Comics Jedi of the Republic: Mace Windu #1-5 (3/5 Released)

Re: the art - it's certainly no Duursema or Wheatley, but honestly I find it perfectly serviceable for the main stuff. It's just in the case of the background characters that it tends to come off as really derpy or off-model.

 

Alright, I'm rewatching that CW episode now. And it seems one of the major plot points of it was how Fives thought he could hack the droid command ship giving the orders, and convince the droids to follow his commands.
So that is a potential justification for Windu's actions I think.

It happened before Fives succeeded, so that is why it failed.

 

I found that Mace Windu scene from TCW to be really funny, I loved that arc and am kinda surprised its getting so much criticism, though I can see now where it's coning from.

 

I liked the 2nd issue better than the first. While the art may once in awhile turn Mace's face into playdough squishiness from page to page, it is actually very dynamic and it kind of reminded me of some mid to late era Frank Miller where the characters are kind of blocky but they look like they're doing incredible feats. Some interesting development of the society here. Mace having a chat with the Merc Droid was cool but I can't figure out how Mace could actually be punked by that droid, you'd figure he could Force Crush it real good or something.

Anyway, my favourite part was at the beginning when the Merc droid is telling the Battle droids what to call or not call him. so the battle droid goes through "Captain?" "Commander" and the Merc droid tells him to shut up and another random battle droid yells out "Skipper! I got something here." so, yeah, the merc is officially skipper now in my head.

 

Mace Windu #3 preview

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Ugh, broken images again?

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Grievous! I do hope we get to see him fight at some point in this series!

 

Not a great fan of the ending to Issue 3, unfortunately:

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I didn't think it was consistent with Mace Windu's character to draw his blade on Prosset - even in the face of an attack. I feel like Windu is more than capable of ending that fight without weapons, and that doing so would prove his own point of 'not entertaining' the other Jedi's notions.

Prosset's sudden turn seemed a little rushed/contrived as well. One minute he's dropping eye puns like they're going out of fashion, and the next he's ready to strike down one of the leading members of the Jedi Council?

 

In addition to my disappointment in the artwork of this comic and the (in my opinion) poor story, it seems like this comic is not confident enough to be entirely original either, as it appears it is trying to emulate some elements from older and highly regarded Clone Wars era stories with Mace:

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Early Clone Wars story featuring Mace Windu on a jungle planet (ala Haruun Kal in Shatterpoint) - Check

Jedi doubting the Jedi Council's decision to join the war (ala Jeisel, K'Kruhk, Rhad Tarn, Dama Montalvo, Mira in Jedi: Mace Windu) - Check

Mace Windu vs. (in this case potentially) rogue Jedi (ala Sora Bulq in Jedi: Mace Windu) - check

We'll see how this mini wraps-up and if it manages to pleasantly surprise, but so far I am not a fan.

 

I've been enjoying this series so far, it is unlikely to be one of my favourites but it is a fun and enjoyable read. I liked seeing Grievous again, I absolutely love the Clone Wars era and all its characters. I didnt mind the Jedi's sudden turn, and I liked to see them discussing their role in the war. It does feel a bit similar to the some of the Dark Horse comics, but I really enjoyed them so that doesnt bother me at all. The role of Jedi in the war is an interesting topic that was explored in The Clone Wars TV series as well, so I'm happy to see that discussion continue here.

 

Jedi of the Republic: Mace Windu #1-5 (3/5 Released)

#3 Review

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So the blind Jedi was very talkative this issue. I understand where he's coming from because we know where the ship is headed so to speak, but he still kind of comes off as an *** *****. With his frustration at the loss of life, he and Kit have no qualms with killing a giant bug monster.

Speaking of all the talking, the action was welcome but very hard to follow. It took me a couple of times to realize that the female Jedi was throwing her lightsaber to Mace. I thought she was about to get crushed by the Imperial vehicle, but like I said, it took me a few seconds to get my bearings on the action. This was also the case with the two Jedi battling the giant bug monster. I guess it was supposed to be cool how they were attacking it from all different sides, but when it was "zoomed" in on the action, it was hard to follow where on the bug they were, especially since the battle was in a cave, it was dark, and I'm not familiar with giant bug anatomy. I kind of glossed over it so maybe if I went back to it I could follow it better so I will give it the benefit of the doubt.

Lastly, speaking of *** *****, we get some backstory on WD-40 or whatever his name is. He, like the blind Jedi, are very talkative in this issue and I didn't really follow it or care.

Looking ahead, with two issues left, I guess we'll have the Mace vs blind jedi where the Separatists will show up and #4 will probably end with Mace against WD-40 where that will be resolved in #5.

 

I feel a little cheated with this series, like other people, I was really excited when I heard that they were going to do more prequel stories, but this comic just feels like an episode of TCW, which wasn't a bad show, but I was hoping for more lore, instead of just a random one-off adventure involving a character who in my personal opinion is a little overhyped and his band of mostly no-name Jedi that are probably only going to be in this arc.

 

Yeah I thought the windu arc in dark horse was far superior in art, story telling and character development. Oh well!


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TBH, I have to agree, this is starting to feel like it's going to be one of those Princess Leia-type lackluster miniseries.

 

I really wish this comic would address why Mace has an amethyst blade

 

Who says there's a reason, and what would that have to do with the plot?

Anyway, I started off looking forward to this comic (besides trolling about the silly face art) but I'm increasingly disappointed. This whole issue in particular felt unpolished and downright incoherent. Blind guy suddenly melted down and threw a paranoid delusional tantrum out of nowhere because...why? The dialogue is terrible - and that goes double for the one woman who seemingly exists only to be ~zany~ and inappropriate. Jedi can have a sense of humor, but this is just not the way to write it. (She and the blind guy share a problem, I think; they're being written with An Idea in mind, but no thought is given as to how that character idea would play out in a Jedi with the past life experiences and development they would have had. They feel like random flat mouthpieces that only happen to be wearing Jedi costumes, whether it's actual nonsense "so random!" humor or melting down at the drop of a hat.)

And the much-hyped development of a friendship between Mace and Kit to play into RotS has turned out to be a whole lot of nothing.

Having recently re-read Shatterpoint, this comic feels like an insult.

 

It was odd to see the Blind Jedi flip out over so many deaths and turn his blade on Windu, with the intent it seems to kill.

A jedi showing strong grief towards the causalities of war is very understandable, but seeing it and pulling a "Jedi who engage in War are no better then Separatists" is pathetic.

While the Jedi Order hasn't partaken in a Galactic Scale War for 1000yrs, a Jedi should know about the sadness and results of war before the Clone Wars began. After all im sure they have had their share of bringing peace to more local conflicts. Would the Blind Jedi have the same reaction to those conflicts? What if he was sent on a mission to help with a local government experiencing a civil war, where it was obvious the enemy they were fighting were not moral men. Him going on a rant about Jedi being just as bad as those who cause this civil war would also be foolish.

Then again, maybe the blind Jedi has never been on a battlefield before the Clone Wars began. This generation could have many Jedi that have never experienced a war. His type with the belief Jedi should not partake in war sure would have failed and burned if they had their way during the wars against the Sith. His attitude could also lead to letting more innocents die from Separatists in the name of neutrality.

Im for the Jedi belief that they should strive to lessen war and focus on peace keeping, but the whole idea of Jedi being pacifists is to naive.

So this appearance of Grievous is chronologically the earliest he has appeared in, since this comic is set close to the end of AoTC. So i wonder how far he is in training and using lightsabers. Could he lack at the moment jedi sabers? After all its quite likley the only Jedi that have died so far in the Clone Wars was on Geonosis. Someone could have retrieved a few sabers from corpses on that world.

After this mini is over, I think Grievous should get his own comic mini that begins before the Clone Wars starts. Have it shown Dooku giving him training before he acquired his 1st jedi blade. Maybe Dooku made him a red lightsaber to practice with and use in combat to fight his 1st Jedi. Grievous later preferring to use Jedi colors over red since its represents to the Jedi that he has killed their kind and now using their own blades against them.

 

I read Shatterpoint for the first time earlier this year, and that + the old Dark Horse Mace Windu one-shot did a great job of conveying how I think the Windu from the films would face the same challenges he encounters in this new mini-series (deadly jungle planet, dissident Jedi, etc).

I think this mini-series suffers from trying to bend the character of Mace Windu around the writer's own plot ideas (a bad-ass mercenary droid, a quirky Jedi sidekick, a disillusioned Master, etc) rather than crafting the story around the main character's own strengths, weaknesses and personality. So we end up with something that doesn't feel as consistent with the character.

Shatterpoint and the Dark Horse one-shot both did this well, but an even more extreme example would the two-parter from TCW where Windu and Jar Jar Binks team up. Despite the crazy concept on paper (TLDR: "Windu and Jar Jar go on a Temple Of Doom-style adventure to save Jar Jar's girlfriend from an evil cult led by the Nightsister Mother Talzin") Windu still participated in and reacted to the story's events in a way I would expect the character to do so, whereas in this comic it feels more like he reacts how he needs to to get from Point A to Point B.

I hope the less than enthusiastic reaction to this series doesn't discourage Marvel from going for more prequel-era stories in the future, though.

 

Agreed, there's a lot of potential for more Jedi of the Republic minis. But not of this quality I hope.

 

I enjoyed the flashback scenes in this issue, probably the most out of anything we've gotten in this mini so far.

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Drooz is a stock baddie but his brand of villainy, ambition, and manipulation is still up my alley. I will certainly understand if others find the Master/Padawan dialogue and lesson learned hackneyed for Star Wars at this point, though. I'm not well acquainted with Prequel-/Republic-era media but I imagine those retread familiar ground.

I also liked the color palette used in the flashback scenes. The art on the faces is still hit-or-miss for me, but some of the closeups of Kit Fisto, AD-W4, and the battle droids can be pretty good.

 

Agreed. The flashbacks stole the show


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I really like the character design in this comic and really dislike how the Jedi talk.

 

I really liked the flashback scenes as well. Wish they had incorporated flashbacks throughout as the present day mission in this series isn't really extremely interesting imo.

 

It's so weird. I don't understand the point of what they are saying half the time.

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I still have no clue as to what the actual conflict here is about. Did Dibs just randomly go crazy after all the civilians died? I don't get how that is the Jedi's fault. The Separatists came to the planet first to harvest its resources, and this team was sent to stop them. What the hell is the Jedi Council supposed to have lied about?

And Mace threatening to hunt Dibs down for desertion? What kind of BS is that? The Jedi are not a military, they are a monastic order and people are allowed to leave.