+

I can't complain about the plot, which is very thin in places, with uninspired dialog, because that is not the fault of the graphic novel writers. They do a good job at making much of it exciting, but not an expert job. As an adaptation, this book left a lot to be desired. If I didn't know the story so well, I think it would have been confusing. I think this book was really meant as an accompaniment to the movie, not to be read beforehand. This is because it jumps around all over the place, never with a logical order. So much of the story is necessarily omitted that a lot of the plot actually doesn't make sense!

Knowing the story helps immensely, however, and makes this a smaller issue than it might have been. Similarly for the portrayal of the characters. They look reminiscent of the actors in the movie, but are enough their own visages that it is unnerving.

The one thing that drove me nuts, however, was the constant use of text boxes to tell us where we were! If I wasn't familiar with the story, I would have needed more signposts than they gave. Knowing the story, I certainly didn't need "meanwhile, back in the hangar...", especially when the next frame says "meanwhile, among the Gungans..." or something like that! Instead of telling me that "Captain Panaka clears a path...", show me -actually, that frame does show me, so what is the point of the narrative?

The artwork had moments of good and bad. I loved seeing Naboo from space, as it had an effect that made it seem separate from the rest of the page. The viewscreens were also suitably grainy, another effect that I generally love. There was lots of background stuff in some scenes, where others were perplexingly barren. Most of the time, the colors were fairly muted; fortunately the reactor room was quite vibrant. I would like to know how Obi-Wan would be separated from Maul by only two small beams, though. By the looks of it, he could have ducked under them or leapt over. I guess the final effect wasn't finished at the time of writing. The same goes for the final frame, which depicts Obi-Wan, Anakin and Jar-Jar in the same vein as Han, and Chewbacca at the end of A New Hope, which makes it rather embarrassing.

A nice companion to the movie and the novelization, this book has a hard time standing on its own. It is nowhere near as good as it was the first time I read it, in the full enthusiasm of the first Star Wars movie in sixteen years. Things don't seem as compelling or passionate as they should have. As a refresher for the movie, however, it is quite acceptable.