Gilroy, Henry
About the Author:
Henry Gilroy worked as a writer for 'The Clone Wars' CGI animated TV series.
AVERAGE REVIEW SCORE:
2.5 out of 5
(4 books)
TOP PICK:
Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Slaves Of The Republic
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace
(Art by Rodolfo Damaggio and Al Williamson)
The graphic novel adaptation of George Lucas' first Prequel. A trade dispute widens into a conflict that sees the Jedi confront the Sith for the first time in a thousand years and which leads to the discovery of the Chosen One.
Adaptations often have the benefit of being able to show us visuals or scenes that, for various reasons, never actually appeared in the movie version. Here, however, quite the opposite is true and we actually get far less that you see onscreen. Episode I's strongest element was it's gorgeous visuals and so much of that is lost in this medium. The artists do solid but far outstanding work and as such this isn't the sumptuous visual treat that, say, seeing the duel with Darth Maul was on the screen.
What we're left with, then, is a pared-down version of George Lucas' pretty dodgy script which will be unsatisfying to anyone who has already seen the movie. There's still stuff to like here but, honestly, you'd be better off just watching the film version (or maybe even read Terry Brooks' novelisation instead, which does, at least, offer some new scenes).
2 out of 5
Star Wars: Episode II - Attack Of The Clones
(Art by Jan Duursema and Ray Kryssing)
The graphic novel adaptation of the second Prequel, set 22 BBY. As Obi-Wan investigates an assassin and a mysterious clone army, Anakin and Padme go into hiding and find themselves conflicted by their feelings for one another. The separate paths converge as the Sith unleash the Clone Wars against the galaxy.
I've always disliked Episode II and once would've said it was easily the worst Star Wars film ever made (but then I saw 'The Last Jedi' and 'Rise of Skywalker'). However, time has mellowed me on it somewhat and this book has the benefit of editing out or cutting down on some of the movie's worst scenes (I was particularly glad to see Threepio's 'comedy' shenanigans all but gone). Also, because no poor actor has to read it out loud, some of George Lucas' terrible dialogue sits much easier here than it does onscreen.
Don't get me wrong, none of the elements above redeem all of Episode II's failings, but they do ease them enough to make it much more enjoyable experience overall. In fact, due to Jan Duursema's artwork, this feels like it would comfortably sit among the stories of the 'Republic' comic book series (not least because of the appearance of Quinlan Vos).
3 out of 5
Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Shipyards Of Doom
(Art by the Fillbach Brothers)
22 BBY. Obi-Wan, Anakin, Ahsoka and a squad of Clone Troopers have to infiltrate a Separatist-controlled planet in order to take its shipyards out of the war.
Like some episodes of the TV series it's based on, this is a pretty unremarkable adventure for the main characters. There's nothing wrong with it per se, but neither is there much to make it stand out from the crowd.
One point of interest is that the scene where the heroes have themselves frozen in carbonite to infiltrate the shipyards is an idea that Gilroy would later reuse in the TV show itself.
2 out of 5
Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Slaves Of The Republic
(Art by Scott Hepburn, Ramon K. Perez, Lucas Marangon and Dan Parsons)
20 BBY. In order to rescue the enslaved population of the planet Kiros, Obi-Wan, Anakin, Ahsoka and Rex have to infiltrate the operations of Miraj Scintel, Queen of the Zygerrian slavers.
In case you find this book feeling a little familiar, it's worth noting that Gilroy later adapted it into a story arc for the Clone Wars TV series itself, albeit with a few changes. (One of those changes was Ahsoka's slave outfit which here, on a fifteen year old girl, is a little too close to Princess Leia's gold bikini to be comfortable)
Overall this is pretty standard fare for the stories associated with the TV series but I did enjoy seeing how each of the main characters responds to the concept of slavery.
3 out of 5
Collaborations & Anthologies:
Star Wars: Tales - Volume 2 (here)
Star Wars: Tales - Volume 5 (here)
Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Crash Course (here)
Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Hero Of The Confederacy (here)
Star Wars: The Clone Wars - In Service Of The Republic (here)
Star Wars: The Clone Wars - The Sith Hunters (here)
Read more...
Star Wars (here)