Star Wars The Clone Wars: Battle Tales #2—A Review

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Time is running out on our group of Jedi heroes. The race to secure new allies in The Clone Wars is vital for both sides in Battle Tales #2

This article contains plot points from Star Wars The Clone Wars: Battle Tales #2.

Hi folks! We’re back again to review the second book in the Star Wars Battles Tales series, which arrived at comic books shops and online on June 24th, 2020. Joining writer Michael Moreci, and artist Derek Charm is special guest artist Megan Levens. This month’s issue picks up right where we left off. Jedi General’s Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, and Plo Koon are hot on the tails of Count Dooku and his apprentice Asajj Ventress on the planet Hisseen. The goal: to reach the parliament building before Hisseen falls into Separatist hands.

Like The Clone Wars series, this issue opens with a fortune cookie: “The path to unity is guided by trust.” And as we get into it, we’ll see how true that is and how well the Jedi live by this creed. It’s probably one of the few times the Jedi had a positive impact. In fact, the clones were perhaps the only ones who benefitted positively from the Jedi. And look how that turned out.

We meet again at last

Okay, now finally for the story. It opens prominently with Count Dooku crossing sabers with Anakin. “Your powers are no match for mine—yet.” Anakin’s run-ins with Dooku are becoming a running joke since it started in Attack of the Clones. Someone needs to make a graph with Anakin’s Force powers compared to Dooku’s over three years and see how they match. As long as they doubled since their first encounter.

The callbacks don’t stop there! Dooku continues, “You aren’t a very quick learner, are you, Skywalker?” Dooku must have short-term memory loss because just a few months earlier, Anakin literally told Dooku, “I am a slow learner.” Dooku then allows his apprentice, Ventress, into the fight. It seems every time Ventress is introduced in a story, it’s for the first time even though she’s been around since the Genndy Tartakovsky Clone Wars. Dooku, Ventress, Obi-Wan, and Anakin all draw swords. I could be wrong, but Dooku and Ventress don’t usually fight alongside. They are usually off doing their own thing, so that was neat to see.

Can you hear me now?

While they’re all getting sweaty, Master Plo is smart, hiding behind a rocky outcropping trying to contact Commander Wolffe so he can pass on the location of the Hisseenian parliament. However, the mountainous terrain is making it difficult to make a clear transmission. Ya know, because technology. One of the things that made Star Wars great was it’s used look. Everything looked old. And I get that the technology to make Star Wars in 1977 isn’t where it is now. But can we have just a little progress technologically?

Despite the WiFi being a little weak, Plo was able to transmit the location. However, the message was received in pieces and not very clear, so without direct orders, the clones had to decide whether or not to go ahead and move towards the parliament building. Commander Cody tells Wolffe it’s his call. Wolffe knows his general believes in him and trusts him to make the right call. This trust builds unity with the Wolfpack and Master Plo.

Attack on Nexus

Meanwhile! On the Nexus trading outpost above the world Quarmendy, Wat Tambor awaits an attack from the Republic army. He is desperate to show off the Nexus’ firepower and defenses. He is also holding the leader of Nexus station hostage, using her as a valuable bait. Lo and behold General Plo Koon, Commander Wolffe, and the rest of the Wolfpack attack Nexus station, fending off the same flying battle droids seen in the Bad Batch arc. In the end, Tambor escapes, the female hostage (who went nameless) is rescued and escapes with the clones, and Nexus station is destroyed when Tambor sets off explosive devices.

Lesson learned

As they troops fly away in a gunship, Wolffe apologizes to Master Plo for failing the mission. He saw the Nexus station’s destruction as a failure because it wasn’t part of the mission objective. Plo assures him he did not fail in his mission, “I see your entire unit accounted for. I see the one hostage rescued and unharmed. That is far from failure, Commander.” As a leader, Plo instills confidence in his troops by trusting them, encouraging teamwork, and teaching them not to feel responsible for what’s not under their control. If the Jedi were able to take this sort of leadership ability and apply it to the galaxy, things could’ve been very different.

Conclusion

Battle Tales #2 read like an episode of The Clone Wars. The dialogue flowed consistently throughout. Highlights of Levens’ art came through how she illustrated Commander Wolffe sans helmet, and the way she drew the clones flying through the air, leaping out of the gunship was most impressive! The message was loud and clear: Trust builds unity. Star Wars has been teaching us for over forty years, and it continues to do so.

Star Wars Battle Tales #3 will be out on July 15th and features the return of artist Valentina Pinto.

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