Havac posted:
Imperial Commando 501st posted:Vader stood with his thumbs hooked into his belt [...]
Liliedhe posted: Imperial Commando 501st posted:Vader stood with his thumbs hooked into his belt [...] This is the typical swaggering commander of a generic military novel. He's just been dressed up in black and hooked to a respirator.^^
Havac posted:I was talking with Hydro and realized: Spar, at this point, is being used wholly in name only. Think: what were Spar's traits, as a character, at this point in time? He was a clone named Spar. He suffered from reemerging memories of Jango's that made him unstable. He fled Tipoca City before the Clone Wars. He became Mandalore, acting as Jango's heir. He rallied the Mandalorians, building a new corps of 212 that fought under the Separatists. What are his traits in Travissland? He's a clone named Spar. He was never actually insane. He never became Mandalore. He never built the 212 and fought for the Separatists. He's a wholly generic character. He's just some ARC deserter. He has, in fact, been used so generically, that in 501st, Traviss erases the last trace of his story that she actually hung onto: leaving Tipoca before the war. She has him spout off about how he got inoculations from the Republic during the war against Separatist bioweapons. He's become so generic that she actually forgets the last piece of backstory for him. She's down to using him wholly in name only. What the hell's the point?
Tricky posted:Who's this new female Mandalore with her peace loving Mando group that going to be in Season 2 of The Clone Wars animated? Is she going to replace/be retconned as Spar, cause I figure her introduction in CWAS is the reason why Karen Traviss quit working for Star Wars?
Havac posted:I was talking with Hydro and realized: Spar, at this point, is being used wholly in name only.
DarthUr posted:And this is why I see Traviss' handling of Mandalorians as a constant unending process of Mary Sue-ification. Anything that other writers insert into the Mandalorians that make them less than perfect -- the fact that, for instance, they were mistaken about something once in their lives, that they were vulnerable to the same kind of personality-cult religious manipulation that basically all cultures have been at some point in time -- has to be retconned away. The Mandalorians are this kind of ideal for Traviss, the ultimate goodhearted badass pragmatists who basically don't make mistakes, are morally correct about everything and admired by everyone. And I just find that really annoying. It's especially annoying because it makes her Mando characters *all the same*. Spar as a deluded madman whose delusions nevertheless push him to heroic heights and reignite the Mando culture -- that was pretty awesome. That's a very interesting character arc that doesn't have a clear parallel in current SW canon. The implications having to do with religion and legitimacy and historical vs. spiritual truth and the nature of mental illness and identity -- it was chock full of potential. Abel is very good at writing hooks like that. That was *really cool*. Compare it to what we've got now. More pragmatic Mando politics. More smartass Mandos who come up with grand plans that work out perfectly. Actively *mocking* Abel's article and the much-more-interesting culturally-atavistic-madman version of Spar with Spar's sarcastic jokes about "voices in his head". It seems like nothing can ever happen on Mandalore except canny political manipulators doing the difficult-yet-pragmatically-correct thing to preserve Mando culture and cracking black-humor jokes about killing people while doing it. Seriously, I cannot express how disappointing and annoying it is to have the charismatic genius Spar was presented as turn out to be JUST ANOTHER MANDALORIAN who has the exact same character voice and motivations as EVERY OTHER MANDALORIAN.
Tricky posted:Either way, Traviss' retcons or CWAS massive retcons, all the SW Marvel comics are going away forever.
TalonCard posted:Tricky posted:Either way, Traviss' retcons or CWAS massive retcons, all the SW Marvel comics are going away forever. That makes very, very little sense. Traviss has bent over backwards to acknowledge the events presented in the Marvel comics (albeit while ignoring the retcons that make them work.) Why else would she reference the City of Bone, or Leia's relationship with Fenn Shysa, or even Fenn Shysa himself for that matter?