The Unofficial Clone Wars Site

Obsession #1

Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Script: Haden Blackman
Art: Brian Ching

Reviewed by Andrew Liptak

Summary: Five months before the first battle for Coruscant, Obi-Wan Kenobi begins his quest to find and eliminate the Dark Jedi Asajj Ventress, believed dead by Anakin Skywalker who believed that he killed him. First, Obi-Wan must find Ventress, a task which is harder than it seems. To find her, he goes to a Black Sun agent named Lord Xist to find where she might be…

What Worked: It's been a long wait to finally get this issue in my hands. Ever since it was announced almost a year an a half ago, the series has gone from a ten issue series to five, and was presumed to be cancelled once. But it's been worth the wait, for this issue is outstanding. From the words of Obi-Wan in A New Hope, this may very well be his "dammed fool's crusade" or one of them. The grudges between Obi-Wan and Ventress have been well known to readers of the Republic comics, ever since her first appearance in Republic 51-52 and since then in various novels and comics. She captured Obi-Wan once, then he stole her ship. In Yoda: Dark Rendezvous, she stole his ship. It's been clear that there's going to be some showdown between the characters, and this seems to be it. This comic has several very good things going for it, right off the bat. First, we are treated to the works of Brian Ching, who, except for the occasional comic book cover, we haven't seen since the Jabiim comics. He brings his wonderful art style back for this issue, and it's never looked better. There are several dynamic action sequences right off the bat, and I'm sure that it will be topped in future issues. We also see several very familiar characters. Padme makes her first appearance in a Clone Wars comic, while Obi-Wan and Anakin have leave from the war for a short period of time. While it's only a couple pages, we see that the pair have really missed each other, and it really shows in this issue. We also see that Anakin believes that Asajj is dead; something that will come up soon in future issues. We also really see that Obi-Wan's obsession with tracking down Asajj Ventress, in a very interesting fight with the Black Sun agent. It really caught me off guard at the intensity of it. Aayla Secura also has a small role in this issue, something that surprised me, but a welcome surprise, and along with her, the first appearance of the Episode III starfighter, which she lends Obi-Wan Kenobi. Through and through, I have a feeling that this is going to be some of the best writing and artwork that we're going to see as a sort of conclusion to one of the bigger storylines of the Clone Wars. This issue is certainly a good beginning.

What Didn't Work: While there is nothing wrong with the comic itself, it's the timing in which it was issued, before Republic 71, which this comes after and references. The mention of Asajj's death, for example, is a fairly big revealing point for what will happen in that issue of Republic. Secondly, the wait. It's always a pain to have to wait for such a long time for these issues in a series, expecially one that looks really good like this.

Overall, The outstanding beginning to what appears to be an outstanding miniseries.

Rating: 10/10

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