Star Wars: Purge Review: Underwhelming

No other Sith lord is more revered than Darth Vader. He’s scary, ruthless and not afraid to kill subordinates. Add in being voiced by James Earl Jones and you have one hell of a villain. So of course there will be plenty of novels and comics based around him. Too bad the majority of these are lackluster at best. “Star Wars: Purge,” a comic collection released by Dark Horse Comics, is no exception.

Every story, except one is about a group of Jedi or a Jedi trying to lure out Vader. They all end with Vader cleaning house. That wouldn’t be so bad with a modicum of strong storytelling. Too bad these stories lack any of that. Not to mention underdeveloped characters that are just there to be light saber fodder for Vader.

One really creative thing comes from the second story, “Purge: Seconds to Die.” Here, the majority of the story is told through the Jedi Sha Koon’s inner monologue. The way the writer, John Ostrander, wrote it reads just like a beat poem. Go ahead and take out those bongos and read it out loud. It’s beat by beat a nearly perfect beat poem.

“Purge: The Tyrant’s Fist” is the strongest written out the four. Told from the point of view of Major Oniye Namada from the Empire, she tells of the Empire’s attack on Vaklin Zenith in search of the Jedi Cho’Na Bene. It’s nice to finally read a story from the point of view from an Empire Major. It makes them more developed characters than just target for Vader to choke. Namada is a likable and interesting character. In fact, more so than many characters in the expanded universe.

The best art out them all is “Purge: The Hidden Blade.” The first time you see the art your jaw will drop. The amount of skill and technique by artist Chris Scalf is just astonishing. It is gritty and the characters look nearly lifelike. Even the unfinished AT-AT Walkers look impressive. It’s a shame the story to this one isn’t strong and has some laughably bad lines. The art from the other three stories are your basic “Star Wars” comic fare.

Star Wars: Purge is a collection containing mostly underwhelming “Star Wars” stories that are easily forgettable. It’s the same old stories that have been told plenty of times with forgettable characters and underwhelming writing except for one. Add generic art and this one’s only for the truly hardcore fan.