Knights of the Old Republic #1: Commencement, part 1 (of 6)

"...Unless his Master's trying to kill him."

Hnh. Is the Palpatine-lookin' guy from the flipbook cover "the master"?

So those ARE green lightsaber-blades on that cover. Appears that Giant Chipmunk/Gopher-Man -- a.k.a., "The Gryph"? -- is the con artist alluded to in the promos.

"Intern"? As in, one of Old Muttonchops's "interns"? Can't tell if he simply fell down into the Lower City or all the way into the Undercity. Unless Old Muttonchops has nine arms, each one holding a lightsaber. Screw Grievous.

EDIT: ...Then again, now that I've expanded the image-resolution, that looks to be a ladder-handrail Giant Chippy's glomming onto.

 

Am I the only one who finds Zayne funny?

 

Bah, this series only exists because the games were so popular.

Though I liked a few of the characters from TotJ - the actual asthetic of the setting itself was abysmal, in a Galactic Republic that is supposedly 25 millenia old, WHY would technology be THAT ancient looking just 4,000 years back? The "tales" themselves weren't much better and were more remincient of a DnD campaign than the Star Wars films.

"Tremble before my amulet of power! Woooooo!!!"

"Oh teh nos! I've been corrupted by poison!"

Thank god KotOR was so popular... not only did it go to great lengths to poo over the previously established TotJ stuff (for all the references to the Exar Kun war, it's clearly different to the one portrayed in the TotJ comics - especially if you delve into its history on Yavin Station), it succeeded in supplanting it in the minds of many fans... to be honest, what annoys me the most is the fact that the bigwigs are trying to retcon everything to match closly with the TotJ.

Prime example being the mandalorians. It is *CLEAR* that as far as the KotOR game is concerned, the Mandalorian race look like humans. Canderous is NOT human, he is a mandalorian. Yet due to the fact that in the comics Mandalorians didn't look like humans, a contrived backstory (which doesn't work since Canderous was a fighting mandalorian for 40 years by the time KotOR kicks in) was created, where "Mandalore the Ultimate recruited non-Mandalorians into the Mandalorian clans just before the start of the Mandy Wars".

The sooner TotJ is forgotten - or released to more closly match the style of KotOR - the better.

 

. . . what?

May you rot in Bullyak's pants pocket, you infamist outrage!

 

That's a semi-new one.

 

Im also a fan of both and i cant wait till it comes out

 

In the quiet words of the Virgin Mary: "Come again?"

Don't see what you're truly driving at, here, since there AREN'T any significant differences between the war descriptions throughout the games -- the key issue being the Yavin shopkeeper's OPINIONS, which are subjectively personal, and thus prone to "coloration."

And as for "supplanting it in the minds [of many fans]," you're confusing things with market-share:

Gamers have ALWAYS had it better than comic book-fen in representation; your average best-selling comic title -- up to and including the X-Men books -- only clears a few hundred thousand copies per month (in a good month), whereas a best-selling video game -- including KotOR -- sells in the MILLIONS. Per sequel. The simple tyranny of numbers. Not "quality," as you seem to think.

(As various creators have pointed out, when a Spider-Man video game sells millions of copies whilst the actual progenitor comic book itself only pulls in mere TENTHS of those sales...something's rotten in the state of Idaho.)

Thus, whether Dark Horse brings things closer to one version or another is inconsequential...the Tales of the Jedi comics ain't going nowhere.

Again...what?

The KotOR games do not overwrite what was explicitly seen in the comics, nor do the comics overwrite what was shown in the games. Both stories are fully Lucasfilm "C-canon," accredited and endorsed. One tale does not hold priority over the other. If the comics showed alien Mandalorians, then there were alien Mandalorians amongst their ranks during those years.

The Crusaders from the comics held a higher percentage of non-human members than the Neo-Crusaders from the games. Two different orders. In fact, Abel Peña's SW Insider article went into exquisite detail on the two factions, including their compositions. Nor do the comics ever state that non-humans were the SOLE component of the earlier order.

(Canderous-as-an-alien, though...hunnawhuzzah?? Were we both playing the same game?)

I fail to see the problem, here. And there are any number of hardcore Mando-heads on these boards who'd concur. Vehemently.

Had the games depicted the Mandos as dirty carnys with prison-tats, corduroy conductor's hats, and cutoff Winger T-shirts, it'd be a different story.

 

Nothing exciting yet...

 

What you KOTOR fanboys seem to forget is that the fact that the games utterly ripped off an name of an established series to attract the comic fans. The FACT is that without the POPULAR comic series, of which the first TPB's name was stolen by the game. that the game wouldnt never ever exist. That said, your opinion of the comics is in the very distinct minority here on these boards, and even many KJA basher.

You said something about how the ToTJ tech looks ancient.. well it is 4,000 BBY, the fact that KOTOR has weapons that are as good as.. and in some cases better than the ones we saw in the OT is ridiculous, yes, everyone accepts that SW tech advances slowly but thats stretching it, many people are still crying that X-wings are still bieng used in the post-ROTJ EU, and thats only 30 years.. same tech as the prequals 4,000 years later is laughable.

The game was good ill give it that, bioware usually does good work, but TOTJ > the game any day of the week, simply because no TOTJ = no game, and what some idiots opinion on Yavin IV that wasnt even on Yavin IV at the time of the war counts for less than nothing.

EDIT:
And yet another laughable thing, anyone thinking that Dark Horse, publisher of the ORIGINAL KOTOR is gonna screw with thier own creation to try to fit in a video game at the expense of thier own established storyline is humourous to say the least

 

Giant Gopher-Man = Marn Hierogryph. (He's got a snout, after all -- says so himself!)

Old Muttonchops = ???

The world waits with baited breath...


Another theory, based upon evidence from what we're seeing here:

The "padawan" moniker fell out of use for a number of millennia prior to the Tales of the Jedi era, when the Jedi Order -- betwixt the end of the Exar Kun war and the start of the Mandalorian Wars -- made it official policy to reinstate usage of the title. Thus perhaps the reason for the unfortunate protocol-confusion Wayne and Giant Gopher-Man run into on the loading-docks.

Poor Wayne.


So this issue brings back the Vulkars and the Beks -- I'm now thinking of a Certain-Someone-In-A-Cage?...

 

Gryph (the "giant gopher man") is actually a Snivvian, a lá Snaggletooth, and, after having read the first few issues, he's become one of my favorite EU characters. He's a scoundrel of the finest and most untrustworthy sort.

The lighter tone is intentional and is meant to evoke the mood of the original trilogy, but don't let that fool ya -- it's not all pratfalls and sight gags; there are big, scary things going on in the Old Republic galaxy, even in this first issue. We're being very careful about the cards we flash before January.

 

Tell us how you really feel, Rohniss.

So the preview looks pretty good. I'm becoming ever more confident of Miller.

 

I love him repeating the Jedi Code like a mantra to calm down. "There is no emotion, there is peae. There is no emotion, there is peace." of course it is the new Jedi code, and not the old one.

 

He reminds me of the gruff old Badger from the old Wind in the Willows.

 

Hmm. The preview has done what previews are meant to do, and made me more interested in the story.

My main issue so far - so what? This is Taris in the KotOR era? It might as well be Coruscant during the Prequel timeframe?

Part of me wonders if this has nothing to do with either the comic or the game beyond any extra kudos/sales that might incidentally accrue (and perhaps stealing a leaf from LucasArts' book); Dark Horse has chosen the (largely nominal) KotOR setting because there's less continuity-wrangling and operational control too hassle about: this is simply STAR WARS, pure and simple...

- The Imperial Ewok

 

Hmm? that could be read as a knock, or as the best compliment you can pay the series. Remember, the events in the Old Republic era are as vital and important as in any other point in the EU timeline. Yes, the idea of revisiting a period that isn't as tightly bound was appealing, but there's still a considerable continuity -- both from the TotJ comics and the KotOR games -- to which we're adhering. Setting up the series the way we did was anything but an arbitrary decision. Wait and see, mr. McEwok. Wait and see?

 

That, or the fact that (A) there haven't been any mass-series Tales of the Jedi-period comics released since the end of 1998, and (B) there's been numerous requests for such stories for years since then; Reason (C), you bring up: the sheer lack of continuity restrictions in place, unlike the Rebellion and Clone Wars eras.

The game-sales are additional incentive to do such a series, aye, but they're obviously not the entire rationale...it's the hardcore SW fanbase that's going to make or break the book, with the gamer rank-and-file (the ones who've never so much as picked up a Star Wars comic in their life) filling in the audience base after that all-important WOM gets out.

That said, the broader strokes of Mr. Miller's plotting thus far, coupled with Jeremy's comments, increase my optimism for this one. Both audiences should be pleased.

 

McEwok, have you still not gotten around to playing KOTOR? If that be the case, it seems to me that you're wondering about Taris - don't blame DH for that, blame Bioware for putting it in the game.

What I'm curious about is how exactly this will tie into the game. I assume it will; else, why call it KOTOR and set in on Taris before the game?

 

Taris is simply the familiar jumping-off-point for those unfamiliar with the era, giving them something to orient themselves with before everything goes to **** down the road, raging Mandos and all that. Although developing the Tarisian class-divide seen in the games would be a worthwhile storytelling subtexture to explore.

(Myself, am hoping for some new, never-before-seen worlds; and I think it's also high time someone got around to depicting ancient Alderaan -- the Qel-Droma homeworld -- since the film's now laid that particular groundwork.)



But worry not -- there're still MANY other things to blame McEwok for. There doesn't exist a tome large enough to catalogue the inventory of his sins.

 

Mr. Barlow: Wait and see, mr. McEwok. Wait and see?

*nods* Of course. Well said.

In the meantime, maybe I should stress that I like the visual look and dialogue of the preview a lot. The "intern" (great line!) looks like a Jedi should...

But then again, Nomad looked good in exactly the same way too, and that was set just after TPM...

Leto:

I_G_T_L: I don't, as a rule, play computer-games much. Last thing I think I gave any time to was TIE Fighter or Jedi Knight in about 1998...

But I'm well aware of Taris' role as "Coruscant of the Outer Rim" - I was simply pointing out that nothing in that opening sequence said "Taris" or "KotOR" to me... and if you really want me to get into continuity quibbles, shouldn't those non-humans be banished to the Undercity in this timeframe...?

Really, though; it doesn't bother me!! For all I know, it could be a deliberate attempt to establish an atmosphere of Prequelesque normality!!

*deep breath*

This thread shouldn't be about me; it shouldn't even be about my POV. It should be about next year's return to the Golden Age of the Old Republic in Star Wars storytelling, and what that might (hopefully) mean...

- The Imperial Ewok

 

I enjoy the lighthearted feel of the preview. It's a nice change from the recent darkneww we've had in the movies in EU the past couple of years (not to say I don't like that, but this is a nice change).

And it feels like Star Wars. That's a very big plus.

 

Actually, Thrawn, they shouldn't be banished yet, as far as I can tell. That was one of the political consequences of Revan and the Jedi's visit to Taris early on in the Mandalorian wars. It caused a good deal of political upheaval; the anti-alien sentiment being fully expressed being one of the major consequences because of which group ended up in power.

As for the rest of it, well, this may just be the first time I actually start buying Star Wars comics... yes, I'm that excited.

- Keralys

 

There were a fair share of aliens on the Upper City in KOTOR. Good for the occasional race riot. Plus, of course, Bith musicians for the cantinas and Twi'lek dancers for, uh, 'dating'...I assume if Gryph could provide services of similar usefulness, they'd allow him up top.

 

That doesn't truly start happening in earnest until after the Mandalorians are driven off Taris -- around 3,961-60 BBY, to be precise.

It was when the Jedi finally left that the old aristocracy saw their chance for "revenge" against the alien cultures there who'd been "oppressing" them for years; the Taris slave uprisings after the Mando defeat only threw fuel on that fire.

Guun Han Saresh's family were among the monied alien nobility who'd have felt that particular backlash. Prior to this, it was more a state of uneasy, simmering equilibrium.