Star Wars Adventures: The Clone Wars - Battle Tales #1 Review
Writer: Michael Moreci
Artists: Derek Charm, Arianna Florean, Mario Del Pennino
Letterer: Jake M. Wood
Publisher: IDW
After an extended hiatus, it's nice to be writing about Star Wars comics again. It'll be a slow burn at first as the release slate starts to ramp up again over the next few months but I've very much missed having weekly Star Wars comics and I'm glad to have any at all. This is also a good comic to pick back up with too. It's a nice, low stakes adventure to start a new series from one of my favorite writers in the current stable. I'm also glad to be getting some The Clone Wars stories now with the release of the show's last season, though this might have been better timed if it started earlier in the last season's run.
One of my favorite things about the comic is how it nails the voices of the characters. Some dialogue is a little rocky, but it's mostly stuff that's probably intended to catch up kids who may not be deeply familiar with the show. The story may not be huge or complex (nor should it be, given the short page count and target audience) but the characters having the right voices and dynamics makes it feel like a natural extension of the show. I especially like getting to see some of the less significant clones like Wolffe and Hardcase in important roles. The artwork also supports the show feeling like itself. Charm and Florean are staples of Adventures and their styles definitely fit in well with the visual tone of the series.
Perhaps the biggest shame about this series is the lack of Ahsoka, since she's a staple of the series and practically its protagonist. I assume this is less the fault of the series and more a result of Dave Filoni's preference that publishing not use the character much without his direct approval and involvement. Setting the framing story before the start of the series is a nice way to fix this, but it has its own ups and downs. Seeing parts of how the characters forged bonds they had at the start of the series is nice, but I think it would've been cool for the tone of series to bridge the gap between Attack of the Clones and the show more. There isn't too much time between the two and this is adding more story in that short gap. Even something like a Padawan Anakin working with Rex would have been really interesting and probably more memorable. I hope parts of the flashback stories in the rest of the series work to show, both visually and story-wise, that this is before the series and not during it.
It's a big shame that the series is no longer scheduled to be released weekly because getting all of the parts of a series over the course of a month is something I always really liked about IDW's Star Wars miniseries. Still, I'll welcome more of it no matter what rate it comes out in. Any Star Wars is welcome during all of this. I wish The Clone Wars got more tie-in content in addition to this and the one upcoming junior adaptation, but I'm grateful we're getting this at all considering it wasn't originally in the cards until Moreci pitched it. This was a solid Anakin/Rex adventure and I'm looking forward to getting more with some of my other favorite characters.
Artists: Derek Charm, Arianna Florean, Mario Del Pennino
Letterer: Jake M. Wood
Publisher: IDW
After an extended hiatus, it's nice to be writing about Star Wars comics again. It'll be a slow burn at first as the release slate starts to ramp up again over the next few months but I've very much missed having weekly Star Wars comics and I'm glad to have any at all. This is also a good comic to pick back up with too. It's a nice, low stakes adventure to start a new series from one of my favorite writers in the current stable. I'm also glad to be getting some The Clone Wars stories now with the release of the show's last season, though this might have been better timed if it started earlier in the last season's run.
One of my favorite things about the comic is how it nails the voices of the characters. Some dialogue is a little rocky, but it's mostly stuff that's probably intended to catch up kids who may not be deeply familiar with the show. The story may not be huge or complex (nor should it be, given the short page count and target audience) but the characters having the right voices and dynamics makes it feel like a natural extension of the show. I especially like getting to see some of the less significant clones like Wolffe and Hardcase in important roles. The artwork also supports the show feeling like itself. Charm and Florean are staples of Adventures and their styles definitely fit in well with the visual tone of the series.
Perhaps the biggest shame about this series is the lack of Ahsoka, since she's a staple of the series and practically its protagonist. I assume this is less the fault of the series and more a result of Dave Filoni's preference that publishing not use the character much without his direct approval and involvement. Setting the framing story before the start of the series is a nice way to fix this, but it has its own ups and downs. Seeing parts of how the characters forged bonds they had at the start of the series is nice, but I think it would've been cool for the tone of series to bridge the gap between Attack of the Clones and the show more. There isn't too much time between the two and this is adding more story in that short gap. Even something like a Padawan Anakin working with Rex would have been really interesting and probably more memorable. I hope parts of the flashback stories in the rest of the series work to show, both visually and story-wise, that this is before the series and not during it.
It's a big shame that the series is no longer scheduled to be released weekly because getting all of the parts of a series over the course of a month is something I always really liked about IDW's Star Wars miniseries. Still, I'll welcome more of it no matter what rate it comes out in. Any Star Wars is welcome during all of this. I wish The Clone Wars got more tie-in content in addition to this and the one upcoming junior adaptation, but I'm grateful we're getting this at all considering it wasn't originally in the cards until Moreci pitched it. This was a solid Anakin/Rex adventure and I'm looking forward to getting more with some of my other favorite characters.
A Look Inside
