– Spoiler Review –
Star Wars Adventures #10 (Vol. 2) pits Mace Windu against Count Dooku as the Jedi Master tries to solve a planet’s mysteries, while characters arise from their spooky Legends’ grave to join canon again!
“Separation Anxiety – Part 2″ Written by Michael Moreci, Art by Michael Avon Oeming, Colors by Chris O’Halloran, Lettering throughout by Johanna Nattalie
The Scooby-Doo like mystery of the main story has about the same resolution of episodes of the show, with the villain behind what’s happening the obvious one and the explanation a simple, yet explainable one, not of some supernatural origin. Mace Windu and Count Dooku have a cool lightsaber battle, where it’s clear they are quite the even match, and it’s just long enough for Dooku to explain what he did to the “spirits” to make them attack the locals, like a good James Bond villain. Mace resolves the situation with the Force though one of the locals believes they helped make it happen, but instead of messing with their perceptions, Mace doesn’t take the credit and allows them to retain their rituals. It’s a nice way to end the story, leaving them as undisturbed as possible, a giant change from most Separatist/Republic conflicts in the Clone Wars.
Once again, the art style from Michael Avon Oeming, with Chris O’Halloran on colors and Nattalie on letters retains a Clone Wars microseries look still, which helps the story’s tone and length feel more fitting, as those episode were often only a few minutes long at a time, which is the case with reading both parts of “Separation Anxiety.” In particular the fight between Mace and Dooku, jumping from panel to panel, was very microseries-esque as well, and made for a fun read, something Johanna Nattalie made sure not to obscure much of with the word bubbles. The panel of the ghostly creatures wrapping around one of the clone troopers, while the shadowy panels of Mace slicing up droids were fittingly cool for the Jedi Master Samuel L. Jackson.
Tales of Villainy: “Grave Digger” Written by Dave Scheidt, Art by Stefano Simeone
Having never read the R.L. Stein’s Goosebumps of Star Wars books, Galaxy of Fear (which may or may not be due me being scared easily), I didn’t know about Tash and Zak Arranda when this issue’s solicit revealed they’d join canon, but it seems much of what made them great protagonists for Goosebumps-like tales and always getting in trouble is retained in Dave Scheidt’s “Grave Digger.” On the latest research mission with their caretaker, the creepy Hoole (also from the previous series, alongside his droid) bores the two trouble-making Arrandas, so they decide to sneak out into the night for fun, exploring a nearby cave system. They stumble upon an amulet and then stumble upon masked figures who want it and then stumble upon the creepy spiders Hoole wanted them to research, which fits with the way Galaxy of Fear was written, which I finally got to read one after the solicit was announced thanks to my wife’s mother’s collection of books she kept that were given to her kids. It makes for a fun story but there’s not much substance to it or connections to make with the characters, and if you haven’t read Galaxy of Fear or didn’t know they were from there, most readers might enjoy the tale but easily forget the Arrandas once it’s done. It’s definitely a problem with most of these back-up stories, as the short length requirements for the series makes it hard to have much substance, though it does happen from time to time.
As for Stefano Simeone’s art, for the most part I liked it, but it was sometimes hard to discern what was happening in a panel, while poor Tash always looked angry for some reason. Simeone’s work has a painted looked to it with a surreal edge, with off and dark colors, but often there were many things of the same color in a panel and it was hard to see where one person started and one cave wall ended. For a spooky, Goosebumps-vibe, the art trends in the right direction, but the melding of objects makes it less scary and more confusing. And for Tash’s always angry, almost demonic face, I’d definitely be curious why that was the direction chosen.
Here are a few other things:
- There’s been some rumors regarding the fate of the Star Wars license in IDW’s hands, and while the evidence seems to mount that they’ll lose it by the end of the year, there’s no official announcement yet so take it all with a grain of bantha salt, but we’ll certainly cover the news if the change ever comes.
Star Wars Adventures #10 (Vol. 2) offers a decent conclusion to Mace Windu’s tale while it has some fuzzy fun honoring some Legends history.
+ Leaving without messing with the planet too much
– Colors meshed together too much in backup tale
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website on Twitter @MynockManor and Instagram @mynockmanor.
IDW’S STAR WARS ADVENTURES (Vol. 2) REVIEWS:
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