The Book I Want to Buy:
Star Wars Legacy Vol. 10: Extremes TP
by John Ostrander and Jan Duurseme; Dark Horse, $15.99
I got into this series relatively recently, and have been getting caught up to it in trades for the last few months. I hadn’t realized that the series was scheduled to end with issue 50, but then I saw that a follow-up mini-series; Star Wars Legacy War has been solicited for the New Year.
This volume comprises the end of the original series, which has been amazing. The story is set some 130 years after the original Star Wars film, and is centred on Cade Skywalker, the last in the Skywalker dynasty. In this series, the galaxy is split between the Empire of Roan Fel, and the Empire controlled by the Sith lord Darth Krayt. There is a small faction of the Alliance remaining as well. By this point, they have allied themselves with Fel’s army, in an attempt to take out the Sith.
Cade is a bit of a jerk, and has, for the most part of this series, been loyal only to himself and his immediate circle of friends. There has been a lot of Jedi stuff in this book, but there has also been a lot of political intrigue and realpolitik, which has kept me interested throughout. This comic represents Star Wars finally done correctly. It lacks cutesy creatures and attempts to keep the melodrama to a minimum. Therefore, it has become my favourite Star Wars project of all time.
Now, looking over the solicitation text for this trade, I realise that it only compiles four issues of the comic. I’m not sure that it makes economic sense then to buy this. I’m a little torn; I have the rest of the series in trade, but I’m sure I can get these four issues for less than $16…
Comics I Think You Should Buy:
Sweet Tooth Vol. 2: In Captivity TP
by Jeff Lemire; Vertigo, $12.99
I mentioned in my Weekly Round-Up column for this week that Jeff Lemire has been getting a lot of attention lately, and it is very well deserved. His Essex County trilogy, which has made the short list for the CBC’s Canada Reads project this year (this is a country-wide version of Oprah’s book club), is truly amazing, and the first graphic novel to ever get nominated for the honour. His Superboy is also looking to be a decent read.
Sweet Tooth, though, seems to get overlooked. I’ll be honest; it’s not as brilliant as Essex County, but it is very impressive as a long-form comics series that is completely unique and off the beaten path. It contains elements of Mad Max, The Road, Riddley Walker, and The Stand, as it follows Gus, a human/animal hybrid child, in a world that has been devastated by sickness.
This is the second trade in this series, and it has Gus in the captivity of a militia group, and in the hands of Dr. Singh, who is looking for a cure for the disease that ruined the planet. The emotional centre of this volume is Mr. Jeppard, the man that betrayed Gus to the militia in the first volume. Now Jeppard has to come to grips with his past, and it’s all kind of harrowing. This is a cool series, and it’s still early enough in its run for people to get caught up easily.
by James Stokoe; Image, $17.99
Orc Stain has to be one of the craziest comics on the stands. It is all about Orcs – the often underdeveloped Storm Troopers of fantasy novels. In his series, Stokoe places the Orcs front and centre. As the book opens, the Orctzar receives a prophecy that involves a one-eyed Orc who can lead him to the fulfillment of his desires. From there, the story begins to focus on One-Eye, a thief who gets himself into a vendetta with another Orc, and all manner of madness ensues.
Stokoe has worked at establishing the rules and conventions of Orc society, which seems to have a lot to do with love nymphs and the acquisitions of other Orcs’ ‘gronches’, which is pretty much what you think it might be.
While the story is a lot of fun, the big draw to this book has to be the insanely detailed and luscious artwork that Stokoes crams each page with. In his world, just about everything is alive, and his pages teem with that life. This book, which contains the first five issues of the series, never fails to entertain and surprise. It really is a work of beauty – check it out.
So, what would you buy Were Money No Object?
