Star Wars: Clone Wars #1, The Defense of Kamino
by various writers & artists (Dark Horse, 2003)

You could always tell that a lot had to occur between the movies Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith in the Star Wars timeline. Clone Wars is a comic-book series that tries to fill in some of the gaps; the first volume of the series is The Defense of Kamino.

It begins with "Sacrifice," in which the Jedi Aayla Secura is on a mission to track down her former master, Quinlan Vos. It's during that dark and gritty adventure, written by John Ostrander and and illustrated by Jan Duursema, that the two Jedi discover the Separatists' plan to strike the cloning facility on Kamino, where the Republic's clone troopers are manufactured and trained.

"The Defense of Kamino" follows in three parts, each by a different writer/artist team: "Brothers in Arms" by Ostrander and Duursema focuses mostly on Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker as they lead the defense of the watery factory planet. "Jango's Legacy" by Haden Blackman and Stephen Thompson takes us inside the heart of the defensive action as Jedi Shaak Ti and a fixated clone protect the next generation of troopers. "No End in Sight" by Scott Allie and Tomas Giorello is about an assault by the Mon Calamari on the Kamino facility.

Lastly, "Schism" by Ostrander and Duursema takes Jedi leader Mace Windu to a meeting with several Jedi who have strayed from the path -- and a pair of foes who will loom large in their future.

This collection is more a series of related events than a cohesive storyline. The writing is solid without breaking any exciting new ground, while the art is uniformly strong and colorful, if a bit dark. Overall, I'd recommend this book for anyone who wants to see more of the Clone Wars, which the movies managed to skip.




Rambles.NET
review by
Tom Knapp

16 February 2008






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