Story: Dissatisfaction with the Republic leads Alto Stratus, a military commander on the planet Jabiim, to overthrow his world’s government. General Kenobi’s troops arrive to assist the small band of loyalist resisting Stratus’ coup. Minor skirmishes extend Kenobi’s forces, as massive rainstorms across the planet make it impossible for reinforcements to land. When Stratus’s soldiers attack the Republic’s main planetary base, Obi-Wan is presumed dead. Anakin and a group of masterless padawans try to hold off the advancing Separatist forces until the Republic can evacuate the loyalists. But then Supreme Chancellor Palpatine orders Anakin on a mission of his own, isolating the young Jedi even more.
Review: The Battle for Jabiim is an incredibly bleak story, one of those “War Is Hell” tales that seem designed mostly to highlight the apparent purposelessness of so many soldiers’ deaths. The reasons behind the civil war and Stratus’ coup are not made wholly clear, but Stratus’s rhetoric reinforces the notion of a Republic unresponsive to the needs of its member worlds. One would almost want the Republic to lose, except that we know that the Separatists aren’t any better – indeed, they’re two sides of the coin that eventually becomes the Empire. So given that we know this is all going to end badly, a bleak War Is Hell story is probably appropriate.
The rain and muck of Jabiim reinforce the bleakness of the setting, and Ching, Llamas and Wayne do a nice job of bringing that out. Ching also does a great job on the technology and weaponry, including the prequel-era debut of the familiar AT-AT. Some of his non-movie character humans look a little bit too similar at times, which makes it difficult for any of them to stand out and become memorable characters in their own right. Blackman’s script doesn’t always help out here, either. But with the number of new characters Blackman has to introduce in this story, that problem is almost inevitable.
Where Blackman does a very nice job is his exploration of the apparently “orphaned” Anakin, who really goes through the wringer in this storyline. The young man who handles loss so poorly suffers one after another here, especially when Palpatine interferes to isolate him even more. And a nicely crafted epilogue scene sees Anakin, who recently had to employ the force choke for the first time, attempt to use that knowledge to perform some Force-aided heart surgery. It reinforces the notion introduced in Episode II that while Anakin’s quest for power may have a noble motivation, it will ultimately drive him into darkness. I can’t say I really enjoyed reading this story, but I don’t think I can hold that against the creators – I don’t think I was supposed to.
This collection also includes a one-shot story set soon after the Battle of Jabiim that teams Anakin with A’sharad Hett, a Tusken Jedi Knight. I had problems with this story that have nothing to do with Ostrander and Duursema’s skill – as usual, I enjoyed their work. Hett was originally introduced in the Dark Horse comics soon after Episode I was released, before Lucas depicted the Tusken Raiders as such brute savages in Episode II. The current story tries to patch up the apparent continuity flaws, but I just don’t think it works. I know there are fans who want the entire expanded universe to fit into a coherent whole, but I just don’t think it’s possible. And stories like this, that attempt to repair some of the inconsistencies, usually just wind up highlighting them further.
Year: 2004
Writers: Haden Blackman, John Ostrander
Pencillers:Brian Ching, Jan Duursema
Inkers:Victor Llamas, Dan Parsons
Colorist:Joe Wayne
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Pages: 120