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jaredkwheeler's review against another edition
2.0
Star Wars Legends Project #161
Background: Clone Wars Adventures, Volume 4 was released in October of 2005. It contains four stories in the style of Cartoon Network's animated Clone Wars series: Another Fine Mess, The Brink, Orders, and Descent. The first, third, and fourth were drawn by the [a:Fillbach Brothers|5498466|Fillbach Brothers|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png], who also wrote the first one. The second was written by [a:Justin Lambros|67057|Justin Lambros|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] with art by [a:Rick Lacy|59161|Rick Lacy|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png], the third was written by [a:Ryan Kaufman|95259|Ryan Kaufman|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png], and the fourth was written by [a:Haden Blackman W.|7651874|Haden Blackman W.|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png].
Another Fine Mess features R2-D2 and C-3PO. The Brink stars Anakin Skywalker. Orders centers around a squad of clone commandos. Descent features Chewbacca and various other Wookiees. All 4 stories are set around the end of the Clone Wars, 19 years before the Battle of Yavin. The latter 2 deal specifically with Order 66 and its aftermath.
Summary: In Another Fine Mess, everyone's favorite droid duo bumbles through a series of misadventures that accidentally wreaks havoc on a Separatist plot targeting Padme Amidala.
In The Brink, Anakin responds to a distress call and finds a lone Jedi fighting for survival against a bizarre and deadly alien threat.
In Orders, a commando squad rescues a boy whose family were collateral damage of a Republic bombing and give him a vivid lesson in the value clones place on following orders.
In Descent a squad of clone troopers gets a vivid lesson in why it's a bad idea to go to war with the Wookiees.
Review: You can refer to my review of [b:Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures, Vol. 1|35438|Star Wars Clone Wars Adventures, Vol. 1|W. Haden Blackman|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1403200391s/35438.jpg|35373] for some general thoughts that apply to the series as a whole.
Orders was the best of the lot, and played havoc with my sympathies. As usual, the stories that revolve around clones are the best, and this one has several fun easter-egg references to Karen Traviss's Republic Commando novels and an emotional gut-punch of an ending. Very solid.
The Brink makes the least sense by a long shot. The enemy Anakin is fighting is weird and never really explained. It's a thin excuse for crazy Jedi action, but the framework is flimsier even than normal. And of all the characters, I hate the way Anakin is drawn the most. He looks like a has-been '80s rockstar. Not good.
The other two are just variations on the same theme, but in different genres: Our heroes emerge triumphant from a battle with enemy forces. Except the droid story is a slapstick comedy and the Wookiee story is an action thriller. Or they would be if they had more of an actual plot. Take or leave.
C-
Background: Clone Wars Adventures, Volume 4 was released in October of 2005. It contains four stories in the style of Cartoon Network's animated Clone Wars series: Another Fine Mess, The Brink, Orders, and Descent. The first, third, and fourth were drawn by the [a:Fillbach Brothers|5498466|Fillbach Brothers|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png], who also wrote the first one. The second was written by [a:Justin Lambros|67057|Justin Lambros|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] with art by [a:Rick Lacy|59161|Rick Lacy|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png], the third was written by [a:Ryan Kaufman|95259|Ryan Kaufman|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png], and the fourth was written by [a:Haden Blackman W.|7651874|Haden Blackman W.|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png].
Another Fine Mess features R2-D2 and C-3PO. The Brink stars Anakin Skywalker. Orders centers around a squad of clone commandos. Descent features Chewbacca and various other Wookiees. All 4 stories are set around the end of the Clone Wars, 19 years before the Battle of Yavin. The latter 2 deal specifically with Order 66 and its aftermath.
Summary: In Another Fine Mess, everyone's favorite droid duo bumbles through a series of misadventures that accidentally wreaks havoc on a Separatist plot targeting Padme Amidala.
In The Brink, Anakin responds to a distress call and finds a lone Jedi fighting for survival against a bizarre and deadly alien threat.
In Orders, a commando squad rescues a boy whose family were collateral damage of a Republic bombing and give him a vivid lesson in the value clones place on following orders.
In Descent a squad of clone troopers gets a vivid lesson in why it's a bad idea to go to war with the Wookiees.
Review: You can refer to my review of [b:Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures, Vol. 1|35438|Star Wars Clone Wars Adventures, Vol. 1|W. Haden Blackman|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1403200391s/35438.jpg|35373] for some general thoughts that apply to the series as a whole.
Orders was the best of the lot, and played havoc with my sympathies. As usual, the stories that revolve around clones are the best, and this one has several fun easter-egg references to Karen Traviss's Republic Commando novels and an emotional gut-punch of an ending. Very solid.
The Brink makes the least sense by a long shot. The enemy Anakin is fighting is weird and never really explained. It's a thin excuse for crazy Jedi action, but the framework is flimsier even than normal. And of all the characters, I hate the way Anakin is drawn the most. He looks like a has-been '80s rockstar. Not good.
The other two are just variations on the same theme, but in different genres: Our heroes emerge triumphant from a battle with enemy forces. Except the droid story is a slapstick comedy and the Wookiee story is an action thriller. Or they would be if they had more of an actual plot. Take or leave.
C-
markmtz's review against another edition
3.0
The cartoon Clone Wars adventures continue to be entertaining, both the stories and the art. Writers and artists include the Fillbach brothers, Justin Lambres, Rick Lacy, Ryan Kaufman, Haden Blackman, and Dan Jackson. Good for kids and adults.
Published in trade paperback by Dark Horse Books.
Published in trade paperback by Dark Horse Books.
rivulet027's review against another edition
5.0
The first story where C-3PO and Artoo inadvertently save the day through their misadventures was cute.
The second story had an interesting start. Artoo manages to pick up a weak distress signal from Jedi Knight Keto and Anakin takes off to go help despite Obi-Wan reminding him they are supposed to regroup with the fleet since they are running low on supplies and armaments. Anakin takes off to help and though he's getting thousands of life signs the space station the distress signal leads to looks abandon. After land he finds a bunch of dead clone troopers. Serra Keto is alive and insists they leave right away. Anakin insists on investigating. There are some small pink cyborg creatures that can combine to be huge. Serra tries to help and Anakin eventually punches a hole in through the outer wall of the room they're in to get the creature into space. Serra and him manage to get the door closed. Anakin starts heading to the landing platform saying that the space station is falling apart. Serra says that the only way to destroy the creatures is to destroy the space station and themselves. They make it to the landing platform and Serra is not please to see that Anakin came in a one seated fighter. "You brought a one-person ship on a rescue mission?" she asks. Anakin responds, as the space station is falling apart around them, "You can wait for a bigger ship to come along if you like." She gets in his lap. As they make their way towards his hyperspace ring he offers to take her to see some spectacular crystalline asteroids.
The third story is why I'm giving this five stars. It's told from the perspective of a young kid named Evan. He's hiding in the ruins of the farmhouse he grew up in that the droids destroyed. He gets found by a clone trooper. The leader tells him that he's going to come with them to a refugee camp. Evan protest that he doesn't want to leave his home. The trooper tells him that these are their orders and they're going to follow him. The troopers keep picking him up by the collar of his tunic. When they get to some fields Evan sees his chance and runs away. He makes it the the river, then gets attacked by a droid. The clone trooper rescue him. Now the troopers are less scary and more his heroes. They set up camp for the night and introduce themselves: RC-1013 is in charge and he goes by Sarge, Zag has a scar across is left eye, Tyto has a tattoo that you can't quite see on his right arm, and Di'Kut's armor is painted green. They answer his questions and are generally nice to him. Evan tells them, "Back there with the spider walker...you risked you life to save me". Sarge answers, "Save women and children. Those were our orders." "And 'we don't question orders'" Evan says, repeating what had been said to him earlier. "Right," Sarge agrees. Evan says, "I don't understand." Sarge tells him, "We're bred and trained to follow orders. Sometimes they're good. Sometimes they're bad. We've got no homes, no mothers to raise us, no fathers to guide us, but we were thrown into a war and trained to die for a Republic we'd never even seen. We've got nothing but each other and our orders." The next day they make it to the refugee camp and Sarge introduces Evan to General Traavis. Evan is wide eyed and happy to meet a really Jedi. Traavis greets them and is friendly, happy to share the news that General Grievous is dead. Then Order 66 comes through Sarge's helmet, which he is holding in his hand and Evan's standing there as they kill General Traavis.
The last story is Chewbacca and Tarfful evading clone troopers after Order 66.
The second story had an interesting start. Artoo manages to pick up a weak distress signal from Jedi Knight Keto and Anakin takes off to go help despite Obi-Wan reminding him they are supposed to regroup with the fleet since they are running low on supplies and armaments. Anakin takes off to help and though he's getting thousands of life signs the space station the distress signal leads to looks abandon. After land he finds a bunch of dead clone troopers. Serra Keto is alive and insists they leave right away. Anakin insists on investigating. There are some small pink cyborg creatures that can combine to be huge. Serra tries to help and Anakin eventually punches a hole in through the outer wall of the room they're in to get the creature into space. Serra and him manage to get the door closed. Anakin starts heading to the landing platform saying that the space station is falling apart. Serra says that the only way to destroy the creatures is to destroy the space station and themselves. They make it to the landing platform and Serra is not please to see that Anakin came in a one seated fighter. "You brought a one-person ship on a rescue mission?" she asks. Anakin responds, as the space station is falling apart around them, "You can wait for a bigger ship to come along if you like." She gets in his lap. As they make their way towards his hyperspace ring he offers to take her to see some spectacular crystalline asteroids.
The third story is why I'm giving this five stars. It's told from the perspective of a young kid named Evan. He's hiding in the ruins of the farmhouse he grew up in that the droids destroyed. He gets found by a clone trooper. The leader tells him that he's going to come with them to a refugee camp. Evan protest that he doesn't want to leave his home. The trooper tells him that these are their orders and they're going to follow him. The troopers keep picking him up by the collar of his tunic. When they get to some fields Evan sees his chance and runs away. He makes it the the river, then gets attacked by a droid. The clone trooper rescue him. Now the troopers are less scary and more his heroes. They set up camp for the night and introduce themselves: RC-1013 is in charge and he goes by Sarge, Zag has a scar across is left eye, Tyto has a tattoo that you can't quite see on his right arm, and Di'Kut's armor is painted green. They answer his questions and are generally nice to him. Evan tells them, "Back there with the spider walker...you risked you life to save me". Sarge answers, "Save women and children. Those were our orders." "And 'we don't question orders'" Evan says, repeating what had been said to him earlier. "Right," Sarge agrees. Evan says, "I don't understand." Sarge tells him, "We're bred and trained to follow orders. Sometimes they're good. Sometimes they're bad. We've got no homes, no mothers to raise us, no fathers to guide us, but we were thrown into a war and trained to die for a Republic we'd never even seen. We've got nothing but each other and our orders." The next day they make it to the refugee camp and Sarge introduces Evan to General Traavis. Evan is wide eyed and happy to meet a really Jedi. Traavis greets them and is friendly, happy to share the news that General Grievous is dead. Then Order 66 comes through Sarge's helmet, which he is holding in his hand and Evan's standing there as they kill General Traavis.
The last story is Chewbacca and Tarfful evading clone troopers after Order 66.
birdmanseven's review against another edition
4.0
I particularly enjoyed this volume. Nice to see some of the classic characters get some play.
jmshirtz's review against another edition
4.0
This is probably my favorite Clone Wars Adventures graphic novel so far. Artoo and Threepio are accidentally lucky, Anakin makes a new friend in Serra (I'd like to read more about these two!), and little Evan reminds me of why Order 66 was so tragic and awful!
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