Story: When Jedi Master Quinlan Vos’s cover as an underworld operative is blown, he and Master Tholme decide on a dangerous plan: Quinlan will appear to betray the Rebellion and join Count Dooku while sending information back to the Republic. Even his former padawan, Aayla Secura, believes Quinlan has gone to the Dark Side, and her conflicted feelings may prove deadly when she must battle Aurra Sing to save the lives of Tholme and another Jedi. For Quinlan Vos, the challenge is even greater: he must walk far enough into darkness to convince Dooku of his sincerity without letting it consume him.
Review: The story of Quinlan Vos has been building since before the Clone Wars began; the tale of his memory loss and subsequent struggle to regain his identity was central to many post-Episode I Star Wars comics. The galactic war provides Ostrander with the perfect setting for Quinlan’s ultimate crisis of conscience. In the context of such a great evil, it’s easy to justify getting one’s hands a little dirty for the sake of the greater good; if Quinlan can save millions of lives and end a destructive war at the cost of some of his own purity, isn’t that a worthwhile price to pay? But exactly how much can he let his darker impulses reign before he can’t bring them under control again? Ostrander does a very good job of walking the knife edge here, making each of Quinlan’s actions on its own appear justifiable, but building up a larger context where it soon feels that he’s doomed. He’s equally good at portraying Dooku, gradually drawing Quinlan further down the dark path.
The Aayla chapter of the story is a little bit of a diversion, but it does fit with the rest of the book by showing how Quinlan’s actions ripple through the relationships of the other Jedi. There are some nice discussions about the nebulous concept of Jedi not forming attachments that Lucas introduced in Episode II; it appears that even some of the Jedi have trouble grasping its meaning, which is one of the things that has led to their decline. I’m not a huge fan of the backstory that the comics gave to blink-and-you-missed-her-in-Phantom Menace Aurra Sing, but I do appreciate how Ostrander was able to use it to establish yet another character contrast. There’s some very well-structured writing going on here.
Not much to say about the art from Duursema and Parsons other than that they continue to turn out some of the best lightsaber-swingin’ action pages I’ve seen. This team’s work on the Clone Wars has really been top notch and a testament to the potential of licensed spinoff stories.
Year: 2004
Writer: John Ostrander
Penciller:Jan Duursema
Inker:Dan Parsons
Colorists:Joe Wayne, Brad Anderson
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Pages: 136