Comic Review:  “Journals of Old Ben Kenobi”

Click HERE to order the Star Wars Volume 3: Rebel Jail trade paper back on Amazon
Click HERE to order the Star Wars Volume 4: Last Flight of the Harbinger trade paper back on Amazon



Star Wars Issue 15 was collected in Star Wars Volume 3: Rebel Jail and issue 20 was collected in Star Wars Volume 4: Last Flight of the Harbinger. However, I am going to review these two issues together since they are both excerpts from the Journals of Old Ben Kenobi and not otherwise related to the rest of the issues collected in their respective trade paperbacks. Both issues were written by Jason Aaron with art by Mike Mayhew.



It has been a year since the great drought, as depicted in Star Wars issue 7. Life continues to...uh...find a way on the harsh world of Tatooine. Luke is a year older and already an able pilot in his T-16 as he braves Beggar’s Canyon while Biggs and his other friends watch from the ground. Having been forbidden by Owen Lars to train the boy, Ben Kenobi nevertheless continues his secret vigil over Luke. He can see the boy’s great potential, but worries that he may rival his father in his recklessness. When Luke badly damages his Skyhopper, Owen is furious and grounds him from ever flying again. Luke says it’s an easy fix if he can just get the tools and parts he needs, but Owen is firm. Kenobi has had to become even more reclusive after his run in with Jabba’s thugs a year ago. Jabba still thirsts for revenge and is on the lookout for the mysterious interloper. Obi-Wan gets a gig standing watch for some Jawas who have been on the receiving end of increased raids from Sand People. In exchange, the Jawas give him the parts Luke needs to repair his T-16. More accurately, the Jawas give the parts directly to Luke, with no explanation, when he and Uncle Owen are at the Jawa flea market shopping for droids. But, again, Owen will have none of it. He takes the parts back to Ben’s house and angrily dumps them at his feet. Owen knows what’s up. He knows why his farm is the only one around that hasn’t been raided by Tuskens or Jabba’s thugs; and he knows why Jawas are suddenly giving them free parts. Not only is he not thankful for Kenobi’s interventions, he believes his efforts are actually endangering his family. Owen believes that Obi-Wan warped Anakin and got him killed (so we know that Owen and Beru are clueless about Anakin’s true fate); and he won’t see the same thing happen to Luke. At Jabba’s Palace, an unseen bounty hunter is told to demonstrate his abilities before Jabba agrees to pay his exorbitant fee. After mowing down a sounder, or passel (look it up!), of Gamorrean guards, the bounty hunter is revealed to be Black Krrsantan, and he is awarded the lucrative contract of finding the man who ambushed Jabba’s water tax collectors last year.

And so Black Krrsantan is on the case. He is taken to the spot where the water tax collectors were accosted. “No one saw who did it. No one saw a thing," Jabba’s thugs tell him. Nobody has a clue. Fortunately BK turns his head slightly to the left and sees the inhabited farm 100 feet away. Thinking that maybe, just maybe, this is somehow connected to them, he heads in that direction. Owen is looking for Luke. He’s got some parts for the Skyhopper and now thinks he and Luke should work on it together. The wookiee finds Owen first. Meanwhile, Luke is in the process of running away from home; and you know he’s serious because he brought his big, floppy hat with him this time. He doesn’t get too far when he is alerted to a disturbance back at the ol’ homeplace. Luke returns to find out from a bloodied Aunt Beru that Owen has been taken. Beru, rifle in hand, orders him stay put. Black Krrsantan has taken Owen to the top of a cliff to torture him. Krrsantan is obviously expecting a showdown and he knows that there are few places more appropriate for a showdown than the top of a cliff. His plan to use Owen’s screams to lure Kenobi up there works out. Obi-Wan appears, and though he is at first hesitant to use his lightsaber and Force abilities, he soon realizes he has no other choice with such a powerful opponent. What follows is a pretty good and brutal fight. I mean, really; biting, rocks to the eyes.... Obi-Wan delivers a mid-flip lightsaber slash that cuts through a boulder and gives Black Krrsantan his scar. At one point Owen gets thrown off the cliff and Kenobi keeps him suspended in the air for a while; but, apparently, it’s not easy to concentrate when you’re being punched in the back of the head by an angry Wookiee, so Owen starts falling. Well, about that time that old Luke boy comes flying by in his now repaired T-16 and catches him. Obi-Wan and BK’s fight comes to a premature end when the temporarily blinded Wookiee stumbles off the side of the cliff. Owen is returned safely to his family; and although he certainly doesn’t change his mind about Luke being a Jedi, you do get the sense that he is now more tolerant of Old Ben’s protection. I guess being kidnapped and tortured by a Wookiee will give you pause to better appreciate the little things in life, like how good it feels to never again be kidnapped and tortured by a Wookiee.



And so, once again, we delve into the journals of old Ben Kenobi. These two issues are, thus far, the last times we see an Obi-Wan adventure during his exile. There is a storyline later called Yoda’s War, which is told from the journals but is a Yoda story set before Order 66. There is also a short story at the end of Star Wars 37, but Ben really only narrates it. I’m not so sure we’ll be seeing any more of these stories any time soon since the main title has changed writers. Hopefully we’ll be getting an Obi-Wan Kenobi anthology film soon. I don’t think what little we see in these issues overplays the hand on telling a story set during this time in Kenobi’s life. So how is it? It’s not bad. The story itself is pretty straightforward, nothing groundbreaking. Where it really succeeds is in giving us insight into Obi-Wan’s routine while in exile. He is still struggling with having to lead a much more passive life. A life where he can’t just step up and save the day without there being potentially dire consequences. The art in these issues is, in my opinion, much better and much more appropriate for Star Wars than what we saw in the previous Obi-Wan story. It’s clear and vivid. The fight scenes are done with clarity, and Mayhew (no relation) has a way of drawing Black Krrsantan that makes him look even more dangerous than what we’ve seen in his previous appearances. Next time, we pick up where Vader Down left off: Rebel Jail.

Action Figure Comic Pack Wish List:

Obi-Wan "Ben" Kenobi (Jedi Exile) and Owen Lars

Click HERE to order the Star Wars Volume 3: Rebel Jail trade paper back on Amazon
Click HERE to order the Star Wars Volume 4: Last Flight of the Harbinger trade paper back on Amazon

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