The Knight Errant series concludes with it's final volume, Escape!
The first two volumes, Aflame and Deluge were enjoyable for me, but they had some pThe Knight Errant series concludes with it's final volume, Escape!
The first two volumes, Aflame and Deluge were enjoyable for me, but they had some problems. The worldbuilding is engrossing, and I just love the Old Republic Era in general, but the main character has been so bland.
I don't really know how to feel about this one. Like the other two volumes, Escape has plenty to like- some of it is the best out of the entire series. On the other hand, there's some majorly disappointing flaws with this comic that make the sum of it's parts a frustrating Conundrum.
THE STORY: Kerra Holt has gotten very deep in her one-woman jedi crusade to save the beings suffering under the feuding sith lords beyond Republic Space. She gets friendly with Lord Daiman so she can "escape" and get herself into lord Odion's realm, so she can infiltrate it and undermine the dominion of the maniacal sith lord. However, a shocking revelation about her parents and a sith artifact known as the Mask of Ieldis throw some wrenches into her plans, and she may be way over her head.
THE BAD: This comic was frustrating. It started out jarring and incoherent, really improved things in the middle, only to lead to a weak payoff in the end. Things were happening way to fast here, to the point that I felt like I was missing an entire part of Kerra's story. Kerra goes from lone jedi on the edges fighting the bad guys at the end of Deluge, to all of a sudden deep in the heart of sith lords' territories, able to go under cover no problem when Escape opens. It's such a jarring change because she's able to go in under cover so easily. Given the connection Odion has with Kerra, wouldn't Odion's underlings know better? how were they so easily fooled? Or if Odion was allowing it to happen, how could Kerra Holt be so stupid to not anticipate any sort of trap? Lord Diaman, once again, was underused, and even more so in Escape than he was in Deluge. After how intriguingly he was set up in Aflame, it feels like nothing was done with him, and he suddenly became second fiddle to Lord Odion. The ending, I thought was underwhelming as a payoff. Once the story and main conflict finally got going and the tension steadily built, it felt like everything was resolved way too easily. And at the end, it felt like everything returned to the status quo, with everything in this story arc feeling like it had little if any impact on anything. While most of the art looks good, a couple of panels looked quite silly- some of the imagery made me think of Magneto or Thanos- but not the gritty magneto from the X-men films or the complex Thanos from the MCU= more like cheesy 1960's comic book incarnations. Finally, lets get to the disappointment that was Kerra Holt's character. At one point in the story, she has some surprisingly interesting character moments, but much like what happened by the end of Deluge, I didn't feel like Kerra really changed as a person. By the end, she's the same plucky, idealistic jedi woman she has been since the beginning of the series- all the more disappointing because she had potential to actually develop and leave an impact during this story.
THE GOOD: Just like the previous two volumes in the series, Escape has some good aspects that can balance out the bad. It finally feels like John Jackson Miller is doing somethings different with the story, and taking more risks. While the stories in Aflame and Deluge were fairly generic and forgettable, the story told in Escape takes some more twists and turns. It also raises the stakes and increases the scale of the story- and I have to admit, it actually FELT like the galaxy could have ended. Lord Odion is, for the most part, great here. He looks a bit too much like a marvel supervillain with that mask and his armor occasionally, but the scene where he begins to carry out his plans is terrifying, and cutting to the devastation in the panels was effective. Not only has a good portion of the silliness been replaced with a menacing presence, his character is expanded upon pretty effectively too. Before he just seemed like a generic crazed maniac, but the comic dives into his past and his motivations are very compelling. The artwork is also the best it has ever been in the series. Setting aside a couple of silly looking panels, the artwork looks great. It expresses quite a bit of character emotion and the action sequences are epic and exciting.
THE CONCLUSION: Final rating is 3 stars. It has some great moments, but the story developments are jarring. I commend John Jackson Miller for trying to change things up after how derivative and generic the series has been up until this point, but the shake-ups felt like they happened too quickly, and weren't necessarily earned. It's frustrating; volumes 1 and 2 were bland and vanilla, but they were easy to follow. This one has more depth and complexity in the story and some of the characters, but felt messy and detached from the rest of the series. Escape felt like it would have fit better as a 4th or 5th volume for these comics, rather than the 3rd. Despite Knight Errant: Escape being the planned finale for the series, the ending felt more like a tease for a 4th volume than satisfying closure; but even then, it feels like ending the series here was not a big loss. Kerra Holt hasn't developed enough over the course of this series for me to need her story to continue.
As a whole, I didn't hate the series, but it ended up being forgettable fluff. I had fun with the setting and the worldbuilding, but it didn't leave a lasting impact beyond that. I'm glad I checked it out because I love the Old Republic era, but these comics didn't really take advantage of their great premise, instead just telling a safe and standard adventure story that could have been told in any other star wars time period. If you're a completionist and decide to check it out, I can't say Knight Errant is a complete waste of time, but don't set your expectations too high....more
After reading Star Wars: Aflame earlier today, next up we have Volume 2: Deluge! I decided to skip the Knight errant novel for now because I'm enjoyingAfter reading Star Wars: Aflame earlier today, next up we have Volume 2: Deluge! I decided to skip the Knight errant novel for now because I'm enjoying the comics, but I'm not invested enough in the character of Kerra Holt to go to the effort to read everything chronologically.
I thought the first volume was enjoyable, but nothing great. I liked the setting and the worldbuilding, but protagonist Kerra Holt was fairly dull, and the story is generic. It was held together by good artwork and decent writing though. Knight Errant: Deluge is more of the same: it has its strengths, but is also very flawed.
THE STORY: Our titular "Knight Errant", the young jedi Kerra Holt, is at it again as the lone hero doing the right thing in the most wartorn and chaotic regions of the galaxy- with the republic floundering in its dark age, she takes it upon herself to save the innocent beings caught in the middle of the bloody conflicts between the petty sith lords who want nothing more than to see others suffer. This time, she is on a planet mostly covered in water called Aquilaris. Lord Daiman's occupation forces are driven offworld, but not by republic liberators- instead, they are replaced by Zodoh the Hutt, a crime boss who wishes to take advantage of the chaos as the sith lords vying for control weaken each other. Kerra Holt gains an ally in Grace Squadron, a band of volunteer mercenary fighters who have similar goals as she does- but also some secrets of their own.
THE BAD: Some issues from the first volume were fixed here, and we also got some new problems specific for this one. Unfortunately, the biggest problem with Deluge is one that carries over from Aflame: the main character. Kerra Holt continues to be a boring protagonist, and remains the same character she was at the very start of the series: despite some experiences that really should have questioned her views on the galaxy, it does not feel like she has changed from them. We have gotten two comic volumes and a full length novel starring Kerra Holt, and she hasn't developed any sort of unique identity. We are given a bit more about her past, but it doesn't provide any new context on her. Hopefully the final volume Escape will find a way to develop Kerra in an interesting fashion. The art here also took a downgrade. I've seen other reviews complaining about the inconsistency of the artwork in Aflame, but I didn't really notice. Here, though, it's a big problem, where characters look different from panel to panel. Another aspect of the art I missed was the lightsaber action; it was a big draw for me in the first volume, and I was disappointed by how little saber combat appeared in Deluge. Even then, Kerra was the only one with the lightsaber. I wouldn't have minded as much if the hero or the villains were handled better, but they weren't. Speaking of the villains, they were not handled very well. Lord Daiman was very underutilized here- he still had some great moments, but it was more of the same from Aflame, only less of it. Lord Odion barely appears in this comic, but in his place is another hammy and over the top character in Zodoh the hutt. Not only is he drawn poorly (often looking like the gene sequences of a potato and a teenage mutant ninja turtle were combined), it really does not work having him speak straight basic- I get this is a comic book, but I've seen others indicate that it was huttese using <> symbols, so it didn't break my immersion. Lord Odion is a silly villain too, but he was effective enough in the action scenes to balance it out. Zodoh, however, just took the goofiness too far with his cybernetic torso suit and rocket pack. I get that John Jackson Miller was going for a hutt that goes against type, but this was not the way to do it (You want an example of the physically capable hutt character done right, check out Grakkus the Hutt in Showdown on the Smuggler's Moon). The worst part about it though is that Zodoh's motivations are just like Odion's- all he wants is power. The criminal aspect makes for a slight variation, but not enough that I wish Miller didn't just use Lord Odion or another sith in his place. Finally, the story, once again, is fairly generic. We get new themes and further exploration on themes brought up in aflame, but essentially the core story is a repeat of the first volume: Kerra Holt goes to a planet. The people are struggling. she saves them. the end. First it was Chelloa in Aflame, now we have Aquilaris in Deluge.
THE GOOD: For all the problems, Deluge made some improvements on the problems in Aflame, and a good amount of what worked in that previous volume works here as well. The writing is still serviceable in that the dialogue moves quickly. There's no inner monologues or narration that get in the way of the visuals, and the characters' lines do not get overly expository. The designs of the ships and worlds still work, feeling like star wars but unique enough that this setting has its own identity. Lord Daiman is still an interesting villain with interesting lines, and I like how some of his stereotypical star warsy villainous actions actually come back to bite him in the rear. The side characters got a big upgrade in Jenn Devaad and Joad, a pair of characters I found surprisingly complex, and helped support some of the commentary and themes that the knight errant comics try to address. I liked seeing how Kerra Holt helped Joad out of his drug addiction, paying off in his heroics as he helped her save the people of Aquilaris. Through captain Devaad we finally learn a little more about the Republic, which wasn't even seen in Aflame. Although I was able to see one of the major developments with her character coming, I was surprised by what happened with her character after, and I was impressed with how well it was handled. The themes explored in Aflame about common people left to suffer during the big galactic conflicts are explored with more depth in Deluge. I thought the stuff concerning the spice was pretty interesting, and I liked how Grace Squadron explored the theme of people having to fend for themselves when the republic is too weak to help and the sith just want to see you suffer. I really liked the moment towards the last issue where Kerra goes to Darkknell, pointing out that even though the subjects under Lord Daiman are fueling his evil agenda, they are still people and deserve to be helped.
THE CONCLUSION: Final rating is 3 stars. Kerra Holt is still the blandjob she was in Afflame, and the freshness of the setting has worn off. That said, I like how these comics put a big focus on the commoners in the galaxy, and how they explore their plights as they are caught in the middle of these troubled times in galactic history. If you managed to connect to Kerra Holt in either the first volume of the comics or the novel already, you'll probably enjoy Deluge just fine. Unfortunately I wouldn't recommend it if you came for more of the jedi and sith action that was so prevalent in Aflame. I enjoyed it, but more because of the themes it explored (which didn't really pertain to the jedi and the sith, something that many star wars readers require to get invested) and the fact that I just can't get enough of the Old Republic Era. Stay tuned for when I finish Escape, but for now, just take this one for what it is. ...more
The first work on tap is a comic that I purchased a couple of months ago when the local shop was having a big sale. Here I give you John Jackson Miller's 2011 comic Knight Errant!
This comic has plenty of star warsy things I love, so I was fairly exited to read it. It takes place in the Old Republic Era, my favorite time period in Star Wars. It's a jedi vs sith story. And it is written by John Jackson Miller, who wrote one of my favorite canon novels to date, A New Dawn.
THE STORY: These comics take place a couple of decades before The Darth Bane Series. The Republic is weathering a dark age, and disparate sith lords stake their claim to various planets across the galaxy. One such planet is Chelloa, home of a young jedi named Kerra Holt. She joins a jedi strike team in an attempt to save Chelloa from a pair of rival sith brothers, Daiman and Odion. But when the attack goes terribly wrong and the jedi attack force is wiped out, Kerra is forced to save the people of Chelloa all by herself.
THE BAD: There's nothing that stands out as truly terrible here, but not very much story or character wise that stands out as impressive either.
Kerra Holt is a cool action hero, but not a very interesting protagonist. We've seen the beats of her backstory before in characters like Luke Skywalker and Galen Merek- home, mentor/master, and/or family destroyed by evil villains- epic and tragic, but done over and over in not just star wars, but fiction in general. She's also bland personality wise- a stoic jedi who aspires to do heroic deeds; a likeable archetype to be in, but again, an archetype we've seen before. Unfortunately, Miller does not really do anything with either the backstory or the personality to make Kerra stand out- you could take her out of the old republic setting and plop her in pretty much anywhere. The other side characters aren't all that memorable either. Vannar Treece is the generic jedi master/mentor you've seen before, and in this comic his inclusion feels like nothing more than a plot device. Gorlan Palladane could have been more interesting if his motives were made a little clearer. Lord Odion was fun, but it's a character and a design you've seen before, and done better in Darth Malak and Darth Malgus. This just feels like a silly imitation of those two- people say Malak was hammy, but he's Empire Strikes Back Darth Vader compared to Odion.
THE GOOD: For all its flaws, Aflame was an enjoyable read. The artwork is great. The colors and textures pop off the panels, and the action flows wonderfully between them. If you're looking for lightsaber combat in a comic book, you'll find plenty of it here-and every sequence is excellently drawn. They make the otherwise silly villain that is Lord Odion feel like a deadly threat. The designs are unique, but fit within star wars, making the setting of this story feel distinct but not in a different universe. Lord Daiman makes for a refreshingly unique villain. At his core he is a power hungry sith lord, but I like his worldview and his speeches, and the eerie parallels to George Orwell and some of the worlds most heinous dictators in history. The writing is just how I like comic books to be- dialogue that does not get too bogged down in exposition, and focused on character. And it is so refreshing to not have to deal with a comic that thinks it needs to cram extra information through internal monologues or narration- I get to focus on the gloriously rendered visuals and the characters involved. Finally, the worldbuilding works quite well. I had some issues with how the backdrop in Path of Destruction was set up, but this comic helped contextualize it. While initially I wasn't really on board with how the republic is AGAIN weak, allowing the sith to run amuck (especially because Darth Bane is supposed to reform the sith 30 years later), but this comic brought me on board. Having evil sith running around gives the time period a sense of danger, but the sith in this time frame have a fresh spin. Most of the time they manifest as a monolithic, unstoppable force threatening to destroy and conquer the galaxy, but here there's more of a lawlessness to it, with small time sith lords fighting each other over the scraps that the Republic has failed to hold onto. I especially like how the central villains in the story here are brothers- the parallels to fantasy tropes and medieval history enhance the mythical feel that I already really love about the Old Republic.
THE CONCLUSION: Final rating is 3.5 stars. Knight Errant: Aflame isn't particularly impressive, but I enjoyed it enough to look forward to Deluge and Escape. Knight Errant: Afflame takes advantage of my favorite aspects of the old republic era placed in a well drawn, decently written comic that was fun to read. Despite a generic protagonist I have the desire for more of this setting, as well as how she will overcome the villains. I know that the Knight Errant novel takes place between Afflame and Deluge, but I'm going to go right to Deluge for now. I'm not invested enough in Kerra Holt as a character to make the effort to specifically read the book/comics in strict chronological order. If you're itching for a story about a badass female jedi, I'd say give this a try. If nothing else, Kerra Holt kind of works as one of those self-insert characters in a me-against-the-world setup. At the very least, hopefully there's some fun to be had....more
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