In spite of my previous reservations, I’m pleased to say that the “Fire Carrier” series is ending on an unexpectedly satisfying final note. In the wake of Order 66, Master K’Kruhk guides the last surviving Jedi younglings, now the precious, irreplaceable future of the Jedi Order, on the final leg of their flight from the systematic extermination of refugees by rogue Imperial elements.
As some of you already know, I wasn’t especially optimistic about this series during the earlier issues. It wasn’t that the story was bad; the story was there, but it didn’t really do anything exciting with the material and kind of fell flat for me. This concluding issue addresses my previous concerns on the matter, bringing all the threads together into something that finally builds a more unique narrative flow.
While we still have a lot of narrative regarding Imperial activity, there’s no Darth Vader cameo in this issue — which is just about always a plus to me. While I do like the occasional character tie-in, I feel like a lot of opportunities are missed by adding big players to the mix. It’s a bit of a trade-off in writing style, but I suppose it all comes down to personal preference in the end.
It’s a shame the story took this long to start throwing us the interesting twists. We see a pleasant subversion of the idea that Imperial officers and soldiers are all made of evil, and we also see a similar subversion as the passionate, death-dealing actions of one young padawan begin what we can only assume is a the beginning of a slow descent into the Dark Side. If anything, this is great material for anyone building an argument for the “benevolent Empire” and “Jedi are assholes” theories that float around the web.
In our review of “Fire Carrier #4”, we got RSC writer Mischlings’s take on the comic. As someone who’s better read in comics than me, his thoughts have brought up some good talking points that I think I’ve left unaddressed in my other reviews.
While the art direction is solid and consistent, the main point I’d like to address is the use of “little yellow boxes” as a narrative device. I agree that they tend to be a little unwieldy; just about anything they tell can be effectively conveyed by other means in most cases. However, we have a few complications in this case. The key thing to remember is that Star Wars is a franchise now mainly targeted at children, especially material with the Jedi or pertaining to the world of the prequels. There’s nothing wrong with that, really. It just means that some things that are obvious to adult readers will be lost on a lot of younger readers. This quickly compounds with the fact that we don’t have established emotional cues, expressions, or body language for many aliens in the Star Wars universe. The less human they look, the harder it is for the brain to extrapolate complex emotions. All of this together means that the yellow boxes, while jarring, are probably a necessary feature in this story.
I don’t particularly want to spoil any of the neat character moments, so I’ll go ahead and jump my thoughts on “Fire Carrier” as a whole.
Parting Thoughts on “Fire Carrier”
You know how when you eat a snow cone, it’s pretty okay for the most part, but then you hit the tasty syrup that sunk to the bottom? Reading “Fire Carrier” is kind of like that. Overall, I rather enjoyed the series as a whole. Not my usual cup of tea, but still quite enjoyable by the end. Definitely a recommended read for fans of Jedi literature and the pre-Rebellion Empire.
That said, I do wish it had started with its narrative twists a little earlier than it did. I will admit that this could easily be because I had no previous investment in the characters involved; however, by the end of it all, I did feel some investment in the goings-on of the party. There are many directions the overarching series could take, and I will happily admit that I am looking forward to seeing where these new threads lead us.
As far as what I liked, I really enjoyed how they showed the faults of the Imperial chain of command. We get the impression that there isn’t some sort of evil tendency behind the Galactic Empire itself. While there’s the corruption of Papaltine and Vader, most of the Empire seems to do pretty well for itself through a rather flexible network of bureaucracy. However, the wiggle-room given by this system makes it ideal for forces of corruption, which leads to rogue elements using Imperial capital to achieve their own unsavory ends. This is something that we see come up a lot in other stories, but none of them examine it in quite this much detail.
My only complaint of note is that I’m still not entirely sure why the Wild Men were a necessary addition. In a way, it kind of raises more questions than it answers. They recognize Jedi, which is fine. No real problem there. However, in a world where extremely diverse humanoid races are the norm, why call them Wild Men? Why not something a little less innocuous, like wildlings or wild apes? Are we using the term “Men” in the Tolkein-esqe sense of “the race of Men,” or are we referring to the fact that they appear to be anatomically male? If they do more stories in this setting, I hope the nature of these creatures is something they go into later.
In any event, this is good stuff for the $2.99 cover price. A bit drawn out and some missed opportunities, but still a neat read. This is definitely worth a read if you’re into the Force-y side of Star Wars. If the whole Jedi/Sith thing is your kind of deal, go for it. If not, there’s plenty of other Dark Horse Star Wars material out there for you to check out.
Doc Watson is a writer, editor, and official “resident Star Wars nerd” on the Red Shirt Crew. Got questions or remarks? Leave a comment below or send him a tweet at @DocWatsonMD.
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