***THIS REVIEW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON THE NERD BLITZ PATREON***
Hey gang, May The Fourth Be With You!
This weekend is Free Comic Book Day.
One of the most magical days on the nerd calendar!
But that also means we’re at the end of this 3 part series of comic reviews from FCBD’s past.
And this one is kind of special because, if memory serves me correctly, I think this might be among the first single issue Star Wars comics I ever got.
I can’t recall exactly, but since The Clone Wars got me into Star Wars, and I didn’t get to watch it much as it aired, I’m almost certain this would have to have been within my first 10, at least.
So how does it hold up against all of the Star Warsness I’ve read, watched, and played since?
Can this relatively small story live up to it’s namesake?
Let’s gather round and find out!
From this point on, it’s ***SPOILER ALERT*** time, gang.
Cover by Ramón K. Pérez: This is a great fuckin’ cover!
It’s a perfect preview of what’s to come, dynamic and eye catching, and it has a wonderful sense of whimsical fun about it.
The fluidity of Master Fisto’s head tails is perfect.
And it’s a great use of space.
Simple and evocative.
I love it.
Art by Ramón K. Pérez: Same as the cover, brilliant art.
This is a damn good translation of 3D The Clone Wars style into 2D art, and it doesn’t feel like the Genndy series either.
There’s even a twist on the old school Marvel 9 panel layout that looks fuckin’ amazing as well.
Sure, the giant Rishi owl people look a bit ridiculous, but it still fits in stylistically and works well.
This makes me wanna dig out my TCW digests from shortly after this time and see if Pérez did those too, because I remember digging them but this is just so good, man.
Story by Henry Gilroy: The Geonosian warriors are pushing the clone army back from the Exonium Mines on the planet Rishi.
And just as things start looking real bad, Jedi Master Kit Fisto shows up to turn the tide in the favor of the Grand Army of the Republic!
While I don’t think this exactly fits into canon, this is a fun little story.
I don’t remember the owl folks from Rishi ever appearing on TCW (though they existed in a surprising amount of EU material).
I kind of hope they do show up on The Bad Batch or something because, just from an animation stand point, that would be fascinating to watch these characters in motion.
It’s also interesting because we further see Kit Fisto’s playful energy, which is all based on that quick little smile in Episode 2.
His interactions with the clones is also revealing of his personality, treating them like friends from the jump.
Instead of like cogs in the machine, which not many Jedi did.
But still, it’s nice.
Little things like this help make the Jedi not seem so cold and aloof, it makes it a bit easier to understand why they didn’t see they were heading down the wrong path.
Weighing in at just 8 pages, in my experience, this is a prime example of what FCBD does best.
Great art mixed with a fun quick hit story to hopefully lure you into visiting comic shops more often.
There’s not much to it, but it really does pack a fun wallop, gang.
I wish they would do more Clone Wars comics, or bring back the quarterly digests that Dark Horse was doing, just do something in this time period to give us a bit more of what brought me to the table.
If you can find it, I’d say this is well worth your time.
Let us know what you think of this review in the comments below or share this post on Twitter with the Hashtag #TNBBookReview, or tweet with us @NerdBlitzPod.
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And finally, given the state of the world, do what you can to leave it a little bit better than you found it.
As difficult as that may be currently, it can have an impact far greater than you know.
Until next time, stay safe out there, gang.
