Skipper!
Creative Staff:
Story: Matt Owens
Art: Denys Cowan, Roberto Poggi
Colors: Guru-eFX
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna
What They Say:
On a planet of near-perpetual darkness, the Jedi must bring light. Mace finds both his faith and skill tested. For is it truly the place of the Jedi to go to war?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The opening installment of the Clone Wars era story of Mace Windu was one that delivered well enough but didn’t quite make it a must-read book just yet. Matt Owens set up plenty and it felt a touch overstuffed in a way as we had to connect with a group of Jedi that Windu was bringing with him on this mission, which means nobody else as much attention as they should. What made it pretty fun to read beyond the basics was seeing what Cowan and Poggi brought to the page. I’ve long loved Cowan’s work with its distinctiveness and really like what it brings to this property. The various series all have their own look that plays a touch similar to some degree but Cowan is just that more of a distinctive force that it registers in a really good way.
The arrival on Hissrich has certainly put them in a difficult position and the opening salvo of action now has them being lead underground by one of the natives. This does lead to an interesting underground city and ecosystem in general that they take in but it’s more about how each of the Jedi read the situation with Windu talking about the emotional take he gets from it while the others are more wary and vigilant, which he calls paranoia to some degree. The dynamic works well in showing how the Jedi are definitely different and approach things in their own way. That plays out well against a lighter piece with AD-W4 and the droids he’s with as they catch onto what Windu and his team are up to and begin an assault there. But before that we just get to see how the mercenary droid doesn’t like titles as the follower droids do their best to recognize him as their leader, going through some amusing ones much to his displeasure. Skipper totally fits, however.
A decent chunk of the book focuses on the action as the droids come through and Windu faces off against AD-W4. The two have a kind of philosophical sparring going along with the actual physical combat but it’s welcome just to get a mercenary droid that works things as simply as he does with why he does what he does. The action is decent and Cowan delivers well on this as Windu and the others look dynamic and engaging, skilled and competent with their seriousness. We do get the first look as to why this world may be important, a non-Core world and all, with what the energy potential of it may be. The galaxy is big and wide with all sorts of wonders and while that can complicate a story as things become all over the map it’s also something that can provide for some fun twists and reasons for exploitation.
In Summary:
Though the Mace Windu is hitting me as strong as some of the other Star Wars miniseries have we’re only in the second issue of it and the potential is definitely there. The characters have some fun areas to work with, the artwork is strong and dynamic, and it’s filling in some interesting areas of the larger universe to work with. There’s a lot of things that can be done in this period with the separatists and the republic as well as with the action and the politics. Mace Windu’s a character that has a lot of potential and this series is one that may not exploit it but is adding a new piece to the larger tapestry of the character.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Marvel Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: September 27th, 2017
MSRP: $3.99
