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blancwene's review
2.0
For 2021, I decided to reread Del Rey’s first attempt at a multi-author book series in the Star Wars universe: The New Jedi Order, which was published between 1999 and 2003. This shakes out to 19 novels, two eBook novellas, three short stories, and a tangentially-related prequel era novel.
This week’s focus: a short comic from [b:Star Wars Tales (1999-2005) #21|28270175|Star Wars Tales (1999-2005) #21|Jeremy Barlow|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1450835786l/28270175._SY75_.jpg|48316866], featuring Kyle Katarn and Jan Ors: “Equals & Opposites” by Nathan P. Butler and James Raiz.
SOME HISTORY:
Star Wars Tales was a comic book anthology series from Dark Horse Comics that ran for 24 issues from 1999 to 2005. Each issue featured several short stories from various creators that are set in multiple eras of the Star Wars timeline, and most of the stories are non-continuity—Issue 21 was the first to be completely comprised of fully canonical stories. “Equals & Opposites” was published in Issue 21 on October 20, 2004, and was originally titled “Flair for the Dramatic.”
MY RECOLLECTION OF THE STORY:
I had no prior recollection of this comic at all! I wasn’t a big comic book reader, so I wasn’t aware of most of the Star Wars comics that came out in the 90s and early 2000s.
A BRIEF SUMMARY:
Jedi Master Kyle Katarn and Alpha Blue operative Jan Ors join forces with Lieutenant Pallin of the Imperial Remnant on the planet Ord Sedra, which has been conquered by the Yuuzhan Vong.
TIMELINE DISCLAIMER:
Since “Equals & Opposites” involves New Republic and Imperial forces working together, it has to be set after [b:Force Heretic I: Remnant|55546|Force Heretic I Remnant (Star Wars The New Jedi Order, #15)|Sean Williams|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1403181057l/55546._SY75_.jpg|54132]. I chose to read it in-between Remnant and [b:Force Heretic II: Refugee|261087|Force Heretic II Refugee (Star Wars The New Jedi Order, #16)|Sean Williams|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1386923224l/261087._SY75_.jpg|2307451], but there’s no specific timeline reasons for doing so.
THE GOOD:
—It was really nice to see Kyle Katarn and Jan Ors again. Kyle was the protagonist of the Dark Forces computer games, and he also appeared in three novellas by William C. Dietz that chronicled his evolution from Imperial officer to Rebel agent to Jedi Knight. Jan, on the other hand, is an Alderaanian who joined the Rebel Alliance very early on, and has been teamed up with Kyle (both professionally and romantically) for over twenty years. We haven’t seen much of Kyle in the books, though--there was a throwaway reference to him in Remnant, but he’s otherwise been offscreen for most of the NJO.
—So it was nice to see what he’s been up to, and get a “slice of life” look into his present activities. “Slice of life” usually refers to a more naturalistic, unstructured story that looks at the more domestic side of a character, and while I’m sure that a normal person would not be fighting the Yuuzhan Vong, blowing things up, and rescuing captives, that’s just par for the course for Kyle at this point.
—"Equals & Opposites” is only 14 pages long, and easy to read.
THE MEH:
—The short length is also part of the meh here.
—Both the writing and the art are merely serviceable. They’re not amazing, and they get pretty clunky at various points. The main push in the plot is Kyle repeatedly asking Jan to marry him, and Jan turning him down because it’s not the right time. Kyle does it in an awkward manner, by mentioning children and comparing themselves to Luke and Mara--and at this point, Kyle and Jan have been together for so long that I assumed they weren’t married because they chose not to be married. So for Kyle to keep harping on this and Jan to keep repeating “not now” felt like...not the right time or place for this discussion.
—The art is OK, I guess; the proportions and facial expressions are really off at times, but it fits with the text.
—But since this is a “slice of life” vignette, we don’t really have a beginning: we’re thrown into the middle of the action, and then the conclusion is more of a “conclusion for now.” The Yuuzhan Vong’s breakout is obviously foreshadowed by Kyle urging the lieutenant to keep an eye on their captives and the Lt. saying “how hard could that be”; Jan’s in trouble, Kyle saves Jan, and then they’re right back to arguing about marriage.
MY VERDICT:
It was fun to see Kyle and Jan again, but this story felt decidedly slight. I have a link to the pdf down below, in case you want to read it yourself and catch up on what's been happening with Kyle behind the scenes of the New Jedi Order.
Next up: the second book in the Force Heretic trilogy by Sean Williams and Shane Dix, [b:Force Heretic II: Refugee|261087|Force Heretic II Refugee (Star Wars The New Jedi Order, #16)|Sean Williams|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1386923224l/261087._SY75_.jpg|2307451].
My YouTube review: https://youtu.be/x2pCJFlWNIE
PDF of “Equals & Opposites”: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XqGxWyrsHicQnDsmBow0Uut-f7KvS0u6/view?usp=sharing
This week’s focus: a short comic from [b:Star Wars Tales (1999-2005) #21|28270175|Star Wars Tales (1999-2005) #21|Jeremy Barlow|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1450835786l/28270175._SY75_.jpg|48316866], featuring Kyle Katarn and Jan Ors: “Equals & Opposites” by Nathan P. Butler and James Raiz.
SOME HISTORY:
Star Wars Tales was a comic book anthology series from Dark Horse Comics that ran for 24 issues from 1999 to 2005. Each issue featured several short stories from various creators that are set in multiple eras of the Star Wars timeline, and most of the stories are non-continuity—Issue 21 was the first to be completely comprised of fully canonical stories. “Equals & Opposites” was published in Issue 21 on October 20, 2004, and was originally titled “Flair for the Dramatic.”
MY RECOLLECTION OF THE STORY:
I had no prior recollection of this comic at all! I wasn’t a big comic book reader, so I wasn’t aware of most of the Star Wars comics that came out in the 90s and early 2000s.
A BRIEF SUMMARY:
Jedi Master Kyle Katarn and Alpha Blue operative Jan Ors join forces with Lieutenant Pallin of the Imperial Remnant on the planet Ord Sedra, which has been conquered by the Yuuzhan Vong.
TIMELINE DISCLAIMER:
Since “Equals & Opposites” involves New Republic and Imperial forces working together, it has to be set after [b:Force Heretic I: Remnant|55546|Force Heretic I Remnant (Star Wars The New Jedi Order, #15)|Sean Williams|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1403181057l/55546._SY75_.jpg|54132]. I chose to read it in-between Remnant and [b:Force Heretic II: Refugee|261087|Force Heretic II Refugee (Star Wars The New Jedi Order, #16)|Sean Williams|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1386923224l/261087._SY75_.jpg|2307451], but there’s no specific timeline reasons for doing so.
THE GOOD:
—It was really nice to see Kyle Katarn and Jan Ors again. Kyle was the protagonist of the Dark Forces computer games, and he also appeared in three novellas by William C. Dietz that chronicled his evolution from Imperial officer to Rebel agent to Jedi Knight. Jan, on the other hand, is an Alderaanian who joined the Rebel Alliance very early on, and has been teamed up with Kyle (both professionally and romantically) for over twenty years. We haven’t seen much of Kyle in the books, though--there was a throwaway reference to him in Remnant, but he’s otherwise been offscreen for most of the NJO.
—So it was nice to see what he’s been up to, and get a “slice of life” look into his present activities. “Slice of life” usually refers to a more naturalistic, unstructured story that looks at the more domestic side of a character, and while I’m sure that a normal person would not be fighting the Yuuzhan Vong, blowing things up, and rescuing captives, that’s just par for the course for Kyle at this point.
—"Equals & Opposites” is only 14 pages long, and easy to read.
THE MEH:
—The short length is also part of the meh here.
—Both the writing and the art are merely serviceable. They’re not amazing, and they get pretty clunky at various points. The main push in the plot is Kyle repeatedly asking Jan to marry him, and Jan turning him down because it’s not the right time. Kyle does it in an awkward manner, by mentioning children and comparing themselves to Luke and Mara--and at this point, Kyle and Jan have been together for so long that I assumed they weren’t married because they chose not to be married. So for Kyle to keep harping on this and Jan to keep repeating “not now” felt like...not the right time or place for this discussion.
—The art is OK, I guess; the proportions and facial expressions are really off at times, but it fits with the text.
—But since this is a “slice of life” vignette, we don’t really have a beginning: we’re thrown into the middle of the action, and then the conclusion is more of a “conclusion for now.” The Yuuzhan Vong’s breakout is obviously foreshadowed by Kyle urging the lieutenant to keep an eye on their captives and the Lt. saying “how hard could that be”; Jan’s in trouble, Kyle saves Jan, and then they’re right back to arguing about marriage.
MY VERDICT:
It was fun to see Kyle and Jan again, but this story felt decidedly slight. I have a link to the pdf down below, in case you want to read it yourself and catch up on what's been happening with Kyle behind the scenes of the New Jedi Order.
Next up: the second book in the Force Heretic trilogy by Sean Williams and Shane Dix, [b:Force Heretic II: Refugee|261087|Force Heretic II Refugee (Star Wars The New Jedi Order, #16)|Sean Williams|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1386923224l/261087._SY75_.jpg|2307451].
My YouTube review: https://youtu.be/x2pCJFlWNIE
PDF of “Equals & Opposites”: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XqGxWyrsHicQnDsmBow0Uut-f7KvS0u6/view?usp=sharing
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