Star Wars: L'alba degli Jedi Volume 2: Prisoner of Bogan

Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi

by John Ostrander

Prima che l’Antica Repubblica scoprisse i viaggi iperspaziali, i Je’daii – i progenitori dell’Ordine Jedi – proteggevano il sistema Tython. Ma dopo le vicende narrate nel primo volume L’Alba degli Jedi – Tempesta di Forza, i Je’daii sono costretti ad affrontare una nuova minaccia. Il misterioso guerriero Xesh, un segugio della Forza Rakata, schiavo cresciuto al fine di individuare pianeti potenti nella Forza di cui i suoi padroni possano cibarsi, è stato esiliato sulla luna oscuro di Bogan per meditare sul Lato Oscuro e trovare l’equilibrio nella Forza. Lì si unisce con il Je’daii matto, ormai caduto nel Lato Oscuro, Daegen Lok, che lo sfrutta per costruire una spada di forza e compiere la sua visione: una guerra contro i Rakata è alle porte ed è tempo che gli Je’daii si armino, anche cedendo all’oscurità proclama Daegen Lok. Gli Je’daii riescono a confinare la minaccia di Lok ma non possono fare altro che aspettare le navi da guerra Rakata in rotta verso Tython.

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

125 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2012

About the author

John Ostrander is an American writer of comic books. He is best known for his work on Suicide Squad, Grimjack and Star Wars: Legacy, series he helped create.

Originally an actor in a Chicago theatre company, Ostrander moved into writing comics in 1983. His first published works were stories about the character "Sargon, Mistress of War", who appeared the First Comics series Warp!, based on a series of plays by that same Chicago theatre company. He is co-creator of the character Grimjack with Timothy Truman, who originally appeared in a back up story in the First Comics title, Starslayer, before going on to appear in his own book, again published by First Comics in the mid 1980s. First Comics ceased publication in 1991, by which time Ostrander was already doing work for other comics companies (his first scripts for DC Comics were published in 1986).

Prior to his career in comic books, Ostrander studied theology with the intent of becoming a Catholic priest, but now describes himself as an agnostic. His in-depth explorations of morality were later used in his work writing The Spectre, a DC Comics series about the manifestation of the wrath of God. His focus on the character's human aspect, a dead police detective from the 1930s named Jim Corrigan, and his exploration of moral and theological themes brought new life to a character often thought of as impossible to write. He has also worked on Firestorm, Justice League, Martian Manhunter, Manhunter, Suicide Squad, and Wasteland for DC.

Reviews

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this more than volume one. That is probably a case of being more into the story and comfortable with the characters. It is a well developed middle volume that has a good story of its own while serving as a bridge between beginning and end.



One issue I had with the copy I read - and I am hoping that it was just an accident with this printing - was that often the words in the dialogue bubbles were all pushed together and did not fall completely inside the bubble. This was just a minor annoyance but a bit odd for a reprinted collection of comic books.

[Sud666 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dawn of the Jedi Vol 2 is known as the "Prisoner of Bogan".

Xesh, captured by the Je'daii, has been sent to the dark moon of Bogan to contemplate on the Dark Side of the Force. But he meets Dagen Lok, a former Je'daii, who has been exiled to Bogan. Lok wanted to research the Dark Side of the force, but during his research, he saw a vision about the coming of a dark warrior with a sword of fire. The Je'daii council banished him after he refused to disavow his vision.

Lok and Xesh join together to flee Bogan. They travel, looking for allies to help them against the Je'daii. As this is happening, the Rakatan Empire has sent another Force Hound to seek out and destroy Xesh.

This story gives some interesting background as to the Rakattan Infinite Empire, as well as the ever present conflict between Je'daii who think it is important to delve into all sides of the Force, versus the typical notion of "avoid the Dark at all costs". This vision of Loks will prove to be very interesting.

A great "pre-history" story set in the Star Wars universe. Good artwork and an interesting tale will have me coming back for more.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an okay graphic novel. I liked the artwork and story concept but there were certain things that were off. However, being this is based off of a novel, some of the responsibility falls there so my rating will be a bit generous.

The storyline for Xesh shows such promise and also between Hawk and Lok. The Jedi (Je'daii)are still in the baby steps of understanding the force and learning and the don't even have lightsabers yet! In fact, young Xesh has the first these Je'daii recall seeing. Now, I am not exactly sure when in the timeline this takes place but with the ships they had, it doesn't seem right. I mean, we have a Sith (race) Je'daii who were not on the side of good. When everything kick-started they were on their own world still. The Je'daii from Dathomir also didn't add up from other books I have read, but I suppose history may have been lost and forgotten on both sides... Perhaps is it just me, but with the other Star Wars books I have read, this doesn't seem to fall in line, but being this is based on a novel, I blame that author more. Did he read other novels before writing his own?

Also, why is there a sandworm from Dune in Star Wars?! I am fine with large worms, but draw them in a new way, don't take the same exact worm from another world. At this point, I can't help but wonder how well either side did their research.

What I did find very interesting were the Force powered ships and how the 'force-sabers' can only be used by those channeling the force. thus far, they only know how this works in anger. The Je'daii are more basic here, more about balance. Not so black and white, good and bad which I though to be neat. This idea crops up throughout the Star Wars timeline but not too often.

This book also focuses on self-discover and honesty. I really did enjoy seeing how the characters grow, mature and come to terms with things through out the book.

Overall, not bad, but not superb. A good story on it's own but yet own more storyline that seems a bit detached for the overall timeline of Star Wars.

[Dimitris Papastergiou · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun read that continues to be interesting with nice artwork!

[CS · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bullet Reviews:

I'm torn between thinking this is better than the previous volume and wanting to bash my head in from the ENDLESS narration. Paragraphs upon paragraphs that were a) not necessary or b) could have been rephrased into dialogue or c) shown in the kriffing art.

And then there are lines like:

"But Jake and Bel...are safe on Kalimar. Rori and I are on Nox. We found Lok and Xesh, but they grabbed Shae and took off."

that absolutely lose me. Can we please include more jumbles of letters standing in for names and places that are barely distinguishable? Good grief!!

Characters have a bit more chance to stand out (such as the fascinating Lok and Hawk Ryo), but really, with this many, it's hard to tell them apart. The story isn't half bad, though I'm pretty sure I've seen something similar before.

Artwork is standard. Not the most amazing, unique I've ever seen, but not godawful either. And at least I could tell characters apart.

What could be the worst bit is Shae Stupid Pants and her amazing pants with holes instead of pockets. Because yeah, that's practical.

IMAGE HERE
Yeah, it TOTALLY makes sense for me to expose my hips! Who needs those kriffing pockets anyway?!

Not bad, but I'm even less sure about continuing the series. Yes, the time period is fun, but if we are going to have this many characters (and one with stupid choice in clothing) and not a strong enough story, I'm probably going to have to bail.

[Iset · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this more than the first volume in this series, simply by virtue of the fact that we are now getting deeper into the story and it doesn’t just feel like the beginning of a tale. I was admittedly disappointed by the fact that we don’t get more information from Xesh about what life is like for the Force Hounds brought up by the Rakatan Infinite Empire – I’ve a feeling it’s a deliciously chilling experience, so I’m hoping for that to come out at some point. Telling that story would also really round out the characters of Xesh and Trill as well as, I feel, making the Rakata an even darker threat – thus enhancing the story overall. I feel like the Rakata are being done pretty well. Like I said in my review of Volume 1, in KOTOR they were awesome and fearsome – from that ancient, long-disappeared evil perspective – but here they feel more sinister by far. And for some reason their appearance creeps me out, even though it never did in KOTOR. Disappointingly their culture and background is barely expanded upon here – only a holocron of an advanced and distant race called the Kwa lays the bare bones of the history behind it out for us. In itself it dangles some fascinating hints about ancient history in this universe, but I need more, dammit! I feel like we need to see more of the Infinite Empire here. We need to see more of their culture and background in order to understand their brutal nature better and really crank up the tension and threat-level on this bad boy. The holocron telling us “but we underestimated their inherent evilness” isn’t good enough. We need to see just how sick these puppies are in order to be truly repulsed.

I continue to be fascinated by this series’ presentation of the early Je’daii pursuing a path of balance, not of exclusively the light side. Mainly because the whole light side versus dark side thing has always felt way too simplistic and dualistic to me, much as I adore Star Wars. So I find myself really engaging with a Je’daii Order that expounds ideas about the nature of the Force that as a fan I’ve secretly held all along. And the series makes good use of it here. It’s not just the Je’daii in this volume who are actively trying to pursue this balance, but there are big question marks over Xesh and Daegen Lok. They’re totally ambiguous, and whilst I didn’t exactly like Daegen Lok I found myself drawn in to trying to figure out his angle. Is he evil? Good but wrongfully condemned and turned bitter? Just plain psycho? Kind of a wild mix of all those things, I think. The fallibility of the Je’daii Council also fascinated me here. This is a big theme in the KOTOR series and a plot I’ve always found particularly fascinating as it always throws up interesting questions in any era – should the Council be trusted absolutely? Are they fallible (Sidenote: yes, is definitely my personal answer to that)? If so, should their judgment be trusted? What if someone else has it right? In this volume it’s very much the Council versus Daegen Lok and Xesh… and honestly it’s difficult to wholeheartedly back the Council on this one, even though Daegen and Xesh come across as highly dubious here. But I love dilemmas like this in my SW. I generally adore anything that gives us complex, ambiguous, and fallible characters – even to the point of being infuriating – because I find myself appreciating the humanity of it. What can I say? Humanity is often utter absurdity, and I secretly relish it.

Bit puzzled as to why no one figures out that Trill comes from the same place as Xesh. She has the Aurebesh letter tattooed on her face just like him and her name is also a letter, you’d think it’d be kind of a giveaway. But oh well. And Shae Koda’s pantaloons are still silly, but, you know. I was hoping for more development of Sek’nos Rath and Tasha Ryo here – Sek’nos because of the Sith species being so little known, Tasha because of the interesting conflict in her personal life – but our Journeyers take a back seat in the second volume. I have struggled a little with remembering the names of people, planets, and locations here. Normally I never have a problem with SW names, and I’m generally good with weird names (comes from a background studying other cultures through history), but occasionally I found myself flicking back and re-reading a page to try and cement the names in my mind. I think either the names have to be more distinctive, or the appearance of the characters does. I have no problems remembering Xesh and Trill, but Shae, Sek’nos, Tasha, Hawk, Rori, and the other Je’daii were problematic for me. But hey, it ends on a good cliffhanger.

There are a few problems and a few disappointments here, but I’m going to see this through to the end. I’m enjoying this, and I suck up SW ancient era, so I’m engaged enough to want to read the last volume.

7 out of 10

[Aaron · Rating 2 out of 5]

I might have to pass on the rest of this series, even though I'm trying to stay caught up with the goings on in Star Wars these days. This series is just far too boring, coupled with the fact that it doesn't even seem to honor its own premise. As I mentioned in my review of volume 1, Dawn of the Jedi is meant to take place 36,000 years before A New Hope. For people who have read other Star Wars "ancient history," this is an additional 31,000 years earlier than Golden Age of the Sith, which was previously the "oldest known" Star Wars tale. And yet, nothing is different. The amount of creative room Ostrander should have to really delve into what a galaxy as technologically advanced and diversely populated as the one in Star Wars looked like tens of thousands of years earlier should be a fantastic premise. Instead, we're treated to the same old same old.

One thing that is repeatedly mentioned in the series set up is that hypserspace travel has not yet been invented. Yet our heroes are able to pop around to seemingly any planet they want to in about 12 seconds. Additionally, lightsabers supposedly haven't been invented, and some people use guns that shoot bullets. But then other people use guns that shoot lasers that look identical to the blasters we've seen 36,000 years from now. And also lightsabers get invented right away, thanks to the fact that the planet where lightsaber crystals are harvested is apparently 12 feet away from the Je'daii homeworld, and also one of the Je'daii "knows a guy" who can just give him some. So now there's gonna be like a million lightsabers, boink, just like that. It's idiotic how hard Ostrander is squandering his premise. I mean, people don't even dress differently! It's like cloaks and boots were invented in Star Wars and everyone was like "great, all done with clothes!" The only way this series could be any more "the same" would be if Luke Skywalker showed up.

There are a couple of interesting tidbits here and there. We learn in this volume that a race of Force-wielding do-gooders existed many years before the Je'daii, and are the ones who used their technology to bring the Je'daii together. This is pretty cool to think about, but basically we are just taught this in a 2-page history lesson, rather than shown it in any active way. Also, the situation in which we find out about this is incredibly contrived.

I guess I'm just having trouble taking this series seriously. It's a great idea basically flushed down the same toilet every other run-of-the-mill Star Wars story gets flushed down. I'll see how I feel when volume 3 comes out, but I bet I'm done with this.

[Jared · Rating 2 out of 5]

Star Wars Legends Project #3

Background: Dawn of the Jedi: The Prisoner of Bogan was released in five issues during the end of 2012/beginning of 2013. The trade paperback was released in July of 2013. It was written by John Ostrander and pencilled by Jan Duursema, the same team who produced the previous arc in the ongoing Dawn of the Jedi series: Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi, Vol. 1 - Force Storm. The first issue of the third arc, Force Wars will be released in November 2013.

The Prisoner of Bogan begins approximately two months after the conclusion of Force Storm (see my review here), approximately 25,000 years before the Battle of Yavin. Most of the characters featured in Force Storm return, a few minor characters get a more prominent role, and there are a few new heroes and one particularly notable new villain.

Summary: Xesh, former Force Hound of the Rakatan Infinite Empire, has lost much of his memory, but still retains his deep ties to the dark side of the Force. Hoping that he can find balance, and despite the objections of the three young Journeyers who have befriended him, the Je'daii masters exile him to Bogan, the dark moon of Tython, so he can meditate on the light embodied by its twin moon, Ashla. While his new friends and their masters work to unlock the secrets of the Forcesaber, a powerful new weapon, Xesh discovers that he is not alone. Daegen Lok, mad Je'daii and the only member of the order to be permanently banished to Bogan, sees in Xesh a chance to set long-dormant plans in motion. And none of them is aware that Xesh's Rakata masters have dispatched a deadly agent to learn his fate and lead them to the planet he sought.

Review: The Prisoner of Bogan basically takes all of the problems from the first arc in the series, and compounds them. There are several strong elements in this story, but it's working so very hard to set up what promises to be an epic conflict ahead, that it forgets to be compelling on its own. There is a lot of exposition and set-up in this conflict, and yes, consider me fully primed for Force War at this point, but that's no excuse for this to be a limp collection of loose threads.

The main trouble is, the comic gets sidetracked in a couple of different ways from what ought to be its core plot, built around the title character. Lok is a fascinating and almost sympathetic villain: one who is clearly insane, and clearly doing evil, but who has also clearly been wronged, and is not wrong about everything. His relationship with Hawk Ryo is one of the dramatic linch-pins of the whole thing, and it is extremely effective. His Force specialty is unique and scary.

But I never felt that I fully understood his plan. And yes, that's partially because he's crazy, but if he's crazy enough to have a plan that makes this little sense, I feel like his behavior in general ought to be more erratic and less calculated. And, after all of the work setting up and developing him as a character, I felt like he basically just fizzled out at the end, shunted unceremoniously aside to make way for the conflict they're really interested in getting to. It made him seem like filler, and he deserved better than that.

There's also a major subplot involving a holocron from an ancient alien race that just stuck out like a sore thumb. It brought to the fore how little sense the whole "origin of the Je'daii" flashback from the first arc really made, and it was a completely irrelevant distraction from everything else that happened in the story. The whole sequence couldn't have been more contrived than it was: Tasha Ryo, a mere journeyer is somehow randomly able to activate a holocron that a master has studied for ages with no success, just by touching it. And it handily contains a recording that can do a plot dump to bring the Je'daii conveniently up to speed in time for the Rakata invasion that is clearly coming up. Clumsy. (And it buried Tasha, one of the three main heroes from the last arc, completely out of the action.)

One other interesting character didn't get their full due in this comic was Trill, a minor character introduced only briefly in Force Storm. She gets a much richer background story this time around, and the whole comic seems to be building her up to a major confrontation and display of her obviously considerable powers, but then it just never happens. One more piece of actual good material that they're saving for the next arc.

Basically, while it definitely has its moments, and the art is a great as in the last comic, The Prisoner of Bogan feels like the laziest middle chapter ever, and is all the more frustrating when there are still several months to wait for the completion of the next series.

C-

[Mayank Agarwal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good plot and art with decent storytelling.

This is a much better book than the previous volume Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi, Volume 1: Force Storm. The biggest positive is the art, even the plotting seems more solid. A different group worked in making this volume and it shows.

It is interesting to see the Jedi not having much grasp of the force even after studying it for thousands of years. This being considered the first storyline in the Star Wars story, we really see the beginning of the order.

[Robert Giesenhagen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another solid volume. I dig the backstory of the Je’daii and it’s pretty rad seeing them still learning how to fully harness the force. The lightsaber isn’t even their concept originally. Digging that Xesh is Jedi training and Daegen Lok is becoming another breakout character.

Overall, it’s slightly better than the first volume but a bit of a letdown at the end again.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the plot of this volume, it was much more engaging than the previous one. However, the writing itself is just bad and it made it a chore to pick up and actually read. The art continues to convey what's happening well, but I really, really don't like the style.

[Aiwendil · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed it slightly better than the previous instalment, it felt a bit less standard and the story was fleshed out a bit more (though still not that memorable). Once again the comic is quite entertaining and has nice artwork, but I feel this volume is mostly used as build-up for the final volume. It doesn't stand that great on its own. This doesn't necessarily have to be a problem, but considering it's over 100 pages it could at the least already have a little bit of pay-off.

Actual rating would again be 3.25/5 stars.

[Joseph · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am not sure if I liked it or not... The overall story was a tad better then the first volume and the art work still good, but it seemed like much of the beginning and other parts were devoted to rehashing what was done in the 1st volume. It was kind of like, well if you want to know what happened read the first one!!! And it seemed a little overkill on the narrative. You don't need to spell everything out.

[Erma Talamante · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this, the second volume of the Dawn of the Jedi saga, we see (and learn) more about the force sabers that become the familiar lightsaber, see strained relationships crack and galvanize - each according to their own situation, and learn more about the Sith.

Read the full review here:
https://ermareads.wordpress.com/graph...

[Sani Hachidori · Rating 4 out of 5]

INHALT:

*** Achtung! Es handelt sich um den zweiten Band – evtl. Spoiler zum vorherigen Band vorhanden! ***

In Band 2 fliehen Daegen Lok und Xesh vom Mond Bogan.
Gleichzeitig vermuten die Je’daii, dass an den Visionen, die Daegen Lok hatte, vielleicht doch etwas dran sein und der Planet Tython in Gefahr sein könnte. Die Gefahr besteht in den Rakata, die eine Invasion auf den Planeten planen.
Während Daegen Lok besessen von seiner Vision seine eigenen Pläne durchführen will, um unter den Jedi wieder zu einem Stand zu gelangen, schlägt sich Xesh auf die Seite der Je’daii und wird von ihnen ausgebildet.
Er zeigt ihnen außerdem, wie sie Machtschwerter nutzen und herstellen können. Dies birgt nur ein Problem – die Je’daii müssen sich für deren Nutzung der dunklen Seite öffnen. Doch ihnen bleibt keine Wahl, wenn sie ihre Heimat schützen wollen. Können sie Xesh trauen? Werden sie der dunklen Seite verfallen? Und können sie Tython retten? Das dürft ihr gern selbst lesen.


SCHREIBSTIL:

Der zweite Band hat mir bedeutend besser gefallen als der erste Band. Ich habe ihn deshalb geradezu inhaliert und kann sagen, dass ich mir einen Star-Wars-Comic so vorstelle und nicht wie den ersten Band! Der zweite Teil hatte mehr Tiefe, mehr Bezug zu den Charakteren und mehr Hintergrundinfos zu bieten. Dass ein zweiter Band mich so begeistert, passiert wirklich selten, weswegen ich mich umso mehr freue, dass dieser hier meine Erwartungen erfüllen konnte. Vor allem waren die Dialoge nicht mehr so platt und es war etwas niveauvoller – und man hatte etwas mehr zum Lesen.


FAZIT:

Der zweite Band lässt noch mehr aufs Finale hoffen, dass dieses einen ähnlich guten Eindruck machen wird. Aus meiner Sicht haben die Charaktere sich sehr zum besseren entwickelt und ich war wirklich fasziniert von den Infos über diese Zeit, die so weit vor den allseits bekannten Filmen liegt.

Ein Nachfolger, der den ersten Band übertreffen konnte. Mehr Tiefe, mehr Hintergrundinfos und mehr Charakterbezug machten dieses Leseerlebnis viel spannender als den Auftakt. Bin gespannt aufs Finale!

[Cudahy Family Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi - Prisoners of Bogan picks up where Force Storm left off. Xesh has been sentenced to time meditating his unbalance in the Force on Bogan. Here he meets Daegen Lok, a banished Je’daii who had received dark visions that foretold a great war with an unknown alien species.

It’s in this book that I’m beginning to see how the Jedi Order would eventually sever the balance and just use the light side. It’s obvious to see how the Force’s use all depends on the individual, rather than what the Order teaches. I mean the best thing to do with people lost in the Dark side or with maddening visions is to isolate them on a different planet, cut off from other people and tell them to meditate on what they’ve been doing wrong. Rather than helping them work through it and trying to understand how they may have come to this path.

There was more background information on the Rakatan species and how they became such a powerful and ruthless Empire. It also mentions more about how their ships are powered.

It had an unexpected twist at the end that I didn’t feel was earned, because I simply don’t understand when it could have taken place. Maybe it’ll be explained in Book 3 but as of right now it was not. Also, for some reason in this book, there were several instances when the speech bubbles were messed up. The words in them were crammed on top of each other making it hard to discern where each word began and ended. They also were sometimes coming out the sides of the bubbles, despite having plenty of white space in the bubble that they could have been put!

All in all, a great continuation of the Dawn of the Jedi series. I can’t wait to see what happens with the Rakatan!

[Gonzalo Milano · Rating 2 out of 5]

Los dibujos me parecen pura pose, pocas expresiones que no sean cara de ojete y a la mayoría de los paneles son poco imaginativos. Con esto no quiere decir que sean malos dibujos, sino que me parece tedioso de leer para un comic que tampoco tiene tantas palabras. A mi opinión, parece como si lo hubieran hecho relativamente rápido y solo por la plata. (JAJA porque juzgaba tanto con gente que hace su trabajo mejor de lo que yo lo haría)

Todo sigue siendo muy expositivo acá también, no en los globos que te dicen exactamente lo mismo que estamos viendo, sino que los personajes se explican las cosas 80 veces. Yo que se, es común en Star Wars… pero no me gusta que cada accion tenga una explicación del porque se hace. Déjame ir aprendiéndolo mediante sus acciones chango.

Yo no leí Legacy todavía. Capaz intentan hacer una especie de Game of Thrones con perspectivas y personajes que se vayan chocando hasta formar una especie de orden jedi y sith diferenciada con mucho enredo, pero por ahora el camino que toma no me gusta nada.

JAJAJA las paginas donde Ryo pierde el control solo por un panel o cuando dice exactamente el plan del malo porque cree conocerlo. Una vergüenza ajena.

Matar bichos tampoco es algo que me atrape y puedo tolerar que roben paginas con eso una vez, pero no para hacerlo cada tanto.

Es la historia mas clásica y pelotuda basada en Star Wars que podrían haber hecho. Profecía de maldad, el personaje no quiere que pase, se convierte en la profecía mala. Puede salir muy bien eh, pero no si el protagonista es tan pelotudo para no darse cuenta de lo obvio. Pero espera… quizás no haya plot twist… quizás la visión si son aliens que vienen invadir y ellos tienen que unirse para luchar. No se cual de las dos opciones es peor.

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a review for the whole series (3 volumes)

What I liked most, I think, is that the creative team went with classic fantasy imagery (warrior women with swords on flying dragons, Conan, Red Sonja, that sort of thing) to tell a Star Wars story that takes place over 30,000 years before Yavin (since the Disney purchase, these stories would be considered legends as opposed to pseudo-canon like they were before). That aesthetic is about the only thing that gives the series and characters an "old" feel. Something that consistently bugged me about series was the implausibility of language and technology surviving relatively unchanged for that length of time. Their spacecraft is differently designed but doesn't really look much older than anything from the movies. The squadrons are organized pretty much identically, with squadrons and [color] leaders. 30,000 years ago, humans were learning about fire and hitting each other with sticks. The implication is that once space flight was discovered, technology slowed to almost a stopping point. It's kinda hard to suspend that kind of disbelief. The characters are kind of flat, a sort of "stock Star Wars", and only a handful manage to stick out as unique. The ones that do are interesting to follow, but the result makes for an uneven reading experience, where you relish some storylines and struggle through others.
Overall, I enjoyed reading about one possible imagining of an ancient Star Wars universe, but was ultimately left feeling unfulfilled.

[Malcolm Cox · Rating 5 out of 5]

This second instalment of this unique series chronologically based before any other Star Wars works deals with themes such as belonging and destiny. With foreknowledge of an approaching evil, Daegen Lok is compelled to do whatever necessary to help the Je’daii prepare, despite their inherent disinclination to believe him. This resulted in some very interesting differences of opinion, particularly as he wasn’t the only Je’daii who ad that vision.
The character of the Rakatan force hound Xesh (meaning ‘X’) also becomes far more interesting that just another Darth Vader rehash. He’s very much trying to find his place in the world and still coming to grips with the concept of freedom. His shared connection with the female Je’daii Shae Koda, something that did make itself known in Force Storm and is further developed here.
I also liked the development of the other force hound Trill (meaning ‘T’) as she ingratiates herself with the Je’daii. There are no doubts to her loyalty, but watching her play a part was brilliant.
The other thing that was noteworthy was the history behind Tython and the force beings that first settled there. Even at this early point chronologically, there’s stories about what happened even before that. Made me smile.
The artwork is once again top-notch thanks to Jan Duusema and Dan Parsons, be it character, creature, vehicle or location. This may be set in the pre-history of the Star Wars universe, but it feels fresh and vibrant.
A stellar continuation from a novel period in the Star Wars saga and I’m eager to see where it goes.

[Chevy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Update: so after marking this read and going in to mark the next boom I realized that I listened to Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi Into the Void by Tim Lebbon. There is also a graphic novel trilogy called Star Wars Dawn of the Jedi by John Ostrander. This is why I was confused but I still recommend the version by Tim Lebbon.

This was my first graphic novel. It took some time getting used to but in the end I was able to read through it very quickly. I think I understand the appeal of these books; as you unlike youth chapter books that have a picture on a page of the story these graphic novels have a picture for every section of the wording. I don’t feel like it’s translating. Let me try again. If you’ve ever read a book after seeing the movie images come to mind from the movie as you read the book. In a graphic novel you don’t have to use your imagination because the details are there before your eyes with the words. These books don’t need a lot of descriptions or “he said/she said”s because it is all right there. It’s kind of like speed reading or a colorful cliff’s notes.

Ok now that I’ve gotten that thought out to story. I’m really not sure how this is a trilogy. The first book I listened to as an audiobook and it was VERY well done and I HIGHLY recommend it. Then to go to graphic novel for book 2&3 is weird. And the story isn’t picking up from book 1. I guess being the beginning there is a lot of backstory and history that I’m going to get in 3 books. I will read the 3rd but might review how I want to go about reading the Star Wars books afterwards.

[Adam · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is where the abridged feel of the narrative stands out the most. The titular "Prisoner of Bogan" is Daegen Lok, a Jedi who was banished to the "Dark Side Moon" because he had a premonition of an alien invasion and wouldn't stop pushing the Jedi to prepare for it. So on Bogan he either goes mad or dark or both, and in this volume he's freed to finally prepare the Jedi for that invasion, except now he's a maverick willing to do any dark side stuff that occurs to him in that pursuit. This volume mostly follows Xesh helping Lok do that sort of stuff while the other Jedi try to stop him, and fail. It's all set up for the next volume, but (spoiler) it doesn't really pay off there. Daegen Lok was right, he's vindicated, he goes back to the Light and becomes a Jedi hero, none of this hand-wringing or character work seems to matter in the larger scheme. He isn't really a major character in the last volume at all. Strange stuff.

[Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

3'5/5. On some aspects, it was better than its predecesor: the art was still good, but this time it went along a story that was better delivered, more engaging, and way more unpredictable and original. But on some others, it was even more disappointing, as the feeling of this being much the same as the last days of the Republic (now, with light... i mean, forcesaber duels, included) was even greater. Good insights on extraterrestrial beings were completely wasted in the same heavily anthropomorphic galaxy Star Wars has always delivered, and some character actions were abrupt and made little sense. Still, as I said, the narrative does a better job, and with the background story of Force Hounds Xesh and Trill, and the tale about the Je'daii and Rakatan masters (and the birth of the Infinite Empire), this world still shows potential to improve.

[Nakarem]

I didn't mention it with the first volume but in these comics Sith are a species and not darksiders. And the bad guys who use the dark side are also just a species (Rakata) - there's no name yet for darksiders the way the Je'daii have their own name independent of their species.
And the force sabers are powered by anger and hate which is interesting, though I don't know the difference between blue and red sabers yet. Also they mentioned mind tricks and it sounds very much like a dark side technique. Not sure if the "trapping someones mind in their own personal nightmare" also counts as a mind trick or if that is something else/more but either way it is terrifying.

Also I like Trills design a lot. Just wanted to put that out there.

[Joshua Mifsud · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm honestly shocked at how good this issue is. I think the collaboration between Ostrander and Lebbon was done so well to create this new era in the Star Wars EU. The Tythan system, the backstory of the Tho Yor, the Kwa and the threat of the Rakata to the Je'daii was just all so well thought out. The comics feel so much like Star Wars and encapsulate the spirit despite having been tasked with creating a totally fresh and brand new era. Love it! Just upset I do not have access to the 3rd and final issue, as i'm not willing to pay $200 on ebay for a damaged cover and that is the only option I can find...

[Ambrose Malles · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3.5 Stars) Dawn of the Jedi continues as tensions build and the war that surely will be gigantic becomes inevitable.

Things I liked about this book:
- Wide array of characters
- Well-represented "evil" characters
- Perfectly builds up book three well not feeling unimportant

Things I didn't:
- Fight scenes were sometimes hard to follow
- Nobody dies
- Lok should just abuse his mind twists and control everyone, if he was so strong (and he's shown examples of controlling Je'daii who have "strong" minds so this shouldn't be a problem) he should be unbeatable.

Solid but it's quite hard for graphic novels to compare to normal novels.

[Ilias Avramidis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This second volume got me really hooked to the story! The character development is great and after 10 issues i got the feeling that i've been following these guys and their adventures for way more than i actually am. Solid plot that makes you think twice about who's good and who's evil, who made the right choices and who made the wrong ones. Also in this volume we can see more details about the Rakata and i got to say that it made me wanna read Force War not just to finish the series but because i'm really looking forward to see the epic finalle.

[Books_gang_ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fakt veeeliká radost, jakou jsem dlouho ze SW komiksu neměla od dob Knights of the Old republic. Ten svět plný tajemna, ty postavy, ten storytelling. Zvláštní pochvalu si zaslouží kresba, panelování a barvy....líbí se mi, že se použitými barvami třeba odděluje retrospektiva od hlavního příběhu. Panelování je fakt přehledné a dobře slouží potřebám storytellingu. Narozdíl od Tales of the Jedi tohle fakt výborně funguje na prvcích komiksového hlavně vizuálního storytellingu. A to je plus. Protože tak by komiksy měly vypadat.

[Sean Goh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some characters blend into each other with the similar names (who is Shae again??), while this story feels like stars wars with force sabers instead of lightsabers (gotta get ANGRY to use them). also the whole pre-hyperspace setting isn't making much sense because is the galaxy really THAT small that everyone's zipping around to other planets a stone's throw away? Don't think too much and this series will be more enjoyable.

[Eric Bucci · Rating 4 out of 5]

Resto perplesso sulla scelta narrativa di una galassia che, a parte la mancanza di viaggi iperspaziali, ha sempre un livello tecnologico estremamente avanzato.
Se si voleva raccontare una storia di origini, sembra cambi poco rispetto all'epoca dei personaggi "classici".
Detto ciò, in questo secondo episodio la storia si fa interessante, lo sviluppo inizia a dare alcune risposte. Vengono ovviamente lasciati altri punti in sospeso da concludere nella parte finale.

[Keenan Crone · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is quickly becoming my favourite lore in the Star Wars universe. The introduction in 'Prisoner of Bogan' to even Tython's ancient history is fascinating.

The characters in this comic are memorable and the story is sophisticated enough to be enjoyable, which can't be said of some Star Wars content. I'm looking forward to the conclusion of Dawn of the Jedi and then trying to find if anything else has been created from this time period.