Legacy – War #3

Writer: John Ostrander & Jan Duursema

Cover Artist: Jan Duursema

Interior Art by: Jan Duursema (pencils), Dan Parsons (inks), Brad Anderson (colors), and Michael Heisler (letters)

Issue #3 of Legacy – War is a one-two punch combination of story development and climatic action. Starting with story development, the final threads are wrapped up to bring all the characters to Taivas, the Jedi’s Hidden Temple. Characters make amends, factions finish their plans, and the stage is set for what might be the first battle in the end game. However, this is only the start of the story as Issue #3 goes right into the battle of the Hidden Temple. Sith, Jedi, the Alliance and Imperial Remnant, and Cade’s bunch all find themselves in an escalating action packed battle.

Once again, the story takes center stage in this issue even amidst some very nice artwork of both characters and battle. Everything begins with Nat Skywalker, aka Bantha, prepping himself for picking up his lightsaber again and retaking the role of Jedi. Nat’s preparation for battle is but the first of several characters. Next up is Cade who rendezvous at The Wheel to meet his mom. Like Nat, Cade settles his affairs before heading to the Hidden Temple for the coming war. Draco and Princess Fel wrap things up on the personal level, as the story moves toward the big players: the Jedi, and the Sith.

Some good close-up profile shots.

As fate would have it, and all mainstream comics and proper tales, each faction finds themselves prepared for a final showdown. Krayt knows the location of the Jedi’s Hidden Temple and readies his forces for the attack. The Jedi, in turn, learn of Krayt’s knowledge of their hidden base and make their own plans. Surprisingly, Cade plays a key part in the Jedi’s response. Together, the Jedi, the Imperial Remnant, and the Stazi’s Alliance forces decide to confront Krayt at Taivas. To further ratchet up the action, the comic dives right into the battle with orbital bombardments, ground armies, and hordes of lightsaber swinging warriors. Everything goes according to plan…for both sides. The issue builds up into a towering climax that ends with the dreadful cliff hanger. Fortunately it does leave plenty for the reader to eagerly anticipate in the next issue.

It would have been really nice if these battle scenes could have got an epic two page spread, but with all the content packed into this issue, it is understanable that they did not.

Marking the halfway point of the series, issue #3 does a good job of building up the series. We’ve seen plenty of good artwork, action, and a healthy does of character progress and story development. For an even greater balance, the story has been steadily building while maintaining interest and intrigue. With the Hidden Temple under siege and everything on the line, there is still no clear picture as to what is going to happen. By putting the anticipation level at an all time high, it guarantees continued popularity of the series. Yet, there is a danger that expectations could be set too high. Will the dynamic duo of John and Jan be able to pull it off? Will Krayt pull out a magic trick so grand that the Sith will actually win? Can Cade step into the Skywalker legacy and change the fate of the galaxy? All of these questions remain and with only three issues left to answer them.

With a strong balance of art, action, and story, the only complaint with this issue is the nail biting cliff hanger, but even that is not something that can be held against it. I give issue #3 a good five out of five metal bikinis.

Reviewed By: Skuldren