Take a trip back in time with old Ben Kenobi.
Star Wars #15 is about as significant a change in pace as one could imagine in the wake of the recent “Vader Down” crossover. This issue offers the second in Jason Aaron’s recurring series of flashback stories exploring Obi-Wan Kenobi’s life on Tatooine. It’s a much quieter issue, certainly, but one with a lot of heart and humor.
Aaron could easily have devoted this issue to exploring Obi-Wan’s lonely existence of suffering and pining for the lost days of the Old Republic. And that might have been a perfectly valid approach. But instead he delivers a surprisingly humorous and heartfelt script that focuses on Obi-Wan slowly and secretly guiding Luke in his journey from humble desert brat to defender of the galaxy. He portrays Obi-Wan as a doddering loner who deals with solitude by talking to himself and complaining about his nonstop diet of snake stew. The issue veers into slightly more dramatic territory when Obi-Wan has an encounter with the gruff Uncle Owen and the two argue over the fate of Anakin Skywalker’s son. This is a fascinating glimpse at a relationship that was only ever alluded to in the original films.
This issue sees Mike Mayhew make his Marvel Star Wars debut (Mayhew previously illustrated Dark Horse’s The Star Wars). As usual, Mayhew relies heavily on photo-referenced models for his art, which can be both a blessing and a curse. To his credit, Mayhew doesn’t lift iconic scenes from the movies for his pages, instead relying on what appears to be his own models and personal reference library. That puts him one up on several other artists who have contributed to Marvel’s Star Wars comics recently. As a result, Mayhew’s figures boast incredible levels of detail and realism. But too often, the hyper-realistic faces create an Uncanny Valley effect when juxtaposed against the relatively murkier backgrounds. The character likenesses are also fairly uneven. Mayhew’s Obi-Wan is dead-on, looking exactly like an aged Ewan McGregor transitioning into Alec Guinness. But his Uncle Own looks more like Wuher (the portly Mos Eisley Cantina bartender) than either Joel Edgerton or Phil Brown.
This issue doesn’t really stick the landing, unfortunately. Aaron’s script abruptly shifts to a different group of characters in an attempt to set up the conflict for the next Obi-Wan-centric chapter of the series. But considering that said chapter won’t come around for several months at least, why not opt for a more standalone approach to this story? Nothing in these final pages is so exciting that it couldn’t have waited till next time.
Star Wars #15 offers a welcome detour from the series’ ongoing threads. It sheds more light on Obi-Wan’s hidden years on Tatooine, his secret bond with a young Luke Skywalker and his rivalry with Uncle Owen. The art impresses with its high level of detail, though that also causes some storytelling problems along the way. But on the whole, fans should find this issue to be a worthy detour.
