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Star Wars the Clone Wars: Slaves of Hte Republic, Volume 6: Escape from Kadavo by Henry Gilroy
jaredkwheeler's review against another edition
3.0
Star Wars Legends Project #138
Background: Crash Course came out in December of 2008, the second in a series of 11 graphic novellas that tie-in to The Clone Wars animated show. It was written by [a:Henry Gilroy|153690|Henry Gilroy|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] and drawn by the [a:Fillbach Brothers|5498466|Fillbach Brothers|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]. Gilroy was in charge of the first season of The Clone Wars, and the Fillbach Brothers did all of the art for the "Clone Wars Adventures" series (the tie-in to that other Clone Wars animated series).
Crash Course is set "in the early months" after the Battle of Geonosis (22 years before the Battle of Yavin). The main characters are Anakin, Ahsoka, and Captain Rex with minor appearances by various series regulars.
Summary: A traitorous senator passes vital information about the Republic off to a Separatist agent, who eludes capture as the Jedi close in on the senator. Anakin and Ahsoka track him to Mon Gazza, where Anakin hopes to exceed the Council's expectations by uncovering the whole spy network rather than merely retrieving the stolen data. Unfortunately, he misses the handoff and Ahsoka is forced to go undercover as a podracer in order to salvage the situation, assuming she can survive her first race on one of the galaxy's most treacherous courses.
Review: The basic germ of this story sounds like a great idea: Anakin has to enter Ahsoka into a podrace and teach her the ropes of the competition that was such a formative part of his childhood. It's just that the execution is so nakedly contrived, and then it shoehorns in an awkward romance subplot for Ahsoka that doesn't really make much sense. And the Fillbach Brothers still can't figure out how to draw Ahsoka well. The art style in general is not growing on me, but I could live with it if Ahsoka didn't look like a malformed scarecrow.
That said, if you can overlook the basic illogic of the plot at a fundamental level, there are still some things to enjoy here. I like that Captain Rex gets to play a part. I like the climactic finale (again, illogic aside). I like Kidd Kareen, except for his god-awful name. I like the reasonably subdued references to Anakin's racing career and the cameos by some of his ex-opponents. Mediocre, but not a complete waste of time.
C
Background: Crash Course came out in December of 2008, the second in a series of 11 graphic novellas that tie-in to The Clone Wars animated show. It was written by [a:Henry Gilroy|153690|Henry Gilroy|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] and drawn by the [a:Fillbach Brothers|5498466|Fillbach Brothers|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]. Gilroy was in charge of the first season of The Clone Wars, and the Fillbach Brothers did all of the art for the "Clone Wars Adventures" series (the tie-in to that other Clone Wars animated series).
Crash Course is set "in the early months" after the Battle of Geonosis (22 years before the Battle of Yavin). The main characters are Anakin, Ahsoka, and Captain Rex with minor appearances by various series regulars.
Summary: A traitorous senator passes vital information about the Republic off to a Separatist agent, who eludes capture as the Jedi close in on the senator. Anakin and Ahsoka track him to Mon Gazza, where Anakin hopes to exceed the Council's expectations by uncovering the whole spy network rather than merely retrieving the stolen data. Unfortunately, he misses the handoff and Ahsoka is forced to go undercover as a podracer in order to salvage the situation, assuming she can survive her first race on one of the galaxy's most treacherous courses.
Review: The basic germ of this story sounds like a great idea: Anakin has to enter Ahsoka into a podrace and teach her the ropes of the competition that was such a formative part of his childhood. It's just that the execution is so nakedly contrived, and then it shoehorns in an awkward romance subplot for Ahsoka that doesn't really make much sense. And the Fillbach Brothers still can't figure out how to draw Ahsoka well. The art style in general is not growing on me, but I could live with it if Ahsoka didn't look like a malformed scarecrow.
That said, if you can overlook the basic illogic of the plot at a fundamental level, there are still some things to enjoy here. I like that Captain Rex gets to play a part. I like the climactic finale (again, illogic aside). I like Kidd Kareen, except for his god-awful name. I like the reasonably subdued references to Anakin's racing career and the cameos by some of his ex-opponents. Mediocre, but not a complete waste of time.
C
jaredkwheeler's review against another edition
3.0
Star Wars Legends Project #146
Background: Slaves of the Republic was released in six issues from September 2008 to May 2009. The trade paperback was published in December of 2009. It was first arc in Dark Horse's 12-issue "Clone Wars" run of comics (a run that was supposed to only consist of these 6 issues, but which was extended based on their success). The story was written by [a:Henry Gilroy|153690|Henry Gilroy|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] with art by [a:Scott Hepburn|1953865|Scott Hepburn|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png], [a:Ramón Pérez|18210|Ramón Pérez|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1417177333p2/18210.jpg], and [a:Lucas Marangon|452069|Lucas Marangon|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]. Gilroy was the head writer during the first season of The Clone Wars animated series. Hepburn also drew for the three Clone Wars issues that followed this arc, and he did the Vector storyline for Knights of the Old Republic. Perez has a smattering of other Star Wars work, including the "Crash Course" Clone Wars graphic novella. Marangon is best-known for his hilarious "Tag and Bink" run of comics.
Slaves of the Republic is set over a year after the Battle of Geonosis (21 years before the Battle of Yavin). The main characters are Anakin, Ahsoka, and Obi-Wan. This story arc was later adapted for a 3-part series of episodes, with some significant differences, during the 4th season of The Clone Wars.
Summary: After Ahsoka, Anakin, and Obi-Wan lead an invasion on the Togrutan colony world of Kiros, they find that the colonists, millions of them, have mysteriously vanished. Suspecting that Count Dooku has sold them into slavery, they go undercover as smugglers in order to infiltrate the Zygerrian slave empire and free the lost people.
Review: I watched the episodes of The Clone Wars show based on this arc shortly after reading it, and while I could recount to you some of the differences between the two stories, I almost immediately lost track of which differences belonged to what source. There's probably some interesting material to be mined from parsing out the differences between the two versions, but that's not something I care to get into here.
With 3 different artists working on it, the art is a bit uneven, but it's not a major distraction from the story. At least, it isn't more of a distraction than some of the logistic questions that come up as you go along. The show is actually worse in this respect, but anyway . . . despite several references to a sizable number of colonists to be rescued, we never get a sense that the numbers are more than a hundred or so. There's a problem of scale, not uncommon to Star Wars, but made worse here by the fact that they reference numbers they have no hope of showing.
Minor complaints like that aside, there's some really good stuff here. There are one or two particularly fine action set-pieces. Ahsoka, as usual, gets the best role, though there's a nice segment that involves Obi-Wan forced to bury his natural Jedi instincts in order to protect the innocent. Anakin's segment is the weakest, which is weird on a few counts. On a surface level, there's a long, draggy bit where Anakin first pretending to be a slaver in order to get close to the Zygerrian queen, and then later is forced to remain in that role in order to keep his friends safe. It's this latter bit that is particularly baffling. Anakin and the queen have a totally bizarre relationship that makes very little narrative sense, and doesn't follow from any character development that I could identify.
Digging a little deeper, Anakin's story is the biggest missed opportunity of all. The title is a sharp reference to the Jedi and their status within the government they serve, as well as to the missing colonists, and their is rich material to be mined there. The story pays lip service to Anakin's past as a slave and the obviously personal nature of this mission to him, but then it proceeds to effectively do nothing with any of that. Anakin barely seems to struggle at all in playing nice with the slavers, both undercover and as their sort-of hostage. The best the arc can do is a bittersweet exchange between Anakin and Ahsoka at the end, a glimpse of a future we wish had come to pass.
I almost wonder if the story wouldn't have worked far better had Anakin and Obi-Wan swapped places. Obi-Wan is caught-out first pulling the kind of stunt I'd have expected Anakin to pull, and Anakin meanwhile handles himself with the suave, cool detachment I'd expect from Obi-Wan. Overall, I'd say the story also runs a bit too long considering how little it does with some of the opportunities it has. It's not half-bad, but could have been far better.
B-
Background: Slaves of the Republic was released in six issues from September 2008 to May 2009. The trade paperback was published in December of 2009. It was first arc in Dark Horse's 12-issue "Clone Wars" run of comics (a run that was supposed to only consist of these 6 issues, but which was extended based on their success). The story was written by [a:Henry Gilroy|153690|Henry Gilroy|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] with art by [a:Scott Hepburn|1953865|Scott Hepburn|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png], [a:Ramón Pérez|18210|Ramón Pérez|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1417177333p2/18210.jpg], and [a:Lucas Marangon|452069|Lucas Marangon|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]. Gilroy was the head writer during the first season of The Clone Wars animated series. Hepburn also drew for the three Clone Wars issues that followed this arc, and he did the Vector storyline for Knights of the Old Republic. Perez has a smattering of other Star Wars work, including the "Crash Course" Clone Wars graphic novella. Marangon is best-known for his hilarious "Tag and Bink" run of comics.
Slaves of the Republic is set over a year after the Battle of Geonosis (21 years before the Battle of Yavin). The main characters are Anakin, Ahsoka, and Obi-Wan. This story arc was later adapted for a 3-part series of episodes, with some significant differences, during the 4th season of The Clone Wars.
Summary: After Ahsoka, Anakin, and Obi-Wan lead an invasion on the Togrutan colony world of Kiros, they find that the colonists, millions of them, have mysteriously vanished. Suspecting that Count Dooku has sold them into slavery, they go undercover as smugglers in order to infiltrate the Zygerrian slave empire and free the lost people.
Review: I watched the episodes of The Clone Wars show based on this arc shortly after reading it, and while I could recount to you some of the differences between the two stories, I almost immediately lost track of which differences belonged to what source. There's probably some interesting material to be mined from parsing out the differences between the two versions, but that's not something I care to get into here.
With 3 different artists working on it, the art is a bit uneven, but it's not a major distraction from the story. At least, it isn't more of a distraction than some of the logistic questions that come up as you go along. The show is actually worse in this respect, but anyway . . . despite several references to a sizable number of colonists to be rescued, we never get a sense that the numbers are more than a hundred or so. There's a problem of scale, not uncommon to Star Wars, but made worse here by the fact that they reference numbers they have no hope of showing.
Minor complaints like that aside, there's some really good stuff here. There are one or two particularly fine action set-pieces. Ahsoka, as usual, gets the best role, though there's a nice segment that involves Obi-Wan forced to bury his natural Jedi instincts in order to protect the innocent. Anakin's segment is the weakest, which is weird on a few counts. On a surface level, there's a long, draggy bit where Anakin first pretending to be a slaver in order to get close to the Zygerrian queen, and then later is forced to remain in that role in order to keep his friends safe. It's this latter bit that is particularly baffling. Anakin and the queen have a totally bizarre relationship that makes very little narrative sense, and doesn't follow from any character development that I could identify.
Digging a little deeper, Anakin's story is the biggest missed opportunity of all. The title is a sharp reference to the Jedi and their status within the government they serve, as well as to the missing colonists, and their is rich material to be mined there. The story pays lip service to Anakin's past as a slave and the obviously personal nature of this mission to him, but then it proceeds to effectively do nothing with any of that. Anakin barely seems to struggle at all in playing nice with the slavers, both undercover and as their sort-of hostage. The best the arc can do is a bittersweet exchange between Anakin and Ahsoka at the end, a glimpse of a future we wish had come to pass.
I almost wonder if the story wouldn't have worked far better had Anakin and Obi-Wan swapped places. Obi-Wan is caught-out first pulling the kind of stunt I'd have expected Anakin to pull, and Anakin meanwhile handles himself with the suave, cool detachment I'd expect from Obi-Wan. Overall, I'd say the story also runs a bit too long considering how little it does with some of the opportunities it has. It's not half-bad, but could have been far better.
B-
jadejade's review against another edition
4.0
Child had borrowed this from the library and requested that I read this, as they had enjoyed it. I rather suspect the child was more into the pew-pew than the discussion of unwilling sacrifices versus willing sacrifices, and peaceful people being forced to take up arms in response to war.
rivulet027's review against another edition
5.0
This was very cute. Ahsoka and Anakin have to leave Obi-Wan to finish fighting on Queel so they can head to Mon Gazza to recover stolen Republic data. Anakin quickly figures out that the spy must be a pod racer and so he decides to enter Ahsoka into the race. She bonds with a racer who is young like her, Kidd Kareen. With the help of Rex and R2-D2 Anakin finds the spy, but not before the spy figures out who Ahsoka is and then tries to convinced Kidd to help him kill Ahsoka during the race...and then of course Ventress shows up...
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