First, many thanks for the material...
...although I am not impressed by the contents.
On a general level, Issue #0 mixes past, present and future in such a confusing manner that it irritates me to no end. What? Where? When? If you cannot have a consistent narrative, better to have no narrative at all. Cool pictures and some names will do just fine, thank you.
Plus, I do not like the spaceship design.
I can see what the authors have tried to do - to introduce a galaxy where the definition of "good" and "evil" would not be so clearly cut. (In fact, the very first impression since the information first leaked out of
Legacy, I thought "WTF,
Firefly meets SW?") Unfortunately, until I have read more issues, I am not sure whether they have succeeded in this. This merely feels like another
Dark Empire, where the authors wish to enforce their own ideas on an established universe, which requires all the other authors to change their background (or write bridging stories just for the sake of it) to keep the universe harmonized. Had this been released under the "Infinities" label, even more radical reimagining would not have mattered that much.
I'm willing to give this a chance though, it might turn out good in the long run even though I now feel a little disappointed. On the other hand, if there is as much as a single astonishing superweapon, then I'm resigning to the fact that this is simply
The Even More Darker Empire Plus. If that comes to pass, I'll be waiting for the Yuuzhan Vong to turn Zonama Sekot into a weapon called Dark Star which will eject its excrement at lightspeed, capable of taking out entire planets in the process.
For now, it is impossible for me to continue further analysis without SPOILING the plot and details of issues #0 and #1.
[spoil]
My internal warning klaxon started screaming upon reading the words "Zeltron" and "Nagai" in issue #0. This alone opens a can of EU worms that should have been left unopened. Is the Nagai invasion from Marvel comics now canon (although IIRC Darth Lumiya's further misadventures
were already referenced in a sourcebook somewhere), which would make the Yuuzhan Vong the
third (or fourth) race to invade the galaxy from beyond in recent times...
Regarding Zeltrons, why on earth (pun intended) would one reinsert (pun intended) a race motivated by sexuality, if they are again used for tired jokes aimed at kids not old enough to fully understand what is going on, but old enough to get that it must refer to something "naughty" and therefore be "funny". At least I cannot foresee a realistic (whatever that would mean) representation of Zeltrons in any medium bearing the name of Star Wars, unless the race is "reimagined" to be just overemotional instead of hypersexual
The background story also sounds an awful lot like
Hand of Thrawn duology. Hey, let's fragment the New Republic into pieces by blaming someone for an atrocity they did not commit. Out of ideas?
OK. The Sith. I mean, seriously, have the authors decided to pay tribute to Lordi, winners of the Eurovision Song Contest, or is there a LFL rule which decrees that the Sith must be ugly, deformed, horned, hooved and fanged so that even dyslexics will realize that they are ZOMG EEVUL!!!111
Another thing, given that Emperor Fel is a fully trained Imperial Knight, how could he have been dim enough to enlist the "help" of the Sith, given their proven track record - especially since he
expected to be assassinated by them? Was this simply a overly complex way of drawing the Sith out in order to destroy them, or an elaborate plot to weed out the Moffs not loyal to the throne? And, if the New Empire has demanded that the Jedi should be subordinate to them, how come they do not demand the same from the Sith? Hopefully future issues will shed some light on this, otherwise I will not be very convinced.
Then I noticed Lord Krayt's eyes. Once you memorize the description, it haunts you forever. One eye was ice-blue, the other was molten red with golden highlights (except that the red eye should be the left one - Duursema has them reversed). Yes, I am afraid that the story will be elevated to
Dark Empire levels of silliness with Ysanne Isard (or her clone, or reanimated body, whatever) coming back from the dead under a fake alias of "Lord Krayt". And, the bug taking over - well, that storyline was already done to death with Mara Jade and her Vong-induced sickness (and also with the Vong, and their less-than-perfect symbiotes, themselves).
Of course, given that we are speaking of GFFA, it is almost given that some characters have survived the 100-year gap and are alive and kicking. If Lowbacca still survives, he is almost a given. Some Hutts, maybe. Force-users, possibly (where there are Nagais, there must be Lumiya).
I am just wondering how, having survived two near-extinctions during the past century, the Jedi are now as morose as ever. When the manure has hit the rotating blades, they still sit in their temple until it is too late to escape. Speaking of which, didn't the fall of the Old Republic teach that they can do no good by sitting in their precious temple, when they should be out there guarding peace and justice?
The little geek in me rejoiced seeing that the Skywalker family is now innately able to use the Force to stop people from dying, and reading of
Pellaeon class Super Star Destroyers of Fel Dynasty was a geekgasm come true
But alas, I realized that the New Empire must be even more diabolically evil than the one run by Palpatine - I mean, weren't Jag Fel and Jaina Solo an item as of NJO, which would technically mean that the Fel dynasty are descendants of the abominable
Solo-babies?
[/spoil]
Waiting for issue #2. Let's see if that makes me change my mind.
"UP"
