Lane, Miles

AVERAGE REVIEW SCORE:

4 out of 5

(1 book)

Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge Of The Sith

(Art by Doug Wheatley)

The graphic novel adaptation of George Lucas' third prequel movie.  The Clone Wars reaches its fiercest point but the end of the war is in sight.  However, distrust between Supreme Chancellor Palpatine and the Jedi Council begins to drive a wedge between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker.

Episode III is (surely unarguably) the best of the prequels, but so much of its runtime is dedicated to showy CGI battles and flashy lightsaber duels that the quieter and, honestly, more interesting aspects of the story don't get much room to develop.  That's not the case here since the long action sequences are reduced to a page of dynamic panels and more time is given to the exploration of the characters' thoughts and feelings.  As a result, the tensions between Anakin and the other Jedi are much better represented here.  This means that his eventual fall to the dark side (spoilers from 1980, by the way) feels a bit more organic and believable than it does in the film itself.  We also get to see more of Padme here than we really did in the movie, exploring her relationship with Anakin, her friendship with Obi-Wan and the beginnings of rebellion within the Senate.

Added to the fact that this feels like a better exploration of the story than the film itself is Doug Wheatley's incredible artwork.  He has a real talent not only for paring action down to the key dynamic moments needed but also for showing genuine emotion on the character's faces.  Some of the close-up images of Obi-Wan and Padme's heart-breaking reactions to Anakin's fall do more to tell the story than a full page of dialogue could.

Overall, probably a better telling of the story than the movie itself but still not quite as good as Matthew Stover's novelisation.

4 out of 5

Collaborations & Anthologies:

Star Wars: Clone Wars - Volume 7: When They Were Brothers (here)

Read more...

Star Wars (here)