The Unofficial Clone Wars Site

Republic #73

Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Script: John Ostrander
Art: Jan Duursema

Reviewed by Andrew Liptak

Summary: Thome goes off to the planet Saleucami to try and find Sora Bulq and to try and find out what’s going on with the Morgukai that he and Aayla encountered earlier. While on planet, he finds that the Separatists are creating a Clone Army of their own, and that the Republic must move quickly to counter the threat. Meanwhile, Quinlan Vos tracks down the person who killed former Chancellor Valorum, and comes to believe that he’s found the identity of the Second Sith lord.

What Worked: I was fairly surprised by this issue. It’s strong and straight forwards, and clearly leading up to greater things, and I predict that this buildup and the end of the Obsession line are going to be the same thing, which should be interesting to read. Art-wise, there’s not too much that’s new from Jan Duursema, who has seemed to have reached the peak with Republic 71. These past two issues have remained at that high level, and it doesn’t look like they’re coming down. There’s quite a few interesting panels and action scenes that are quite interesting.

The strongest point of this book is the Thome and Sora relationship, and we see yet another flashback to Bakura, where Thome lost his eye and when Sora apparently went over to the Dark Side. They reference Jedi: Mace Windu, which was particularly good to see, a little bit of cross reinforcement. Sora has been an off and on character since Mace Windu, and it’s good to see him in the forefront.

Another particularly strong point was the fact that the majority of this issue focused on a new Jedi: Thome. He’s been a background character up until the last issue, and now we see a little more into him. I’m somewhat unfamiliar with the pre-Clone Wars appearances by him, but it’s good to see him in action.

Aayla is in this comic briefly, on a planet called Trigalis, which is the start point for Obsession, which is a cool reference and cross over with that series. I predict that they’re going to merge.

The Clone Army on the Separatist’s part is very interesting, and something that I’ve been wondering for a while: Will the Confederation create their own version? It appears that they are, and that it’s going to be more powerful than the Republic’s Clone Army, which is to be expected, seeing that the Jedi are on the Republic’s Side.

What Didn't Work: There were a couple of points that irked me a little bit. The first is one particular panel that is almost identical to one in Jedi: Mace Windu, with Sora attacking Thome. There’s another panel in Jedi: Mace Windu, that has Mace in the exact same position as Sora, and Asajj Ventress in almost the same position as Thome. I really hope that this doesn’t mean that Duursema isn’t running out of ways to position these guys. If not, well, it’s an interesting little reference. The second thing is Zao, who’s a diminutive Jedi Master who likes weird tasting soup. Finally, Grievous makes an appearance, but in a single panel. It seems that he’s just in there to show him off a little bit, as that Episode III is coming quickly. That aside, this was a very well done comic.

Overall, An exciting buildup to the final moments of the Clone Wars.

Rating: 7.5/10

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