Star Wars: Kanan: The Last Padawan Vol. 1

by Greg Weisman

[inlibrisveritas]

The Last Padawan follows the character Kanan Jarrus, one of the main characters in the Star Wars tv show Rebels. He’s a Jedi who survived the deadly Order 66 and has since been focusing on making a life that doesn’t pull that past to the forefront. Unfortunately as time goes on and he beings working more and more with the rebellion he is forced to face that past.

This new EU doesn’t have a ton of Order 66 era stories, only those in the Clone Wars movie and tv shows, so this is a welcome look back into that history. Especially since Kanan is one of the few Jedi who managed to survive it against all odds. Kanan of the show Rebels one slow to trust, daring, and exceedingly cautious about putting himself in the path of the Empire..and it’s great to have a comic that focuses on the events that have shaped him. It’s really awesome to see how he got into the life that lead him to A New Dawn, and why running with Hera wasn’t all that new to him.

The art is fantastic though, and I think it really brings in details that they sort of smooth out and lose in Rebels (seriously, everyone looks to be made of plastic). The art does change at the end, but the majority of the volume is done beautifully.

Is this a super necessary SW book? Maybe not entirely. We already know much about Kanan from the show itself, but it really does add some nice depth to his character and sheds some light on just why he struggles the way he does. I can’t wait to read the next set of issues!