Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews
Star Wars Legacy #36
Dark Horse Comics
Ostrander, Francia & Anderson
This issue deals exclusively with the political and military struggle among the various factions of fleets. It picks up some plot points from previous issues and brings them to a collision in one issue. It doesn’t have any Sith or Cade Skywalker or Jedi or pirates. It’s just good, old-fashioned space battles. It’s a good issue, but ultimately it only gives you some insight into the minds of those involved. It doesn’t establish a new status quo and that basically means it’s a filler issue. I liked it, but if you are picking this series up sporadically then it is an issue you can afford to miss.
The issue is heavy on the strategy. It’s got a simple enough setup. The new alliance led by Admiral Stazi and the former Emporor Fel’s fleet attempt a hit on some of the Sith Empire’s ships. Fel sends his most unpredictable commander, Admiral Fenel.
What ends up happening is that Fenel begins to command the Sith’s Empire. How is this possible? Because they all used to be on the same team. He orders the men to kill off their officers and surrender the ships. Some listen but others rebel. This effectively creates a rift between Stazi and Fenel and makes the battle multiple from a war between two factions to one with anywhere from three to five sides depending on which way the wind blows.
It’s a very complicated plot that relies on commanders being able to determine when they are outgunned versus when they think they can take a specific ship out. It also requires for fast maneuvering of entire fleets to cut off escape routes and capture escape pods or block them from being destroyed.
However, the comic works well because it doesn’t make anything seem too unrealistic. The story is fairly straightforward and the positions of the ships don’t seem to drift too far from their original positions that would only make tracking the goings on that much more difficult.
The art is good but it gets off fairly easy because there actually isn’t that much action. Though it’s a space battle the issue concentrates on those in the command posts. It’s a good effort but it is a shame there wasn’t a little more out in the battle to show off a bit.
The comic is a good glimpse at the lack of trust on all sides in the war. It’s also a good way to examine the strategy involved in these types of massive space battles. In the end the comic is a good read, but it probably could be recapped quickly the next time these plot points get picked up again some number of issues down the road.
3 out of 5 geek goggles
