“Star Wars Legacy: Indomitable” & “Loyalties”

We start with a story that highlights the Galactic Alliance. Some people really don’t care for the politics of Star Wars, but I think that criticism is misguided. While the politics of the prequel movies were simultaneously cartoonish and tedious, they established a lot of helpful context that led to a lot of good stories. So I welcome more politics in my “Star Wars” comics. Unfortunately the politics are the high point of ‘Indomitable,’ the story that plays out in issues 20 and 21.

So it seems that while Emperor Fel was the dominant faction in the galaxy, his wasn’t the only government. After the movies, Princess Leia established the New Republic, but after a lot more turmoil, that morphed into the Galactic Alliance. And the GA is still going strong! It is still upheld by alien races such as the Dug, Duros, and Mon Calamari. But where Fel was willing to live side by side, the Sith are not.

The broader politics are all pretty cool, but none of the characters really grab you. We begin following Admiral Gial (himself named after Admiral Ackbar) and his niece, chafing under Sith control. We meet more members of their burgeoning rebellion, who spend a lot of time in interpersonal conflict. That’s where this story loses me. I like the big political context, it gives the galaxy a lot of texture. But I couldn’t bring myself to care about this dude having a problem and then a knife fight with some other dude. The story just hasn’t done the work to make me care about the dudes.

I also think this story is hurt by fill-in artist Omar Francia. I’ve liked Fracia’s work in the past (particularly on “Mercury Heat”) but his style is jarringly different from regular artist Jan Duursema and the other fill-in artists. His style is so much more cartoony, that it completely clashes with the tone of the writing. It’s like one of those “X-Men” crossovers where you go from an issue drawn by Salvador Larroca and then an issue drawn by Humberto Ramos. Both artists have done good work (and also not good work) but put them one after the other and the clash becomes a major obstacle.

The art woes worsen in issue 22, when Alan Robinson takes over. Robinson is even more cartoonish and the effect is even more incongruous. It’s like turning on The Force Awakens only to find out that one scene has been added in the animation style of Clone Wars. Both have their place, but it doesn’t feel like the same movie. At all. Robinson also runs into the problem of filling crowd scene with blank, blobby figures. All of this is made even more egregious by the heavy themes of the issue, which focuses on Darth Krayt’s plans for a Mon Cal genocide. So take that animated Clone Wars-style scene and fill it with dialogue from Schindler’s List. Yikes.

The second story, ‘Loyalties’ fares much better. Despite some of the weird parts of Duursema’s style (everyone’s lips are so pouty!), it’s great to have her back. She set the style and tone of the series, and her confidence of vision shows in every panel. It also helps that issue 23 reunites Cade with his pals Blue and Syn (not to mention R2-D2, we stan a legend). These characters are much more three dimensional, and despite the fact that sometimes I don’t care for their morals, I really like getting to see the crazy shenanigans they get up to.

Like, Cade’s cavalier attitude towards the Dark and Light sides of the Force feels really unique. His former captain Rav is a total scumbag, and he’s got no problems using Force Lightning to rough him up. And in the context of a rough and tumble crime story, it’s a sensible thing to do. It ends up making Cade look uniquely strong in the Star Wars canon. Good guys in Star Wars demonstrate their strength by saying no to the Dark side. Cade seems to have mastered himself in such a way that he knows how far he can take things. He can dabble in the dark without committing to it. That may not jive with some peoples’ understanding of the Force, but I think it’s a new perspective that brings with it some fresh nuance.

The story is kind of forgettable, but it serves as a great showpiece for the characters and for Duursema to have some fun. Cade and co rescue an ally from the villainous Black Sun syndicate. The fighting is appropriately kinetic, and the allies turn out to be cool characters: Bantha Rawk, Aunt Droo, and their little tribe of misfits. Whatever energy was lacking from the Mon Calamari story can be found here. I think I gotta credit Duursema (especially considering that she was the missing ingredient from the last few issues). She gets to draw a Star Wars beach volleyball scene, and her enthusiasm radiates off the page. Duursema was in her 50s when she drew these pages and there’s a special kind of late-middle-aged horniness that just can’t be imitated.

Part of the hook is that Bantha isn’t some random guy, he is in fact Nat Skywalker, Cade’s Uncle. Bantha got out of the whole Skywalker destiny game a long time ago, and serves as a great foil to his heroic Jedi brother. It gives Cade a choice between two role models- he can embrace the life of his dad (and Luke, and Anakin, and Ben, and all those historic Skywalkers). Or he can follow his uncle, raise a family, be a mechanic, and still be a badass. Bantha helps make Cade’s choices feel real.

I like these little jaunts “Legacy” takes around the galaxy. This one was sort of a bust but once the story started up again, it hadn’t lost a step. The high bar set in ‘Claws of the Dragon’ is now the standard that “Legacy” has to uphold. John Ostrander knows where he’s taking this story, and Duursema is bringing it to life. So I am pleased to say that the legend of Cade Skywalker is still a fascinating story. I’ll catch you all next time as we head into… ‘The Hidden Temple!’

Star Wars Track of the Week: ‘Star Wars Disco’ from “Star Wars and Other Galactic Funk” by Meco