Scan barcode
zare_i's review against another edition
4.0
Short story collection following Zayne and his friends after the final events in Vindication.
Interesting stories - but almost all of them are mere background builders except the last one that seems to pave the way for the next multiple volume story line.
Interesting stories - but almost all of them are mere background builders except the last one that seems to pave the way for the next multiple volume story line.
jaredkwheeler's review against another edition
3.0
Star Wars Legends Project #18
Background: Knights of the Old Republic: Dueling Ambitions was first released in six issues from December 2008 until May 2009. The trade paperback was released in October that year. It was written by [a:John Jackson Miller|20028|John Jackson Miller|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1272316895p2/20028.jpg] and pencilled by [a:Brian Ching|20024|Brian Ching|http://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-d9f6a4a5badfda0f69e70cc94d962125.png], [a:Bong Dazo|53981|Bong Dazo|http://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-d9f6a4a5badfda0f69e70cc94d962125.png], and [a:Dean Zachary|6062966|Dean Zachary|http://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-d9f6a4a5badfda0f69e70cc94d962125.png]. This is Zachary's lone Star Wars credit, but he has done a great deal of work for Malibu comics (I don't recognize any titles), as well as for DC (including Batman, Superboy, and Green Lantern). He also did a Johnny Quest title for Dark Horse.
Dueling Ambitions begins soon after the climactic events of [b:Vindication|6130907|Vindication (Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic, #6)|John Jackson Miller|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1347778532s/6130907.jpg|6309447] (my review here, continuing 3,963 years before the Battle of Yavin. The whole gang is back, popping in here and there at various times as the stories move from location to location. One of the stories centers around a character referenced vaguely in passing several times during random previous issues, and Jervo Thalien, the head of Lhosan Industries, returns.
Summary: Finally exonerated of the murders of his fellow Padawans, and having left the Jedi Order behind him, Zayne Carrick is now free to travel the galaxy without fear. But with a partnership with petty crook Gryph, a friendship with the Arkanian offshoot Jarael, whose dark past is beginning to loom large, and an "association" with mysterious Mandalorian deserter Rholand Dyre, trouble is never going to be far away for our hero.
Review: A bit "meh" to be perfectly honest. Even at its best, this collection never feels like much more than pure filler, piecing together three fairly average and totally disconnected stories without doing enough to fill the void left by the end of the previous major arc. Oh, sure, you can see that they're pulling strings to set up the next major storyline, and each of the stories here drops some major hint about what's building for the future. But the stories themselves just aren't good enough, and the entire first half feels totally skippable. By far the best thing about these three stories are the brilliant puns that make up their titles!
In the two-issue "Prophet Motive," Gryph and company, sans Zayne, arrive in disguise to pull a scam on a large-scale land speculation operation that walks the line of legality and ethics. Bong Dazo's art for this story is strong, and overall the plot is fair, but the whole thing is majorly exposition heavy, making it one of the most over-narrated comics I've read, and confusing in a few spots, besides. In particular, I was baffled by a turn of events that unnecessarily saw Rholand and Jarael in deadly danger without an adequate explanation of why their friends didn't seem concerned with rescuing them . . . only to have Jarael suddenly manifest Force powers, which seemed to come way out of left field. Not sure where that's going, and definitely not sure I like it.
The single-issue "Faithful Execution" felt like a weird rip-off of the Firefly episode "Bushwhacked," and several things about the story made very little sense to me. Plus, at one issue, it was so short that it felt rushed and slight and kind of pointless. The art, by Dean Zachary, was really cool and fit the tone of the story well with its use of deep shadows and hazier lines, but it was such a massive departure from every other issue that I found it distracting and didn't particularly care for it. I'd love to see more of Zachary's work, just in a different context.
By far the best is the three-issue title story, "Dueling Ambitions," which sees the return of main artist Brian Ching, and offers a much better balance of character, humor, drama, etc. It suddenly felt like the series was back on the road to where it was supposed to be, it just hadn't quite arrived yet. The story is fun, but still feels a bit directionless, and a few details just rubbed me the wrong way. I felt like it was out of character for Zayne to be such an absurdly enthusiastic fan of such a violent sport (and strange that he seemed so into it, but had never once mentioned it before), and Gryph's schemes, influence, and machinations definitely bordered on being overpowered. Nevertheless, I end this book intrigued by the hook they planted at the end for the series going forward, and I'm confident that this minor misstep will soon be a distant memory.
B-
Background: Knights of the Old Republic: Dueling Ambitions was first released in six issues from December 2008 until May 2009. The trade paperback was released in October that year. It was written by [a:John Jackson Miller|20028|John Jackson Miller|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1272316895p2/20028.jpg] and pencilled by [a:Brian Ching|20024|Brian Ching|http://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-d9f6a4a5badfda0f69e70cc94d962125.png], [a:Bong Dazo|53981|Bong Dazo|http://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-d9f6a4a5badfda0f69e70cc94d962125.png], and [a:Dean Zachary|6062966|Dean Zachary|http://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-d9f6a4a5badfda0f69e70cc94d962125.png]. This is Zachary's lone Star Wars credit, but he has done a great deal of work for Malibu comics (I don't recognize any titles), as well as for DC (including Batman, Superboy, and Green Lantern). He also did a Johnny Quest title for Dark Horse.
Dueling Ambitions begins soon after the climactic events of [b:Vindication|6130907|Vindication (Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic, #6)|John Jackson Miller|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1347778532s/6130907.jpg|6309447] (my review here, continuing 3,963 years before the Battle of Yavin. The whole gang is back, popping in here and there at various times as the stories move from location to location. One of the stories centers around a character referenced vaguely in passing several times during random previous issues, and Jervo Thalien, the head of Lhosan Industries, returns.
Summary: Finally exonerated of the murders of his fellow Padawans, and having left the Jedi Order behind him, Zayne Carrick is now free to travel the galaxy without fear. But with a partnership with petty crook Gryph, a friendship with the Arkanian offshoot Jarael, whose dark past is beginning to loom large, and an "association" with mysterious Mandalorian deserter Rholand Dyre, trouble is never going to be far away for our hero.
Review: A bit "meh" to be perfectly honest. Even at its best, this collection never feels like much more than pure filler, piecing together three fairly average and totally disconnected stories without doing enough to fill the void left by the end of the previous major arc. Oh, sure, you can see that they're pulling strings to set up the next major storyline, and each of the stories here drops some major hint about what's building for the future. But the stories themselves just aren't good enough, and the entire first half feels totally skippable. By far the best thing about these three stories are the brilliant puns that make up their titles!
In the two-issue "Prophet Motive," Gryph and company, sans Zayne, arrive in disguise to pull a scam on a large-scale land speculation operation that walks the line of legality and ethics. Bong Dazo's art for this story is strong, and overall the plot is fair, but the whole thing is majorly exposition heavy, making it one of the most over-narrated comics I've read, and confusing in a few spots, besides. In particular, I was baffled by a turn of events that unnecessarily saw Rholand and Jarael in deadly danger without an adequate explanation of why their friends didn't seem concerned with rescuing them . . . only to have Jarael suddenly manifest Force powers, which seemed to come way out of left field. Not sure where that's going, and definitely not sure I like it.
The single-issue "Faithful Execution" felt like a weird rip-off of the Firefly episode "Bushwhacked," and several things about the story made very little sense to me. Plus, at one issue, it was so short that it felt rushed and slight and kind of pointless. The art, by Dean Zachary, was really cool and fit the tone of the story well with its use of deep shadows and hazier lines, but it was such a massive departure from every other issue that I found it distracting and didn't particularly care for it. I'd love to see more of Zachary's work, just in a different context.
By far the best is the three-issue title story, "Dueling Ambitions," which sees the return of main artist Brian Ching, and offers a much better balance of character, humor, drama, etc. It suddenly felt like the series was back on the road to where it was supposed to be, it just hadn't quite arrived yet. The story is fun, but still feels a bit directionless, and a few details just rubbed me the wrong way. I felt like it was out of character for Zayne to be such an absurdly enthusiastic fan of such a violent sport (and strange that he seemed so into it, but had never once mentioned it before), and Gryph's schemes, influence, and machinations definitely bordered on being overpowered. Nevertheless, I end this book intrigued by the hook they planted at the end for the series going forward, and I'm confident that this minor misstep will soon be a distant memory.
B-
lischa3000's review against another edition
4.0
I absolutely loved to follow the epic journey of Zayne Carrick. I simply swallowed the series whole.
rltinha's review against another edition
3.0
Até os esquemas do Marn são menos alucinados que os usuais até este ponto. É claramente uma trade a preparar a seguinte, com todo o prejuízo que daí advém.
wyrmbergmalcolm's review against another edition
4.0
Now that the original story arc has concluded, the story-line has lost quite a bit of focus and has fallen into a more episodic format.
The minor overarching theme of Jarael's past and potential future barely gives enough to make a hook for more. Also, as before with this series, the artwork fluctuates wildly between each 'episode'.
The quality is pretty good, it's just inconstant.
Profit Motive featured a Chevin crime-boss and introduced the Chev slaves. I always found the Chevin a fascinating species and enjoyed seeing a bit more about them. The story itself was a little convoluted but was more amusing because of it. It features a pivotal scene with Jarael.
Score: Worth reading
Faithful Execution had what I would call a 'messy' art style that detracted initially, but as the chilling story unfolded, actually fit quite well. It made me think of the Firefly episode Bushwacked.
Score: Buy the book for this story
Duelling Ambitions was also a little convoluted, but with a more serious plot, it didn't work quite as well as in Profit Motive. Still, the action was exciting enough, but the whole thing did feel a bit of a set-up story for the next story-arc as revelations about Jarael's past finally come to the surface.
Score: Worth reading
The minor overarching theme of Jarael's past and potential future barely gives enough to make a hook for more. Also, as before with this series, the artwork fluctuates wildly between each 'episode'.
The quality is pretty good, it's just inconstant.
Profit Motive featured a Chevin crime-boss and introduced the Chev slaves. I always found the Chevin a fascinating species and enjoyed seeing a bit more about them. The story itself was a little convoluted but was more amusing because of it. It features a pivotal scene with Jarael.
Score: Worth reading
Faithful Execution had what I would call a 'messy' art style that detracted initially, but as the chilling story unfolded, actually fit quite well. It made me think of the Firefly episode Bushwacked.
Score: Buy the book for this story
Duelling Ambitions was also a little convoluted, but with a more serious plot, it didn't work quite as well as in Profit Motive. Still, the action was exciting enough, but the whole thing did feel a bit of a set-up story for the next story-arc as revelations about Jarael's past finally come to the surface.
Score: Worth reading
ekansthepokemon's review against another edition
4.0
even tho zayne isn't on the run any more they still manage to keep this series interesting by shedding light on the pasts of some of these characters!
depizan's review against another edition
2.0
The art is very uneven, with the first short story being mostly pretty terrible (or else okay, but with characters unrecognizable). I admit, I'm not as much of a fan of the second arc anyway.
More...