Writer: John Ostrander
Penciler: Jan Duursema
Cover Artist: Adam Hughes
Publisher: Dark Horse
Publication Date: May 16, 2007
Format: Hardcover

“Two there should be; no more, no less. One to embody power, the other to crave it.”

That is the mantra of the Sith as most people would know it. The more obsessive fans of the Star Wars mythos know that the Sith, like any other order, go through evolution, trends, and cycles and it’s no different in this setting that spans thousands of years of history in a Galaxy that has always had some Sith presence. The particular quote above was instruction given to by Darth Bane to his apprentice (in the novels by Drew Karpyshyn) some 900+ years before the events of this comic book series, Star Wars: Legacy, which in turn occurs about 125 after the Clone Wars we are familiar with in with prequel films. Now, there is also series of novels that was released somewhat concurrently with this comic series entitled The Legacy of the Force - a nine part arc written by the rotating trio of Aaron Allston, Troy Denning and Karen Traviss that relays a story that occurs some one hundred years prior to Star Wars: Legacy .

The Rule of Two is significant because in the era we are dropped in with Broken the Sith reign again, and the Emperor is once again a Sith Lord; in this case Darth Krayt, who moved the order away from the Rule of two and reverted to a doctrine that existed much like one immediately before Bane’s proclamation - the Rule of One and his literal eradication of that former state. The Rule of One actually promoted an entire order of Sith ruling, overseen by a Dark Lord. It should be noted that even during eras where the Rule of Two was in practice, there were always off-shoots that didn’t adhere, and even both Palpatine and Vader have themselves worked around it -though a semantic-based argument could be made that various apprentices weren’t in truth true Sith but merely Dark Side adepts. In some ways you can view the Rule of Two as an ultimate and focused form of Darwinism that movie goers would see culminate with Palpatine.

Broken collects issues 1-3 and 5-7* of Star Wars: Legacy written by comic book veteran John Ostrander and penciled by Jan Duursema and centers around the scion of a Skywalker, Cade, coming back to a destiny he turned away from when the Sith retook power and killed his father and much of the JedI order. He is sought by his former master who believes Cade is the key to the removal of the Sith, and also pursued by the Darth Krayt and the Sith do to power he displayed to heal. While Krayt has assumed power, he is dieing, and it brings up another notable element - Cade apparently has an ability similar to the power Anakin was seeking from Palpatine to insure Padme’s life in Revenge of the Sith, and has it on instinct. Cade, now turned into a jack-of-all trades opportunist; a smuggler, a pirate, a bounty hunter, leading a crew and ship while hiding his Jedi Heritage and power wants nothing more than to stay out of the Galactic stage, often feeding his addiction to death sticks to escape the reality of his situation even further. The Galaxy itself is introduced to having several factions - the deposed Emperor Roan Fel (a descendant of Baron Soontir Fel) and those loyal to him; the Empire itself, some of which resents Sith rule; Imperial Missions (not entirely clarified in this collection - but the dubious nature of its leader is); and glimpses of a still healthy criminal underworld and signs of schisms within the Sith that start to show the wisdom of the Rule of Two.

The reader picking this up as an introduction will be subject to Ostrander’s clever use of the unknown, turns what could be an impediment into dramatic mystery as if we our exploration beginning in Broken combined with knowledge a reader may have wit the Legacy of the Force novels what occurs in-between is essentially a gap in family trees that keeps readers in the same neighborhood, but only the neighbors have - in a moment - changed. The kids have grown up and died, and their kids are now in place, but we don’t know if we used to live next to their father, grandmother or step-parents. - and the neighborhood spans a galaxy. At this point we know Cade is the son of Col Skywalker, but we don’t know the exact lineage and beyond that we are left questioning the fates of generation the world knows, Luke, Han, Leia, and the generation after, Ben Skywalker, and Jaina Solo. If you are reading both the novel and this series, while you see this second generation establish their legacies we at the same time are reading a universe absent of them. We are left considering the future and what could have happened to the ties that drove us to buy a book with the brand ‘Star Wars’ on it to begin with and thus Ostrander has taken the yoke of potential continuity and turned it into opportunity.

While firmly a comic book reader who delights in the rise of popularity and thus proliferation of the collected formats as it pertains to current/modern comic releases; the format, while offering more and actually allowing someone to allot themselves time longer than a few minutes to read a story via sequential art also presents an opportunity to allow for full judgment, even fully negative reaction, not the usual wait-and-see variety as the risk is treating an entire arc as if it isn’t a monthly comprised product of individual issues and as exclusively a single entity. I mention this because ,Broken, in this collected format feels like a prologue, which of course, it absolutely is in the context of monthly issues and while the hook at the end invites the idea that welcomed ass kicking is just around the corner, it is a thought you knew during the entire reading process it had to happen at some point - Star Wars rarely deviates from this theme in any incarnation - and though there is a sense of relief we get it out of the way now, I’m not so sure that I felt the moment perhaps too telegraphed in a series that thus far did attempt to deviate. I also want to be clear that when I speak on deviation, I don’t speak on it as a fundamental one. The vast majority of Star Wars stories occur in a loop and they practice the theory that history repeats itself, or at least is a familiar remix. The fulfilling of a foreseen destiny, the conflict within an ‘evil’ hierarchy, the absolute nature of corruption, redemption, princesses being used as bait, familiar surnames sprinkled in - in short, what would make Star Wars fans feel comfortable even in a setting that is generations after mainstream awareness. Another truth that has to be noted regarding potential interest in continuing this series beyond Broken is that Ostrander has not just proven to be an adequate writer in this mythos, he is a writer that indeed rarely writes anything not recommendable. Ostrander has worked on terrific runs on Suicide Squad and Spectre, as well as non-big II must reads with VALIANT and on Grimjack (which he created with Tim Truman) -and this is not a case of throwing anybody on a product that is insured to sell at some level due to its brand alone - Ostrander is a damn fine writer and not many fans would wince if he took over any book, published by any publisher. He also has stuck to this title to this point for 30+ issues so there is creative continuity in Star Wars: Legacy for several collections to come. The artist, Jan Duursema, is somebody Fantasy fans may be familiar with as somebody who has worked on Moorcock’s Elric has some beautiful work here. Drawing a Science Fiction-backdrop or what is essentially a Fantasy tale that also has to resonate the past but not be chained to it and offer something new sounds to me like a difficult position to be in and while I’m indifferent on some panels the highlights make the Sith, in particular, seem more alive than recent film examples. From a creative team level Star Wars: Legacy is a solid title that shouldn’t see too many dips in quality from issue to issue - these are accomplished veterans in the field. With that in mind, I cannot admit to being exactly captivated or enthralled with the first arc but at the same time it’s a lack of an extreme enthusiasm, more than any disappointment or distaste.

“You cannot defeat him with anger, Cade”

“That is a Sith Weapon” ”

Cade’s power presents interesting ponderables as Anakin’s fall is predicated and not being able to do what Cade can, and Cade’s touches with the Dark Side occurs possibly because of it. The history of the Skywalker line reveals the practice of falling to the seduction of the Dark Side as a bit of a family tradition and it will be interesting to see what harm comes to the Universe now that they have found another one.

“Whatever works”” - Cade Skywalker

A Skywalker who’ll shoot first.

_{*the fourth issue is unrelated to the central storyline, but does offer a story of squad of storm troopers to give a glimpse of the live of the common soldier, or even common citizen during the era/war - it is not included in the collection.}

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Topics: Adam Hughes, Broken, Dark Horse, Jan Duursema, John Ostrander, Star Wars, Star Wars: Legacy