(Graphic Novel with art by Ramon F. Bachs and Raul Fernandez)

Set a thousand years before 'A New Hope', this book tells the story of three youths who become embroiled in the Battle of Ruusan, the greatest battle of their age, which will see the Jedi crippled and the Sith rendered all but extinct.  I was really looking forward to this book because the events on Ruusan are tantalisingly mentioned in 'Star Wars: Dark Forces - Jedi Knight' (by William C. Dietz) and were then linked to the line from Episode I "The Sith have been extinct for a millennium", so to have this great battle as a separate story seemed a great idea.  Unfortunately, it turned out to be a bit of a disappointment.  Bachs' cartoony art feels inappropriate to the story and very little detail about the battle between the Jedi and the Sith is given.  Instead, we get the largely boring activities of Rain, Bug and Tomcat, three irritating children who're supposed to represent the 'everyman' (like the Hobbits do in LotR) but utterly fail to be accessible.  Occasionally the quality of the subject matter shines through, especially when Darth Bane is featured, but for the most part this is an average story that utterly fails to fulfill it's potential.

3 out of 5

 

Star Wars: Vader's Quest

(Graphic Novel with art by Dave Gibbons)

I would've liked the story of Vader's hunt for and first meeting with his son to have been a dark, brooding and tense story dealing with all the emotional turmoil Luke's existance should cause.  Instead we get a technicolour skip through Happyland.  Don't get me wrong, there are some very dark moments in this book (Vader murdering the bounty hunters is pretty harsh) but sadly these moments are completely outshone by Dave Gibbons' bright, shiny, colourful artwork and by the hideously sentimental bits of the story that take place on Jazbina, in which everyone (even the bar-room drunks) learn the true meaning of Christmas (or some such rubbish).  I did very much like the character of Jal Te Gniev, but that good point soon leaves your mind as you see some of the worst renderings of Vader and the Emperor ever.  This is, in case you've not picked it up yet, one of my least favourite graphic novels of all time.

1 out of 5

 

Star Wars: Chewbacca

(Graphic Novel with art by Brent Anderson, Igor Kordley, Jan Duursema, Dave Gibbons, Dusty Abell, John Nadeau, Martin Egeland, Killian Plunkett, Rafael Kayanan, Willie Blyberg, Jim Royal and Jordi Ensign)

Following Chewbacca's death in R. A. Salvatore's 'Vector Prime' (he gets bashed on the noggin by a moon!), C-3PO and R2-D2 gather anecdotes from the Wookiee's friends and family.  So, what we have here is an anthology of stories told by a variety of characters and illustrated by a host of comics drawing talent.  The stories vary in quality greatly from the excellent 'A Pilot's Anecdote' (Wedge's story) to the God-awful rubbish that is 'A Bet' (Lando's story).  There is some pointless tat here, such as Macan's using the excuse to resurrect one of his minor characters from 'Vader's Quest', but there are also some very interesting and poignant moments too.  Examples of these good bits include Leia's admission that she was jealous of Han's relationship with Chewie, as well as the first encounter between the furry-one and Imperial Lieutenant Solo.  Overall, this book tends to indulge too heavily in sentimentality for my tastes and, let's be honest, in a franchise like Star Wars, Chewie will still be around for a long time.

3 out of 5

Check out 'Star Wars: X-Wing Rogue Squadron - The Phantom Affair', which he co-wrote with Michael A. Stackpole.

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