Star Wars
Today is May 4th and for a while it's been a day to celebrate all things "Star Wars." May the Fourth Be With You? Get it? Since Carrie Fisher's untimely passing in 2016, it has also doubled as a day to pay tribute and homage to our Princess turned General. Seeing that it is a day to love on Star Wars, I thought it was the perfect time for my next post going through the new canon. It's time to talk about "Attack of the Clones" and an adventure featuring Mace Windu at the start of the Clone Wars.
"Star Wars: Attack of the Clones" by R.A. Salvatore.
It's been ten years since "The Phantom Menace" and the Republic is being torn apart by a Separatist movement led by former Jedi Master, Count Dooku. Upon returning to Coruscant to lead a vote in regards to creating a Grand Army of the Republic to fight the Separatists, an attempt is made on the life of Senator Padmé Amidala resulting int he death of her handmaiden Cordé. After a second attempt by bounty hunter, Zam Wesell, the Jedi Council places Padmé under the protection of Anakin Skywalker, Padawan of Obi-Wan Kenobi. As Obi-Wan investigates the mysterious planet of Kamino, Anakin and Padmé grow closer and this closeness could end Anakin's career as a Jedi and his destiny as the Chosen One.
If you know me and we've talked about "Star Wars" you know that I really hate "Attack of the Clones." For my money, it's the worst film of the nine and kind of highlights everything people don't like about the Prequel Trilogy. The hokey dialogue, the lackluster character development, the cringeworthy writing, the over reliance on special effects. There is nothing good about the "romance" between Padmé and Anakin and I will never not roll my eyes when he's riding that whatever it is on Naboo and like fakes dying or whatever. That being said, reading this novelization gave me a small appreciation for the movie that I've never had before.
Much like the novelization of "The Phantom Menace", Lucas tapped famous fantasy author, R.A. Salvatore to take care of the writing duties. Salvatore, much like Brooks before him, is able craft Lucas' nonsense into something that is halfway compelling. One thing the book does that the movie fails miserable at is Shmi Skywalker. In Episode II, Shmi is basically a non-entity or worse she's a tool to further Anakin on his path to the Dark Side. This novel makes Shmi a character all her own. You get an idea of her life with Cliegg Lars and his son, Owen and Owen's girlfriend, Beru. In a couple chapters, you develop this empathy for her that has nothing to do with Anakin and it makes her capture and eventual death by the hands of the Tusken Raiders that much more tragic. This could've been like 10 minutes in the movie and it would've made such a huge difference and would have helped to make Anakin actually empathetic.
The other way that Salvatore approves on the movie is with the "relationship" between Padmé and Anakin. There's no way to make it seem like a believable thing, but we at least get some insight into what Padmé is thinking and if you squint and forget everything else you know about actual romantic relationships it becomes a little palatable.
The one thing I enjoy in Episode II is the portion with Obi-Wan on Kamino and meeting Jango Fett and Salvatore enriches this portion and makes it even better. Boba Fett can seem like an annoyance that is thrown in for fan service, but the novel deepens their father/son bond and he seems like he actually matters.
Sadly, Salvatore can't make Lucas' dialogue good. So, the portions of the book where Padmé and Anakin are expressing their devotion to each other are still mind numbingly awful and you'll be rolling your eyes so much all you'll see are the whites. And there is so MUCH of that, it's hard to rate this book any higher than
Grade: C
"Star Wars: Mace Windu - Jedi of the Republic" by Matt Owens & Denys Cowan
The Clone Wars have just begun and the Jedi are adjusting to their new roles within the conflict and the galaxy. They have moved from peacekeepers to generals in the Republic's new clone army. One of the Jedi struggling with this new role is Mace Windu and it's during this struggle the council sends him on a vital mission in this burgeoning conflict. The Separatists and their droid army are attempting to gain a foothold in the Outer Rim specifically at the jungle planet of Hissrich. Windu gathers a team consisting of fellow council member Kit Fisto, blind Jedi Prosset Dibs and young Knight, Rissa Mano. Once there the team gets more than they bargained for including a droid battalion led by mercenary droid, AD-W4 and rebellion from within.
This story takes place at the beginning of the Clone Wars prior to the show starting. It feels like an extended episode of the show, which is not a knock against it. I don't recall very many episodes that focused on how the Jedi feel about this pretty abrupt shift in their duties. And it's nice to get some focus on Mace Windu, one of the more interesting characters to be introduced in the prequel trilogy (probably because he was played by Samuel L. Jackson).
Ever since Disney purchased Star Wars and started putting out new content they have really pushed out the quirky/murderous droids. "Rogue One," "Solo" and "The Mandalorian" have all introduced their version of the murder droid and the comics don't want to be left out. The first "Darth Vader" comic and then "Doctor Aphra" had one, so why not have one here and AD-W4 is pretty great. I have a soft spot for these types of droids. I love the mind games that he plays with Mace and his general hatred and disdain for his droid troops is very entertaining.
Of the new Jedi that are introduced, Prosset Dibs is the most interesting. A blind Jedi is intrinsically cool, kind of like Daredevil as a Jedi. There are a lot of Jedi that start to doubt the Jedi way and inevitably turn to the Dark Side. That isn't what happens here. It makes sense that Jedi would feel that getting involved in this conflict would be the antithesis of Jedi teachings, no matter what the Council says, so seeing Dibs lean into this and not be persuaded otherwise is a neat twist on the "Jedi questions everything" trope.
On a personal note, I'm like a Kit Fisto superfan, so anything that really features him I'm all for. And there are a ton of moments in this mini that really showcase why he is such a badass.
Owens has a good grip on these characters especially Mace, which is super important. This Mace could have walked right off your screen and into the pages of this book. His character work really sings. The biggest issue is that this story feels stretched to fill pages. This is a five issue mini that could have easily been a three issue. This leads to a lot of wheel spinning.
Denys Cowan is a comics legend. He rose to prominence drawing "The Question" back in the 70's along with "Detective Comics." His heavy line work is really cool but doesn't necessarily gel with the aesthetic of this particular time frame in Star Wars. If the story had taken place all on Coruscant it would have been great. His pencils work great for the gritty city-planet, but once the action moves to the jungle planet of Hissrich it gets really muddied and dark when it should be a little bit brighter.
This is a nice starting point for The Clone Wars and a decent showcase for Mace Windu, but would have benefited from a more streamlined story and a different penciler.
Grade: B-
There you have it. It's time for the Clone Wars! Next time, we'll start going through the Clone Wars series using the chronological timeline not the airdate timeline.
Does anyone else enjoy the novelization of "Attack of the Clones?" Is it anyone's favorite Star Wars movie? I'd love to hear your thoughts and what you love about it in the comments. May the Fourth Be with You All!
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