Review: Lost Tribe of the Sith: Spiral #5

Script: John Jackson Miller
Pencils: Andrea Mutti
Inks: Pierluigi Baldassini
Colors: Michael Atiyeh
Lettering: Michael Heisler
Cover Art: Paul Renaud

More than two thousand years ago, minions of a Sith Lord crash-landed on the primitive world of Kesh and founded their own society, built on his evil teachings. Now, another ancient Sith Lord, Dreypa, threatens the lost Tribe’s very existence. 

Condemning the Tribe for not being Sith enough, Dreypa releases monstrous Leviathans, who quickly defeat the Tribe’s defenders. His true goal awaits in the Tribe’s capital: the starship Last Hope, long buried right under the noses of the Tribe’s leaders. 

Sent by Takara Hilts to destroy the vessel, the vandal Spinner reaches the starship first. But Spinner is Sith—and not to be trusted. The Last Hope rips free from its ancient prison. At long last, a member of the Tribe escapes exile to head for the stars . . .

Synlah: In the #5 issue of the Lost Tribe of the Sith: Spiral, John Jackson Miller concludes this chapter in his tales of the Lost Tribe.  Because of the canon set by the Fate of the Jedi series, no knowledge of Kesh or the Lost Tribe (and presumably Dreypa as well) can be allowed out into the greater galaxy.  So the task for Miller is in telling a a story that holds our interest within those parameters.  Luckily for us JJM has, with his Lost Tribe anthology,  had plenty of practice, and he’s good at it.  In Spiral #5, he neatly wraps things up while leaving the door open for further stories.

When this story opens, Spinner has the ship Dreypa wants, but Dreypa has the girl Spinner wants.  Spinner has all but made the jump to hyperspace.  He can see the stars — the first Sith to do so since the Lost Tribe was stranded on Kesh thousands of years ago.  Dreypa threatens him with the impending destruction of Tahv; Spinner doesn’t care.  Dreypa plays his trump card and threatens to harm Takara.  Spinner takes the bait, but he’s no fool, and being a Lost Tribe outsider, he thinks outside the box.  He destroys Dreypa’s leviathans first, and dangles a little bait of his own in front of Dreypa.  Dreypa can’t help himself; his arrogance and the Lost Tribe’s own shortcomings have convinces Dreypa he’s unbeatable.  He plays right into Spinner’s hands.  Spinner and Takara survive; Dreypa doesn’t.  Kesh is saved.

Next we see possibly my favorite JJM creation, Grand Lord Hilts (Takara’s father).  There’s a lot of wisdom in the grand lord, and like Spinner, he thinks outside the sith box.  Seems he sent Spinner to Eshkrene on purpose; it was all part of Hilts’s plan.  Well, Takara wasn’t, but it worked anyway.  Hilts makes Spinner an offer which he has to think about.  Coincidentally, the grand lord made the same offer to his daughter with the same result.  Nevertheless, you get the feeling Spinner and Takara will take Hilts up on his offer.  And it looks like the unlikely hero does get the girl.

From their beginnings in Fate of the Jedi, I’ve enjoyed the concept of the Lost Tribe.  They’ve been isolated and confined, and they’ve been forced to develop a culture within those confines.  It’s a twist on the traditional Sith because these Sith have nowhere to go.  They have to adapt to survive.  While he didn’t create the Lost Tribe, Miller has richly added to their lore.  The Spiral series is another satisfying Miller contribution.

I give this issue and the series a five out of five bikinis