Star Wars: Kanan #6 Review

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Kanan as a comic book is developing. Check in with Dennis for the full story.

This review contains spoilers for Kanan #6.

Kanan #6

Writer: Greg Weisman | Artist: Jacopo Camagni | Colors: David Curiel | Cover: Pepe Larraz & David Curiel | Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna

You can’t go home again. Perhaps you can, but you may not want to. Darth Vader, after he ceased to be Anakin Skywalker, loathed the idea of returning to Tatooine. It was his former home. It was where he was a slave until his potential as the chosen one was discovered by Qui-gon Jinn. It was the home to Watto’s junkyard where he met the love of his life. It became the planet where he held his mother in his arms as she died from wounds inflicted by the Tusken Raiders. It was the planet where he began his transformation from Anakin Skywalker, Jedi Padawan and hopeful savior of the galaxy and began his journey to the dark side as Darth Vader, Lord of the Sith, scurge of the Jedi, and the Emperor’s dark enforcer. There was nothing left for Anakin on Tatooine but painful memories, or so he thought.

What Tatooine is for Anakin Skywalker, Kaller is for Kanan Jarrus. As the Kanan series has already shown, Kanan arrived on Kaller as Caleb Dume, Jedi Padawan to Master Depa Billaba. A troubled youngling at the Jedi Temple, it was on Kaller that Caleb found peace through discovering his place in the galaxy. It was on Kaller that Caleb discovered he had brothers—the Clones under his and Billaba’s command. And it was on Kaller that he lost it all. Order 66 was issued and his brothers in arms became his hunters after slaying his master. His source of contentment was stripped right out from under him.

Kaller became the last place that Caleb ever wanted to return. So, it is no surprise that Kanan, Caleb’s alter ego, is less than thrilled to finally return there in issue six. Through narration, Kanan openly admits that he hates Kaller, but he doesn’t tell the crew of the Ghost this, let alone why. While his comrades contemplate what happened to the supplies they were sent to retrieve, Kanan is seeing ghosts from his former life as Caleb Dume. The “milk run” designed to secure resources for the unfortunate denizens of Tarkintown has gone terribly wrong.

Uneasy with the thought of tracking down the missing supplies, but backed into a corner by his crew and their responsibility, Kanan sends the rest of the crew in pairs to investigate, but he partners himself up with Chopper. As Kanan looks for leads, all the clues point to a familiar sounding smuggler, Kanan’s former friend and mentor—Janus Kasmir. In fact, Kanan begins to warm up to the thought of reuniting with Kasmir, only to have his hopes dashed as he discovers the Kalleran smuggler is another familiar face, a Kalleran named Tapusk.

Kanan finds himself surrounded by Tapusk’s crew, and is forced to take them down. However, he gets sloppy, and while admiring his work, he is stabbed in the back by the Kalleran. He recovers to knock out Tapusk and signals the rest of the crew to come retrieve the supplies from the warehouse. The local Imperial Governor, Gamut Key, enters the warehouse before the rest of crew can arrive. Key overhears Kanan use his codename, Spectre-One, and reveals himself to be a Rebel sympathizer. It is clear that Key suspects that Kanan is a Jedi, but he drops the subject at Kanan’s insistence and instead offers the occasional assistance “of an old politician.” The issue concludes with Kanan having been left with the supplies, but as he calls for an E.T.A. from the Ghost, he passes out from his the injury he received from Tapusk while noting that he really hates Kaller.

Both Anakin and Caleb eventually returned home. Anakin, undertook a desperate mission to rescue his mother after experiencing a series of horrifying visions of her suffering. His rescue attempt was a failure that only served to compound his fears for Padme’s life after they were married and expecting a child. His experience on Tatooine only fueled his fear, and as Master Yoda once warned, fear leads to anger…and eventually that lead to Anakin assuming the new identity of Darth Vader. Anakin came to embrace the identity of the Dark Lord of the Sith, as it helped erase his memories when he believed himself to be a weaker and more fragile person.

In contrast, Caleb’s return to Kaller came after he had already assumed a new identity. Kanan proclaimed at the conclusion of issue five that “Kanan” had never been to Kaller. Caleb’s assumed identity of Kanan was also intended to replace that of a weaker person; however, there is a difference. Caleb was a naïve, young Padawan lost in the galaxy. His transformation into Kaller eventually resulted in a stronger man wise to the ways of the galaxy. More importantly, his new identity was designed for protection not subjugation. Although he dreaded returning to Kaller as much as Vader did on his return to Tatooine, he had already found a home he was comfortable with—as a member of the crew of the Ghost. Darth Vader wasn’t comfortable in his own skin let alone with his role in the universe.

Perhaps the biggest difference between Vader and Kanan was what they feared. For both, their fears stemmed from their childhood. For Anakin, he had developed an attachment to his mother before Qui-gon and Obi-wan whisked him away to the Jedi temple to begin his training. He feared to lose her, and then he feared to lose Padme. For Kanan, he feared being recognized on Kaller. His fear wasn’t born of attachment. Although he proclaimed to hate Kaller, his hate differed from Anakin’s. Anakin hated the Tuskens for what they did to his mother. He hated the Jedi for standing in his way of helping Padme and for the Jedi code standing in his way of simultaneously being both the hero of the Republic and openly expressing his love for his secret wife. He acted on his hate and brought suffering to others. Conversely, Kanan never hated his tormentors. He grieved the loss of Grey and Styles, his former Clone brothers that persecuted him from one end of the galaxy to the other, when they died. He didn’t act out on his hate and he never took revenge. Instead, he hates the bad memories that Kaller brings him, but he doesn’t look for retribution or to punish those that wronged him. Perhaps there is something to the Jedi’s notions of attachment after all, or perhaps Kanan just made better decisions.

This issue is clearly a transitional issue to the next story about Kanan’s past. The tease on the last page suggests the story of how Kanan came to be Depa’s padawan may be next, and potentially the story of what and how Depa emerged from whatever ordeal was hinted at in issue one will be told. The story of this issue was minimal, but it did afford the opportunity to compare and contrast Kanan and Vader’s paths.

Favorite Panel

Jacopo Camagni filled in for Pepe Larraz for the art for this issue. It took a couple of pages to realize there was a difference, because their art styles are complimentary. Each has a style that is more traditional to a comic book than what is featured in the other Star Wars titles Marvel has released. Camagni had more of an opportunity to illustrate the rest of the Rebels in this issue than Larraz usually gets. The best panel of this issue was comedic in nature. After Kanan and Chopper have been surrounded by the smugglers in Tapusk’s warehouse, Kanan begins to talk his way out of the mess with his hands up. In the same panel, to the left, Chopper has his utility arms held up. That elicited a good laugh and is the favorite panel of this issue.