price range.
Amazon has all the titles listed at very low prices, but it’s the
shipping and handling that’s killer. But
to make matters even more problematic, the game books are few and far
between. If I can get my hands on the
novel, I may not be able to get my hands on the game book. So, in an attempt to remedy this situation
I’ve turned to my library’s interlibrary loan system, but even then I can only
place three requests at a time, and once the first three have come in I can put the next
three on request. Ultimately, it’s going to take me a while to fully engage
with these books.
To that end, I’m going to make 12 place-holder posts for
each book, and simply engage with each as it comes in (novel and game book), if
they even do come in. I apologize for
the deluge of e-mails you are going to receive if you’ve subscribed to my blog
with your e-mail address. As it is, once
I’ve made my place-holder posts, I’m going to move on to Tales #3, The Death of
Captain Tarpals. So until then my friends,
may the Force be with you.
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
32 BBY: Tales #24: Marked
I pitied Darth Maul in this story, especially in the last
box. He just wants what we all want:
someone to love us.
Tales #24, Marked, was an awesome little late. As a matter of fact, I think it’s in my top 5
of Star Wars Tales stories. Its premise
is simple and it’s in line with what we know about Sith philosophy: only the
strong survive. Darth Maul is sent to a
remote planet to investigate a significant disturbance in the Force. There he comes into contact with Silas, a
Dorvian strong in the darkside of the Force.
From there, the two engage in a death match – the winner gaining the
honor of being Darth Sidious’ apprentice.
For Maul it’s a test, for Silas it’s an interview.
Maul comes out victorious, and learns a valuable lesson: to
be a Sith means constant improvement, but with that means constant
dis-satisfaction with who you are. And
Sidious will be right there, offering Maul back-handed compliments until he
decides he’s had enough.
Silas was an interesting character in this story. It was also a shame Maul killed him. His potential seemed evident. I would have loved to see this ruthless
character operate as a Sith.
I really don’t have much else to say. Marked furthered the background of Maul and
added more dimensions to him. I think
from now on I’ll always see that scared little boy under that tough and
tattooed exterior.
For my next post I’ll be taking a look at Episode 1
Adventures. Until then my friends, may
the Force be with you.Monday, July 2, 2012
32 BBY: Star Wars: Darth Maul
I first laid eyes on Star Wars: Darth Maul while I was in
Excalibur comics on Bloor Street. I was
buying some Magic: The Gathering trading cards.
I made my way over to the comic stand, picked up the first issue and
flipped through it. It seemed
interesting enough, but at that moment I was there to spend some money on
improving my Magic deck for an upcoming tournament with some friends.
Like the KOTOR series, I always knew I was going to get my
hands on this collection eventually. And
like the KOTOR series, I wasn’t disappointed.
This was a great story. I’ve now
gone through the entire Rise of the Sith omnibus and it was defiantly worth the
price of admission.
The Darth Maul series gave Star Wars fans exactly what they
wanted back in 2000. We had only been introduced to this ascetically
intimidating Dark Lord of the Sith only to have him killed at the end of
TPM. We wanted more, and we wanted to
see him swing that double-bladed lightsaber around. In this comic series he did just that.
There were great little elements of this story I enjoyed,
and I’ve categorized my reactions into three sections: Maul, Black Sun, and Maul’s cloaking device.
Firstly, I think Marz did well with the script of this tale,
as I could hear the voice of Ray Park as I read Maul’s lines. What is more, Marz’s characterization of Maul
was spot-on. Maul was brimming with confidence
and malice. I especially enjoyed it when
he asked Sidious if he wanted Black Sun “destroyed utterly”, the subtext being
‘because I can ya know’!
Also, the penultimate confrontation between Maul and
Mighella was great, not because it ended with Maul’s bisection of the
Dathomirian witch (which of course foreshadows the Sith apprentice’s own demise),
but because there is no need to retcon the exchange between these two. Even
though this was written in 2000 before Luceno’s and Filoni’s 2012 additions to
the history of Maul, the exchange between these two is totally fitting for what
we now know about Maul’s past:“Do you know what I am?
A Nightsister. A witch of Dathomir skilled in the use of the Dark Side of the force. You understand so little.
Do I? You’ve never faced my kind before.
No. You’ve never faced my kind before.” (439-440)
Of course Maul knows what a Nightsister is. And truly, Maul was correct when he said to Maghella that she’s never faced his kind before. The Sith have remained hidden for all this time, even from the Dathomirian witches.
Still, what really caught my attention with Maul in this
series was his killing of the Iktotchi vigo Narees. Did Maul use Sith sorcery here? It seems he crushed Narees’ mind with the
darkside of the Force, the vigo stammering and bleeding from his nose without
Maul so much as raising a hand. The
scene echoed moments of Zannah and Bane’s final confrontation in Dynasty of
Evil. Has Sidious tutored his young
apprentice in some minor elements of Sith sorcery? I wouldn’t be surprised since we know Sidious
is a Banite Sith.
Moving on in my reactions, this comic’s mention of Black Sun
made me nostalgic for Perry’s Shadows of the Empire, probably my favorite piece
of Star Wars EU. What I found most
interesting about Black Sun in this comic is its similarity to the Sith council
from the Old Republic era. Instead of 12
Dark Lords of the Sith, Black Sun has 9 Vigos, and its power structure is set
up in the same manner. Indeed, Black Sun
was established after the sacking of Coruscant in the Old Republic era, but its
wookieepdeia page mentions nothing concretely of its foundation. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was set up by
one of the Dark Lords of the Sith sitting on the Dark Council at this time as
an extension of his or her power.
Moreover, it also makes sense that Sidious would want to get
Black Sun out of the way as he orchestrates his rise to power. When Maul asks if he should “destroy utterly”
the crime syndicate Sidious reins him in.
He knows all he needs to do is divide, but not necessarily conquer in
this instance. Like Sidious, we know
Black Sun has a use down the line.
My last comment in regards to this TBP is the mention,
again, of cloaking devices. As Sidious presents Maul with his new Sith
Infiltrator, he says to his apprentice:
“The Infiltrator’s armaments
consist of six laser cannons, but more important is its cloaking generator. You will be all but invisible.” (380)
This makes three known cloaking devices in Star Wars chronology
thus far: the one owned by Tulkh from Red Harvest, Stieg Wa from The Dark Rival,
and now Darth Maul from the TBP with his name.
Additionally, there may be a fourth if we take into account the comment by
Nym the pirate of the possibility of him coming across one. He may have had a particular one in mind when
he made the comment which may not include any of these. Like Maul, a cloaked Infiltrator
is a dangerous weapon indeed. It reminds
me of my second favorite ships from the Star Wars universe (after the Fairwind
of course), the VT-49 Decimator. It was the ship I was attempting to get for my
Bounty Hunter in Star Wars Galaxies, but unfortunately I never reached Master
Pilot status in that game.
Duursema’s artwork was fantastic as usual, but what is more,
this comic has gotten me very excited for The Clone Wars season 5. I’ve never thought much of Maul as a Sith
apprentice, but being witness to his killing efficiency in this comic, and his
rebirth at the end of season 4 I’m very excited to see what he’s capable of. See my post on Saboteur to see what I mean
when I say I’ve never thought Maul was really “Sith” material.
For my next post I’ll be taking a look at Tales #24 Marked. Until then my friends, may the Force be with
you.
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