On the planet Ostor, Darth Vader leads an attack against a group of remnant Separatists. Flying on Vader’s wing is Commander Hock Malsuum, a former clone trooper who recently sought out and gained the respect of the Dark Lord.
Another former clone, Kaddak—who has joined the cause against the Galactic Empire—shoots Hock out of the sky. Captured, Hock learns that the main goal of the resistance is to prolong the fighting and create awareness in the galaxy…
Now Hock is looking to end the fight as quickly as possible…But he has run into a time consuming obstacle.
The Precis
The rise of the Empire has begun and the Jedi are rapidly becoming extinct while the galaxy is becoming inducted into the evil Empire planet by planet. After the execution of order 66 it is mandatory that all Clone Troopers are to be slowly transformed into the feared Stormtroopers. But for the Clones who were injured or escaped the wars, life is different. Many have found refuge in cantinas, strange planets and criminal gangs. They are forgotten about, not needed and not important.
Clone Trooper CT-5539 was left for dead in the pitiless sand dunes of an unknown world by his former Jedi Generals. After seeking shelter from the dangerous waste lands he finally regains his strength. Building a stronger hatred for the Jedi every day, CT-5539 decides to go on a hunt for the feared Dark Lord known as Darth Vader so he can serve beside him and help destroy all those who betrayed him.
CT-5539 has finally reached the rank of commander and has also named himself as Hock Malsuum. As Hock quickly gains the trust and respect of Vader he is assigned as Vader’s wing man on an assault on the world of Ostor. But Hock’s fighter gets shot down by a surprise attack from a rogue squadron of Troopers. He wakes up to find himself in the heart of the main city and discovers the reason behind the uprising. But as Hock starts to make his way back to the front line, an old friend stands in the way…
The Review
In this issue we only see action from Darth Vader, trusted commander Hock Malsuum and his old brother in arms. With this focus on so little characters the reader can develop a much more intense insight into the bold relationship between Vader and Malsuum. The reader also gets the story told through the mind of Hock, explaining his actions and feelings and why they occur to him. With this little amount of characters in this issue, you’ll also be guaranteed that it will be cram packed with action!
The dark atmosphere to the whole issue is portrayed well through the dark colours used in the scenery and backgrounds like sandy red for the bloodshed and dark grey for the presence of the silenced. The actions of characters and camera shots also work well in conjunction with each other. For example, we see a dark gloved hand reaching out to a beaten soldier. This may show that Vader is merciful as he is giving Hock strength, but on the other hand, it could be a hand ready to pull him into a world of darkness, which proves to be the point later on in the story.
In a way this series has actually been written and illustrated the opposite way round. While dialogue explains the actions, the illustrations “speak” the actions. So for that, I truly applaud the scripter and illustrator as I have never come across this complexity with roles within a comic. So over all this series has truly been spectacular not so much visually but through showing a variety of feelings and meanings in a diverse manner.
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