Star Wars: Dark Times Volume 2: Parallels

Star Wars: Dark Times #2

by Mick Harrison

At the dawn of the Galactic Empire, two beings a galaxy apart will do the unthinkable to save those in their care, only to risk losing themselves in the process.

After Order 66 forces Jedi Master K'Kruhk to take desperate measures in defense of some Padawan younglings, he believes he has found for them a peaceful oasis in an oppressed galaxy. But little does K'Kruhk know that a faraway drama involving Bomo Greenbark and the smuggling crew of the Uhumele will alter his future forever.

Meanwhile, these dark times have taken much from Bomo Greenbark, but he cannot—will not—let them take his newfound friends. No matter what it takes, Bomo will fight to his last breath.

• Collects Star Wars: Dark Times #6-#10.

• Cover art by Douglas Wheatley!

Genres: Star Wars, Comics, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Comic Book, Fantasy, Fiction

120 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[47Time · Rating 4 out of 5]

The way the story branches out, then reintersects, is quite well done. In this dangerous time generated by the Empire's actions the main characters must struggle in their own way to survive. The only downside is that the action is slower than in first volume and Vader still does nothing.

Order 66 resulted in many deaths for the Jedi. It created just enough confusion to overwhelm some Jedi, but others were on their toes. This arc begins with a Jedi sacrificing herself to protect the youngings on Coruscant that are training to become Jedi. Her partner master K'Kruhk takes the survivors under his wing, though he is initially unsure how to proceed.

On the Uhumele Bomo is still depressed about losing his family. Crys, another crewmember, has also lost family because of the war. During the attack that killed her husband she decided to send her son to be trained as a Jedi in Coruscant. After the younglings of the temple were reported to have been killed she believes him dead. In reality, he was saved by K'Kruhk along with several other trainees.

The Uhumele crew led by Heren try to sell some important contraband only to be betrayed by the buyer. Then he in turn gets betrayed by his own men led by Lumbra. Heren was prepared for this mishap. He replaced and booby-trapped the contents, which led to Lumbra's ship crash-landing on the planet where K'Kruhk and the younglings have made their home.

The Uhumele crew are being tortured for the location of the true contraband. Bomo manages to escape and to single-handedly defeat their captors. The experience brings him closer to the Uhumele crew. He is their equal now.

Lumbra captures the younglings, earning himself a cutting in half by K'Kruhk who swore to protect them. It is decided to depart the planet in favor of another, hopefully safer, location.

[Lesung vor Acht · Rating 2 out of 5]

-Auf Nostalgietrip- Wer kennt es nicht? Nach Jahren der Abstinenz stürzt man sich wieder in die mehr oder weniger farbenfrohen Abgründe der Kindheit und stellt plötzlich fest, dass nicht alles der Erinnerung entspricht.
"Parallelen" ist chronologisch betrachtet der erste "Dark Times"-Comic, den ich je gelesen habe. Gleichzeitig erreicht die Reihe mit diesem Comic einen Höhepunkt in Sachen Dysphemismus. Während die Crew der "Uhumele" nebst Bomo Greenbark in die Klauen eines gewissenlosen Schurken gerät (was zu einigen sehr, sehr unschönen Szenen führt), wird gleichzeitig die Geschichte von Jedi K'Kruhk und seinen Jünglingen erzählt, die der Order 66 entrinnen und auf einem unbesiedelten Planeten stranden.
Grundsätzlich ist das keine schlechte Prämisse, doch es gibt Kritikpunkte:
Zu 1.) Wo ist Dass Jennir? Einen ganzen Band ohne den Protagonisten zubringen zu müssen, ist unschön.
Zu 2.) K'kruhk ist ein guter Charakter, unbestritten. Aber dennoch fühlt sich sein Teil in der Geschichte vollkommen isoliert an. Jennir und die "Uhumele" verbindet ihr gemeinsamer Anfang, ihr geteiltes Leid und ihr Hadern mit der neuen Welt. K'kruhk hingegen begegnet der Crew nicht. Er treibt sich nicht in den düsteren Milieus herum, sondern nimmt immer noch seine Rolle als Meister wahr. Diese Arc hätte eine eigene Reihe verdient, da sie mit Jennir und Bomo ohnehin wenig am Hut hat und sich die beiden Arcs somit nicht gegenseitig Platz wegnehmen würden.
Zu 3.) Die Antagonisten. Haka Hai und Lumbra wurden hinreichend designt - zumindest äußerlich. Als Charaktere hingegen sind sie so platt wie die leidlich bekannte Flunder. Warum müssen wir in einer Reihe, die mit zahlreichen komplexen Figuren aufwarten kann, mit solchen Gegenspielern vorliebnehmen?
Finis disputationis.

[Sirquay]

 The book I read is called star wars dark times by Parallels. I liked this book because it was action and adventure with twist and turns but people staying loyal and protecting what they believe in. Even when the main characters went through so much they stay strong and don’t give in but at the same time keep life as normal as possible still doing things they got to do.


In this book it takes place in a galaxy very far away from our own, in this galaxy there is a big war going on with the empire trying to take over but have many problems do to the rebels fighting against them so they don’t think they can do whatever they want. But this book is about one group, A group that formed because of the empire hurting them in some type of way and the main character is bomo he gets with this group but is still new so they don’t trust him to much. They decided to get some work done and sell cargo not knowing exactly they were walking in a trap they go to get stuck in a shooting battle (but they don’t have as much people).

But the cargo was hidden so they got kidnapped and investigated till bomo gets free helps everyone get free and they fight, win, then leave with some friends gone.



I did liked this because of the story and action but they didn’t exactly tell you what time this was happening past or future or present. Also the story line was a little boring and could have been better, but overall it’s a good book for people that like graphic novel and adventure so give it a read.

[Brett Wyman · Rating 5 out of 5]

At first, I was a little upset that Dass Jennir's story was not touched upon by this volume; however, my complaint fizzled away as I continued to read on. I quite like the new direction they took with Parallels.

The story begins following Master K'Kruhk shortly before the events of Order 66. Surviving Order 66, he is now responsible for protecting Jedi younglings on a jungle moon were they crash landed after escaping the clone assault.

Two months later, we follow up with Bomo and the Uhumele crew. It is made clear that Jennir and Bomo parted ways after the ending of Path of Nowhere. Bomo is now running with the Uhemele crew but he isn't fully part of their little family... yet. Bomo and Crys have a little heart to heart as Crys reveals her backstory, which is quite similar to Bomo's.

Captain Heren seeks to sell his contraband to Haka. They rendezvous on Mimban and hell breaks loose. Heren is playing chess to Haka's checkers. Bomo went through so much development on Mimban. He is selfless, ruthless, and when everything is said and done, he finds a new family.

The events on Mimban and the jungle moon converge in a way that felt natural. Not sure why this volume is called Parallels when the story lines intersect... parallel lines aren't ever supposed to touch but I digress.

The ending of both storylines come to a satisfying conclusion. Bomo and K'Kruhk are both heroes with high kill counts. K'Kruhk, much like Jennir, finds himself in a position where he must ask himself if the ends justified the means.

Overall, I really liked this volume. I liked the Uhumele crew and Bomo a lot more here than in Path to Nowhere and Order 66 and the aftermath is always cool to see from the perspective of other Jedi.

5 stars.

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the title suggests, this arc weaves two stories together. One is the continuation of Bomo Greenbark and the Uhumele's story, while the other is a new storyline that picks up with K'kruhk, a minor character in the earlier Republic comics. As much as I enjoy the Uhumele crew, that story takes a kind of reset after the peak of Greenbark's quest, and their adventure here is less interesting than it could be. It's still got some great character work, though. K'kruhk's story takes up the mantle of betrayal and hurt and pain seamlessly, though, and explores some of the same questions of identity as Jennir's plot earlier. Though it retains all the weight of the Dark Times Jedi, this is a less tragic story, and the villain feels more like a cosmic circumstance than the Evil Empire per se. It's good but can't match the previous arc. Part of that is that Doug Wheatley is rotated off pencilling for this series, and the art just doesn't compare (though it's still competent and good compared to some of the uglier Republic art).

[Scott Rhee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am enjoying the 2007 Dark Horse series Star Wars: Dark Times, which takes place immediately after the Purge and the events of “Episode III: Revenge of the Sith”.

In Volume 2, “Parallels”: Jedi Master K’Kruhk saves a handful of Jedi Younglings when the Emperor initiates Order 66; Bomo and the crew of the smuggler ship Uhumele end up embroiled in a plot to steal an ancient Jedi artifact; Chrys, the only human crew member, reveals her sad story about her son, a Jedi-in-training on Coruscant during the Purge; unbeknownst to her, her son is alive, saved by K’Kruhk; when Chrys and other crew members are captured, Bomo stages a rescue mission.

Writer Mick Harrison and artists Dave Ross and Lui Antonio create an action-packed storyline that fits wonderfully within the Star Wars Expanded Universe. Still no canon like the old canon.

[Andy Hickman · Rating 4 out of 5]

{ Star Wars: Dark Times, Vol. 2: Parallels }

STAR WARS: DARK TIMES 6-10 “Parallels”
The story arc title makes sense by the end. Satisfying read.

#6
“Who is it, Master Mahn?”
“Is THAT our ride back to the temple?”
Dang that blasted Order 66 and its genocide of Jedi younglings!

#7
“I know what you have lost, Bomo. Our stories aren’t that different.” - pilot Crys Taanzer talking with Bomo Greenbark

#8
“Stick close, Ratty. This is gonna get ugly.” – Bomo. [I’m really liking this character]

#9
“They’re headed for the camp.” – Master K’Kruhk observing the pirates
“Piru! Take the younglings into the jungle! Do you copy, Piru?” – K’Kruhk yelling into his comms device.

#10
“We’ve all lost family, Bomo. But we found each other and formed a new one. And now we’ve found YOU, too.” - Crys

[Oliver · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some mixed feelings here. The story starts off full of promise with its first 1-2 issues, finally giving the Freakin' Sweet Hat proper character and setting up a tale of parallel fates in these Dark Times. I like the final part mainly for its visceral quality and Dave Ross' (cover art: Legacy: Trust Issues) gorgeous art, as well.

But those middle two issues are, in essence, just filler-y plot progression made worse by a secondary illustrator who, ah, seems to have had his mind on other things than the plot. I am thoroughly convinced that one particular panel in issue #8, depicting Crys Taanzer as a gangster group's slave, was conceived with her naked; never before have I felt like I was reading the beginning to erotica rather than a Star Wars comic... The core theme isn't particularly followed upon, either. In all, it's a decent story arc, but one that falls short of its potential.

[Alexander Röck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic continuation of the first volume




This volume focuses more on the side Characters from the first volume, as well as Jedi master k'kruhk, who we already now from the republic comics. Both stories are only loosely connected, but are great in their own right and the ways they connect are very cool. There where multiple moments in here that made me tear up a little reading it, as this book is just beautifully written. It's a story about what happens to people when they loose everything, and eventually find a new family in each other. It's a tragic, but beautiful and heartworming story, that made me fall in love in these characters more than I already was. Rating:9.5/10

[Rizzie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sadly this is the one volume in the series without Wheatley on art, so it suffers a bit there. However, the writing is still on-point and I'm excited to see where these characters go. It seems anyone can die in this saga, so the stakes are higher than normal. That's one of the benefits of using original characters, but it really helps that said characters are infinitely likable.

[Ben Kimsal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aside from a massive contrivance around two thirds of the way in that made me roll my eyes, this was another solid installment of Dark Times. I really enjoyed getting the backstory on one of the characters introduced in volume 1 and seeing a new dynamic play out between her and one of the series leads as a result of their shared trauma.

[Brannigan · Rating 4 out of 5]

So far this is a lot more fun than I expected. Right after Order 66 and the birth of the Empire. Vader is obsessed with hunting down the remaining Jedi. The Jedi are trying to find a new way of living.

[Fizzy123 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wish they kept the same art as first book. It's still got the emotional depth of first volume and the two intervining stories are well paced.

3.5 stars.

[Kathrin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this comic because it carries on from the first installment of Dark Times and I liked to see how the story progressed.

[Nathan Grozan · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Alyce Caswell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really? More Jedi who escaped Order 66 - and in the same series? This is getting a bit ridiculous. It was still a good story, but it lacked the emotional impact of the previous TPB.

[XMCU · Rating 5 out of 5]

not as dark as the first volume. I only have the first 2 trade paperback volumes. I might pick up the epic collections to continue the story- Star Wars Legends: The Empire

[Myles Gerber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Master K’Kruhk is so cool man

[Jared · Rating 5 out of 5]

Star Wars Legends Project #175

Background: Parallels was released in August 2008. It collects Dark Times #6-10 (alternately, Republic #89-93), first published October 2007-April 2008. It was written by Randy Stradley (under the name Mick Harrison) with art by Douglas Wheatley. Stradley wrote most of Dark Times, along with several other titles. Wheatley's Star Wars bibliography looks about the same.

Quick note: I'll be reviewing both Parallels and the last 2 issues of the 6-issue Star Wars: Vector, Vol. 1. My review of the first 4 issues is here, and you can see more there about why I've reviewed it that way.

This is the second (and third) storyline in the Dark Times series. The story takes place about 2 months after Order 66 (19 years before the Battle of Yavin). The main characters are Jedi Master K'Kruhk, Bomo Greenbark, and the crew of the Uhumele. Darth Vader plays a major role in Vector.

Summary: Having cast out the Jedi Dass Jennir, the Uhumele and its crew make their way through the galaxy as they always have, looking for work while steering clear of the authorities. Toward that end, Captain Schurk-Heren looks to complete a deal with a less-than-legitimate contact for an incredibly valuable item he has stumbled across, though the transaction will be fraught with danger. Meanwhile, Jedi Master K'Kruhk narrowly escapes Order 66 along with an inexperienced apprentice and a group of younglings, but the real difficulty will be surviving in a galaxy that has suddenly become a very unfriendly place.

Review: I feel like it would be a spoiler to explain why this storyline is titled "Parallels," so I'll just say that I loved both of the titular parallel arcs that ran through these issues. K'Kruhk is one of the best Jedi characters from the Republic era of the comics, but he shines here in a way that he didn't have a chance to in any previous storyline I can recall. The book actually opens a few months earlier than the story proper so we can see how he came to elude the clone troopers tasked with executing him and the Jedi with him, and that bit was also very well done and set the tone for the rest of the book.

I also really appreciated that this arc focuses so heavily on the Bomo and his new friends from the Uhumele. I love how diverse that crew is. Too often, human characters are the focus and are a majority of the major characters, but the opposite was true in both of these storylines, and that was great. I had hoped at the conclusion of the last arc that we would spend more time with this crew, and we get to know them a lot better here, although they don't escape unscathed! This is still "Dark Times" after all.

One of the things that bothered me most about the segment of Vector that took place during Knights of the Old Republic was that it felt like such an unnatural interruption into that story. They did so much better here integrating it seamlessly into the ongoing storylines. In fact, it turns out that a big chunk of the action in Parallels is building towards what happens in Vector, but not in a way that draws obvious attention to itself. I really liked the degree to which the Dark Times characters played a role in Vector, not too much, not too little . . . Very well done, all around, but I don't want to say too much more and risk spoiling anything. The art in these issues was also much better than the art in the first Vector arc. I'm still not convinced that this cross-series storyline was a great idea, but this was a solid execution of the concept. I almost wished there was more of it, but maybe 2 issues was a better segment length than the 4 issues of the first bit. This series continues to improve as it goes.

A

[Malcolm Cox · Rating 3 out of 5]

This has a couple of really obvious differences to The Path To Nowhere: the absence of the Jedi Das Jennir (who's now gone his own way) and the change of artist. Now, the Jennir's absence wasn't a problem and actually gave the writers an opportunity to give a little more detail about the Uhumele's crew - particularly regarding the human female Crys. Something that was only hinted about in The Path To Nowhere is finally revealed in full, giving the character far more exposure. Something that the new artist was also keen on doing. Somehow, since meeting Bobo Greenbark and Das Jennir, her bust has suddenly swelled a few sizes and her clothing is barely able to cope with such a change. This, coupled with some really interesting wardrobe changes and PoVs somewhat cheapens her character from a woman mourning the loss of her family, to eye-candy. This is especially exaggerated when compared to her more conservative portrayals in the preceding The Path To Nowhere and subsequent Vector Vol. 1. What's also worth pointing out is that the other prominent human female, Chase Piru, is drawn a lot less provocatively (actually, she could be mistaken for being male in a few panels) - she's also black...
That's quite a lot written about the artwork, but when a story is largely portrayed in a pictorial form, it is important, particularly if it distracts the reader from the plot.
The plot itself was largely empty, with two 'parallel' stories running along in tandem. The only thing linking the two are that Crys's believed-to-be-dead son is one of the young padawan's under K'kruhk's care. A point so meaningless (due to the subsequent events in Vector - Crys never finds out he survived) that it's a wonder it was even there in the first place. Also, after stealing from the Uhumele a group of thieves crash land on the very moon that K'kruhk is hiding out on. What a coincidence - that also has no relevance to anything at all.
However, unlike the Dawn Of The Jedi stories I read earlier this month, there are permanent consequences for the crew of the Uhumele with the loss of not one, but two of their number (not counting Jass), and then next up it’s Vector which now has the emotional impact it lacked when I read it earlier out of context.
Also, Bomo's "I think I got that out of my system" scene was a pretty epic conclusion to what he's gone though both physically and emotionally in the last two story arcs.

[Jeff Lanter · Rating 4 out of 5]

As other reviewers have said, the art does change in this volume... a couple of times. Surprisingly, it isn't just the penciler, but the inker(s) as well. This is too bad, because the art is so fantastic in the first volume. As far as the rest of "Parallels" goes, I do think that the first issue of this story arc is really strong and the rest are all good, solid issues. A lot of this has to do with how much Master K'Kruhk is flying around with this lightsaber. Those panels are just amazing. I would say this volume gets three and a half or four stars, because I did enjoy it for what it was. I've still got high hopes for this series and am looking forward to reading Vector and Red Harvest.

[Jedi Sunni · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is so much to this story but I will not get into very much of it. I'll stay this I can see why it's called darktimes. Bomo is about to blow his lid and K'Krunk is force to feel what those from the darkside of the force feel. This is a good book and I'm sure that when I pull the series out the second time I'll get even more out of this book. My rating for this book is 4.7 out of 5.0.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

You find out what happened to some jedi younglings, and carry on following the crew from the first volume. I like how this series shows what happened to characters from the Clone wars series. I did like the jedi part of the book. The other part was interesting, as it was character led, but it did not grab me as much. A good read.

[Roberta · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book told the story of Master Krukk and the crew of the ship in Dark Times v 1 in parallel (hence the title). It was nice to see a story about the Jedi master who somehow lives until the Legacy comics. A pretty good story.

[Ned Leffingwell · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a tale from after Order 66 has been carried out. The story explores themes of war and lose. There is a mixture of scoundrel and Jedi story lines. Ok, but not the best Star Wars story that I have read.

[Hillingdon Libraries]

Find this book at Hillingdon Libraries

[Steven Shinder · Rating 4 out of 5]

In some ways, I like the connections between the parallel storylines, and in some ways I don't. It makes the Star Wars galaxy feel bigger, and at the same time it doesn't. Not a bad follow-up to volume 1 though. Weird that the cover is of an issue from the first arc.

[The Third Place A Teen Library]

SW dt v.2

[Chad Hansen-Saunders · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good story but the artwork in this one was subpar. Nothing like the first one. The overall story saved it.

[Trae Stratton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent portrayal of good "souls" who have to make difficult choices and then cope with them after the Clone Wars.