Leroy Douresseaux on STAR WARS: THE OLD REPUBLIC – The Lost Suns #2

STAR WARS: THE OLD REPUBLIC – THE LOST SUNS #2 (OF 5)
DARK HORSE BOOKS

["Star Wars Central" review page is here.]

SCRIPT: Alexander Freed
PENCIL ROUGHS: Dave Ross
PENCIL FINISHES: George Freeman
INKS: Mark McKenna
COLORS: Michael Atiyeh
LETTERS: Michael Heisler
COVER: Benjamin Carré
32pp, Color, $3.50

I’m not really into that part of the Star Wars Expanded Universe known as Star Wars: The Old Republic, but I like the comic book. Star Wars: The Old Republic – The Lost Suns is a comic book based upon the LucasArts online game, Star Wars: The Old Republic. While Dark Horse has published two previous series set in the Star Wars: The Old Republic time period, this is the first one set concurrent with the game.

In the Star Wars Expanded Universe, the Old Republic is the time period 1000 to 25000 years before the Battle of Yavin (abbreviated at BBY). For those that don’t know, the Battle of Yavin is the climactic battle in Stars Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, during which Luke Skywalker destroys the Death Star.

Star Wars: The Old Republic – The Lost Suns is set in 3632 BBY and focuses on Theron Shan, a spy working for the Republic Strategic Information Service. Theron’s superior sends him on a mission to find Ngani Zho, the great Jedi who may have important information. Theron has strong ties to the long-missing Jedi, as Zho trained Theron’s mother, Satele Shan. Darth Mekhis, an old enemy of Satele’s, also wants Zho.

As Star Wars: The Old Republic – The Lost Suns #2 opens, Ngani Zho reveals the dark history of the Republic’s war with the Sith and the tragic peace accord. Theron finds Zho, but both his and Zho’s past complicate their mission.

While I’m only vaguely familiar with the whole “Old Republic” universe within a universe, I am enjoying The Lost Suns. The script for the second issue by Alexander Freed, a senior writer on The Old Republic online game, is more streamlined than the one for the first issue. Freed seamlessly weaves back story and the present action to create an engaging, enjoyable read. The art, with its clean compositions and no-frills design, makes it easy to comprehend this story, which is steeped in arcane Star Wars stuff.

B+