Comics Star Wars #7, #15 & #20: From the Journals of Old Ben Kenobi: The Last of His Breed

I disagree with the suggestion that it's not a story. It's not the most eventful story, but there's a clear arc. Obi-Wan is somewhat demoralized in the beginning of it, but as a result of Luke's innate nobility and sense of heroism, Obi-Wan is reminded that the Jedi still have a future. That story is a character exploration of both Obi-Wan and Luke in a time before Episode IV.

 

Great issue! Early parts of it had an Old Man Logan vibe to them. Loved that Luke stood up to Jabba's thugs. There's definitely storyline potential for Obi-Wan on Tatooine and hope they'll bring back Ewan McGreggor one day for a movie spinoff.

One of the stories from the old EU that I wish they would canonize was for the original Marvel Star Wars #17, the one that Chris Claremont contributed the story too. That was a great test run for Luke before ANH.

 

Yeah I'm with those who think Luke can't be any older than 10 in this. The scene with Obi carrying him is what seals it (for me anyway)

 

Didn't think of that but that's heavy evidence too. I think the fact that nobody wants to make a solid official statement shows that they don't really know themselves. Marvel has been the worst at handling the new Canon continuity so far. They're more concerned with leaving their mark and making money than anything else. Think of all the big revelations that have been made already. They've laid claim to telling the stories of what Leia does immediately after ANH, Luke going back to Kenobi's hut, Vader realizing Luke is his son, Kanan's moments during/after Order 66, and Shattered Empire is supposedly immediately after RotJ (even before Aftermath).

 

Emphasis mine.

I think that's a really reductive and unfair way of looking at it. Jordan D. White actually replied to a question about when Lando is set, and he said that they don't want to nail things down too officially because they don't want to limit other potential storytelling opportunities. I would imagine that the Story Group feels the same way; they want room to maneuver without tying themselves into knots, especially when the canon is so new. That's the right approach, IMO.

Ultimately, at least for me, exact dates don't matter. Knowing how old Luke is in this story and what year it takes place adds nothing of value to me, so the absence of that information doesn't diminish anything for me either.

 

Yeah it does seem Marvel has gotten the big moments ..so far anyway....

 

Everywhere else I've heard/read, fans are saying the Lando excuse is setting themselves up for confusion and limiting them rather than freeing them up. I don't mind so much if there were no mention of when SW #7 takes place, what bothers me is we have one source saying Jordan announced 5 BBY but since then nobody will confirm DSotF's reporting especially now that a lot of people are noticing Ben and Luke don't look old enough for the previously claimed time.

 

I think it really only sets up confusion for a small hardcore group of fans who put a strong emphasis on the minutiae of continuity. More power to those fans, of course, but I don't think the average consumer really cares. I also think not nailing things down just yet gives them room to maneuver if need be. I'm sure they're keeping track of everything -- they have the Holocron, after all -- but just aren't announcing anything yet so they have room to change things.

 

Finally I got to read it.

"I disagree with the suggestion that it's not a story. It's not the most eventful story, but there's a clear arc. Obi-Wan is somewhat demoralized in the beginning of it, but as a result of Luke's innate nobility and sense of heroism, Obi-Wan is reminded that the Jedi still have a future. That story is a character exploration of both Obi-Wan and Luke in a time before Episode IV."

Basically what I was thinking during this issue. A good issue in my opinion.

 

Apparently not because Jordan White has admitted to several mistakes already, ignored a few others, and made terrible attempts at retconning even more.

The LSG is doing a GREAT job (flawless as far as I know) with the novels, YA books, reference books, Rebels, and everything else but I think Marvel's overstepping their bounds and mucking things up slowly but surely. It's a shame because the comics will pump out more stories than any other medium.

 

I thought the Story Group was making all the big decisions, so can't they choose a spot for it knowing any future uses of Lando they can position around it?

 

That's interesting. I also read Jordan's Tumblr blog, and by my count I've seen him acknowledge three mistakes (one of which Kieron Gillen later confirmed wasn't actually a mistake), ignore none, and retcon none. I guess it just comes down to how we look at it.

 

The Story Group is involved in ensuring that everything works, so if there are mistakes then those mistakes belong to them as well. It can't just be thrown onto one group.

As for those mistakes, the only one I really noticed was that Leia returned to Yavin 4 at the end of Princess Leia #5, but that's easily explainable so it was no big deal to me.

 

There's more than a Tumblr blog. There's tweets and other ways to communicate.

 

I'm suggesting that the LSG has given Marvel more creative freedom than they probably should have (who in turn isn't as thorough in checking themselves) or it's some business politics at play or they're not fact-checking Marvel as well as the other types of media. There have been issues in Kanan, and others in Leia, and some relating to Triple Zero, and others. I don't have a list of everything ready to submit a court case but it's been discussed on several podcasts and other fan sites. If this forum is all you read then you might not see it all. I've actually been surprised at how little dissection of the media has been done on the forum since I joined compared to other places. It's mostly just "good issue" or "this mini-series was a waste" and that's about the extent of it.

 

This issue may be my favourite Star Wars thing put out since Revenge of the Sith. But it's a bit too short to be very effective. I hope to see a Kenobi spin-off one day (movie, comic, what have you). He's more deserving a character than some of the others they've been doing anyway.

 

This ISN'T the end of Obi Wan in the main star wars comic it's been confirmed so I'm pretty sure we will be seeing him again

 

Wasn't Luke's nickname among the Tatooine youth "Wormie", because - presumably - of his size growing up?

 

I got a reply from Jordan White and he indirectly says the report from Dork Side of the Force is incorrect and agrees with us that Luke looks younger and he was possibly referring to Rebels at BookCon.
https://twitter.com/cracksh0t/status/626860347744485378
https://twitter.com/cracksh0t/status/626888339249991680

@TMBGeeks tweetd: "@cracksh0t Was the reporting from @DorkSideOForce correct in that you announced at BookCon that #StarWars #7 is set 5 years priot to ANH?"
@cracksh0t tweeted: "@TMBGeeks @DorkSideOForce I think that's when Rebels is set, no? Luke looks younger than that."
And then @cracksh0t tweeted: "@TMBGeeks @DorkSideOForce he looks like 8ish to me."

I asked DSotF if they could clarify their article and why they (supposedly) incorrectly thought SW #7 was announced as 5 BBY.

 

Those of us who have been reading comics for a while will know the real answer to this: Marvel Time.

 

That and it is apparently a flashback just happening in Lukes mind whilst reading it so he might be remembering it differently

 

Update: I got a hold of the actual audio .mp3 of the Marvel panel at BookCon and DSotF reported incorrectly. What was sad was:
Heather Antos (assistant editor): "...(inaudible) 10 years, 5 years before episode 4..."
Jordan White (editor): "Eeeeh something like 10 years before because Luke's pretty young..."

Somewhere between the person who recorded the audio, the website who live-tweeted the panel, and the author of the article who used that as a source, it got reported erroneously as 5 BBY. Since Jordan White tweeted to me that Luke looks "8ish" my site will be using the estimate of 11~ BBY. Case semi-closed.

This fully explains Ben and Luke looking so young. No harsh Tatooine weather, stunted growth Luke, or other theories.

 

Three things I didn't like:

1) Owen not wanting Obi-Wan to train Luke is fine. Obi-Wan just going along with this and just hoping that Luke would make his way to him one day on his own after pow-wowing with Yoda and Bail about the main plan and stakes of it all - I hope there's more to it to expound on later.

2) #1-6 were way better. I do want more Journal of Old Ben excerpts. I especially want to know why Owen is super cranky and why he describes Ben as a crazy old wizard.

3) I was really bummed out that at least for a few years, Obi-Wan basically just stayed on Tatooine doing nothing. I was hoping he'd be coming and going in secret to do whatever. Some Jedi Master. I get why Yoda has to be a hermit, but now with the reveal in Rebels that the Emperor and Vader aren't really that adept at sensing Force-sensitive individuals from afar, even when the Force is really strong in them, I see no reason for Obi-Wan to just relegate himself to a glorified babysitter. If they're certain enough that Tatooine is the last place Vader would ever return to than there's no real reason to stick around if he's not allowed to train Luke. Yeah, we see toddler Luke get himself into trouble here, but that just seems standard for the dangers of Tatooine. Little Ani had no problem existing without a bodyguard, though I suppose his state of being property and having a bomb attached to him also provided some semblance of security. Ben should have just asked the Lars' to pretend Luke was their slave in public and gone off to help establish the Rebellion.

 

I'm glad that the timeline problem has been semi cleared up, I'd say that eight years on Tattooine doing nothing is about right considering that's Obi Wan's mission- to watch over Luke until he's old enough. Also that leaves Ben with eleven years of adventures to be had