Comic Vine Review

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Star Wars: Dark Times - Fire Carrier #1 - Part 1 of 5

3

Jedi Master K'Kruhk and Younglings escape Order 66, but they're still far from being safe.

The Good  

We all saw Order 66 carried out in Episode 3 and this new limited series is about one Jedi Master (and younglings) that managed to escape the terrible slaughter. Picking up after the dark events, this book follows the group (lead by Jedi Master K'Kruhk) as they take refuge on an Empire-run camp.  
 
As expected, the location is essentially a slum and the majority of this issue is spent elaborating on the conditions and how the Empire is running it. It's nothing especially moving or interesting at the moment, but it did generate one scene that I absolutely loved. The walls have a propaganda video playing and it feels like the Empire had it produced and written by the good people over in Starship Troopers. It's just too bad no one said, "The only good Jedi is a dead Jedi!" 
 
The art (pencils by Gabriel Guzman and colors by Garry Henderson) is a bit excessive with shading at times (especially with eyes), but it's thoroughly detailed and gives each Youngling personality (despite their lack of dialogue). There's a wide cast of species on display here and each is illustrated well. That youngling Mon Calamari is so darn cute!

The Bad  

It's never a good thing when the opening recap is more exciting than the issue itself. I understand not wanting to show Order 66 being carried out since it happened in the movie, but what about the scene with the pirates? The most exciting moments of this whole issue are left up to our imagination because they're confined within the intro summary and we pick up directly afterwards. 
 
Chiming in on Falco Sang was totally unfriendly to new readers -- that's backtracking to material that took place in a comic back from 2011. I never read the series, so after this issue I had to search to figure out what was going on with this minor and seemingly random (at the moment) element. They make it clear he's their captive, but that's about it when it comes to details surrounding the character. They also mention events from GHOST PRISON, but at least that was a fairly current (and stunning) series.

The Verdict 

The recent slew of STAR WARS comics have all been top-notch, but 'Fire Carrier' is off to an only okay start. Although, it's worth noting it has the luxury of having 4 more issues to impress us. After all, I wasn't that fond of DEATH SENTENCE'S first issue and shortly after it managed to wow me. I'm really hoping the same will happen here.