Customer Reviews

Knights of the Old Republic (Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi, Volume One)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Knights of the Old Republic is the first story published in the Tales of the Jedi storyline. Written by Tom Veitch, the guy who also did the Dark Empire comics, the characters and situations herein are pretty much taken from the backstory he created for his prior Star Wars jaunt. Overall this is a pretty good comic, and it paves the path for what will be one of the most exciting epics in Dark Horse's Star Wars publishing run. Knights of the Old Republic is not one story, but two that will tie together in later Tales of the Jedi books. The art is a mixed bag (more on that later), but the stories told are vintage Star Wars.

The first chapter, `Ulic Qel-Droma and the Beast Wars of Onderon,' tells the story of several young Jedi given their first task by their Master - a diplomatic/peacekeeping mission to a world that is petitioning to join the Republic. Ulic Qel-Droma is a rash, brash Jedi who despite his impulsiveness is a skilled Jedi and strong in the Force. His companions are his brother Cay and the Twi'lek Tott Doneeta, neither of whom are as good with a lightsaber as Ulic, but both of whom are more cautious. There are no real surprises in this story - there is of course the obligatory brush with the Dark Side and lots of fight scenes, but it does serve very well to introduce these characters, their skills and personalities. Chris Gossett's art is very good here, but the coloring seems somewhat dull.

The second chapter, `The Saga of Nomi Sunrider,' is a much better story even if the art stinks. Nomi is a Force-sensitive woman who is too timid to be a Jedi, although her husband, Andur, has followed that path. While they are en route to deliver some adegan crystals to Andur's future master, some thugs who want the expensive crystals kill Andur. Nomi, without thinking, takes Andur's lightsaber, kills the thugs, and then proceeds to deliver the crystals to Master Thon. For months she is reluctant to learn the ways of the Force, and absolutely refuses to touch a lightsaber, but when the Hutt whose hoodlums she killed shows up looking for vengeance, she has no choice but to take up arms. This story was much more enjoyable than Ulic's, and all around much better. The art, however, is pretty weak and ugly.

While these stories are not terribly exciting as standalones, when looked at in the context of the rest of the series they are a worthy introductory chapter with lots of lightsaber fights, a few new Force techniques, brash students, wise masters, cruel enemies, and decent artwork. Recommended.

This graphic novel provides a decent way to kill an hour and a half or so, and for those interested in the Star Wars Mythos and universe this book has added value in expanding on earlier generations of jedi.

For those of you who have played the superb XBOX RPG - 'Knights of the Old Republic,' it is interesting to note similar story elements found in that game within this 1995 book. For example - Battle Meditation, construction of lightsabers with crystals, etc. The artwork is decent and the story flows at a nice pace. All together a snappy read but not quite a classic.

I can't stress this enough - you can't expect to read this book alone and be entertained, you must read the later books in the Tales of the Jedi series. Alone, this book lacks action and focuses more on the beginnings of the exciting events that would take place later. If you're looking for early Nomi Sunrider, Ulic Qel-Droma, or especially Exar Kun stories, this is as early as they come. Otherwise, don't read this unless you plan to spend plenty of money on the other titles in the series.

It rains, it snows, I still say Ulic Qel-Droma and Kir Kanos look the same. And looks belie Knights of the Old Republic, vanguard in the Tales of the Jedi series that it is. This is actually two different stories: the Onderon arc, and the Ambria part, starring bald-headed Nomi. Considering the next installment, the elusive to find Freedon Nadd Uprising continues the Onderon storyline, they should have included it as well.

This is a time when the Republic is still growing, still exploring the stars for new worlds, still ripe for adventure. When Onderon requests Jedi meditation to resolve its internal strife, acclaimed Jedi Master Arca Jeth dispatches his three apprentices to end the civil strife. What they find is dark side mayhem and a 400-year-old Sith spirit, dead but not quite digested.

The art quality is a sample of what you'll put up with in TOTJ: horrible. Comics now, dominated by the ever-popular Republic series, have never looked better; and despite how art technology back then isn't up to today's standards, console yourself that at least this is better than that dreadful so-called art of Dark Empire.

Illustrations aren't so bad. It's just that things look cluttered and messy. But that's the theme, what things were like four millenniums ago: patchy apparel, bizarre starships that look more Transformer toy than space vehicle, ancient-style architecture. Though why lightsabers of that era were drawn with a shimmer glow rather than simple straight lines is a mystery.

Dialogue is nothing to applaud. Reader beware---we're dumb, so we need to be reminded of every character's full name every second appearance. It's enough to put you off the entire series.

It was Jedi Master Jeth that hooked me in. I admit it, purchasing this vanguard of the series merely from an online preview I saw. The aging Arkanian just looked so haunting, so ominous, I knew it would be worth it.

And worth getting despite the awful art quality it is. The plot moves along swiftly, and readers will eventually get used to the fact that the Jedi of this era can talk to animals, perform unusual feats, and bumble around like all good Jedi. I say this because Jeth's fortuitous arrival is all that saves the day, who then reprimands them for not sensing the dark side around them. Which then looks odd for old Jeth, when the students counter he never taught them how to repel it.

More disturbing is Onderon's moon. If it orbits so close that their atmospheres periodically brush, allowing the moon's hostile fauna to migrate to Onderon, how doesn't it succumb to gravity and drop into the planet as well?

Well? That sure heck needed explaining. And if that doesn't raise the cynical brow, then the implausibility of a Jedi character affixing a droid arm in place of his severed limb no probs surely will.

Ah well. It gets worse with the second section, Nomi Sunrider---and so does the art. The art quality is so dirty, so filthy, it's simply shocking. WHY is Sunrider's head half-bald. It's unsightly, ugly, and yes, red-heads have less hair than all other colours, but this was bad!

Beast Jedi Master Thon is a curious fellow, and about all that makes this story more so some tasty features. Like the brief flash of Jedi history, showing the origin of the Sith; and bizarre starships, hollowed out of kilometre-long space insects. Otherwise, you'll be wondering why the art was so poor, why Sunrider is severely balding, or how her late husband can pop in as a Jedi spirit when only wimpy apprentice.

Overall, KOTOR introduces you to the main players and places of the series and is interesting and creative enough to well warrant a purchase.

Unreal. Amazing. Jedi!!!
And so, with a few bucks to burn, I picked up this holy tome all those years ago. I was fascinated. Never before have I cared about a set of characters so much, save for Han and Chewie. This sets the stage for the next four volumes. The main characters here are Ulic Qel-Droma, Jedi Knight, and Nomi Sunrider, who inadvertently follows the path of the Jedi. Their paths interconnect eventually, and the story unfolds. This a rare set of comics that can actually be classified as a saga. Later volumes introduce Exar Kun, a name you may know from Kevin J. Anderson's Jedi Academy trilogy.

This comic book is not very good. The stories are corny and sound like rip-offs of plenty of other stories, probably even ones already created in the Star Wars universe. The artwork looks outdated, too. There are many better comic book choices out there.

The book was delivered within the estimated timeframe, and was in great condition. Fit perfectly into my Star Wars collection!

This interesting book is part of the Knights of the Old Republic series. The series is a collection of graphic novels that takes the reader to the Old Republic, thousands of years before the events of The Phantom Menace.

This graphic novel contains two stories. The first one is Ulic Qel-Droma and the Beast Wars of Onderon, in which a young Jedi learns that a Jedi must have more than courage - he must have patience and perception. The second story is the Sage of Nomi Sunrider, in which a Jedi apprentice, who has rejected violence, learns that to defeat evil violence is too often unavoidable.

My twelve-year-old son is a big Star Wars fan, and he picked up this book so that he could keep on learning about the Star Wars universe. Overall, we found this to be a pretty darn good book. The illustration work is very good, and the stories are quite interesting. We enjoyed the action and the many different creatures and races that are the hallmark of Star Wars.

Yep, we both enjoyed this book, and highly recommend it to you.

The beginning of the Fall of the Jedi! Star Wars fans, this is as good as it gets. This book is a must read!!!

Tales of the Jedi is a refreshing and fun comic book focusing on a different perspective. It depicts several stories including the dramatic tale of Nomi Sunrider and the subsequent destiny that she'll undertake: becoming one of the best jedi knights of her time! Read on!