Star Wars: The Force Unleashed TPB(2008).
© Dark Horse Comics
Mania Grade: B
Trade Paperback: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
Issue: TPB
Authors: Haden Blackman, Brian Ching, Bong Dazo, and Wayne Nichols
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Pages: FC, 104 pages, TPB
Price: $15.95
Buy it now!
Trade Paperback: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
Issue: TPB
Authors: Haden Blackman, Brian Ching, Bong Dazo, and Wayne Nichols
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Pages: FC, 104 pages, TPB
Price: $15.95
Buy it now!
Trade Paperback Review of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
By: Robert T. TrateReview Date: Friday, September 12, 2008
History is repeating itself in the Star Wars universe or at least over at Lucasfilm Ltd. Back in 1996 a new chapter was written in Star Wars, a chapter that had long been missing. Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire was the revelation of what happened between episodes five (The Empire Strikes Back) and six (The Return of the Jedi). This was not a new film though it was a multimedia blitz of tie-ins including a novel, a comic book, toys, a sound track and a video game. It varied in success. Fans, hungry for more Star Wars, were quickly sucked in by the adventures of Dash Rendar as he journeyed through the seedy underbelly of the empire and battled the Black Sun crime syndicate. Many were either confused or found these non-cannon characters to be uninteresting (Prince Xizor’s action figures populated many discount racks) and lost interest.
Over a decade later and after the prequel trilogy has been put to rest, Lucasfilm Ltd. has resurrected its multimedia blitz with Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. This time the toys, video game, novel and comic book will focus on that dark period when the empire was at its zenith. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed takes place between episodes three (Revenge of the Sith) and four (A New Hope). Dark Horse Comics has published a trade paperback comic based on the game. The art is at the level which all Dark Horse Star Wars comic fans have come to expect. Each page has living, breathing panels that resonate with John Williams’ brilliant score. The heart that breathes life into those panels is Haden Blackman’s story which is all about conflict.
The comic breaks from the novelization and starts with Bail Organa looking for a certain droid that will help him to establish a historical record of the beginnings of the rebel alliance. That droid is none other than Darth Vader’s secret apprentice’s own personal training droid PROXY. PROXY becomes our narrator and transcribes the missions that Vader’s apprentice undertook. The apprentice does have a name, whether or not it is his actual name is never revealed, but he goes by Starkiller. This is an obvious reference is to George Lucas’s lead character in his original draft of Star Wars known as the “Journal of the Whills”.
Possible Spoilers ahead for the comic, game and novel!
Starkiller’s missions are to hunt down and destroy the last of the Jedi. However, being Vader’s secret apprentice no one must know about him or be allowed to reveal his presence to the Emperor. After hunting down two Jedi, one from the films and another created for the story, Starkiller is instructed to create a diversion for Lord Vader so that he may strike at the Emperor. This diversion leads to the birth of the rebellion. Starkiller is at first ready to serve his master faithfully. It is his interactions with various members of the rebel alliance and an unlikely mentor that forces to him to see himself as more than a Sith. Starkiller begins to see the light. This conflict is a great twist for the story and a great revelation to just how dark and sinister the Sith are. Starkiller’s character mirrors Vader’s in so many ways that the parallels will be rewarding for any fan of the films. The ending, unfortunately, is forced to adhere to the cannon of Star Wars. Certain characters must survive, but in doing so this adds a new layer to what haunts and drives each of them.
Starkiller’s conflict in the story will be something most gamers will have a problem with. Haden Blackman’s story is a tale about a man born and bred in darkness who finds the light and rises up to become something better. Gamers don’t want to find enlightenment; they want to be engulfed in darkness with the odds stacked against them. They want the red light saber in one hand and hold the dark side in the other. Who doesn’t want to kneel before Lord Vader and utter those words, “yes, my master”?
Spoilers Over.
Like Shadows of the Empire Haden Blackman’s story fills in some blanks from an unrevealed time in the Star Wars saga. It is not as big or as encompassing as Shadows of the Empire but that may be because there are still plenty of story/ marketing opportunities left in this dark time. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed nonetheless accomplishes its goal of taking the reader to that galaxy which, for a while, was feeling so far far away.
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