Bah, I give in! Knights of the Old Republic comic series

Well, I will be buying them this afternoon!!!

--Adm. Nick

 

After reading every issue of KOTOR, I think to myself "No, definitely, this is better than Legacy. Not sure what I was thinking before."

After reading every issue of Legacy, I think to myself "No, definitely, this is better than KOTOR. Not sure what I was thinking before."

Lather, rinse, repeat.

 

KOTOR is at it's best when Brian Ching is on the drawing board. Even when the issue isn't particularly exciting. The current story is great, but the artist is horrid.

 

One issue (no pun intended) you might have with the TPBs is that I think they leave out the Holonet News Feeds which have been in every issue after some point after Commencement (can't remember exactly which). They're not necessary, but they help flesh out the era and provide some great foreshadowing opportunities, not to mention just being all-around awesome.

I've occasionally tried to get information from them onto Wookieepedia, but it's kind of a pain, and I'm not sure if you get them anywhere other than the monthlies.

 

it also has Trandoshan flapjacks

end of discussion

 

Me too, I wish he'd be the artist for the rest of the series. The current artist, Dazo I believe, and Talibao shouldn't be allowed to draw for this series again because their character faces look out of place. Ching and Weaver should be the only artists for this series.

 

I'd highly recommend it.

KotOR (and Legacy to be fair) got me into Star Wars comics/graphic novels again, I havn't read any since the marvels (lol). Of the two I would just vote KotOR higher, but thats personal preference. It has big space scenes with ships galare, one of the most interesting and readable Jedi of any era, The Gryph, intriguing plots and subplots, tie ins and potential tie ins to both the games and TotJ, and well, so much more!

 

Well, I picked them up yesterday afternoon. Both Commencement and Flashpoint. My local comic shop had both in stock, so I was able to grab 'em and go!

Commencement started off a bit slow for me. Zayne is definately a likeable character, and Gryph was a hoot. Jarael and Camper were a interesting. Of all the characters I have seen thus far in issues #1-12, they would be two of the best to see "live". The Covenant was interesting in that they give in to the Dark Side for the "greater good". The art in the fourth issue (the one with the Covenants visions) was not my cup of tea. As I finished the first TPB and began the second, I understand why a common complaint among the fans in the switching of artists.

Overall, Commencement was just that, a begining. Then again, just like the KOTOR games, the very begining is a bit slow and dull. It almost has to be to get the story started, but I must confess I had to push through the end of Commencement towards the end.

Flashpoint, however, is were things finally picked up for me. Frist off, the art in the first part was amazing. The scence with Jarael surrounded by Mandalorians thick as feas was a neat shot. I have never cared much for the "current" Mando hype, but seeing the old school Mandos from KOTOR was a treat. The space battle, while only comprising a few shots, looked amazing. I had been following the starship side of KOTOR for awhile (I am a Fleet Junkie after all), so there were no suprises. However, the designs were beautiful. The Courageous was a amazing warship. Seeing it face to face with that Mandalorian battleship was real cool. And, it was nice to see the Hammerhead-class cruisers in the beattle as well. Seeing Captain Karath was interesting because when I first saw him in KOTOR, he was already a Sith Admiral.

Rohlan Dyre was uber cool. He is the most unique Mandalorian I know of. Interesting to see a warrior genuinely tired of war and killing. Alek is another favorite of mine. Sadly, I agree whith many posters who state that he ends up becoming Darth Malek. Between the similar sounding names, his "secret" master, and the fact that he dones the "red space suit" from the visions makes it pretty clear that he will eventually head down that dark path. The scences with him and Jarael were touching, especially given the fact that he acts very much like the type of Jedi we all root for- selfless, brave, kind.

Zayne and Gryph's plan to fool the Mandos at Flashpoint was classic. Zayne really comes into his own, while the "Admiral" of the Glomkettle was funny and new. One of the hallmarks of the KOTOR video games is there use of humor. It is nice to see the comics capture that same feel.

The issue about Lucien was kinda filler/backstory, but the art was beautiful. Brian Ching's art is excellent. He and Dustin Weaver are the two best in that series, hands down. I should also take a moment to poitn out that John Jackson Miller is a great storyteller. He and Ostrander are the two best at Dark Horse, hands down. Which makes Vector all the more exciting for me.

The last two issues of Flashpoint were a nice change of pace from the main Mandalorian War. Not overly exciting, but the art was great and it was nice to see the Ithorians. They figure so prominently in KOTOR I and II that it was nice to see them included- even if they are not your typical Ithorian.

Brief cameos by Master Tokare, Vrook, Zhar, and other KOTOR game character was nice. Seeing snippets of the Dantooine Academy and the High Jedi Council on Coruscant were great, as well as the lovely shots of Taris and Vanquo.

Overall, I really enjoyed it. Legacy is still my favorite, but that should not be taken as a dig or insult to Miller's KOTOR. Both are rightly the flagship series of Dark Horse. I consider my money well spent, and eagarly look forward to getting issues #13-forward.

Thank you all for your comments/insights.

--Adm. Nick

 

Alek is another favorite of mine. Sadly, I agree whith many posters who state that he ends up becoming Darth Malek. Between the similar sounding names, his "secret" master, and the fact that he dones the "red space suit" from the visions makes it pretty clear that he will eventually head down that dark path.


Ah, but in shining the spotlight on someone, my good Admiral, you get surprised by the real man you took but passing note in your peripheral vision. These aren't cave man towering this KOTOR series to heights, they are wheel makers. Don the infravision, and see a new spectrum.

 

SAN HILL (and by that I mean Excellence) LIVES!

 

Grammatically unchanged, too, I see...



- Keralys

 

On the Alek/Malak front, the mystery of how he came to be is just as interesting as him looking out the window of the Leviathan, with artificial jaw and all. That's what I like about this era, you know what's gonna happen, but there's still so much mystery to it. And speculating on who's going to become a future Darth and who's not makes it all the more interesting.

 

Nick, i just picked up the 2nd half of the KOTOR series and read them all in 1 sitting. I liked it because it's quality SW. But i don't think it's on the level as Legacy, or the Republic series. Cheesy artwork(at times) aside. The story is somehwat suspect imo...


I still enjoy them but for me i'll wait a bit and pick them up in bulk. Unlike Legacy where i'm there the day it comes out...

SPOILERS-



































-Zayne seems to all of a sudden be a decent Jedi Knight when he wasn't even gonna graduate in the 1st place.. The story is interesting because we all loved the game but these jedi surprisingly are more clueless then the Mace Windue lot..

noob here, how do i spoiler highlight?
-Highlight = white, color black? or the other way around?

 

Its arguable/possible that the main reason Zayne seemed so incompetent was because he had horrible teachers. Zayne was clumsy, and seemed the weakest of this batch of potential Padawans, but lack of self-confidence could explain most of his problems. Look at how the Masters all treat Zayne as a walking disaster. Even Zayne's classmates and Zayne himself all act as if at any moment Zayne will cause the end of the world. The sad truth is that Zayne wasn't the Covenant Masters' original fall guy, as Zayne's reputation makes him sound too incompetent to do away with four more better Padawans, not to mention all the Jedi Masters on Taris, and that the other Padawans knew something was wrong when the Taris Masters acted as if Zayne was being Knighted too. Anyway, once Zayne was away from those crazy Masters, he seemed to be doing ok. Still inexperienced, but at least he understands what being a Jedi is better than his former Masters. And Zayne actually ran into people who treated him decently, and actually came back for him and rescued him. After that, Zayne seems to be at least competent. Also, most of Zayne's training was done by the Taris Masters, with maybe some early training from Vandar on Dantoonine, so he's turned out pretty well, considering how obsessed and crazed those Covenant Masters are.

Or Zayne's sudden show of general competence could be chalked up to Zayne being very mad and having a worthy cause now- making his Masters pay, and clearing his name. And despite how dark that sounds, Zayne still retains his original nice personality, for the most part. And his Masters haven't shown any regret, and they've done even more stuff to Zayne, like try to use Zayne's father against him.

And you can never tell how Padawans or Knights will turn out. Obi-wan Kenobi ended up in the Jedi Agricultural Corp temporarily because no Jedi chose to train him, before going on an adventure with Qui-Gon Jin, then he became Qui-gon's Padawan. On the flipside, this also means some Knights you never expected to become Sith Lords can end up as rulers of the galaxy, as shown in Legacy. Personally, I'm hoping Zayne doesn't end up as a Sith Lord, given Zayne's personality, but you never know.

 

Having only finished the second TPB, I don't think there was any great increase in skill shown by Zayne. He went from incompetent (but clearly with the potential to be better) to competent (but clearly with the potential to be better than that). That is not that big of a leap in skill.

 

I disagree. Zayne's Jedi are an interesting parallel to the PT Order. Anakin thinks his Masters are holding him back. Zayne's Masters' are actually holding him back, in a way. They all cared more about their visions than about training their Padawans. The PT Jedi are obsessed with avoiding the temptations to the Dark Side; Zayne's Masters are obsessed with destroying the Dark Side's potential followers. The PT Jedi encourage Anakin to let go of the pain his visions may cause him; the Covenant embrace that pain as an excuse to act on said vision.

Although I don't think any of what you posted technically constitutes spoilers, what you'd do is <hl=black><color=black>Your Spoileriffic Text</hl></color>, but replace the <> with []. Of course, you only technically have to do the colors on a forum sheet where the text isn't black, but I like to do it on all forum styles, just to be thourough.

 

I think it was more that the Covenant felt like they had better things to do than train padawans. They were reluctant to begin with. I'm almost betting that some, like Raana and Lucien, are moreless baiting him to become evil to justify their actions. Well, maybe not Raana Tey so much because it would almost mean her death, but I think Lucien wants nothing more than to say to the Jedi and the Republic "Look, I was right all along". Still, it will definately come down to lucien and Q'anilia in clearing his name. They are the only 2 who don't have a vision of dying. And no, Q'anilia never dies in her vision.

 

I think its more of a KOTOR game like situation. Basically, Commencement was the first fights on the Endar Spire which were almost impossible to lose even though you spent as much time throwing grenades at Carth as you did shooting at Sith troopers (while not wearing any armor). Once you got the hang of things the same level of guy became laughable. You level up the first few levels fast, the later levels take more work.

I am pretty sure JJM said this somewhere.

-The Rebel Gungan

 

Legacy day is still the most special comic day of all. KotOR is great but I have to say the last Rebellion arc was as good as anything in either comics.

 

I thought the Taris masters were rather like many college professors who regard their classes as a bothersome chore they have to get through so they can conduct their research. According to the "Homecoming" issue they were not thrilled about having padawans at all, but accepted them as the price for remaining together.

Zayne's abilities - especially his vision and the bit with the bolts of his cell - are clearly advancing. I think that away from his masters he is able to develop some confidence. It also doesn't hurt that Zayne is better motivated. Previously he wanted to succeed so he could scrap by, now he wants to succeed so those he cares about can live.