main
side
curve
  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Lit The Future Dies Tonight: It's the Legendary 181st Imperial Discussion Group Legacy Marathon!

Discussion in 'Literature' started by Grey1, Dec 16, 2015.

  1. Grey1

    Grey1 Host: 181st Imperial Discussion Group star 4 VIP

    Registered:
    Nov 21, 2000
    I bid you the Darkest Greetings before Greetingsrise, my friends. Or will there even be a new rise of Greetings after this as we approach the End of the Universe?

    As somebody pointed out just last week, there's a new Star Wars movie coming out, and allegedly it ignores and thus steamrolls the Expanded Universe. What wonderful coincidence, because the 181st Imperial Discussion Group, having been in the business of discussing novels and sometimes comic books ever since April 2008, has reached the end of the line. Over the course of five months, we examined the supposed major episodes of the New Jedi Order, the closest thing to a Sequel Trilogy that the Expanded Universe ever managed to pull off without becoming embarrassing; it did so well that years later, it can be discussed as a classic (even though the readers it lost still stay at home). And as everybody knows, there's only one thing left in the EU timeline after the NJO: Star Wars Legacy.

    After its premature cancellation, reprise, demise, unlikely rebirth and untimely death-by-powers-of-commerce (no, we're not talking about Futurama), Legacy managed to clock in 74 issues (if I'm not mistaken), making it the third-longest SW comic book project after the original Marvel series and the DH Republic/Clone Wars/Dark Times run that surpassed that (if I'm not mistaken). And basically, a point could be made that Legacy could be attached to Republic like a crazy plastic action toy to form a 189 issue super-series detailling the life and surroundings of a certain Tusken Raider Jedi. Yes, AOTC audience, you heard that right: Tusken Raider Jedi. Aaanyway, what is the only way of getting through this amount of material? A marathon!

    A Legacy marathon? That does sound familiar... There's stories about what happened...

    It's true. All of it. Back in August 2010, having collaborated on a very successful 50 issue KOTOR marathon (back before they did War arcs for everything), then-181st-host beccatoria and me teamed up again for what should be our very own legacy.. and yeah, that one turned out differently than expected. Beccatoria's and Grey1's Legacy Marathon & Drinking Game was very short-lived based on two factors. The minor one was that I was suddenly going through an Empire Strikes Back phase in my life, and I don't mean that I watched that movie a lot. Dropping out of the marathon, the forum and the internet for several weeks as if I'd been frozen in Carbonite, contemplating life like a hermit on a desert planet, I wasn't around to help Becca. Because there was that other, major factor: you can't do drinking games on here. Someone complained about us using irresponsible drinking for comic effect, and some time after issue #18 (the forum records are incomplete on that), the whole thing was flat-out cancelled. Becca soldiered on with the 181st, I contributed more regularly to that, eventually she gave me the keys to the castle so that I could run another thing into the ground, and here we are.

    So... Legacy Marathon! But no Drinking Game this time. I contemplated reviving this as a Hugging Game (hugging people instead of chugging drinks) back in the day because I love the rules we came up with so much, but when I started reading Legacy again a few weeks ago and looked out for just a few key elements, I had to realize that I'm simply too old to bother. So, yeah, a lot of the stuff we wanted to poke fun at is in there. A lot. Jedi suddenly holding their lightsabers the wrong way round, lots of Huttese-masked four-letter-swearing, sexploitation-style clothing & posing for both genders - basically everything that sounds like fun in the beginning and may start to wear you out after four years.

    And by the Force, aren't we all old. Legacy started in 2006! Back then, there were no Starkiller and Ahsoka Tano to hold their lightsabers the wrong way round. Back then, we could still assume that Jacen 'Jino' Solo might turn out to become Darth Krayt in an unprecedented (and eventually unincidented) display of Expanded Universe synergy. That would have been radical! But alas, let's marvel at how much greater Darth Caedus turned out.

    ...

    Anyway, enough rambling. The future may die, but not until we drank (responsibly) to it. Join in if you have your Legacy collection or any noteworthy Legacy recollection at hand. Props to John Ostrander for creating this entire thing, to Jan Duurseema for drawing most of the male and female body parts, to Corinna Bechko and Gabriel Hardman for following that act with an original idea, and finally to Dark Horse for knocking the ball out of the park when it came to creating interesting stories after "the final Star Wars movie ever" had come out.

    But now, let's enter an era in which the stories of Luke, Han and Leia have faded into legend... in which a hero claims to be no-one and hides his family name... in which a dark-haired girl destined for greater things lives on a junkyard on a desolate planet...


    Disclaimer: "The Future Dies Tonight" is a quote from Kris Straub's wonderful Starslip Crisis/Starslip webcomic. Well, possibly only from a collection book title, but anyway.
     
  2. Grey1

    Grey1 Host: 181st Imperial Discussion Group star 4 VIP

    Registered:
    Nov 21, 2000
    #0 - The Future of Star Wars! ...yeah.

    OK, I'll start the 74-issue marathon with an additional handbook (but I won't do # 0 1/2, since that's the only thing I didn't buy back then; probably the only issue that's worth some money, given my luck).

    So, the future of Star Wars at a time when the prequel trilogy and the NJO had both concluded was... Darth Maul as a bikini babe. I guess she's best friends with Maul, but other than that, there's not much I can say about Talon than "Darth Maul as a bikini babe". I'd even go as far and say that this single first image sums up most if not all problems I have with Legacy. Duurseema being a true artist and irritating us audience members by experimenting with a 3D CGI tool adds to the idea that SW comic books are suddenly reaching into the far future, but it also doesn't look good (I'm thinking about 90s VR game experiments, but without a Mike Oldfield soundtrack). And while I'm starting this thing by venting off all negative emotions, the Mynock isn't cool and its name laughable, and Cade's by-network-committee design of 5% Skywalker, 45% Vader, 20% Boba Fett, 20% Masters of the Universe and 10% 80s hair metal sums up most if not all problems I have with Legacy. So.

    Do I really have to do this?

    But rejoice, there's nice things. Like the Fel bloodline actually standing on the shoulders of the previous EU giant; and both the Force sensitivity and Marasiah pointed so strongly in the direction of Jaina not being forgotten that I never had a problem with the idea that Leia's bloodline eventually gets washed up in the actual Empire. I mean, Jaina's the Sowrd of the Jedi and here we have Imperial Knights, Jedi who define themselves by their sword! How cool is that? By the way, I always wonder if Corran would have a hand in the creation of the Imperial Knights, maybe leaving the Jedi Temple once Jaina emancipates herself from Denning, and protecting his fellow former pilot, thus creating the silver lightsaber army. What else... Ganner might simply be using an established name again because names do tend to appear more than once, but seeing how much swaggering impact The Ganner had, I wonder if Ostrander was possibly a Ganner fan who wanted to further immortalize the character, or if he wanted to capitalize on EU fandom being in love with The Ganner.

    What else? We have a main character losing his family name to hide; what strange idea; and we have a character named Finn! A bartender who'll probably appear in one issue. The Future of Star Wars has begun!

    A final note: It's an interesting choice how much is being told to the audience upfront. Add to that the 25 cent price and you're really easing the audience into the concept. Was this here really a hard sell? It's a box of toys, start to finish. If anything, #0 is a toy advert. Hm... maybe they should have made the series a tiny bit more kid friendly and collaborated with Hasbro on actually selling toys from start to finish, in the vein of great old toy lines that had comic books and TV shows as thinly veiled ads. Curiosity is raised, but I wonder how much more interesting it would have been to have to take everything in issue by issue... well, that's probably how people read Legacy today, isn't it.
     
  3. Robimus

    Robimus Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 6, 2007
    Issue #0.5 was a awesome. More of a sourcebook, something setting up what was to come. It showed us how heavily this series would tie into the rest of the EU, particularly the post NJO. Fel and Yage surnames, Pellaeon Class Star Destoyers, Yuuzhan Vong(not seen since the end of the NJO at that time iirc).

    I missed Legacy #0, what did it actually contain?
     
  4. Grey1

    Grey1 Host: 181st Imperial Discussion Group star 4 VIP

    Registered:
    Nov 21, 2000
    Well, everything you just mentioned, for starters. #0.5 might actually simply be an improved #0; the cover art with Talon is very similar, but way better looking, for example.
     
    Robimus likes this.
  5. Grey1

    Grey1 Host: 181st Imperial Discussion Group star 4 VIP

    Registered:
    Nov 21, 2000
    #1: Broken!

    In prose form, it's even more compelling how much backstory we're already being given. An entire issue showing the end of what made the present look the way it does; that's like watching the final act of ROTS before going into the OT. Effectively, this gives a lot of context and it already satisfies a lot of EU fans' need for getting the complete picture in the end before having to use the flashback tool. But on the other hand, Cade's special history as a former Skywalker and a kind-of-Jedi is completely out in the open; no chance of playing a twist with that.

    At the same time that we're not really starting in media res, like your general SW Episode movie, you can see, however, how you always have more backstory behind what's shown. Even if you don't have a craving need to find out how the Ossus massacre came to pass, or how the Ossus Project was handled, you'll get flashbacks to that anyway.

    Beyond that? This is 2006, and Sith are all the rage. This is the time when after Revenge of the Sith, villains always had to be Sith, to the point that the Lost Tribe of the Sith kind of mirrored the TOR game, where there have to be enough Sith around to offer enough PCs and XPs. But even more important, if not so in-your-face, is how both Krayt's quest for immortality and Cade's gift for bringing back the dead one-up ROTS and both Palpatine's and Anakin's motivation is that. Cade simply having the gift that everyone always craved, but apparently only having it because it's coming from a dark place is both intriguing and a bit of one-up-manship. I'll discuss this a bit more later on in a special on healer figures. Krayt, however, leaves us with a different, more generic question: what does he need his immortality for? What is the big plan that he just needs a bit more time for? With Palpatine and Plagueis, we're talking about actual immortality for itself. Here, Krayt seems to see a purpose that only he can fulfill, and that the rest of his One Order will one day inherit without having to take decisive steps anymore - but he doesn't seem averse to having them inherit the galaxy and eventually exiting the stage. Oh, I also feel Krayt being a callback to the Bane character in the 90s Batman comics (you may know a version of him from that third Nolan Batman movie). Muscled kingpin guys taking over an operation isn't all that special, but combining that with the idea of having "broken the spine of the galaxy"?

    And since we're at it, are we really feeling like we're seeing a galaxy with a broken spine? As if he'd taken something functioning and shattered it to rebuild it in his own image, not just leave it in chaos? In that regard, how successful is he really in reforming everything?

    It's exciting to see DH go all-in when it comes to continue the NJO's story, Vong and family names and all. This truly feels epic. Also, and I'll bring that up later again, Legacy issues are really chatty. You get a lot of dialogue for the page count, and there's quite a lot packed into this.

    Oh yeah, and back when I still counted, I found four lightsaber reverse grips (atrocious, but at least Saazen gets punished for it by losing his arm), and arguably two instances of skin for skin's sake: Kol is very obviously a very manly man and neither needs Jedi robes nor something covering his manly chest; and Cade runs around in his underwear because going to sleep in your underwear without clothes or battle armour at hand is exactly what you'd do when your sworn enemy has already sacked your better defended temple on Coruscant a few days before. More drama since it all appears to be oh-so-sudden to the reader, but then again, how much time does it take to put some clothes on when going into a battle for your life? No swearing yet.

    "We take what is given" will be very important for this series, even more than is obvious. More will be revealed about that.

    #2

    Look, it's the Marx Brothers on the cover! Cade's pedigree is apparently very difficult to get right in drawing.

    Three more reverse saber moments, two more skin moments and the first Huttese wash-your-mouth-cursing.

    This issue seeds the question of Imperial Allegiance. Is it to a person, by birthright? Or is it to a throne that any contender can grab by killing the guy who's on it? Sorry for what I'm about to say, Imperial fans, but - which idea is more foolish? In any event, Bastion is a very important place and the Stormtrooper corps is kind of a weird place where entire legions have their own ideas about allegiance. Although it might seem here as if Stormtroopers are all pro-Fel, but that's actually not the case.

    Meanwhile, Cade, being a bounty hunter (since this is the only acceptable profession except for smuggler, but drug smuggler is too light side for Cade), is capturing a Jedi. Which isn't all that hard, all things considered. Nobody notices? And since Cade obviously spares Hosk's life, getting in Jariah's line of sight when he's about to shoot to kill, wouldn't have been the best alternative to just let Hosk go with some flimsy excuse, but not get found out as a potential/famous Jedi in return? And wouldn't delivering a Jedi to the Sith fire up his "like Ossus" red alert (that we do not even know about yet)? But we get it, Cade has to do something nigh-irredeemable for his arc to work. At least he didn't kill younglings (becca! I'm doing it! I'm using the word 'younglings'!)...
     
  6. Robimus

    Robimus Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 6, 2007
    You're not planning on doing all 74 issues today are you? :p

    I won't be able to keep up, lol.
     
  7. Force Smuggler

    Force Smuggler Force Ghost star 7

    Registered:
    Sep 2, 2012
    Broken is one of the best opening arcs in SW imo.
     
    Jedi Ben likes this.
  8. Vthuil

    Vthuil Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Jan 3, 2013
    Nah, it's also a chapter title.

    And I'm afraid that bit of "I read this too!" is all I'm really going to contribute here: as previously discussed, I may be doing my own Legacy reread in the non-immediate but still foreseeable future, and after thinking about it I've decided that I'd rather not affect it by reading other discussions before hand.
     
  9. Grey1

    Grey1 Host: 181st Imperial Discussion Group star 4 VIP

    Registered:
    Nov 21, 2000
    That would be something - at least it would be over quickly, then. ;) But no, I've only got part of the marathon under the belt yet.

    It's definitely putting an interesting spin on the fundamental "save the female royal person" plot that originated in The Star Wars and resulted in two nice variations for the opening of both trilogies.

    #3

    in which we find out that the bounty on a Jedi is so high that you can actually not make a loss when delivering a regular bounty! Seriously, who would even work in that field when you need to catch *a Jedi* to be able to pay for basic nourishments (= drinks)? That's almost as bad a deal as manufacturing New Order's Blue Monday. But hey, at least pirate boss keeps Cade as a customer by feeding his addiction. I don't know how Cade would actually ever be able to pay for drugs, so why get him hooked anyway. Pirates and their bad business ways... no wonder nobody ever earned any money from music piracy.

    And while I contemplated that Death Sticks are of course another good way of weaving a throwaway AOTC line's concept into the fabric of the story, I just had to wonder if anyone ever suggested that Sleazabaggano tried to hook Obi-Wan on death sticks on Sidious' orders...

    Oh, we should mention that this is the issue with Luke in it. Another instance of something feeling just a bit off in Legacy for the sake of the audience, who just love that a favourite toy is pulled out of the toybox. It's also the best connection to bridge the gap from TUF (or DN/LOTF, which Ostrander obviously wouldn't ignore, unlike me) to Broken. But every theory as to why Luke of all Skywalkers would appear to Cade ends up being farfetched in comparison to more obvious candidates like Kol or maybe the darker Anakin. Perfect match if you ask me? Jacen the healer, with the Sith retcon actually working in favour. Toybox Luke it is, though.

    Oh, and finally the plot arrives! A female royal that needs rescuing! Great, those things kick off the best chains of events. Cade has a first Ossus flashback when the Sith come around and seems to do something out of the goodness of his heart; that, however, gets swept aside as if Cade's Sith moment had been a practical joke on us (so it feels a bit uneven), but at least this involves someone being smart, and Marasiah is recognized. Say, why isn't the heir of the Skywalker line, that of many Grand Masters, ever recognized when he's got the same first name and a suspicious lack of family names? Anyway, can't wait to see how this plot will turn out!

    #4 Noob

    I... what... an intermezzo? With a 1337 title? *sigh*

    OK, being the piece of sellable stormtrooper fanfluff that this is, this issue isn't actually all that bad. Art's down a notch, obviously. Hondo's haircut is atrocious, but isn't it funny how he is one of those blonde Mandos? The trooper helmet design is a bit over the place; it's hard to say whether it's meant to be a new design or simply badly drawn. I have to wonder if there's tactical advantage in not painting your troopers in a certain way if the deserter troopers have the same armour, it would definitely seem like a good way to avoid too much collateral damage.

    The most interesting thing this issue does is cement the main story's "we take what is given" idea by showing troopers who follow orders without thinking, unless they don't follow orders (probably without thinking, too). Killing your proverbial "brothers" is close to sending our soldiers over the edge, but it's not enough. Actually having to kill his deserter brother does the officer in, and basically, the main problem is that Sith are a bunch of bastards and thus don't inspire loyalty. So people start thinking and evaluating - and following their feelings - for themselves only because the Sith is increasingly crappy towards them. Logical conclusion? Not fight for the Sith-led Empire anymore. The Mando gets the idea but basically looks as if he's off surfing and robbing banks. The noob and his commander, however, rejoin the Sith Empire. What? Where's the sense in that? Sith don't even talk 1337 and have to receive a huuge explaination what n00b means. Lulz.
     
    Revanfan1 likes this.
  10. Revanfan1

    Revanfan1 Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 3, 2013
    I'm going to be honest, I never read the entirety of Legacy. I knew the major story beats, the protagonists and antagonists, but the series never interested me as much as KOTOR. I think my tastes have changed enough that I might enjoy Legacy if I read the whole thing now, though. What I read wasn't bad, but it was never my favorite stuff. I've always found Cade to be an insufferable jerk, which is hard for me to stomach when running side-by-side with lovable Zayne Carrick. But like I said, tastes change and I would probably enjoy it a lot more now.
     
    Force Smuggler, Jedi Ben and Grey1 like this.
  11. Grey1

    Grey1 Host: 181st Imperial Discussion Group star 4 VIP

    Registered:
    Nov 21, 2000
    Well, Zayne and KOTOR are better on every conceivable level if you ask me. Legacy is okay if you can get behind the 80s plastic toy box concept. And you know what - this marathon here is what we are given.
     
    Nobody145 and Revanfan1 like this.
  12. Dr. Steve Brule

    Dr. Steve Brule Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 7, 2012
    Man, May 2006 was such an exciting time. The movies were over forever, which meant that the universe was wide open for authors to be able to go in any direction they wanted without constraint. There was a big video game, animated show, and live-action TV series right around the corner. And the post-NJO era had finally arrived with not one, but two series called 'Legacy' each dealing with the legacy of the Skywalker family, which meant that both authorial teams had to be connected, right?

    I think I can honestly say that reading Betrayal, then getting Legacy 0 in the comic shop the week after, collectively had me more excited than I had been in the run-up to The Phantom Menace (or AOTC or ROTS... maybe even about how I feel now, about to see TFA tomorrow). There was just such a sense that the EU was about to go in an amazing, new, truly different direction, and that with the combination of the movies being over and these two big stories coming out together, we were once more seeing the EU take us into the "real continuation" of the franchise.

    At least one of those Legacy projects didn't disappoint...

    It's funny, I actually feel like Legacy is the EU work that is closest to KOTOR, the game and comic both. Even TOR doesn't really feel like it is as close a match to KOTOR as Legacy. Though I think the reason is clear, both the original KOTOR game and Legacy are largely based on tropes from the OT, a lesser number of prequel imagery and concepts, and character archetypes from both, combined and set in a different era.
     
    Grey1, Havac , Jedi Ben and 1 other person like this.
  13. Jedi Ben

    Jedi Ben Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Jul 19, 1999
    I wouldn't say lovable characters are Legacy's forte, but it really did shoot for the stars on the galactic politics.

    Didn't always realise it, but the ambition was there.

    The only big weakness of Vol 1 was too much focus on Cade when there were far more interesting people to follow.

    If nothing else, you'd love how Stasi responds to Cade!
     
    Revanfan1 likes this.
  14. Dr. Steve Brule

    Dr. Steve Brule Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 7, 2012
    One other comment on the start of Legacy: I think Legacy #1 was the only time I ever heard random other people in my local comic shop talk about a Star Wars comic. Legacy might also be the only Star Wars title that I remember ever occasionally outright sold out from my LCS.

    Actually, wasn't Legacy not only Dark Horse's best-selling Star Wars comic during the time it was being published, but also consistently its second-best seller after Buffy Season 8?
     
    BobaMatt and Jedi Ben like this.
  15. beccatoria

    beccatoria Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Dec 8, 2006
    Grey, I don't have time to reply properly because I'm literally on my way out to a midnight screening of that supposed EU-destroying movie, but you, sir, are a gentleman and a scholar. And when I have time, I'm coming back here, and maybe I will even be the one to partially participate due to stupidly busy life-balance stuff this time.

    I haven't been around so much lately, but I am really glad that the 181st is getting such a send-off and that it had such a great person to take care of it after I left.

    In very tasteful, responsible style, I raise my glass to you.
     
  16. blackmyron

    blackmyron Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    Oct 29, 2005
    He does change, though, over the course of the series - and I think that his story has a satisfying ending.
     
    Revanfan1 likes this.
  17. Darth_Garak

    Darth_Garak Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 28, 2005
    I'm not that bothered by Cade but I do admit I wanted to see more of everyone and everything else (the Tatooine arc was meh). John and Jan managed to create a very interesting setting to the point I were I cared more for the secondary characters than the main protagonist. Then again, the overall war and the politics always interest me more than the hero's journey.
     
  18. Force Smuggler

    Force Smuggler Force Ghost star 7

    Registered:
    Sep 2, 2012
    I wish that the series would have gone on instead of ending.
    And that Krayt remained dead.
     
    BobaMatt likes this.
  19. Robimus

    Robimus Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 6, 2007
    Noob was such a great interlude early on in the series. Great little one shot, great characters. Just a brief glance at how the rank and fil of the Fel Empire were reacting to the Sith takeover. Loved it.

    Also the first onscreen female Stormtrooper. Of course the Imperial Remnant had already shown numerous female characters before during NJO, but this was still a nice inclusion.

    Also, the book made for a great series of action figures :)
     
    BobaMatt likes this.
  20. Grey1

    Grey1 Host: 181st Imperial Discussion Group star 4 VIP

    Registered:
    Nov 21, 2000
    #5 Still Broken

    Funky Jedi cover! In the future, there will be only one dance left, and it will be freestyle to the Meco Star Wars theme. Poe Dameron is expecting you.

    So, lots of double-crossing; lots of lightsaber fighting with even more reverse grips than you can shake your empty sleeve at; a lot of fighting moves complimenting the female anatomy; and in addition, Cade is kind of revealed, but it isn't really a big deal.

    The sleeveless Jedi... isn't that highly impractical? If you don't get a replacement arm, why keep the sleeve, especially if you're fencing in a weird whirly reverse grip style? Hm... I just heard some people mocking Guy Ritchie films for including weirdly named characters with one weird defining feature...

    Going into the Broken title again, I wonder if the situation we have in Legacy - the galaxy's spine broken, Krayt broken by the Vong and desiring healing, and most of all obviously Cade broken - is a very emo motif compared to earlier SW setups where you have a light/dark dichotomy. Here, it's not so much about finding your destiny, about fighting he darkness and letting the light win, but with Cade, it's about being mopey. the galaxy around him is a metaphor for him being mopey. Oh - what if is it all a dream, a masochistic fantasy by the-world-revolves-around-me teenager padawan Cade? That would explain why he's a cool kick-pants Fett+Vader's pants bounty hunter with a hot-as-hell from-that-sex-crazed-species girlfriend. Typical teenager empowerment fantasy.


    #6

    So, Cade withdrew himself from the Force. Interesting bit of retro continuity: Yoda still needed a planet full of life to hide, Obi-Wan left a footprint when entering the Death Star; and "withdrawing" from the Force later on became associated with something Lumiya taught Vergere (who never actually had to hide in the Force with the Vong until the voxyn came around) and Caedus, and which then found its way to Ben Skywalker; possibly based on how Palpatine hid in plain sight on Coruscant. Giving this technique supposedly favored by Sith to young Ben and seeing it reappear with later Skywalkers? Funny bit of retro continuity.

    Blue and her Mynock engines quickly become the most annoying bit about that crew. I wonder if she's meant to capitalize on Firefly's "cute mechanic" Kaylee, only dialing cute over to more sexy. Her always having the same Trek-style "Cap'n the engines can't take it" speech when we all know the plot demands that the engines can take it is reaaally annoying.

    By the way, why do the One Sith have yorik coral lightsabers? It does blend in with Krayt's armour motif, but then again, doesn't he hate the Vong? And was there some conscious subtext in telling us that the Imp Knights have a "One Jedi" approach, as well, with identical sabers (replica of Corran's saber? Hm...), but never making the connection of people "taking what is given" when it comes to lightsaber designs? I guess that would have made the real, individualistic Jedi the best option for Cade, and we probably can't have that.

    Finally - why should I care about the Draco/Marasiah romance? Why? No, really, why? In addition, I think the princess actually dying here would have had reaaaally interesting repercussions for the story. I know, woman dying in comic book to influence male characters' stories, but if there wasn't so much precedence to make the story beat sexist, wouldn't it be interesting? Fel having to deal with letting his daugter die, Draco having to deal with not being able to save her, Cade dealing with letting her die to keep the dark side at bay. Or Sia could sacrifice herself for the greater good some more, not wanting to be saved by dark side energy or something! Anyway, as it stands now, she still dies for male character Cade to have development.

    #7

    Okay, the saber twirl effect is weird. Why did they choose to draw it that way? It reminds me of low-frame-rate anime. But my biggest gripe is - who invented saying "The Force be with you" and omitting the "May"? I hate that. Truly. From all my heart. I'll go all Sith on this way of saying an iconic movie phrase. The phrase is so iconic, you don't change it for something that amounts to being unable to spell properly.

    Important story beats include Krayt mentioning that he could have ended the Skywalker line (which is never really elaborated on ever, I guess; throwing Anakin out of the Jedi Order wouldn't necessarily ended the line; and the eventual meeting of Krayt and Luke years later in Apocalypse never made enough sense to me as a "I could have killed him" moment when he both has to stay hidden and has to work towards the common enemy. Weird, weird) and Blue being coloured the wrong way so that it looks like Cade got it on with Marasiah. Only available in the original single issue, they actually reprinted the page some issues later to clear that point up. The things you miss out on when buying trade collections! Not to mention the funny D&D adverts.

    Okay, the most important thing about this here is that Cade is healing by imposing his will on the Force. Very dark side and probably what Plageuis was after (could it be that Plagueis created the trait in his "virgin birth" experiment, but it remained dormant for several generations? That might even tie into the Skywalker line being cursed with constantly having to balance the Force, since their very existence will always give a dark side boost. I like this theory!). So, Cade is doing dark stuff. But how is he "getting close" to the dark side? Getting close to accepting it as the way to go? Or getting close to being snatched by the bogeyman that comes around whenever you summon the dark energies?

    Anyway, Cade runs off, our first arc ends and it's a bit like the end of Episode 4, but with less huge battles, especially with no huge battles directly tying into our hero's story. Which will be a theme in Legacy. Cade never joins the huge battles until the endgame. Yes, he's aiming for Krayt; but he's not getting involved in this rebellion thing, being a Han Solo character and being very emo, very navel-gazing and very "I'm the center of my universe".
     
    GrimdarkRose likes this.
  21. Havac

    Havac Former Moderator star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 29, 2005
    Cade is kind of a twerp, but all the other characters around him are really strong, very interesting. Kol, Wolf, Shado, Stazi, Bey, Roan and Sia Fel, Ganner Krieg, Sinde, Nat, Jariah, Deliah, Morrigan -- the series is packed full of likable and fascinating characters. Really, Cade is the weak point -- and that's only because his character was so back-and-forth, so resistant to change and development, yet kept hogging the spotlight with his childish selfishness that he kept getting let off the hook for. That's a weariness that comes in later, though, and Broken remains one of the greatest comic arcs, and certainly the most fascinating intro to a series, in Star Wars. It's absolutely electric, introducing a bold new status quo and a big cast of intriguing personalities who do big things, a story that promises to go in exciting directions.
     
    Revanfan1, Jedi Ben and Nobody145 like this.
  22. BobaMatt

    BobaMatt TFN EU Staff star 7 VIP

    Registered:
    Aug 19, 2002
    Legacy was the only bit of post-NJO fiction to take the ramifications of the NJO seriously.
    I assume it's a very good building material.
     
    Robimus and Force Smuggler like this.
  23. Nobody145

    Nobody145 Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Feb 9, 2007
    The One Sith had yorik coral lightsabers? Hm, must have missed that detail. Although the One Sith were pretty familiar with Vong biotechnology (with how Maladi sabotaged the Ossus project).

    I think Legacy went downhill after #24 or so (Cade had faced Darth Krayt and lived, and much of the rest of the series was him whining or trying to run away from his destiny), but the initial Broken arc is still very good. Back when these issues had just been released, shortly after the NJO, I liked Cade's bitter attitude towards the galaxy. During the Vong War, much of the galaxy had been more than ready to throw the Jedi to the wolves, based on the word of the Vong (who had repeatedly shown they had no respect or consideration for "infidels"). After we find out how the Clone Wars ended, not to mention LotF and FotJ, its makes Cade's attitude even more justified- why bother helping such an idiotic galaxy?

    Unfortunately for Cade, he's been "blessed" with special healing power, and Krayt really wants that power. This first arc had so much potential. Marasiah Fel seemed to be an active character at first, Imperial princess and Knight, she sort of survived being on the run, genre saavy enough to know her pursuer hasn't killed her yet to try to find Roan Fel's location, unfortunately she's off-screen for most of the series. Astraal Vao is another character with potential, who unfortunately never shows up again (that Tatooine arc in particular was a huge waste of time, especially that dream duel with Luke, who unfortunately devolves into just nagging Cade endlessly for most of the series). Here she is, a Force sensitive Twi'lek, but whereas her brother became a Jedi she became an Imperial missionary, not even an Imperial Knight. She's also unknowingly a spy, since this seemingly nice old guy has adapted and turned his good-will initiative into an information service so that Krayt won't disband the Imperial Mission.

    Things move a bit too fast in this initial arc (the end of the Sith-Imperial War, Krayt seizes the throne, time jump, etc.), but sets up a fascinating status quo for the galaxy. The old Legacy Era Campaign Guide gave a lot of interesting details for the galaxy in this century.

    Personally, I also liked Jariah. He's fringe, but he's loyal and as we find out he kind of has a good reason to hate the Jedi (he's remembering wrong, but I thought his circumstances were slightly understandable, though he was deluding himself). He's also willing to shoot Sith, which is far more intelligent than most of the rest of the galaxy.

    Legacy's biggest weakness was that Cade had issues, but if the galaxy had left him alone, he probably wouldn't have ended up like his ancestor, Anakin Skywalker. Unfortunately, destiny says Cade must fight Krayt, no matter what. Too bad, I would have loved more issues with Stazi, or the Fels, or Treis Sinde, or the Mandalorians, or Rogue Squadron, really almost anyone but Cade. Well, Cade and Antares were the most boring.

    I remember that old miscolor page. Cade and Marasiah was one of the old crack/crazy pairings I wondered about sometime. And then there was the "they're related" counters (since Marasiah was probably a descendant of Jaina), then the "they're too distantly related to count!" counter-counters, etc.

    Of course, it doesn't help that KotOR and Zayne really outshone Cade any day of the week. Oh, 2006-2008 was such a great time for Star Wars comics.
     
    Gamiel, Force Smuggler and Jedi Ben like this.
  24. Robimus

    Robimus Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 6, 2007
    I'm not sure what you mean. If the galaxy left him alone he likely would have grown up and become a Jedi. But the galaxy didn't leave him alone and he still came around to save the galaxy, while not ever really embracing the "proper way" to be a Jedi. Either way he didn't or wouldn't have ended up like Anakin Skywalker did.

    I'd also point out that I think we would have definitely seen more of every character/group you mention if Dark Horse had not cut the series off short. Yes, it got really Cade centric at the end because they had to rush towards a conclusion.

    Either way, for me, I though Cade's issues were refreshing to see from a Skywalker. And they built a plausible story around why he had the issues he had. John & Jan didn't play it safe with the character and that is what made him interesting.
     
  25. Force Smuggler

    Force Smuggler Force Ghost star 7

    Registered:
    Sep 2, 2012
    His whole debate with Luke in Broken was great imo.
    Every generation, even yours has its battles and struggles.
    Why be a jedi? The galaxy has turned on us every time.
    The Force is a part of you just like breathing. Wish Jacen got that memo in early Balance Point.
     
    Robimus, spicer and BobaMatt like this.