Trust and betrayal, a vicious cycle.
Creative Staff:
Story: Greg Weisman
Art: Pepe Larraz
What They Say:
When being a Jedi makes him a target, what can a Padawan do? Betrayed by those he once called friends, young Caleb Dume learns to survive as a smuggler! Continuing the story of the secret origins of Star Wars Rebels’ Kanan Jarrus!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The penultimate installment of the Kanan limited series is here and I already feel a dread and loss with the book ending next time around. Getting a look at Caleb’s story with how he becomes Kanan has definitely been interesting since it takes us to a place the other Star Wars books from Marvel haven’t in that it focuses on the time after the Clone Wars. For Caleb, he’s seen his fair share of betrayal through Order 66 and that’s left him distrustful to be sure but also reliant on Kasmir since there’s so little option about it in the end. With his life being bonded to masters for so long, it’s no surprise that even a dark master like Kasmir would work, and that it could turn to something more along the way as Caleb seeks out the harmony of two.
Having Kasmir betray him after the deal goes wrong isn’t a surprise and you can definitely see how much of an impact it makes on him even at this early stage in their partnership of sorts. But even his new captors, having bought in to Kasmir’s deal, feel a bit uncertain about it when they contact the Empire and the two Clone Troopers that have been pursuing him make it clear they’ll be there to execute him soon. It’s a quick reminder of just what kind of situation is at play and how bad it is for Kanan. It’s not too much of a surprise to see Kasmir return and bust him out though, because he does know a good thing when he sees it and in the end he kind of ran a scam to get the best of both worlds. What this leads to is a good period of time where the two really take to their outlaw lifestyle and we see Kanan shift more to a blaster and enjoying what he’s experiencing, though with a sense of loss to it as well.
What ends up changing everything is a deal that has them going to acquire a second ship from someone named Jondo, who turns out to be General Kleevus from the Separatist Army when Caleb goes to check on the goods. There’s some really nice bits that come into play here with the whole what do they mean to each other after the war has ended aspect and you can see how youth versus wisdom plays out between them. But there’s also a tinge of loss from Kleevus that’s really neat to see too as he knows his best times were during the war, when he felt alive in a way that he hasn’t since. And even Caleb can understand that to a degree as well. The deal doesn’t go south, in fact it goes very well for Caleb, but we see his past catching up with him and that’s playing very badly for Kasmir. A reversal of positions to be sure, but one that’s very different now that Caleb and Kasmir are far different from when Caleb was rescued.
In Summary:
Kanan – The Last Padawan continues to mine some interesting points in the post Clone Wars territory with a character that I’ve grown to like through the Star Wars Rebels series. This extended look at part of his past has been illuminating and really does alter your view of the series, though I hope we get some of this showing up in that sometime as it would be wonderfully connective. This installment show just how at east Caleb is with the kind of lifestyle that Kasmir represents, but also puts in that nagging bit in his mind that tells him he should be striving for something more. But what he learns here will serve him well in the long run, and that’s important. Weisman continues to do a solid job with all of the characters here and I continue to adore Larraz’s artwork with the way he populates a panel, never mind the panel layout themselves. The richness in the designs and the camera angles are fantastic, making it a pretty engaging series of locales that we see.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Marvel Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: July 22nd, 2015
MSRP: $3.99
