|
The Phantom Menace: Dark Horse has released one-shots of Anakin, Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon, and Amidala (each with two covers: art and photo). Here's a review of the last two in the series. See the first review here. |
Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace Qui-Gon Jinn
Star Wars: Episode I -- |
|
Written by: |
Ryder
Windham Robert Teranishi Chris Chuckry Vickie Williams Peet Janes Timothy Bradstreet |
| You would
think that in the Star Wars universe the writers of these comics could come up with an
interesting tale to tell. Especially in the relatively unexplored realm of the first
trilogy. But aside from the Anakin one-shot, these Episode 1 tie-ins fall flat. The "Qui-Gon Jinn" issue has good character choices, believable dialogue and decent art but the story itself is bland. Uninteresting. Flat. Here we find out that Watto attempted to double-cross Qui-Gon after losing at the Pod Race. He hires a mercenary to "persuade" Qui-Gon to leave Anakin and depart Tatooine as soon as possible. The merc brings along a couple of thugs and very quickly loses to the Jedi Master. Qui-Gon confronts Watto to let him know he knows who was behind the assault... and lean on him a little to take care of Anakin's mother Shmi. Pretty basic plot, pretty mediocre story. Two minor dangling plots from the movie are cleared up though. Qui-Gon actually gets the "transmitter that restrains Anakin to Tatooine" and we discover exactly who Qui-Gon sold Anakin's pod to. That is a hoot. Those four panels are my recommendation for buying this comic. |
 |
| Unfortunately Ryder Windham felt the need to pepper the
dialogue in this comic with references to, or direct lifts from, the Phantom Menace movie.
I can't really figure out why; it's not like anyone is going to confuse this tie-in with
some other flick. A few lines were used cleverly but the majority just annoy the reader
and break the reality of the story rather than drawing them in more deeply. Robert
Teranishi does a fine job of rendering the characters as instantly recognizable with their
real-life counterparts and his layouts deliver solid story-telling, with events flowing
smoothly. And Chris Chuckry's colors are beautiful but maybe a little too sedated,
especially with his heavy inking. A little too moody for a Star Wars comic I think. It's
too bad the story was such a let down, I'd like to see this creative team unhampered by a
tie-in and instead doing an original tale set in the SW universe. My rating? Not the worst, not the best. It's a tie-in and heavily edited and controlled by multiple companies... I'll give this one a solid C+... a "+" only because of the sale of Anakin's pod. Fun-ny. |
 |
Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace Queen Amidala
Star Wars: Episode I -- |
|
Written by: |
Mark
Schultz Galen Showman P. Craig Russell Vickie Williams Lisa Stamp Peet Janes Timothy Bradstreet |
| Ach! What a colossal waste of paper. Here you have one of
the most interesting characters to come out of the new film and what do they waste time
telling in this tale? A chase through the desert surrounding the pod racing arena.
Speaking of which, why do all these tales focus on the time spent on Tatooine and around
the pod race tournament??? What's one of the biggest thing people talk about when they leave The Phantom Menace? Amidala and Padme! The switching back and forth between the handmaidens. For those of you not in the know, the handmaiden Amidala switches with is named Sabe. Why weren't we treated to a more revealing story about them? It's a mystery. Instead we get Padme and Jar-Jar chasing a mysterious bug, stealing a battery from Anakin's pod, out across the desert and themselves chased by Gamorrean Guards. <sigh> Not only does this story have no bearing whatsoever on events from TPM but we are subjected to more of Jar-Jar Binks annoying vocabulary. Only this time it's spelled out for us... definitely NOT an improvement. |
 |
| Mark Schultz does a fine job with a dialogue but the story is just crap. Especially when the characters discover a pool (A POOL!) of water at an abandoned moisture farm. Why would anyone abandon such a farm on the moisture-starved planet is beyond me. And this isn't a small pool. Jar-Jar swims in it and [get this] when the pump is fixed by Padme, a wave (A WAVE!) swamps the Gamorreans and washes them away BUT still leaves a pool of water there! The art by Galen Showman and P. Craig Russell is good. The characters all look like themselves. The technology and landscapes all look believable. Except the Gamorrean guards, they looked bad. Really bad. So where do I rate this huh? Blah story, good dialogue, nice art [if not a little inconsistent] and plot holes you could fly a Naboo cruiser through. I'll give it a C- and move on. I suggest you do the same... unless you want to see what a pool of water looks like on Tatooine! INTERESTING NOTE: All four Episode 1 one-shots feature two different covers, one comic art and one real-life photo. I recommend the art covers by Timothy Bradstreet. |
 |
Discuss this article on the Echo Station message boards.
(Chad Clark is an aspiring actor and fanatic devotee of Rogue Squadron. When he isn't practicing his heart-melting smile, he writes reviews of the comics he reads while basking in the California sunshine. His agent answers his fan mail at chad@echostation.com)