Set immediately after Order 66 in Star Wars Episode III, the Dark Times story arc follows Jedi Knight Jass Dennir and former Separatist Bomo Greenbark as they struggle to live in a world suddenly devoid of comrades, family, and allies. Consisting of seven volumes, I'd normally review each separately, but widespread family illness has allowed for blitz reading, so I was able to get through them all in 24 hours. Rather than blitz folks with seven posts in such a short time, I've condensed all reviews into one.
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| Dass Jennir |
Volume 1: The Path to Nowhere
Jass Dennir escapes his turned Clone Troopers and joins forces with Bomo Greenbark to look for the latter's wife and daughter, who have been sold into slavery in the wake of the Empire's rise. Along the way, they join up with the crew of the Uhumele, a lot disgruntled with both sides and carrying cargo of suspicious origin. Eventually making an unfortunate discovery, they part ways, with Dennir setting off on his own, while Greenbark joins the crew.
Rating: A-
Volume 2: Parallels
Jedi Master K'Kruhk overcomes his turned Clone Troopers and crash-lands on a deserted (but habitable) planet, where he raises a group of saved Younglings. They're eventually attacked by pirates and must flee. Meanwhile, Greenbark gets familiar with his new crew, one of whom had a young son given to the Jedi shortly before Order 66. They get in a scrape with a dishonest dealer over their special cargo and all appears lost- can they escape?
Rating: B-
Volume 3: [part of Vector storyline, discussed here]
The Uhumele's cargo turns out to be the stasis chamber of Celeste Morne, a 4,000-year-old Jedi Knight who harnesses the power of the Muur Talisman, a Sith artifact much sought by Darth Vader. Vader obtains the chamber and unleashes Morne- can he obtain the Talisman, and will the Uhumele crew survive?
Rating: B
Volume 4: Blue Harvest
On Telerath, Dass Jennir job hops as he keeps a low profile and tries to recover psychologically from Order 66 and "find himself" in this new era. He's hired by a mysterious woman named Ember to rid the planet of a slaver gang, and ends up in between them and a rival spicer gang. Will he do the right thing- and will he know what that is?
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| Bomo Greenbark |
Rating: B
Volume 5: Out of the Wilderness
Jennir and Ember escape from Telerath, but crash on Prine (a desert world) after being pursued by Imperials. As they struggle to survive, Bomo Greenbark & the Uhumele crew pick up another Jedi, and decide that they need to bring Dass back on board. Meanwhile, both Darth Vader and a mysterious bounty hunter are after the fugitive Jedi . . . can he escape?
Rating: B-
Jedi Master K'Kruhk flees with his band of Younglings to Arkinnea, a lush Imperial world. There they live as refugees, but choose to escape their camp when they sense all is not what it seems. Imperials are slaughtering refugees en masse, and the fleeing Jedi witness one such act. As Imperial might bears down on the fugitives, they receive help from a most unlikely source.
Rating: B+
Jennir, the new Jedi, and the Uhumele crew decide to strike a blow against the Empire by laying a trap for Darth Vader. To do so, they track down another Jedi, Master Kudorra, on Kestavel to assist. Betrayals and twists are at every turn, though, and the motley crew may find themselves in unexpected situations. Can they pull through?
Rating: A-
Overall
The Dark Times series had a lot of promise. The time period was really interesting, exploring a galaxy post-war and all the associated ramifications- fugitive Jedi, separated families, and more. The first issue was perhaps darker than any other Star Wars tale I've read- which is a good thing. That said, the series suffered from poor execution. Several potentially-cool story arcs or plot elements were left unresolved, other plot points were insufficiently developed, characters had sudden and inexplicable disposition changes . . . these all served to weaken the stories. Part of the challenge could be the intermittent delivery of the tales- the arc began in 2006 and didn't conclude until 2013 . . . which is a long time for so few tales. In the end, it was okay, but since it had such potential, I was left disappointed. In a word, this series felt "unfinished."
Rating (for series): B
Rating (for series): B
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| Darth Vader, hanging around in Volume 7 |
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