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Deluge by Michael Atiyeh, John Jackson Miller, David Daza, Sergio Abad, Iban Coello, Ivan Rodriguez
jaredkwheeler's review
3.0
Star Wars Legends Project #34
Background: Knight Errant: Deluge was released in 5 issues during late 2011. The trade paperback came out in May 2012. The story was written by [a:John Jackson Miller|20028|John Jackson Miller|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1272316895p2/20028.jpg], with artwork penciled by [a:Ivan Rodriguez|1923394|Ivan Rodriguez|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png], [a:Iban Coello|4710100|Iban Coello|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png], and [a:David Daza|5339232|David Daza|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]. Rodriguez worked on previous Knight Errant issues. Coello has done lots of work for both DC and Marvel (mostly on Justice League and X-Men). Daza also worked on a few of the "Old Republic" series, and on several "Transformers" comics.
Deluge is set 1032 years before the Battle of Yavin (1000 years before The Phantom Menace). It begins shortly after the events of [b:Knight Errant|8323122|Knight Errant (Star Wars)|John Jackson Miller|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320541726s/8323122.jpg|13172604] (my review). Jedi Kerra Holt returns as the main character, of course, and Sith Lords Daiman and Odion make appearances as well. The action takes place mostly on and around Kerra's home planet, Aquilaris, and Daiman's capital world, Darkknell.
Summary: Kerra's one-Jedi campaign in Sith space continues, but when she least expects it she finds new allies in the form of Devil Squadron, an independently-funded group of Republic pilots conducting raids into Sith space. But there are new enemies, as well: Zodoh, a Hutt crime lord who hopes to use a new technology to make a power grab in the sector, and a strange new spice known as "Deluge" that is sapping the will of the populace. In her struggle to protect the hapless civilians trapped in Sith space, Kerra may have just run up against her greatest challenge yet.
Review: This was where it finally became obvious to me that Knight Errant would be a spectacular Saturday-morning cartoon show. It has great characters, both recurring and one-off, and a premise that is tailor-made for episodic stories that have a lot of action but not a lot of major developments. And on that level, Deluge is enjoyable and a lot of fun. There's plenty of surface-level action, adventure, and drama, a few (somewhat predictable) plot twists, and even a nice little flood motif. As the impossibility of Kerra's task threatens to overwhelm her, she faces a literal deluge . . . Actually, a two-fold deluge: Zodoh the Hutt's plot to flood any world that stands up to him, and the spice Deluge that is mysteriously flooding the sector.
But, like a lot of Saturday morning fare, it all ends up being a bit thin, sadly (though at least it isn't terribly stupid or dull). There are a few head-scratching moments, like some sudden reversals that don't quite seem to add up. And I felt really, really unclear on how big the population of Aquilaris was, but it seemed to be around 20. The story falls into the common Star Wars trap (often an issue in the films as well as elsewhere) of pretending that the surface of a planet is about the size of a county. Anyone who lands on a planet's surface (whether on purpose or crashing) will drop within easy travel distance of the one place where everything on the planet seems to happen. Everyone talks about planets in their entirety, but that sense of scale is totally lacking in practical terms.
There were also a few questionable artistic choices. I don't remember Lord Daiman having a mullet in his previous incarnation, and it kind of cut into my ability to take him seriously as a character and a villain. Also, there are some pretty flagrantly sensual outfits and poses that get imposed on Kerra's figure at various points. Her get-up is mostly reasonable and practical, but every now and then it seems . . . unreasonably tight. Almost as though she were wearing paint rather than clothes. And there were definitely moments where she is standing or moving in ways that are totally unnatural unless her only goal was to show off certain features of her anatomy in whatever direction the panel is facing. Still, at least Kerra felt more like the central character in her own story again. I also liked Zodoh, and the way he was drawn; one of the better attempts at a more action-oriented Hutt (this is the sort of thing that works better in this medium, anyway).
Distractions aside, what I particularly liked about this story thematically is the way it finally confronts (and then moves beyond) Kerra's struggle to do everything completely by herself. Her frustration seems near the breaking point several times in the story that no one seems interested in saving the lives of these people, even the people themselves. This tension is finally resolved by the end of the story. Not in a huge, dramatic way, but in a small, meaningful way that Miller can build on in future stories. Kerra hasn't won, but she's starting to make some progress, slowly but surely. I still just wish this series had a bit more of the depth and richness I expect from Miller's work.
C+
Background: Knight Errant: Deluge was released in 5 issues during late 2011. The trade paperback came out in May 2012. The story was written by [a:John Jackson Miller|20028|John Jackson Miller|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1272316895p2/20028.jpg], with artwork penciled by [a:Ivan Rodriguez|1923394|Ivan Rodriguez|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png], [a:Iban Coello|4710100|Iban Coello|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png], and [a:David Daza|5339232|David Daza|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]. Rodriguez worked on previous Knight Errant issues. Coello has done lots of work for both DC and Marvel (mostly on Justice League and X-Men). Daza also worked on a few of the "Old Republic" series, and on several "Transformers" comics.
Deluge is set 1032 years before the Battle of Yavin (1000 years before The Phantom Menace). It begins shortly after the events of [b:Knight Errant|8323122|Knight Errant (Star Wars)|John Jackson Miller|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320541726s/8323122.jpg|13172604] (my review). Jedi Kerra Holt returns as the main character, of course, and Sith Lords Daiman and Odion make appearances as well. The action takes place mostly on and around Kerra's home planet, Aquilaris, and Daiman's capital world, Darkknell.
Summary: Kerra's one-Jedi campaign in Sith space continues, but when she least expects it she finds new allies in the form of Devil Squadron, an independently-funded group of Republic pilots conducting raids into Sith space. But there are new enemies, as well: Zodoh, a Hutt crime lord who hopes to use a new technology to make a power grab in the sector, and a strange new spice known as "Deluge" that is sapping the will of the populace. In her struggle to protect the hapless civilians trapped in Sith space, Kerra may have just run up against her greatest challenge yet.
Review: This was where it finally became obvious to me that Knight Errant would be a spectacular Saturday-morning cartoon show. It has great characters, both recurring and one-off, and a premise that is tailor-made for episodic stories that have a lot of action but not a lot of major developments. And on that level, Deluge is enjoyable and a lot of fun. There's plenty of surface-level action, adventure, and drama, a few (somewhat predictable) plot twists, and even a nice little flood motif. As the impossibility of Kerra's task threatens to overwhelm her, she faces a literal deluge . . . Actually, a two-fold deluge: Zodoh the Hutt's plot to flood any world that stands up to him, and the spice Deluge that is mysteriously flooding the sector.
But, like a lot of Saturday morning fare, it all ends up being a bit thin, sadly (though at least it isn't terribly stupid or dull). There are a few head-scratching moments, like some sudden reversals that don't quite seem to add up. And I felt really, really unclear on how big the population of Aquilaris was, but it seemed to be around 20. The story falls into the common Star Wars trap (often an issue in the films as well as elsewhere) of pretending that the surface of a planet is about the size of a county. Anyone who lands on a planet's surface (whether on purpose or crashing) will drop within easy travel distance of the one place where everything on the planet seems to happen. Everyone talks about planets in their entirety, but that sense of scale is totally lacking in practical terms.
There were also a few questionable artistic choices. I don't remember Lord Daiman having a mullet in his previous incarnation, and it kind of cut into my ability to take him seriously as a character and a villain. Also, there are some pretty flagrantly sensual outfits and poses that get imposed on Kerra's figure at various points. Her get-up is mostly reasonable and practical, but every now and then it seems . . . unreasonably tight. Almost as though she were wearing paint rather than clothes. And there were definitely moments where she is standing or moving in ways that are totally unnatural unless her only goal was to show off certain features of her anatomy in whatever direction the panel is facing. Still, at least Kerra felt more like the central character in her own story again. I also liked Zodoh, and the way he was drawn; one of the better attempts at a more action-oriented Hutt (this is the sort of thing that works better in this medium, anyway).
Distractions aside, what I particularly liked about this story thematically is the way it finally confronts (and then moves beyond) Kerra's struggle to do everything completely by herself. Her frustration seems near the breaking point several times in the story that no one seems interested in saving the lives of these people, even the people themselves. This tension is finally resolved by the end of the story. Not in a huge, dramatic way, but in a small, meaningful way that Miller can build on in future stories. Kerra hasn't won, but she's starting to make some progress, slowly but surely. I still just wish this series had a bit more of the depth and richness I expect from Miller's work.
C+
rltinha's review
3.0
Se a arte fosse sempre a do Ivan Rodrigues isto levaria mais uma esrela inteirinha. Mas apenas uma issue das 5 que fazem a trade está magnificamente desenhada.
De resto, que se pode dizer? Os hutts são óptimos vilões SW (quem nunca quis dar cabo do coiro a um hutt que atire o primeiro podracer!) e a escrita do Jackson Miller sem o Marn Hierogryph parece-me um ensaio e não coisa definitiva.
De resto, que se pode dizer? Os hutts são óptimos vilões SW (quem nunca quis dar cabo do coiro a um hutt que atire o primeiro podracer!) e a escrita do Jackson Miller sem o Marn Hierogryph parece-me um ensaio e não coisa definitiva.
wyrmbergmalcolm's review
4.0
This was so much better than Alfame. I kinda wish I had just got on and read this without bothering with that first volume. The characters are complex and endearing, even when they make the wrong choices. The emotions are very well expressed and the threat level felt palpable.
It was great seeing a Hutt eager to take a more hands-on approach to his business and he made a great villain proving that you don't need to be a Sith lord to be an evil power in the universe. Because of this, he made a far greater impression on me and the other characters in the book than the Sith with their posturing. Yes, the Sith are dangerous, but you expect them to be. They don't hold a candle to the Hutts.
This story was also full of redemption where certain characters were able to free themselves of past mistakes and overcome the present challenges.
The artwork was far less nostril-oriented than in book 1, but Kerra's likeness is still uncertain. Her appearance radically changes from the front cover to the back cover and throughout. Apart from that, it was pretty good.
It was great seeing a Hutt eager to take a more hands-on approach to his business and he made a great villain proving that you don't need to be a Sith lord to be an evil power in the universe. Because of this, he made a far greater impression on me and the other characters in the book than the Sith with their posturing. Yes, the Sith are dangerous, but you expect them to be. They don't hold a candle to the Hutts.
This story was also full of redemption where certain characters were able to free themselves of past mistakes and overcome the present challenges.
The artwork was far less nostril-oriented than in book 1, but Kerra's likeness is still uncertain. Her appearance radically changes from the front cover to the back cover and throughout. Apart from that, it was pretty good.
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