Star Wars Omnibus: Tales of the Jedi Volume 1

Star Wars Omnibus 1

By various (Dark Horse Books)
ISBN: 978-1-84576-471-5

Dark Horse Comics have held the comics producing section of the Star Wars franchise since 1993, and in that time have produced thousands of pages of material, much of it excellent, some not so much: and most of that the earliest material.

Now, it might be heresy to speak this aloud but dedicated fans aren’t all that quality conscious when it comes to their particular fascination, whether its comics about the Old Republic or the latest batch of action figures, or whatever. And no, I’m not just talking about Star Wars fans now.

The Omnibus line is a brilliant and economical way to keep the poorer material in print for such fans by bundling old publications into classy digests (they’re slightly smaller than US comic-books but larger than the standard manga volume, running about 400 full colour pages per book). Tales of the Jedi chronologically collects the various extrapolations set prior to the first film Star Wars IV: a New Hope.

‘The Golden Age of the Sith’ is by Kevin J. Anderson, Chris Gossett and Stan Woch, with colours by Pamela Rambo and lettered by Sean Konot. It’s set 5000 years prior to the rise of Darth Vader and first appeared as a comic miniseries of the same name issued as #0-5. Odan-Urr is a scholarly Jedi obsessed with historical research unwillingly dispatched to a Star system where the charismatic Empress Teta is trying to unite seven warring planets into a pacified, civilised nation. Running supplies to the combatants are the Daragon family, but the last mission goes wrong leaving their children Jori and Gav in the care of the Hutt who financed the missions.

Years later the siblings are hyperspace explorers still trying to work off the debt when they discover a route to a dark and distant system with a hideous secret. Millennia previously when the Jedi first began many succumbed to the Dark Side of the Force. After a brutal war they were driven from the civilised galaxy and lost to history. Fleeing to the outer reaches of space these dark knights found the decadent world of the Sith, which they promptly conquered. Interbreeding with the natives the Jedi became Sith Lords and after brutal ages of conquest retrenched into complacency.

As Jori and Gav arrive in this lost system two warlords are fighting for the vacant position of supreme leader. But now the warlike Sith have a route back to the civilisation that banished them. Jori is coerced into bringing the wizards back to Republic Space with her brother Gav a hostage slowly succumbing to the seductive Dark Side…

This leads directly into the second tale ‘The Fall of the Sith Empire’ as Odan-Urr and Empress Teta lead the resistance to the Sith assault whist the Republic dithers. Originally released as a five issue miniseries (by Anderson, Dario Carrasco Jr., Mark Heike, Bill Black and David Jacob Beckett, coloured by Ray Murtaugh and lettered by Willie Schubert) this epic war-story concludes the tale originally ended on a classic cliffhanger. Full of intrigue and bombast, both parts of this convoluted tale suffer from rather pedestrian art and predictable plot (although the quality of visuals does improve by the end), but nevertheless tells the long-anticipated tale of the first encounter between the Jedi and the Sith Lords. There’s loads of action, drama and heroic sacrifice and it does provide a solid base for succeeding tales to build on.

It is followed by the saga of Ulic Qel-Droma and the Beast Wars on Onderon from the comic book Tales of the Jedi, which began much closer continuity, eventually collected with the Saga of Nomi Sunrider as Knights of the Old Republic in 1997. Written by Tom Veitch, art by Chris Gossett and Mike Barreiro, coloured by Pamela Rambo and lettered by Willie Schubert, it’s set a thousand years after the events of the Sith War. As three young Jedi are sent to the planet Onderon, a world of hideous monsters permanently besieging a vast city citadel of sentient beings, these young heroes are bursting with overconfidence. Unfortunately all is not as it seems…

One year later: Nomi Sunrider is a wife and mother, who dutifully follows her Jedi husband when he is ordered to report to the Jedi Master Thon in the Stenness system. En route he is murdered by bandits for the Adegan crystals he carries (can’t make lightsabers without crystals, right?). As he dies his spirit tells Nomi she must be a Jedi in his place. This intriguing tale of responsibility is the best work in the whole omnibus as Nomi conquers her fears and reservations in time to aid Ulic Qel-Droma and his fellow Jedi on Onderon, who have fallen foul of a secret infestation of Sith sorcerers.

Powerful and moving, the first chapter of Veitch’s script is ably illustrated by Janine Johnston, who then relinquishes the art chores to the quite superb David Roach, whose lovingly rendered realism adds tremendous factual weight to the proceedings. This is the moment the future quality of the franchise was assured.

Increasingly well produced and featuring scenarios familiar to most readers, these are comics stories that act as a solid gold entrance into the world of graphic narrative and one we should all exploit to get more people into comics

Star Wars © 2007 Lucasfilm Ltd. & ™. All Rights Reserved. Used under authorization. Contents © 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2007 Lucasfilm Ltd.