GRAPHIC NOVEL
Star Wars
Clone Wars Adventure - Vol. 1

Author: Hayden Blackman
Artists: Ben Caldwell and The Fillbach Brothers
Titan Books
RRP £4.99
ISBN 1 84023 995 6
Available 24 September 2004


Inspired by the Cartoon Network's Clone Wars cartoons, this new series uses the television show as a jumping-off point to tell new stories of heroism and villainy in the same stripped-down visual style...

Volume one in the Clone Wars Adventure series is a bit of a disappointment. Three tales are included here, all of which fail to really offer anything new to the Star Wars universe.

First up is the Pitch Black inspired Blind Force. Anakin and Obi-Wan are on a planet where visibility is almost non existent - thanks to the fact that there is no light. Can they complete there mission even when the planet's natural animal life seems intent on attacking them?

Next we have Heavy Metal Jedi. This sees Windu and Tiin battling their way through an army of droids. Sadly their bickering, about whose tactics are the best, seems to dominate what passes for a story.

The final tale, which is arguably the strongest, is Fierce Currents. I say arguably due to the fact that it is still very weak but, apart from the moral message at its conclusion, this works fairly well. Oh, is that conclusion supposed to make us think about how mankind has also treated our own oceans despicably? Oh, how clever... By the way, I'm being sarcastic.

While the artwork is adequate - based on the crude illustrations that the TV series has to offer this is not difficult to achieve - the writing is very immature. It certainly won't appeal to anyone over the age of ten. Sadly, this collection is a little dull.

Nick Smithson

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