Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews

Star Wars Purge Seconds To DieStar Wars Purge #1
Dark Horse Comics
Ostrander, Hall, Lei & McKenna

This Star Wars one shot picks up on a concept that was explored at the end of the Star Republic ongoing series in a story titled "Purge". In that story, Vader is led into a trap by seven or eight Jedi shortly after the events of Revenge of the Sith. He emerges, but doesn't quite "beat" them all. In this issue we have a similar idea where a lone Jedi leads Vader into a confrontation at worst or a successful trap at best. It's a good issue and for those that missed the original Purge issue a few years ago will find this issue to be very fresh.

Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle ReviewsPlo Koon, a Jedi from Revenge of the Sith, had a niece, named Sha Koon. Weary from various battles during the Clone Wars she takes in some downtime at the Jedi Temple. She's sworn off the war, but is given a special assignment by her Uncle. She is to track down the hidden Sith by scouring the Jedi archives looking for clues. She embraces this role during the wrong time.

While in the library, her Uncle is killed on some other world as Order 66 is executed. Shortly after that event the Temple is filled with Clones and Anakin Skywalker. She spots Skywalker and decides to flee.

Later on she attempts to lure the Sith into a trap by contacting the Emperor directly. The Emperor dispatches Vader for the confrontation.

The issue allows Sha Koon to grow as a decent character very quickly. It explores the aspect of her personality mixed with her Jedi skills where she can see the future, present and the past as one collage. It's a good twist to set her apart from the dozens of Jedi that we've seen float in and out of these comics. While her motivation is clear for the confrontation it seems that even she isn't clear of her own desired outcome. This comic does a good job of establishing how confused surviving Jedi must have been after Order 66. This is a story that could have definitely been explored further in the Dark Times series.

The artwork is terrific. There isn't a lot of fighting in it but there are a ton of scenes from multiple points in the Star Wars film timeline and the character depictions are spot on. Vader looks as menacing as you would hope he would and the Emperor looks more creepy than scary, but it works here. He reminded me of the witch in Snow White which seems fairly accurate.

This is a good comic book for a Star Wars fan looking for a bit of a continuation of the Revenge of the Sith film. The story is good with good characters and it picks up threads of what Vader's mindset must have been like after he lost his confrontation with Ob-Wan. This is a comic book that fits nicely in with the movies and the comic book series'. This one is worth reading.

4 out of 5 geek goggles