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A review by wyrmdog
Star Wars: Legacy, Volume 1: Broken by John Ostrander
2.0
I'm going to comment on the whole run. It's remarkably consistent throughout, which is saying something.
It does a decent job of being a big space epic centered around a few small-scale characters who step up to do grand and legendary things. That the side characters are occasionally allowed to do big things is refreshing. Go Azlyn!
Problematically, the main character (Cade Skywalker) is a petulant, whining, moron. There is quite literally nothing compelling or redeeming about him. He's so self-absorbed every time he's in a panel I groan. He's not just unlikable, he's frequently just stupid.
At least the narrative seems at least somewhat aware that he's a dick and that he's playing dangerously with the way he uses the Force.
His friends Syn and Blue are mostly just props for him to bounce his narcissism off. He treats them as if they are not really his friends all the time, but they keep coming back for more. He takes and takes from them but they (particularly Blue) set aside any possible motivations of their own to do whatever they can to help this abusive friend of theirs.
The rest of the supporting characters are just as happy as his friends to roll over for Cade's tantrums. They're just as abused for the sake of promoting Cade too. Celeste Morne's arc is particularly squandered. Come to think of it, a lot of supporting characters are more interesting than this horrible man-child at the center of it all, yet they're all either squandered or are just never explored in a satisfying way.
The story itself? Not bad. It's fun enough I read the whole thing, despite my aforementioned issues. Krayt was visually uninspired but was otherwise an acceptable baddie. I liked his backstory, even if it did seem a bit much.
One thing: If you haven't read the Heir to the Empire stuff (the Zahn novels or the graphic novel versions), you won't understand all the references in the story. It tries to supply the information you need, but it still seems to expect that you have some familiarity.
The art is good. Not great. Good. As I said before, Krayt's character design is a bit silly. Talon is hyper-sexualized in the most stereotypical fashion possible. The space battles are as uninspired as Krayt. But the artist/s on this series do a pretty great job with expressiveness during action. The rest of the time, people just tend to look sullen.
If you like Star Wars and are hungry for some recently-rejected-and-now-no-longer-canon stories set after the original trilogy, this is worth reading. If you aren't a huge fan of Star Wars (and I do mean huge), I'd say skip it.
It does a decent job of being a big space epic centered around a few small-scale characters who step up to do grand and legendary things. That the side characters are occasionally allowed to do big things is refreshing. Go Azlyn!
Problematically, the main character (Cade Skywalker) is a petulant, whining, moron. There is quite literally nothing compelling or redeeming about him. He's so self-absorbed every time he's in a panel I groan. He's not just unlikable, he's frequently just stupid.
At least the narrative seems at least somewhat aware that he's a dick and that he's playing dangerously with the way he uses the Force.
His friends Syn and Blue are mostly just props for him to bounce his narcissism off. He treats them as if they are not really his friends all the time, but they keep coming back for more. He takes and takes from them but they (particularly Blue) set aside any possible motivations of their own to do whatever they can to help this abusive friend of theirs.
The rest of the supporting characters are just as happy as his friends to roll over for Cade's tantrums. They're just as abused for the sake of promoting Cade too. Celeste Morne's arc is particularly squandered. Come to think of it, a lot of supporting characters are more interesting than this horrible man-child at the center of it all, yet they're all either squandered or are just never explored in a satisfying way.
The story itself? Not bad. It's fun enough I read the whole thing, despite my aforementioned issues. Krayt was visually uninspired but was otherwise an acceptable baddie. I liked his backstory, even if it did seem a bit much.
One thing: If you haven't read the Heir to the Empire stuff (the Zahn novels or the graphic novel versions), you won't understand all the references in the story. It tries to supply the information you need, but it still seems to expect that you have some familiarity.
The art is good. Not great. Good. As I said before, Krayt's character design is a bit silly. Talon is hyper-sexualized in the most stereotypical fashion possible. The space battles are as uninspired as Krayt. But the artist/s on this series do a pretty great job with expressiveness during action. The rest of the time, people just tend to look sullen.
If you like Star Wars and are hungry for some recently-rejected-and-now-no-longer-canon stories set after the original trilogy, this is worth reading. If you aren't a huge fan of Star Wars (and I do mean huge), I'd say skip it.