Hey everybody,
We’re very much getting towards the end now with the Star Wars Prequel Re-Read, and today I have a pair of graphic novels to update you all with!
Let’s start with Volume 7: When They Were Brothers. It’s basically the five-part Obsession storyline that was touted as the comics’ lead-in to episode III. Obi-Wan is convinced Asajj Ventress still lives, something that Anakin takes issue with since he electrocuted her and tossed her body down a chasm on Coruscant during the finale of Dreadnoughts of Rendili. However, Obi-Wan drags his former padawan away from his leave on Naboo on a hunt across the galaxy to find her. We meet up again with Durge, General Grievous makes an appearance, and we get some first-looks at some of the ships from Revenge of the Sith. While the book ostensibly deals with Ventress, and wraps up her story before the final prequel movie, it primarily seems to exist to show Anakin and Obi-Wan “as brothers”, but after so many stories having missed that opportunity within the run, it does feel a little late to try and establish this relationship. I’ve talked about this elsewhere, but I honestly think the whole prequel series pays a great disservice to this dynamic, and we’re left with a long series of stories where the principal motivation is to show how Anakin can become Darth Vader. As such, he’s rarely allowed to be a nice guy, and his relationship with Obi-Wan suffers greatly for it.
Let’s move on!
Volume 8: The Last Siege, The Final Truth, continues to draw story threads to a close, with two distinct arcs from the Republic run. To start with, we have Trackdown, a two-parter where Tholme heads to Anzat to speak with an old friend about the existence of Anzati-trained Nikto Morgukai assassins. I can remember reading this coming when it came out, and being really struck by just how many story-threads it manages to pull together from just those two things – reaching back into the earlier days of the Republic series, such as Darkness and Rite of Passage. Tholme learns that they are being trained on Saleucami, so heads there and is ambushed by Sora Bulq. Tholme heads into the catacombs of the planet, and the Jedi Council mobilises for war!
The next arc, The Siege of Saleucami, deals with the Jedi offensive as they attempt to overcome the Separatist facilities there. Turns out, they’re cloning Nikto in a very quick-and-dirty way, not breeding soldiers like the Republic “because Count Dooku doesn’t need them to last long”. It’s kinda creepy, and you have to wonder why on earth the Separatists hadn’t tried their hand at it before – Dexter Jettster’s comments about Kaminoans being “damn good cloners” does seem to suggest there are other groups in the galaxy (Spaarti?) who perhaps aren’t as good, after all! The Jedi offensive is led by Oppo Rancisis, who has always been very much a background Jedi for the entire run up to this point, but always with reference to the fact he is excellent at battle meditation. He is co-ordinating the Jedi and clones as they attack the Separatists, and while the Republic forces aren’t making much headway, they are at least continually able to repel the Separatists. Sora Bulq therefore assassinates him to give the Separatists the upper hand, but a showdown in the caverns with Quinlan Vos ultimately turns the tide in the Republic’s favour, as Quinlan finally is able to proclaim the fact that he is a Jedi.
I’ve said it before, but it’s been incredible to follow this arc throughout the larger clone wars, as in many respects Quinlan’s storyline is more interesting than Anakin’s, which is a foregone conclusion, and mostly consists of foreshadowing his fall to the dark side. Quinlan definitely flip-flops between whether he is a Jedi or not – did he ever go over to the dark side, for reals? The story ends with his redeployment to Boz Pity, which of course is mentioned during Episode III, after which he intends to leave the Jedi Order, as Khaleen is pregnant with their child. It’s all feeling very much like it’s being set up for tragedy, but next we’re back to a novel, with another of my favourites: Labyrinth of Evil! I wonder what Mr Bookstooge will think of this one!!
spalanz.com 
(Just as an fyi, if you don’t link to a specific page on someone’s website, WP doesn’t notify them of it)
I was not able to afford both the comics and the novels so I had to choose the novels. I often wonder how reading the comics in conjunction with the novels would have affected my overall view of the Clone War era.
Now, I know Labyrinth was an immediate prequel to RotS but I’ll have to see what I said in my review, because it doesn’t stick in my mind as either a good or bad one.