Lit Star Wars: KOTOR (comics) thoughts?

Heads up to anyone interested. The KOTOR omnibus' are buy one get one free along with all other Marvel comics on Comixology at the moment. Think I'll get them.

 

Not quite up there with TOTJ and Knight Errant, but definitely one of my favourite comic series, more so than even Legacy. Mostly because of Zayne, Jarael and Haazen; they both do things that you would do if you were in the Star Wars galaxy. There's none of that screaming at the screen/page with them, and a whole host of realistic and creative solutions to problems rather than just blindly following the rhythm of the plot. You're weak in the Force? Of course you cheat and use your EU knowledge (or knowledge of Sith lore, IU) and deck yourself out with as many Sith talismans as you can. Jarael impersonating a Sith Lord? Gold.

I would have liked to have seen more of a focus on Revan and Malak, and of course to do that they should have just gone and revealed Revan's face as TOR would, and I didn't like how so much intrigue was being built around the identities of the Triumvirate when none of that ended up going anywhere. Lucien or Haazen being Darth Sion would have fleshed out that character greatly, and made him a much more subtle and cunning foe than the dull hunk of decaying flesh many assume Sion is from KOTOR II (despite the fact he displays a whole lot of cunning in his infiltration of the Harbinger, his use of assassins as opposed to direct confrontation, and so on). And it'd have been a brilliant tale of tragedy if Zayne had turned out to be Darth Nihilus as many of us speculated. Such a turn-around from a marginally Forceful Scout-esque character we really empathise with to the eldritch abomination and apocalyptic world-eater born of Malachor V.

 

All I want to know is why the heck Raana Tey had four lekku.

 

It is unfortunate that we won't see the like of the series for a while - having a mostly original cast isn't the formula that Marvel will be taking for the foreseeable future. Ah, well.

 

Actually I'm glad that was nothing more than speculation on our part. We have too many "good guys turned bad" in Star Wars. Zayne is just fine as he is.

 

Well, War did have others to complement Zayne. Simply not the ones from the other series. This should either have been a mini-arc that concentrated on what the old series' characters were going through during the war, and as an epilogue, it should have been a bit more definitive. JJM obviously didn't want to write another ending, though (and I think we can all be glad that this wasn't the unhappy ending set after the happy ending just because you know that's how the world goes, especially in SW EU). War is more like a pilot for a spin-off series, but it's obviously debatable whether this set of characters would have been nearly as lovable as the first set, which was so much lightning in a bottle that it turned out as one of those weird electricity glass bowls.

I can't think of a lot of good spin-offs that use the old main character. The best comparison I can draw form my experience is when The X-Files had to switch main characters around a bit after seven years of the world going nuts about Mulder/Scully. The showrunners would have liked for the show to be accepted as The X-Files, which could theoretically go on forever, but international hype had firmly cemented the Mulder/Scully expectation. Most people on the net dismiss the later seasons, I think Doggett was a cool new character that gave a new dynamic to the show, and once Anderson didn't want to devote her entire life to the show anymore, either, they really got something going with the last season. But since a lot of the audience equates "the beloved" character team with the show, the show has a hard time in such times.

But it's a moot point discussing this since Zayne wasn't meant to get a full second series, and it wouldn't have been an ongoing series anyway so, as all other titles show us, it simply wouldn't have produced such a masterpiece as the one we had just witnessed. And yeah, making Zayne and Jarael a happy couple definitely painted those two into a corner - either you had to use both or you had to find a weird-feeling explanation why they would be separated. You would lose Zayne's motivation (unless it was a fight to get her back or, more likely, fight to get back to her). And maybe it would have been a "grown-up" Zayne who actually already settled down psychologically.

Now, a Gryph spin-off would have worked. He's not the main main character of KOTOR, and coincidentally, he's the one whose backstory and attached destiny haven't been exhausted by the time of KOTOR #50. Oh, that makes me think of a good comparison: Pirates of the Caribbean, in which Jack Sparrow wasn't the protagonist but became the center of attention, and therefore could theoretically take on new characters for further sequels. Still, something about this felt diminished because the main character is on a different level; it's like a solo story for him with a large supporting cast. I guess Mission Impossible works like that these days. Oooh, great, Peter Graves with a second MI team in a second show! That's what KOTOR War would have been.

 

I figure he would have survived the Jedi purge, because of his special link with the Force. Most likely he would have found out how to deafen his connection to the Force temporarily. In his heart he was a naive, but naturally good person. Those kind of people do not fall to the dark side.

I have only positive things to say about these series. Yes, there were "less interesting" arcs, but realistically, a man's life cannot be an endless adventure or war. Even of we talk about Zayne "walking trouble" Carrick. It would have been best if Vector arc had remained in Kotor era (those crossovers to Dark Times, Rebellion Era and Legacy were not necessary) or if Celeste was discovered approximately 2000 years BBY by someone unknown to us. It would have opened a new, uncharted area. The Galaxy was huge, but once again with this crossover SW had yet another small universe syndrome (SUS) moment. And finally - the series should have continued on with Kotor-War. I didn't care if the team wasn't together, because the war from Zayne's perspective was just fine.

There were some things I didn't like about Legacy. It was refreshening to post-ROTJ era, but still not to my taste. Some individual concepts I found interesting, but, concerning the main story, I was not too thrilled. I didn't live through the story like I did with KotOR. JJM's Kotor was a pure SW adventure, that strode in the best traditions started by KotOR games, although much more comedic and much less spiritual (if at all) than the latter.

The War had so much potential...

 

I'm not seeing how the formula is that different from Rebels, actually: you've got a core cast made up entirely of original characters, with established characters appearing intermittently in important but supporting roles.

 

Yeah, I loved that part. We get enough "Anakin Skywalker being all emo as a sign of his impending fall and transformation into Vader" stories as is, don't need Zayne to end up like that too. Although I took part in a lot of speculation too (as soon as I figured out who Nihlus or Revan or the Exile were, since I hadn't played either KotOR game at the time).

I also think it would take more than a few galactic wars to kill off Zayne. Though Zayne walking his own path away from the Jedi also helps him avoid all those upcoming Jedi purges and enclaves that end in plenty of Jedi deaths and all those other dark events, etc. Not to mention all those random claims of "You are the last Jedi or the last hope of the galaxy" if Zayne is off doing his own thing.

I didn't mind War too much, but it is a major step down. After Zayne cleared his name and got together with Jarael, its kind of hard to see where to go from there. There are plenty of possibilities (#50 listed several of those), and I figure JJM would have plenty of good ideas, but most shows struggle once 1) main couple is together and 2) main plot is concluded. The KotOR era has a lot going on, but Zayne's story had mostly concluded once the Covenant was defeated. I still love the character, and like his more mature, grown up, confident attitude (while still keeping his empathy and mercy and respect for just about everyone, even people trying to kill him), but many stories revolve around characters growing up, and Zayne has already somewhat reached his peak. I hate it more when characters evolve, become better... then have to be dragged back down to provide more angst or just so they can struggle to survive the story or something.

Even though War ended with Zayne sailing off to advise in a war, it still felt like he could handle himself.

EDIT: Sorry, hit the wrong post button too early.

 

It isn't, but that isn't a comic. For a similar reason, I'd discount "The Last Padawan" because it's a tie-in to the TV show.

Yes, KOTOR was technically a 'tie-in' to the video game series, but the main characters were original.

 

I finished KOTOR a few months back and I really enjoyed it. Which was kinda surprising, because I wasn't sure I was going to. I tried reading it once before, but just couldn't get into it. I don't remember why.

Lucien was one of my favorite characters.

Grypth, Raana, and Zayne did get on my nerves a few times, but overall I kinda liked Zayne and Grypth and the even Masters. Raana was probably just my least favorite.

I didn't like the ending much with Zayne getting drafted. Perhaps he should have gotten drafted with one or more of his friends. That might have helped or instead he could have gone back to Jedi Order. I always assumed that would happen since the series was titled, "Knights of the Old Republic".

 

Captain.

Agreed. Morvis's character arc was the best part of an otherwise disappointing War.

I liked a lot of the Crucible story. The two-issue arc where Zayne infiltrated their slaving pits was excellent, and Ching's art really shone --- the final shots of Jarael walking away from Zayne in the rain... gorgeous. I thought that the resolution to the Rohlan/Demagol story was well-done, too, especially since we had all figured it out years beforehand ("My name is Rohlan Dyre!" "We know! And we're so sorry!"). We all need to give props to Faithful Execution, as well, which, though not technically a part of the Crucible story, took place within its framework and was one of the series' best single issues.

 

I found Raana to be one of the better developed Jedi Master in the series. Her visions being a curse as much as a gift was an interesting element to her character. And I'm still partial to "I do not sleep, so nobody sleeps!". Yeah, that's how you know she could really use some sleep.

He wasn't drafted though. He willingly joined the navy when Morvis asked him to be his "official conscience".