SuperHeroBooks - The Defense of Kamino and Other Tales (Star Wars: Clone Wars, Vol. 1)
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List Price: $14.95
Our Price: $2.00
Your Save: $ 12.95 ( 87% )
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Manufacturer: Dark Horse
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 741.5973
EAN: 9781569719626
ISBN: 1569719624
Label: Dark Horse
Manufacturer: Dark Horse
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 128
Publication Date: 2003-07-02
Publisher: Dark Horse
Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Studio: Dark Horse
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Outstanding!
Comment: I was never into comics before this book. It's the artwork that grabbed my attention. It's beautiful! I'm an avid admirer of original artwork so, these illustrations hit the mark. After reading the entire book (in one sitting) I was in love! The storyline is wonderful and there's so much depth in the characters you can't help but love them or dislike them. At the recent Celebration IV convention, I spotted some more of the volumes and bought books 2 through 4 on the spot. I just love them and I can't wait to get the rest in the series.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great comic book!!
Comment: This is a great series! Absolutely worth to begin an excellent Star Wars series! The art is great and there are a lot of details and things to watch in these magazines.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Ventress = good. Mon Calamari and Anakin = check minus.
Comment: To tell you the truth- I never had much interest in the Star Wars comics. Though I'm a huge Star Wars geek (yes, I even owned most of the CCG from the mid-late 90s, though I never learned how to play), I stay away from anything non-movie related when it comes to info. After all, who knows what's official plot now and what isn't? Mara Jade, Dark Troopers, Emperor "clones", it all sounded stupid when I heard it, and proved to be even worse when I read some of the stories. What was happening to Star Wars as I knew it? "Expanded Universe"? Bah! But with the new trilogy, some things began to work out, and I gave in a little. The Clone Wars cartoon was fairly boring and forced from what I saw, but there was one single thing that grabbed me by the head and sucked me right in: Asajj Ventress. The hottest woman, fictional or not, I've ever seen. I looked up -everything- on her, and practically have an alter-in-progress made for her. Yes, I'm that pathetic. When I learned of her getting some coverage in the Clone Wars and Republic comic series, I shelled out the money for them just to get more Ventress. Was it worth it? The short answer is yes, but that's my Asajj-fanboyism kicking in. How about the rest of the non-Asajj stories in here? Eh, they're ok, but this is just the first volume after all, so there wasn't much to expect from a new series. I'll tell you this though- it does a great job covering the real 'Attack of the Clones' that the second movie failed to deliver, even if it's not that great in the overall sense.
There are 5 stories to be told here, 2 being good, 1 being incredible (from my point of view), and the others being boring and pointless from what I could see. Starting out with Aayla Secura going under cover to see what a Confederacy-sympathizer, Zenex, is doing. Zenex himself isn't that interesting, but Aayla in action sure as hell is. Her former master Quinlan Vos, a semi-fallen Jedi, is featured as well. He doesn't dress like or talk like the other Jedi we know, and definitely doesn't fight like one, as he uses a blaster pistol for his attacks. While he seems neutral for most of this story, he has a big decision to make in the end, and it'll affect the war and the Jedi at the same time. Up next, Anakin and Obi-Wan are battling on Kamino, but their ships are destroyed, and they're stranded in the middle of the ocean left to fend for themselves. It could've been done well, and had lots of action, but it ends abruptly, and just has more of the usual conversation where Anakin shows his darker side, but Obi-Wan snaps him out of it temporarily. Quite frankly, I'm sick of them "hinting" at Anakin turning to the Dark Side. Not because we know it's going to happen, but because there's no point, and half the time it's teen-angst type things that cause it. In the next story, they've arrived at a Clone facility and are joined by Shaak Ti. Also joining them is a somewhat crazy yet comical Clone Trooper who does whatever he can to follow orders. When things go the wrong way, he gets ready to destroy a Clone fetus stock so they won't fall into the wrong hands. But, with the THINK OF THE CHILDREN morals, it doesn't happen. Don't get me wrong- I'm not all about killing babies or anything, but again, it's predictable. The only good thing about this otherwise lame story is the Clone Trooper, constantly mentioning to follow his orders properly. Next is the most pointless story, dealing with the Mon Calamari fending off Jedi Star fighters. While I do like that the Mon Calamari actually get a story all to themselves, did it have to be with otherwise unknown characters and in the middle of a fight that doesn't really matter? I didn't think so either. Fortunately, the last story with my woman, is great enough to make you forget about the bad previous stories. Mace Windu goes off to talk to Sora Bulq, a fallen Jedi who formerly taught lightsaber combat at the Jedi Temple, and tries to persuade him back to the "correct" path. I've never liked Mace Windu, and this story didn't help change my mind- he always seems like the kind that has to get things his way, even if he is on the Light Side. Sora Bulq is a man of reason though, and insists on giving it more thought. His students are the same way as well, and don't wish to fight in a pointless war that causes more death in the world. At the same time, Asajj Ventress, Count Dooku's apprentice who kicks more ass than you can throw at her, is sent to deal with both Sora and Mace Windu. And she does a great job, showing that she's no pushover like Darth Maulester was.
While it sounds like I hated most of this book, that's not the case. The first and last stories are the reason to buy it, though those between are terrible to decent at best. Things conclude too quickly, there's hardly any struggle or anything that makes you fear for the characters, and the resolution is always simple. I never worried about the characters, as the danger they were in was usually nothing compared to what happens to them in the movies. It got silly after a while, but I kept reading. But one has to wonder, just what does it take to get a Star Wars comic made? A pointless story covering a small band of Mon Calamari troops that have no affect on the outcome of war? Sure! I guess my story about Princess Leia giving her throne to Asajj could make it after all...
The artwork is fairly decent for the most part. While everything here is done by different artists, there's a steady quality of colors and shading to be found. Some strips though, like the final one, have a sketchy look to them. Yoda looks pretty wacked out here, and unfortunately, Asajj's one close-up makes her look different from all the other poses she does in the story. The new character designs look great though, Aayla's former master in particular. I would've liked to have seen him in the movies.
I'm really considering giving this book 3 stars now that think about it all, but won't just to be fair to a new series, knowing it's a start. Besides, I'm such a Ventress fanboy, that I can't give anything she's in less than 4 stars. But for those who aren't obsessed with her like I am, know that you probably won't get that much out of this book. Maybe move on to the other volumes and see what they have in store?
Customer Rating:
Summary: An Entertaining Graphic Novel with A Few Stumblings
Comment: To the knowledge of any person who has read a Star Wars comic, you get a grab bag of exciting adventure or a headache of boring drivel; the first volume of the Clone Wars graphic novel series is no different. Here, you get five different, self-contained stories (with the exception of Jedi master Quinlan Vos' story, which spans over into a few more volumes of the Clone Wars series) that have to do more or less with the entire Clone Wars saga, and events leading up to those that take place in Episode III.
Two of the five stories I really like; one is slightly interesting only in a whimsical sense; and the other two are just crap put into the graphic novel to thicken it up a little bit and give it some more pages so that the title 'trade paperback' may be more appropriate and fitting.
We'll start with the bad. The third story has to deal with Shaak Ti, Obi, Anakin, and a (slightly insane) clone trooper, the latter who insists on killing clone fetuses of Jango's stock. The Jedi knights Ti and Obi convince the trooper not to eradicate the unborn fetuses; I get the overall scientific/tolerance paradox this tries to feed readers, but...well, the stories sucks. Who cares? (This isn't a lecture on stem cell research or "designer babies".)
The other dumb story is where Obi and Anakin get stranded in the middle of an ocean on Kamino as their plane blows up over it. That entire storyline was just stupid, boring, and pointless.
Next up is a battle fought between Mon Calamari soldiers on an underwater vessel...? What's the point to this stuff?? This story was interesting in the sense that it deals with a species of aliens that we don't get to see much about, but the story is...moronic.
The cool stories, in my opinion, are the first and the last one. The first begins the story arc with Jedi master Quinlan Vos, his apprentice Aayla Secura, and Vos' to-be lover Khayleen. Vos and Secura duke it out with a Confederacy-sympathizer named Zenex.
The last story is truly a gem. It explains the fall of the Jedi Sora Bulq (who joined the leagues of Count Dooku) and his followers. Besides that fact, the main story focuses on the character Mace Windu, whom I absolutely love! (I like his witty sarcasm and overly seriousness that is so snaringly dire it's funny!) The artwork in the first and last stories is just breathtaking and amazing.
If you're looking to be entertained, then "The Defense of Kamino" is a worthwhile effort. However, you'll only enjoy it if you're willing to look past the couple shortcomings and stumblings. You'll only consider to be worthy of 4 or 5 stars unless you're a complete Star Wars junkie who loves anything George Lucas does (even if he sold his dentures). However, I'm no Star Wars junkie (in fact, SW sometimes can be downright corny, cheesy, and overly campy) and don't worship the holy ground the demagogue George Lucas steps on. But I thought the first volume of this series was worth a shot: it is.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Exclellent and superior story
Comment: Exclellent artwork and story. Great new character alpha-17. I loved the whole story from beginning to end.
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Editorial Reviews:
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For 25 years, fans have wondered about the Clone Wars. With the release of Episode II, audiences witnessed the events that started that epic conflict. Starting this year, LucasBooks is chronicling these historic events through comics, adult novels, middle grade fiction, audio books, short stories, and more - revealing the all-important events that occur between Episodes II and III in preparation for the latter's release in 2005. This volume collects the first issues of Dark Horse's ongoing Star Wars: Republic comic book that chronicle the Clone Wars, starting with issue #50.
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