Into the Valley of Death rode the Jedi and the younglings… What’s in store for K’Kruhk and company in Issue #3 of Dark Times – Fire Carrier, this week’s Star Wars comic?
“But for the witnesses, those few seconds are as hours, burned into their memories forever.”
After the horrifying discovery on the mountain side in last month’s issue of ‘Fire Carrier’ in the Star Wars: Dark Times comic series, what could top that? Well, apparently the horrifying spectacle of seeing it actually happen instead of just coming across the aftermath, in Fire Carrier #3 (DarkHorse.com profile). And that’s what K’Kruhk, Zao, Piru and the younglings encounter this time around… before having to run for their lives, again.
Summary: The big reveal from Issue #2 was the Jedi refugees’ discovery of a massive dumping ground of refugee bodies – the same refugees as from their camp, who had been given the opportunity to resettle on another continent of Arkinnea. Beholding the terrifying spectacle, K’Kruhk and Zao determine that the local Arkinnean militia have been simply dropping refugees out of the ore hauler to their deaths on this mountainside as vengeance for Arkinnea’s pain caused by Separatists in the Clone Wars – regardless whether the refugees were from Separatist or Republic worlds. They then try to explain to the younglings why this tragedy has happened, and K’Kruhk is thrown into guilt when young Sidirri wants him to kill all the perpetrators, like he did the pirates.
While the Jedi outcasts contemplate their next move, the ore hauler returns, dropping another load of live refugees onto the mountain and K’Kruhk and Zao are too shocked to be able to save any of them. Spotted by the ship, K’Kruhk sends Zao and the children off in the cart, sledding them down the mountainside toward the safety of the forest. Drawing the fire of the militia, K’Kruhk rides Wooly in the opposite direction, tearing down the slope toward their own cover.
Meanwhile, a request from the Imperial Commander Teron on Arkinnea for more resources to monitor for mistreatment of the refugees gets denied by Darth Vader, still focused on hunting down Jedi fugitive Dass Jennir. Teron learns that he’ll only get more resources if there is an emergency, and witnesses Captain Relik’s militia in the city going out on an unscheduled call, supposedly a surprise drill. Thinking that this is the emergency he might need, Teron contacts the local patrol Star Destroyer and asks the captain to come to Arkinnea despite lack of direct orders from Coruscant – as a personal request not from himself but from their former general at Saleucamai. The Tenacious immediately changes course, though its whereabouts are relayed to Coruscant and overheard by Vader’s prisoner, the assassin Falco Sang, who realizes that obedience to Vader isn’t universal.
Back on Arkinnea, Relik’s ship closes in on the mountain, only to watch the ore hauler crash — pulled down with the Force by K’Kruhk, with his only witness, Wooly.
Review: We see the depths of the Arkinnean militia’s evil ways, and this issue leaves us with so many questions for next time: Will the Empire come to help the plight of the refugees in time? They seem to hint that these two Imperial leaders (Teron & Captain Denimoor of the Tenacious) served under a Jedi at Saleucami (K’Krukh served as a general during the sieges there), and are still loyal enough to him to jump into action on his behalf. What will happen when Vader’s Jedi purging ways catches up to them: will Falco rat them out to Vader? While Teron saw K’Krukh at least twice (in the first issue), did he recognize his former general, and just keep his mouth shut. Or is it just a suspicion? Or is it not altruism at all: does he hope for a reward by bringing in the Jedi?
Randy Stradley continues bringing in the dark side of the war with this issue of ‘Fire Carrier’. Can K’Kruhk carry the spark of the Jedi even as his own wards want him to be a killer? It’s heavy, but good reading, and should be interesting to see the Empire seeking to prevent atrocity against Imperial citizens with characters like Teron. (I wonder if Teron’s name is a verbal link to Theron Shan, commando/spy from The Old Republic comics and novels.) While we know that K’Kruhk survives to the Legacy era, we don’t know the fates of Zao, Piru or the younglings (who are starting to get named more and more!).
Some great art – Gabriel Guzman has some great panels (with colors by Garry Henderson). Onkya the Mon Calamari youngling is depicted with an absolutely horrified look (both in his own panel) and across several other panels when they discuss the discovery – you can tell how utterly shaken the younglings are, and how Zao, as a man unable to see with his own eyes, is less visibly affected by the atrocity. Guzman’s skill with aliens also extends to creatures: some wolf-like scavengers amid the dead, and the amazing Wooly. The ore hauler and its grisly deposit scenes are given their own style, more shaded, and dark, as befitting the subject material. There is some great action shots of Zao driving the out-of-control wagon down the hillside under fire, and then with K’Kruhk escaping on Wooly and finally using the Force to take down the ship. That set of panels of K’Kruhk pulling down the ship – giving two halves of his body, with some dialogue panels of Relik’s crew watching – fantastic!
Douglas Wheatley’s art for the cover works great – conveying the horror of the younglings as they are about to crash, while blaster bolts kick up the skeletons around them.
One odd bit of trivia about the cover title, which proclaims this to be the “108th Issue Spectacular” – most likely a reference to this ongoing series (first started as Star Wars in late 1998 before Episode I , then changing its name to Republic in 2002, with the release of Attack of the Clones, and finally becoming Dark Times in 2006) now reaching 108 regular issues, which is one more issue than the original Star Wars comic book run by Marvel.
‘Fire Carrier’ is probably my favorite Star Wars storyline that is going on right now, and this issue shows why: Randy Stradley combines action with characters driven and conflicted, and while I can see a few paths for this story to go, I’m really just in the dark, and need the Whiphid Jedi to continue to light the way.