Customer Reviews

Mara Jade: By the Emperor's Hand (Star Wars)

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Jedi are awesome. There's pretty much no argument there. But some of us, even if we lived in Lucas' universe, would have a hard time putting away a good blaster even if we were Force-sensitive. Enter Mara. The neutrality of her character is so cool that readers keep flipping pages; she's not really bad, but nor is she good, either. Zahn created such an interesting concept here that it's almost impossible not to like her. As far as this graphic novel goes, it is definitely a page-turner and has some truly wonderful art work. I loved seeing Isard's multi-colored eyes in print! Definitely worth buying. My only qualm is that the story doesn't go far enough--I want to read more! How does Mara meet up with Karrde? That in itself leads to many possibilities of a sequel.

I really loved this book. I have always been fond of Mara Jade, so this was especially appealing, but I would also recommend this book to others not quite so familiar with her. I enjoyed the plot thoroughly and the visual rendering was appealing as well. I had always been rather curious about Jade's past, and I believe this is an absolutely fabulous peek into some of the details. I hope no Star Wars fan misses this one.

This is a great book. But you would not expect anything less from Zahn. I will warn you, though, that this book IS A COMIC. I bought it not knowing if it was a comic or not but when I found out it was, I was a little disappointed. To my surprise, it was well worth my money and ranked up high with novels I have read. I could not put this down. It was great! It gave a lot of history on Mara before Heir to the Empire and just what she did for the Emperor. I would strongly recomend this book to novel readers and comic readers alike! I loved it and I know you will too!

This book is a must for not only Mara Jade fans, but also for Star Wars fans who really don't know who she is. The story chronicles Mara's journey from being the Emperor's Hand to how she learned to survive with everything she knew taken away from her. The artwork does a great job of showing Mara's personality and not making her a Barbie figure. Also, with Michael Stackpole and Timothy Zahn at the helm, Mara is as witty and intelligent as ever. It's definately worth every cent.

By the Emperor's Hand is a prime example of how to write a good comic. The script is good, the plot well-done, the art good, and Mara isn't simply an illustration of the artist's wet-dream. This is a thoroughly enjoyable comic enabling us to get to know the light and dark of Mara Jade before she hooks up with Karrde. We see how quickly Isard was able to consolidate her power, and as a plus this book involves the #0 edition, which was previously only available online. My only minor gripe about this work at all is Mara's height. The character is supposed to be a bout 5'3", but in this she often looks 6 ft.+ Other than that, this is simply a fantastic, fun comic.

I just got this book and I really liked it. I am not a comic book person, this and Union are the only ones that I have read. I was very impressed with how Mara was drawn. In Union she looked like a cute teenager, in this she looked real. You know that she is well trained and brillant, but also beautiful. Her expressions were perfect. The story was interesting, but I liked it more for the visual images than the plot. I just wish that it had gone back further into her life. I know that she was kidnapped at age 4, but how and why? And what occured in the years following? She is the most interesting character in the Star Wars universe, and I just want to know more about her.

Star Wars comics can range from exhilerating to, well, extremely disappointing. But it's hard to go wrong with Mara Jade. She is such a good addition to the SW universe -- first of all, a strong female character, and we all know that the SW universe is short on those. But what I love about Mara is that she defies the Star Wars clear-cut good vs. evil dichotomy which makes for great movies but can sometimes be too simplistic in novels and comics. In this graphic novel, Mara is on the side of the baddies, but she always has integrity, and we somehow end up liking her despite her flaws. And she is the perfect force to temper Luke's farmboy blond-haired unwavering *goodness!*

The artwork is absolutely beautiful as well. Nice color, too. The only better Star Wars art, imho, is Star Wars Union which is also not to be missed!

(First off to that reviewer who all but said anyone who loved Mara Jade had a mud-for-brains mentality: grow up. I don't care if you dislike Mara or not, but if you're going to flame those who do like her- at least justify your opinion somewhat, like the other anti-Mara reviewer did, or you're just as guilty of being as stupid as you say we apparently are.) Anyway: I adored this series; it's what turned me on to the comic series side of SW. The art was wonderful: almost exactly how I pictured Mara-- beautiful yet deadly and *not* a Pamela Lee-esque bimbo, and the other characters were done well too-- the artist's style fits in very well with Star Wars, IMO. The storyline gave a very good look at Mara's character, probably what I loved best about this series, and you can very easily see this woman developing into the woman we see in the books later on-- this probably in part to her own creator being one of the writers. It was well-developed and worthy of the previous work I've seen from Zahn and Stackpole-- oh heck, I'll just say it. I *loved* this series! :)

First of all, everything written by Timothy Zahn is excellent. Second of all-this is for the MD person-just because she is "cat-like" and wears skimpy clothes doesn't mean she isn't deadly, and her wisecracks just build that much more character into the stories. My final point is that while her adventures may not all be glory and excitement, just think of it as her break time. Did ya really think that her whole life is action and adventure? No, but it sure as heck is a lot closer than mine, or anyone else's that I know. Terrific read, so give it a chance.

Mara Jade: By the Emperor's Hand is one of those rare comics that has great art, smooth storyline, commendable dialogue and genuine depth. Co-authored by Stackpole and Zahn, two of Star Wars' more popular novelists known for quality output. The result here is another of their hits you expect when collaborative craniums work well.

The quality of art shines bright, considering the comic dates back to a period where quality and art are not what they are now. You can just tell efforts were made to add extra ice to this cream, the way the front credits were specially done. Characters and climates, scenery and locale, were all highly rendered and coloured well. This is definitely one of your more 3D-ish comics, and worth the purchase if just for that.

Dialogue is what you'd expect from usual Stackpole and Zahn efficiency: quick, creative and inventive. Mara's persona here, in her Imperial days, lends her a cool competence matched only by her slick lines. The support cast isn't left out, and while I haven't quite worked out who oversaw what issues, the authors are at their vintage best here.

What makes this comic stand out from the mediocre variety out there is its creativity and effort to give just a little more for readers. The sheer range of aliens is both amazing and appreciated, both the familiar denizens and all new ones just for a show here and there. Alien species ranged from the typical to exotic to comical. Mara's is never without a way of working, and the inventive methods of working past obstacles speak highly of the writers' imagination behind her.

The storyline itself is simple and enough: eliminate Black Nebula's crimelord, who fancies himself the heir of the recently toppled Black Sun criminal network. Having failed to kill Skywalker at Jabba's palace, this she does easily. Too easily; and when her Emperor master bites the dust, she resolves to finish the job.

Nice use of Isard and Pestage, and why Mara earns her wrath. Good to see a dark-skinned man, that Imperial tech. It's rather rare to get that in comics, when humans are predominantly fair skinned. Humour, of course, wasn't lacking. The bartender alien looked like that Dexter from AOTC, his voice easily imagined.

There were some faults to note, small but noticeable as they were. The facial likeness of Strok was given to other Imperial army officers, which can confuse readers at the end. The end page itself just sorted of finished . . . perhaps a bit too abruptly and not slow enough. Mara doesn't complete her mission till almost the last page.

Further more, she does an astonishing amount to self-thinking. Thought-bubbles were everywhere, which you will find common in books but sort of gave the bemused impression the lady sure speaks a lot to herself! Almost every panel had text in which, factored into the full 144 pages, slows down reading and makes for a long comic here.

While I had problems with Jabba "just" giving Mara a speeder to get away from him when she arouses his suspicions, overall, omitting this nifty slight of work is outright criminal, and with such high standards of excellence it's well worth your $$.