Star Wars: Jedi - The Dark Side

Star Wars: Jedi - The Dark Side #1-5

by Scott Allie, Mahmud Asrar (Artist), Paul Mounts (Artist)

Following a shocking political assassination, young Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn is dispatched to prevent the outbreak of a civil war on the homeworld of his Padawan Xanatos—whose father is king. For the headstrong Xanatos, this return to his home has dredged up hidden resentments and passionate emotions. It is a mission that will lead Qui-Gon into close contact with the dark side and start him on a quest that will have a major impact on the future of the Jedi Order!

* Danger and the dark side!

* With the release of Episode I in 3-D, rediscover the great Jedi Qui-Gon Jinn!

Genres: Star Wars, Comics, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Comic Book, Comics Manga, Media Tie In

120 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Scott Allie is an American comics writer and editor, best known as an editor and executive at Dark Horse Comics from 1994 to 2017.

Reviews

[CS · Rating 2 out of 5]

Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice, Xanatos, have been given a mission to Xanatos' homeworld of Telos IV along with Master Tahl and Padawan, Orykan. A priestess has been killed, and the Telosians want someone's blood. But politics aren't the only thing the Jedi have to juggle; Xanatos reunites with his father, Lord Crion, and his sister, Nason, and must work through his feelings to them.

One of my all-time favorite Star Wars series is the Jedi Apprentice series by Jude Watson. The characters were strong and realistic; the plots were unique and interesting; it was great to see Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan and how they related before we first see them in "The Phantom Menace". Although these are children's books, they are easily enjoyable to all ages.

It was the Jedi Apprentice series that first created the character of Xanatos: Qui-Gon's former apprentice who was swayed to the Dark Side and had become the head of a powerful, greedy corporation. Xanatos somehow managed to be an interesting, intimidating character without delving (too much) into hyperbole--which makes him a standout in children's works but even in Star Wars EU.

Now, my criteria for a good graphic novel is this:

1. An interesting, unique story

2. Consistent artwork

3. A well-written main character, and good side characters

4. Good dialogue and clear writing

Let's see how Jedi - The Dark Side measures up.

An Interesting, Unique Story

The story starts with Qui-Gon and Xanatos dueling and some heavy foreshadowing to Xanatos' arrogance. Then Tahl appears to give them their mission: to find an assassin on Telos IV. While there, the Jedi must find the killer, but Xanatos struggles with how to react to his family.

The setup is VERY generic. A lot of comics starring Jedi seem to follow this pattern: Jedi are sent to solve some mystery on another world. Having that world be Telos IV and to see a bit of the interplay between father and son and brother and sister DID elevate the novel slightly. And I felt the novel ended much better than it began.

Consistent Artwork

The artwork is decent, if not my favorite style. But what is better is that characters are unique enough that they can be recognized from one panel to the next. Some of the background, tertiary characters are a bit hard to distinguish, but given their lack of importance, I'm willing to overlook it.

Qui-Gon was pretty well-done, but Xanatos reminded me too much of Anakin Skywalker. Tahl looked NOTHING like what I expected...why the frak is she dressed in a skintight jumpsuit? I always imagined her wearing loose robes. Oh, right she's got boobs, so we got to give her a jumpsuit *rolls eyes* Orykon wasn't done bad, but I'm not sure how old she was supposed to be (same complaint to Xanatos too though). Some of her panels made her look like she was a child, while others she came off a bit older.

A big problem I had was figuring out what happened from one panel to the next. I've included some pictures to clarify this--sorry in advance for the quality, I took them using my iPhone as I do not have a scanner:


Tahl goes from leaping and slashing a speeder bike to standing at rest in a semi-circle as an ambassador nonchalantly greets them. How did THAT happen?


Crion, Xanatos' father, and Xanatos are talking. One moment the conversation is going like you would expect and suddenly...Crion's father turns around exasperated??? The panel after this shows him resuming conversation as if nothing is wrong! What is going on?

Well-Written Characters

The story ultimately is about Xanatos and his fall to the Dark Side. It was most definitely unique, but I don't really think the story brought anything new to any of the characters. Qui-Gon repeated the same information over and over again ("the assassin is a Jedi, but not a Jedi!"), Tahl seems to serve no purpose whatsoever, and Orykon is even worse (what does the girl even DO in this novel?). Xanatos has probably the best growth, but he acts like a whiny brat in the beginning and his actions are inconsistent. He is mad at his father...then he wants to stay with his father in the palace...and then suddenly, Xanatos has been twisted by his father's words when we've hardly seen enough to justify it...again, the story concept is interesting, but the execution just failed for me.

Good Dialogue/Clear Writing

I have mixed feelings. On one hand, nothing really stood out to me as particularly awful--though having Qui-Gon say, "The assassin is a Jedi, but not a Jedi" at least THREE separate times was a little much. On the other hand, we have the above image of Xanatos talking with his father, where they move from one panel to another and I have no idea what happened between them. Graphic novels are a visual medium, so narration text is usually at a minimum. In this case, I wish there was a bit more narration text to bridge some of the panels or clarify what I am seeing (or maybe I am as dense as a brick, who knows?).

This graphic novel is one of the hardest to rate for me. I actually grew to like it quite a bit by the end, but there were some points when I wanted to tear my hair out (particularly when trying to follow the action sequences). It's definitely nice to see more EU material about Qui-Gon and Xanatos and Tahl (some of my favorite characters); I just wish this graphic novel had been a big stronger.

[Dimitris Papastergiou · Rating 1 out of 5]

This one is not worth your time, unless like me, you need to go through the whole timeline chronologically, but even then, you should just drop it, I know Xanatos is down the line, but man, I hate that kid. Simply, a boring story without anything interesting happening, besides Qui-Gon Jinn babysitting this little brat Xanatos that's his apprentice and over his head.

Mediocre artwork, bad plot, boring dialogue. Sorry.

[Jared · Rating 2 out of 5]

Star Wars Legends Project #40

Background: Jedi—The Dark Side came out in 5 issues during mid-2011. The trade paperback was released in February 2012. It was written by Scott Allie with art pencilled by Mahmud Asrar. Allie has written a few other Star Wars titles, mostly for the "Republic" and "Empire" series. Outside of Star Wars, he mostly writes horror comics, including his own original series "Sick Smiles." Asrar has done work for DC (mostly "Supergirl" and "Superman" titles), Marvel (mostly "X-Men"), and Image ("Dynamo 5").

Jedi—The Dark Side is set 53 years before the Battle of Yavin, 21 years before The Phantom Menace. It centers around Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice . . . No, not that one . . . Qui-Gon's first apprentice, Xanatos, a headstrong son of nobility from Telos IV. Which, incidentally, is where most of the comic is set. Telos IV plays a minor role in various events surrounding the Mandalorian Wars, chronicled in Knights of the Old Republic stuff (it makes an appearance in Knights of the Old Republic II).

Summary: A crisis looms on Telos IV that could grow to embroil the surrounding systems in war. The Jedi Council on Coruscant dispatch Qui-Gon Jinn, his apprentice Xanatos, Qui-Gon's friend Master Tahl, and Orykan, a young Twi'lek apprentice who has recently lost her master. They arrive to find the situation rapidly spinning out of control. Shot down by rebels, they struggle to navigate a complex web of conspiracies, and the situation is only made worse by Xanatos' emotional turmoil upon reuniting with his father, the ruler of the planet.

Review: This story is basically a prequel to the Jedi Apprentice series, written almost 10 years after that series ended. That's it's primary appeal, as far as I can see. On it's own, the story is badly-constructed, confusing, and melodramatic. So unless you've already read Jedi Apprentice (as I have before), I can't imagine getting a lot of enjoyment out of this. I do appreciate some of the gaps that this seems to fill in, and additional development of characters that will play a major role in that series, but it's been several years since I read those books, and I may find that the gaps this story fills either didn't really exist, or didn't need filling.

Now, when I say "additional development of characters" I don't mean to imply that this does a good job of developing or portraying characters. It doesn't. There is so little continuity between the major characters' dialogue or actions from one panel to the next. Moods change on a dime, inexplicably, and people go from having totally ordinary conversations to furious arguments with no transition or explanation, and then back again just as quickly. Xanatos is particularly susceptible to this, although it makes a bit more sense in his case sense his main character trait is apparently "emotional volatility." This mission is supposed to be some big test for him, but anyone with any sense can see he's not ready for it, and likely never will be. He's really obviously a Dark Jedi waiting to happen, and there's never any sense that any other outcome is possible. You can see it from his very first appearance, and the only question is why none of the other Jedi can, or why they don't seem to care.

That's a sad opportunity to waste, on a basic dramatic level, but then, so are all of the incredibly vague references to why he's dealing with all of these issues. We get all kinds of very non-specific conversations about stuff that happened in the past, between him and his dad and so on, and I kept expecting a real explanation, but it never happened. I think we're meant to read between the lines, which would be fine if it weren't so incoherent and self-contradictory. There are hints that perhaps Xanatos is feeling abandoned by his father for letting him (making him? it's never clear) go train with the Jedi. Except he makes it clear several times that he wants nothing more than to return to Coruscant and continue with the Jedi. He's also clearly feeling the threat of abandonment by Qui-Gon, though that thread never goes anywhere, and there's some vague mentions of something about his mother that never get picked up . . . And so and so on. It's just an unfollowable mess.

I'd like to blame it on the same stupid, lousy Jedi Council policies about suppressing all emotion and severing all ties with people and so forth that cause so much trouble in the Prequel Trilogy, but I think it's just bad writing. (Well, that was bad writing, too, but a different kind, I mean.) It does seem pretty clear that Xanatos was a bit older when he left his home and began his training, so I'm not sure what that's about, either. But his age is pretty hard to pin down, anyway. Depending on which panel you're looking at, he could be anywhere from about 14 to about 23. I suspected older, given that he's being treated like his training is all but complete, but I see from Wookieepedia that he's supposed to be about 16, so that's just one more thing that makes no sense.

The confusion surrounding Xanatos and his past (and present) is only matched by the confusion around what the heck is happening in the plot, and why. The Jedi never really do anything that is adequately explained, or that provides an adequate explanation for what's going down. That's fine for the first couple of issues, where we're getting hints that things aren't what they seem from various different directions, but eventually you have to explain . . . And they never really do, you just kind of piece most of it together (maybe). There is a shadowy figure operating mysteriously who eventually turns out to be a former Jedi apprentice, but the Jedi don't seem all that worried about it and it goes nowhere.

Actually, the Jedi don't operate in any kind of organized or logical fashion at any point. They all just wander around in isolation doing their own thing. Qui-Gon investigates some people interested in purchasing arms for some reason. Tahl goes to the library and finds some stuff, but we never find out what because she runs into some bad guys, including a member of an elite group of warriors who normally work with the Jedi, which seems weird and significant, but (you guessed it) goes nowhere. Xanatos trails around after Qui-Gon a bit, except for when he gets pissy and stomps off to hang out with his dad, except for when he gets pissy and stomps off to brood elsewhere. He does a whole lot of nothing most of the time. And poor Orykan spends most of the story hanging out in the Jedi's sleeping quarters, watching the guards standing outside the door on the TV monitor that Xanatos rewired for her.

And the action scenes are mostly about as incoherent and impossible to follow as everything else is. But I'm sure you're as tired of hearing the same criticism repeated about everything as I was of finding that everything made so little sense. Like I said, there's some enjoyment here (maybe) if you want a little (very, very little) more backstory on one of the major arcs of Jedi Apprentice, but otherwise this is to be avoided.

D+

[Chloe · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

When I picked up this book, I honestly had no idea what it was about. All I knew was the it had been part of the Star Wars Humble Bundle and had Qui-Gon on the cover. All the other comics included in the bundle were at the very least entertaining to read so I figured that this one would be to. Boy, was I wrong. Now, I knew Xantos was going to fall to the dark side prior to having read this. I thought that this volume was just going to be set up to how/ why he fell to the dark side. Instead, you got, what seemed to me, a convoluted plot that literally made zero sense and a whiny, bratty Xantos that seemed to spend every second complaining or accusing someone. Xantos also underwent a bewildering shift in behavior 3/4's of the way into the comic that once again had no explantation and made no sense except to be the impetus for Xantos falling to the dark side . I mean, who goes from hating their father to trying to kill their Jedi Master in an effort to protect said father ? Xantos apparently.

Some other things that bothered me in the comic was Orykan. She was either underutilized or shouldn't have been put in this comic in the first place as she had very little to do in the comic and just seemed to be a plot device to make Xantos jealous. I would have personally liked a bit more from the character as she seemed as if she could be an interesting character and I'd never complain at having more women in the Star Wars universe, who served a purpose beyond furthering someone else's man-pain. Maybe in the other comics she plays a bigger role and this is just supposed to be an introduction piece.

The other thing that bugged me was the whole Telos IV holocrons. Now when I first read that I thought we would get more then just namedropping the Jedi Civil War. I thought we were going to get some reference to either Carth Onasi or Revan from KOTOR. I'd have killed to even just get a name drop like the Jedi Civil War but no, I was denied even that much.

One of the few redeeming factors of the book was Tahl. I quite liked her and she seemed to be an interesting character that I wouldn't mind reading more about. I also thought her relationship with Qui-Gon was interesting to see. I guess that whole lineage had problems with remembering that the code said no attachments.

Oh well, here's to hoping that the next comic I read goes back to the usual standard.

[Mateusz Surowiec · Rating 4 out of 5]

świetne

[S— · Rating 4 out of 5]

A heart breaking prequel to Star Wars: Jedi Apprentice

The plot includes the story of how Qui-Gon lost his former Padawan, Xanatos, and previous dynamic between Tahl and Qui-Gon. I love personality and aesthetics of Orykan Tamarik very much. Too bad we don't see her in other materials. Xanatos' story is heart breaking and is definitely relatable, that moment when you have to satisfy both ends to the point that you break yourself. When you mentor pushes you too harsh and you family constantly guilt trips you. The only thing unlikable about him is his arrogance shown at the very beginning of the story. Other than that I don't see how his "act" differs from that of Anakin.

Tahl senses a disturbance in the Force from Naboo from the future, isn't this little tid bit lovely? I love reference to a reference.

Medium wise? Couldn't say I'm a big fan. The layout as well as dialogue box pattern are difficult to follow. Most aesthetics aren't quite pleasing apart from Orykan and Tahl. Background and colouring are meh. Male characters' aesthetics are meh. "Movement" is not okay at all. Ships and inanimate stuffs were okay. Lining is not detailed and appears too sketchy to my liking. Nonetheless overall is a pain to look at.

However, the printed version is damn fine collectible, if you are a fan of Rise of the Empire Era and could get a hand on one, go for it!

[Katrina Griffiths · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great pre-Phantom Menace graphic novel and one of the only books outside the Jedi Apprentice series that mentions Xanatos, just a shame they didn't get any of his physical attributes corrent.

[Alexander Röck · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent prequel to the Jedi apprentice books, that has some badass Qui Gonn Jinn scenes in it.

[Logan Harrington · Rating 3 out of 5]

6/10:
Certainly a neat story showcasing Qui-Gon Jinn with one of his Padawans: Xanatos. While on a mission to Xanatos’ home planet Telos IV, we encounter a complicated political schism caused by unwavering nationalism towards their planet, sort of reminding me of the United States today.

I really loved the inclusion of two Jedi who I knew nothing about as well: Master Tahl and Padawan Orykan Tamarik. These two characters are incredibly interesting to me and I hope to explore them more as I journey deeper into Legends comics.

[Druss · Rating 4 out of 5]

Qui Gon quality

[Adam · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oddly similar to Master & Apprentice, this is a Qui-Gon centric story about him and his padawan before Obi-Wan, called Xanatos, going on a mission to Xanatos' homeworld Telos IV (from KOTOR 2). In a sense, it has the opposite problem of M&A. Where that book feels bland and emotionless, this series is a clenched fist quivering with emotion. Xanatos is a seething ball of anxiety and anger. Qui-Gon is once again not particularly true to his character, violent and dismissive of his padawan's concerns, without any real guiding philosophy of his own. Then there's the whole conspiracy within the government of Telos, and the way Xanatos fits into it (very Dooku: Jedi Lost, there). It's not too far off from the kind of Jedi stories I want to see, and yet because it does the same annoying thing these stories always do, I can't say I find much to appreciate about it. The Jedi don't seem to have a real mission. They're just around, and start to investigate a complex but very familiar kind of criminal conspiracy, the kind filled with very familiar bad guys. The problem is that nothing has clear setup or implications. Why does Xanatos feel this way? Well, maybe if I'd read some of the YA novels I'd know? But the story presents itself as standalone so who knows. What would it mean for the conspirators to win? Well, they're trying to whip up a xenophobic riot to conceal some sort of treachery, and I guess that's bad. Is there any reason this is set on Telos, other than reference for its own sake? The story and setting make several references to the KOTOR 2 storyline but not in any way that seems to matter. It's all very unclear and thus I was left with the sense that everyone in the story felt very strongly but not really sure what or why.

[Rivulet027 · Rating 4 out of 5]

TW: Suicide attempt (Xanatos flings himself off a building sending Qui-Gon into a panic when he thinks Qui-Gon is replacing him with another padawan and going to make him go back to living with his biological family. Qui-Gon talks him down and then they just continue on with their mission like Xanatos didn't just try and kill himself...???)

*sobs* Thanks for making me care about the characters and then making horrible things happen to them!

I did not think I was in the mood for angst.

*quietly sticks Xanatos and Orykan in therapy while sending Qui-Gon to a class that will teach him how to use his words to communicate*

Tahl you're doing amazing sweetie.

There is a sad lack of Feemor content.

Xanatos, I don't know why they decided to draw you to look like Anakin-lite, you deserved none of that and to look like your book description.

Do not get me started on scars=villain. *sigh*

The mild exploration into how dangerous xenophobia and nationalism can be was surprising well done.

[Cale · Rating 2 out of 5]

Family and Political Machinations collide to make the murky plot of this Qui-Gon Jinn adventure. The plot seems to hinge on a lot of poor decisions made on all sides, leading to unintended repercussions as things spiral out of control. The action never feels that important, and a lot of the plot just barely fits together for a coherent story - Padawan Xanatos in particular, as the son of the Telosian ruler who is sent back with Qui-Gon to investigate the death of a religious leader but who spends most of his time whining about how unfair everything is - it's hard to believe he's "almost a Jedi Knight," and it feels like putting him into the situation was a stupid risk that backfires immensely. Although everything comes together for a messy resolution, the plot doesn't feel like it was the driver of the story.

[Teresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story gives us a bit of Qui-Gon's past before Obi-Wan became his Padawan. Qui-Gon is sent on a mission to a world that is about to break out into civil war. He caution's his Padawan to not bring emotions into the mission because it is his Padawan's home planet, and his father is the king. With conflicting emotions, both Qui-Gon and his Padawan will face the Dark Side in some way.

Overall, this series was okay. Not great, but not terrible. The art and story are average, but it you are a Qui-Gon fan, it is an interesting snippet from his past. This series also features characters that are mentioned int he Scholastic Jedi Apprentice series as well, so younger readers may be more interested in this story line and the characters, especially if they have been previously exposed to the Jedi Apprentice series.

[C · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Jude Watson's Star Wars books. Sure, they're written for kids, but they are some of the most entertaining Star Wars books out there. When I found out that there was a graphic novel prequel to them of sorts, I had to get it (how did I not hear about it at the time?)

And it's not bad. There are definitely things to like. The plot becomes interesting in the last third...

But the characters are so one-dimensional (Xanatos in particular is really poorly handled...) that it ruins the story in a lot of ways.

Basically, the whole book seems like someone wanted to take a Jude Watson story and remove all of the fun from it to darken it up a little. And while it is not that bad, it just feels a bit empty to me because of it.

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

A fairly unexceptional entry in the EU. Qui-Gon Jinn and his Padawan Xanatos must return to Xanatos's home world of Telos IV to apprehend an assassin. Xanatos is faced with the struggle of balancing his status as a Jedi while revisiting his home for the first time. Meanwhile, a conspiracy is slowly revealed.

I found the writing to be pretty boring, and the overall plot doesn't have much focus. Xanatos is an interesting character with a great deal of potential, but come across as a bit of a crybaby. Recommended reading for Star Wars completists, but entirely skippable otherwise.

[Jaime K · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think the worst part about this was the art. Xanatos doesn't have the dark hair he's described as having in the Jedi Apprentice series and, for me, Tahl looks a lot different than imagined.

Xanatos is very MEAN and extremely arrogant. We see that his cunning mind is inherited from his father. We did know that, but we really see it here.

There's a lot of political intrigue on Telos IV, and Xanatos' father is behind it all.

A good setup to the JA series.

[Nerdish Mum · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved following Qui-Gon Jinn and his padawan. I thought the story was really interesting and incredibly well written. I wasn't sure if I was going to enjoy this but it had me hooked from the first page. I liked the fact that the art work was based on the visual of Liam Neeson, but I'm not 100% sold on the art style which is the only reason I have docked a star.

[C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another reread that I apparently never reviewed, though I was sure that I had. (?)

Anyway, it remains an enjoyable read but makes me want to reread the old young reader books that the story is based on/connected to. Jude Watson was always one of my favorite Star Wars writers during the prequel days.

[Dennis Brock · Rating 2 out of 5]

The artwork was great, especially the way they handled fighting with lightsabers. However, the stoy was really weak especially the last 3 issues. It just didn't make sense to me, and felt like a rush job.

[Jedi Sunni · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story was a little above average as far as star wars stories are concerned. It was confusing at times and choppy, so much so that I could not connect with the characters. The action was some what muted as well. My rating for this issue is a 3.7 out of 5.0.

[Awk_Word_Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Action-packed. Again I find Star Wars stories more interesting when Luke, Leia, and Han are not in the graphic novel. Qui-Gon Jinn takes an untested emotional Padawan to investigate a murder on the Padawan's home world.

[Tif · Rating 2 out of 5]

Do we really need another story about a Jedi brat?

[Kirk · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this story, base on the prequel era of Star Wars. I would like to read more, and see what other stories are available.

[Magila · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5

Eh.

[Shawn Fairweather · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty mediocre story that included Qui Gon Jinn. The art was pretty simplistic and the story seemed more like background filler than anything with real purpose.

[Rizzie · Rating 1 out of 5]

The premise of this really interested me. The execution could not be more boring and predictable. Lame.

[Adrian J. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very rushed, unsatisfying ending.

I don't know Star Wars too well, but even I could recognise this as incredibly SW formulaic.

Qui-Gon Jinn is just awful.

[Dave Foss · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was hoping for a qui gon book, but it really wasn't what I thought. Blahn story..

[Liv · Rating 3 out of 5]

is it.....Good? i would say no not at all. do i like it? somehow, i do! very much! and i dont even know why