Who will save who?
Creative Staff:
Story: Jody Houser
Art: Cory Smith, Wilton Santos, Walden Wong
Colors: Java Tartaglia
Letterer: VC’s Travis Lanham
What They Say:
THE EARLY DAYS OF OBI-WAN KENOBI, JEDI KNIGHT! Following the wishes of his master, OBI-WAN has taken on ANAKIN SKYWALKER as an apprentice. Will his mission alongside his young Padawan bring them closer together, or sow the seeds that will drive them apart? And who else is after the ancient holocron that they seek?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
As we talked about in the other Age of the Republic books, there’s a lot of problems people have with the prequels that I completely get. But with those problems become wonderful opportunities through the comics and novels to expand, connect, and make something more of it all than the implied or inferred. Jody Houser has been doing some good stuff so far and in her adaptation of the Thrawn novel and that’s had me enjoying these new connections. This issue has a pretty solid art team overall with it and it’s well-handled as the familiar elements are what they should be, the flow of the book is good, and I like the creative new pieces introduced through the new world.
With this installment focusing on Obi-Wan and Anakin, it digs into some of the things that I really like in how it’s evolved over time. Its central focus is on Obi-wan himself, showing him as a Padawan briefly and then his time with Anakin a few years after Qui-Gon’s death and the way their pairing has worked since then. Anakin is frustrated by his late start and working with so many younger kids when not dealing with Obi-Wan directly and it’s eating away at him since he is progressing so far. So when Obi-Wan gets assigned to check out an archaeological dig on a non-Republic world where a holocron has potentially been discovered, the suggestion to bring Anakin along isn’t in the forefront of Obi-Wan’s mind. And understandably so because of their relationship dynamic.
The book does have some fun with the world they go to and the pirates that are looking to gain something from what may be there, but that’s not what really drew me to the book. What drew me in was how Anakin feels like he’s a disappointment to Obi-Wan because it wasn’t what he expected his Jedi career to be like, since he took him on after Qui-Gon died. But for Obi-Wan, it’s more that he feels like he’s disappointing his Padawan because he had just moved being beyond that himself when he took him on and he’s not anywhere near the Master that Qui-Gon was. Having these two hash it out and figure out a way to find a new balance that works for just them going forward is definitely well done, especially since it leads into the Clone Wars itself and they definitely become brothers through that.
In Summary:
I’m enjoying the Age of the Republic books a lot as they’re doing some good stuff in playing between the lines of the films and other works. Jody Houser handles the relationship between these two in a way that’s natural and covers a good bit of ground in a short amount of time. The whole archaeology bit with the holocron is fun enough and it provides some useful material for both of them, but the time spent just talking with each other, knowing the path and echoes ahead, works very well. And tying enough of it into Qui-Gon and sense of expectations connects it all just right. Definitely looking forward to more of these books.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Marvel Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: January 2nd, 2019
MSRP: $3.99
