Tales of the Jedi - The Fall of the Sith Empire #1 (of 5)

Reviewed 07/07/97 Plot Summary This is the first issue of the sequel to "The Golden Age of the Sith". The story takes place 1000 years before the original 'Tales of the Jedi', and 5000 years before ANH. In this issue, Jori returns from the Sith Empire to the Replublic to warn them of an impending attack. Once Jori arrives at Coruscant, no one believers her or heeds her warnings and she is put into prision. Of course, the Sith let Jori go so that they could follow her (in the TOTJ tradition of using a few familiar film elements since they don't have actual characters to use). As the Sith follow, Naga Sadow their leader has brought along Jori's brother Gav. In a scene which is likely reminiscent of Palpatine's corruption of Vader, Sadow has Gav push a button to block an opposing ship's communication. The button actually fires upon and destroys the ship. Story While I enjoy the TOTJ stories, I must say that they don't hold my interest as well as the other SW comic series. I attribute this less to the fact that there aren't film characters than to the over use of the Sith. I know that there's a need to create antagonists powerful enough to challenge multiple Jedi masters, but I just haven't found them compelling. I do give credit for coming up with interesting variations on common SW themes. The characters are similar to ones we know from the films, but not carbon copies. I also appreciate the use of non-human characters (something I hope to see in the prequels). Too many species use the 'Star Trek' cop-out of putting a funny head of a human body, but that may be more of an art complaint. My other complaint would be that this story moves a little too slowly. Very little happens in each issue. TOTJ seems better read in a collected trade paperback. Art I find the both the pencils and color to be only average. On the other hand, the extensive design that's been done for this series is impressive. They've taken a universe we know and extrapolated backwards 5000 years having to make things look different, but familiar. The costumes, ships, buildings and weapons all sport impressive designs. Again, the weak point here is the design of bilogical species... too human IMHO. Summary Somewhat slow moving, but interesting technology. You'll feel much the same way about this book as you did about other TOTJ books. 6.5/10. Recommended only if you liked previous TOTJ.
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