Clone Wars TV Series Trailer, Cartoon Network Premiere News, and 1st Clone Wars Comic Book: A Review
Originally posted 9/12/08
This may be old news to some, but StarWars.com recently announced the time and date for the premiere of the animated Clone Wars TV series. They also released a a new trailer, via Cartoon Network, for the weekly show.
While I wasn't exactly thrilled with the animated film (I have been meaning to post a detailed review about that), I am still excited about the show and hopeful that the shorter, weekly format will be a better "fit" for the format in which these stories are told. Like the movie, the series trailer is fantastic. But a good trailer is not indicative of a good story, regardless of the medium. Follow the link to discuss the show: Clone Wars Weekly show
As an additional "fun" bonus to help kick off this event, the page containing the trailer also features a online video game, Fierce Twilight. The game is fairly simple yet fun in its own mindless way. It reminds me of the old school arcade games from the 80's (refreshing, for me at least, in that I didn't have to read a handbook to be able to effectively play the game). In the game, you get to "pilot" the G9 Rigger Corellian freighter, Twilight, that Anakin and Ahsoka hijacked in the animated film.
It basically consists of this ship flying through space and being attacked by other ships. As you move along, you pick up little gizmos that allow your ship extra fire power. You are rewarded for not being blown up by advancing to the next level, which, of course, is more difficult than the previous level. I've made it to level four (I am clearly a video game prodigy). Follow the link to discuss the game: Fierce Twilight: Simple Online Game
The first comic book tie-in for The Clone Wars animated TV series was released this week. And like any dedicated Star Wars/comic book geek, I dutifully purchased my copy at my local, yet somewhat crappy, comic store. The cover is fantastic, and interestingly, the artist for the cover is Dave Filoni, the director of both The Clone Wars film and TV show. As Filoni noted in the fan letters section, Clone Words, found in the last couple pages of the issue (there were, obviously, no fan letters for this 1st issue), this cover was "one of the very first images that came into [his] mind" during his initial efforts to develop the show: "The idea that Anakin as mentor, would stand tall beside his pupil and watch [the galaxy begin to change into a war riddled battle zone] from the Jedi Temple, just before they would join the war, captured my imagination." He elaborated further how he was never able to fit this image into the series. Instead, it appears as the initial cover to kick off this the comic book series. A fitting and nicely crafted cover. As for the actual content of the comic book, I was a little disappointed with the art work--especially the way in which it copies the animation style of the computer generated artwork from the movie/show: the characters have similar exaggerated and protruding features, like Anakin's weird, boxy looking nose, Dooku and Kenobi's excessively pointy beards, and the generally disproportionate appearance of characters' bodies, to name a few. At least the comic art wasn't as "wooden" looking as in the film (oddly, the still drawings had a more fluid feel than the film's animation). I was also initially disappointed to hear that each comic would be a simple rehash of the story from each show. I wondered what purpose this would serve other than as a promotion for the show. It also seemed a little weak and lazy that they couldn't create new stories for the comic. Not to mention redundant--so there will be an animated show, a comic, and a novelization all telling the same story but in different mediums? As it turned out, however, the first comic is not a simplified repeat of the first show. Instead, the comic seems to supplement the story in the initial show. So while both deal with the events of a unified storyline, each seems to explore differing aspects of this story (whether it remains that way, is unknown--it is possible the story in the first comic may appear as a show sometime down the road). These parallel and supplemental stories could be an interesting trend, especially considering Henry Gilroy, co-creator, producer, and story writer for the animated series, is also the sole writer for the comic book series, which may facilitate a cohesive relationship between the comic book and television series. As I continued to read through the comic, I found myself getting caught up in the story. The artist, Scoot Hepburn (who has also done some artwork for the Knights of Old Republic comic book), does a nice job of visually telling the story. Even the dialogue seemed to work better in the comic than in the film. Whether this is a product of the differences in mediums is hard to tell. But it is possible that the comic book is a better "fit" for these type of stories. In any case, I enjoyed the read--to the point where I was able to ignore the way the characters were drawn (for me, story trumps all else). And by the end I was anxious to see what will happen in the next issue. Overall, despite my initial misgivings and gripes, I liked and recommend this comic book to any who are interested. Below are links to discussion boards threads, both with spoilers and spoiler free, for the comic book: The Clone Wars comic book series (***SPOILERS ALLOWED***) The Clone Wars comic book series (**SPOILER FREE***) Still working out glitches to make this post equally compatible with other browsers, like Safari. |
Help us improve The World of Star Wars.