Going back to a site with bad memories attached is never great. Especially when you were the last padawan, Kanan Jarrus. Weisman and guest artist Camagni bring arc one of the now ongoing series to a close. Will it make the landing?
Written by Greg Weisman
Illustrated by Jacopo Camagni• A tale from the time of Rebels!
• No longer a Padawan, the adult Kanan finds himself back on the planet Kaller…
• Will his past as Caleb Dume return to haunt him?
This may come as a shock to you: Despite the incredible high quality of “Star Wars”, “Darth Vader” and the mini-series within the family of books, “Kanan” has risen quite high to end up being my favorite book of the bunch. With the conclusion of, what I have fondly called “Let’s watch the universe kick around the most adorable fourteen year old ever” that was Kanan’s “origin”, we return to the present with the crew of the Ghost and their supply mission on Kaller.
Greg Weisman’s characterization of Kanan has been the highlight of this series (makes sense since he worked on the first season of Rebels) and that continues here. Kanan is clearly someone who suffers from a bit of PTSD and Survivor’s Guilt and Weisman’s scripting manages to convey it in ways that do not make light of either of the mental issues but still making the book accessible to its younger demographic. It goes a long way to make Kanan one of the more compelling characters in the Post-Disney Star Wars Expanded Universe.
Weisman does a good job with the entire cast, but it’s especially the small interactions between Hera and Kanan (fondly called Space Mom & Space Dad by the fandom) that shine the most. Whether it is subtle glances (courtesy of guest penciler Jacopo Camagni, but we’ll get back to him), remarks of concern, banter or Kanan’s hesitation to split up or for her to accompany him. It’s more building blocks on the relationship that started in A New Dawn (which you should read, it was pretty good) and solidified in the show.
Guest Penciler Jacopo Camagni has a similar style to regular Pepe Larraz (who did an awesome cover), but has enough differences to be unique. It’s very much in the, what I’ve come to call “serious cartoony”. It’s a kind of style that does veer towards light heartedness with dynamic action in clean, expressive faces, but it’s not like you would see this style in “Tiny Titans” or something. It can go to dark moments really quickly, but pull off humor well (seeing Chopper raise his tiny droid arms alongside Kanan when they are held up by thugs is adorable). And the art style manages to convey subtleties as well, such as Hera gently motioning Ezra away while glancing at Kanan with concern.
And I’ll say this for Camagni: Dude loves his side-profiles. I know that feels like a weird to notice, and yeah, it is, but he does them very well!
Colorist David Curiel has been on the book since the beginning and he continues to be a grand fit for it. While the coloring is darker (it’s all at night, so that makes sense) it still retains a kind of boldness to them. I will however, say this, there were sometimes, rare but there, that it seemed like Kanan’s flesh tone fluctuate a bit and not because of different lighting in the scenes.
Now, above I discussed a lot of the character interaction and more about the relationships between characters and the well-crafted mental state of the protagonist. That’s because, honestly, the plot of this supply run and Kanan’s encounter with the thugs and the end result is just okay. Not bad, just okay. It makes for a fine backdrop to the good stuff and Camagni and Curiel do a good job with the action scenes but such aspects like the ending just didn’t hit home. I get it; the nature of the ongoing comic series requires a reason at the end to get a reader to come back, but considering this is the epilogue of the first “book”, I would have much rather there be a bit more tying up here instead of this new dangling plot. At this point, we’re in for the book and willing to see where the creative team will take us. This ending just felt a bit flat.
Final Verdict: 6.8- The weakest issue of the series so far, but continues the tradition of great character work with a very good fill-in artist.
