Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic #38
Dark Horse Comics
Miller, Zachary & Atiyeh
This one shot may seem like a throwaway, filler issue but there are actually two important developments in here for the series. Zayne and company stumble upon a ship adrift and find themselves in the middle of a murder mystery. However, the real developments occur with two of the supporting characters that could help guide the future direction of the series, at least in the short term.
There is a scene in the movie Apocalypse Now where the Navy boat stops a Vietnamese boat for a routine check. There is no reason for them to stop and it only brings about an awful turn of events once they do. This comic had the feeling to it. They find a ship and they decide to stop. Why? It can only bring trouble.
The crew (minus Gryph who is scouting out the next scam – mission) board the ship, restore power and gravity and find an awful lot of dead people. Eventually they find two creatures. One looks like a cute little fox named Toki and his huge robot Kayo. They talk about their hardships on the ship and how things have gone so badly.
Shortly after the introductions, Slyssk is found nearly dead. He seems to have been choked, much like the dead people already on board the ship. Coincidence? I think not.
Eventually Zayne has to determine if the killer is Toki or Kayo and what he finds is that Toki has some Sith tendencies to him and that Kayo is a lunatic robot.
It’s a decent issue but the two big points in here is that Toki senses something very important and dangerous within Jarael. It’s not really expanded upon but the point is really drilled home so it leaves a big question mark out there.
The other big development is that Zayne and Rohlan have a falling out. It’s more Rohlan distrusting and dismissing Zayne but it’s hard to see how they can coexist with what Rohlan says to him in this issue. A side development has Zayne beginning to patch things up with his own droid, Elbee.
The issue has a change in the art duties and the unpolished and grim look fits this murder mystery very well. Zayne doesn’t look like a kid anymore and the ship they find themselves on is a beat up greasy dump of a ship. Add in that this issue doesn’t have the comedy act of Gryph and the art doesn’t need to have any light colors or cartoon like features. The art pulls all of this off perfectly.
It’s tough to have a one shot have a lot of meaning but this manages to develop some of the characters. The piece that I wish would have gone a little further was with Jarael. We keep getting little hints at what she is all about and I feel like something could have been given up by Toki. Even if Toki says something but it’s not certain whether he could have been believed or not it might have been more interesting. Beyond that I liked the issue and thought it was a good way to give a little heat between Rohlan and Zayne.
3.5 out of 5 geek goggles
