Comics Commentary: Kanan: The Last Padawan #2

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“You lie. You cheat. You steal. You survive.” And you read Dennis’ article.

Spoiler Alert: This article discusses plot details of issue #2 of Marvel’s Kanan: The Last Padawan series and may contain minor to major spoilers for this series and other Marvel Star Wars series.

Kanan: The Last Padawan #2

Writer: Greg Weisman | Artist: Pepe Larraz | Colors: David Curiel | Cover: Mark Brooks | Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna

Serenity shattered.

That is how I like to think of issue two of Kanan: The Last Padawan. In the outstanding first issue, Kanan Jarrus of TV’s Star Wars Rebels fame is shocked into a flashback, and our story, when Hera informs him that the crew of the Ghost is heading to the planet Kaller for an easy mission – a “milk run.” Kanan reflects on his former life as a Jedi padawan when he was known by his true name of Caleb Dume. Serving under Jedi Master Depa Billaba on the planet Kaller, Caleb learned something about war, the Republic, the Jedi Order, the galaxy at large, and most of all, he learned something about himself. He had found purpose. He had found his place in the galaxy. He found peace. Serenity.

That serenity didn’t last. The final panels of issue one revealed that Caleb and Depa’s time on Kaller was right at the end of the Clone Wars. Of course, at this time, Chancellor Palpatine, the public guise of Darth Sidious, completed his rise to power and became Emperor. Having achieved a sovereign hold of the galaxy, Palpatine enacted Order 66 under which clone troopers of the Grand Army of the Republic turned on their Jedi commanders and all but eradicated the Jedi Order, thereby achieving the millennia-old goal of the Sith to conquer their nemesis and acquire absolute power and domain over the Force.

Issue two of Kanan picks up just as Order 66 commences. Caleb is found contemplating a Jedi holocron that Depa gave to him at the conclusion of the previous issue. Although they are at war, Caleb concludes that life is good and he is happy. He is shocked out of his content musings by Depa who urgently commands him to run. Amid visions from the Force of Jedi dying at the hands of their clone troopers, Depa and Caleb’s own troopers prepare to cut them down. This is the story of Caleb’s escape from Kaller.

Of all the Marvel Star Wars titles, Kanan reads most like a traditional comic book. Caleb narrates the first several pages through thought boxes, a technique commonly found in traditional superhero stories. However, they are largely absent from Star Wars, Darth Vader, and Princess Leia. In contrast to those series, the thought box has been put to very good and very effective use in Kanan. Although Larraz’s art does an outstanding job conveying Caleb’s shock, it is the thought boxes that really bring home the magnitude of the clone’s betrayal. As we see Caleb rest at their post-battle campsite on Kaller, an expression of contentment on his face, it his thoughts that bring the reader up to speed. He is proud of his Jedi master and his clone troopers. Life is good. He is among friends. He has found his place in the galaxy. We learn all of this from his inner-monologue.

Abruptly, the scene changes from one of tranquility to one of chaos. The troopers are attacking. Caleb’s thoughts and emotions turn from contentment to puzzlement, shock, and betrayal.

Between the art and the thought boxes, Caleb’s shock, despair, and confusion are palpable. He cannot quite come to grips with the reality that the men he considered friends must now die in order to save his own life. It is touching how he notes the tragedy of the battle by briefly reflecting on how just two days ago he shared a ripe meiloorun fruit with some of the very friends he is now forced to kill.

As with issue one, issue two of Kanan provides excellent tie-ins and references to Rebels. In the episode “Fire Across the Galaxy,” the Inquisitor tortures Kanan in an attempt to gain intel on a larger rebel alliance. Kanan resolutely refuses to succumb to the torture, so the Inquisitor switches to psychological tactics and taunts him with the very memories of the events portrayed in this issue. Kanan’s shame in that episode are grounded here. Caleb froze when the clones attacked. Depa commanded him to run with the promise that she would be right behind him. She provided him a way to appease his conscience, because she knew he wouldn’t willingly abandon his master to the clones and a fight she couldn’t win. Caleb admits that it was the first time Depa ever lied to him, but even knowing that, he ran anyway and witnessed her death at the hands of the clones. Kanan’s shameful admission years later to the Inquisitor is made all the more poignant now.

Caleb evades the clones and eventually makes his way to Plateau City on Kaller where he comes to the realization that he has never been on his own and was never taught to survive. After weeks of homelessness and near starvation, a Kalleran by the name of Janus Kasmir takes pity on Caleb and provides him with a little food, a shower, a few hours of sleep aboard the Kasmiri (his ship), and a disguise. Perhaps the most important thing Kasmir gives Caleb is a dubious life lesson. When Caleb asks what he should do now, Kasmir responds, “What you have to do to live in the actual galaxy with the rest of us miscreants. You lie. You cheat. You steal. You survive.” The lesson is a little ironic, given that Kasmir just went out of his way to help Caleb.

Unfortunately for Kasmir, Caleb is a quick learner. After receiving the Jedi emergency signal from what he presumes are the Jedi masters rallying on Coruscant on his comlink, Caleb steals the Kasmiri, because that is what “the rest of the miscreants” do to live in the galaxy. En route to Coruscant, Caleb receives and plays the message from Obi-Wan made famous during “Spark of Rebellion,” the premiere episode from Rebels. Larraz’s art does an excellent job conveying Caleb’s reaction…as does the art when Caleb and the Kasmiri emerge from hyperspace in the midst of a full wing of ARC-170 starfighters demanding his surrender at the conclusion of the issue.

After working on Rebels, Weisman clearly understands Kanan/Caleb and has crafted a story that almost seamlessly meshes with the television show. Although I prefer the more realistic look of Star Wars and Darth Vader, the art in Kanan is first rate. The story has an excellent pace, and there is a real sense of adventure.

Favorite Panel:

There were so many good panels in this book that it was hard to pick just one as a favorite. The series of panels portraying Depa Bilaba’s demise were powerful, well-paced, and tragic. I got goosebumps when I saw the hologram of Obi-Wan while Caleb was in hyperspace on his way to Coruscant, and I could hear James Arnold Taylor’s voice in my head reciting Obi-Wan’s lines. The Kallerans are one of my favorite new species in Star Wars. Despite all the great panels featuring those characters and events, I couldn’t pick just one of them. So, I went in a different direction and chose the shot of the Kasmiri after it emerged from hyperspace outside of Coruscant. I really dig this ship. It has a true Star Wars aesthetic to it. The engines look like they could have been used on an X-Wing or ARC-170, maybe even a podracer. It looks at home among the ARC-170 starfighters surrounding it at the end of the issue. I hope Kanan gets to make use of the Kasmiri for at least a few more issues.

Upcoming:

• May 13, 2015–Darth Vader #5 
• May 20, 2015–Star Wars #5
• May 27, 2015–Princess Leia #4
• June 3, 2015–Star Wars #6
• June 3, 2015–Darth Vader #6
• June 10, 2015–Kanan #3