Yes, I know the blog posts – when they actually come – are mostly about games and graphic novels at the moment, but it’s not going to become a habit. Probably.
I’ve said before that I don’t really read graphic novels, and while this is still mostly true, there have been a few times when I gave in to temptation. The first time was when I’d just finished playing Batman Arkham Origins and, being underwhelmed, perhaps disappointed with it, wanted more Batman. The only thing I could think of was a graphic novel, so I got Batman: Hush and it was very good. I subsequently read two and a half other ones and they put me off graphic novels again. For me to enjoy a graphic novel, it has to have very good art as well as story. Sadly, too many of them have what I would call pretty crap art, so that puts me off. I can’t really see myself becoming an avid reader of graphic novels, even with good art and story, because of the way they’re written. For a novel writer, it can be confusing and at times frustrating to read, since dialogue often has to tell the reader what is happening in lieu of narrative (among other ‘issues’ (pun semi-intended)), and it becomes very forced and unrealistic. But that can be – not to sound too snobby and arrogant, of course – forgiven, if it’s good overall. But now I’m rambling.
This time, with all the hype about Star Wars Episode VII coming up, a handful of games and the Clone Wars final season on Netflix, which…they…let’s just…F*#%ING NETFLIX! The final season of Clone Wars (among many, many other films and TV shows) is exclusive to US Netflix. I would have less of a problem with that if I weren’t paying the same amount for less content. In fact, because I have a southern Ireland Netflix account and my bank is UK, I’m actually paying more for less content. But making it exclusive to Americans… I’d like to see them make it exclusive to white people and see if they get away with that. In this day and age…oh, never mind. What was I saying?
Oh, yes. All the Star Wars hype made me re-watch Episode III – the writing of which was a lot worse than I remembered – and go back and play Knights of the Old Republic 1 and 2. Then I watched the final season of Clone Wars (yes, Netflix, I used a browser extension to get around your xenophobia, you p#*cks!). Then I wanted…more! More Jedi, more Force, more Star Wars. So again, I began to wonder if there were any good Star Wars graphic novels. I found a list of them, and looked for some screenshots to check the art. Everything seemed decent, so I got a three-part graphic novel, Dawn of the Jedi.
Dawn of the Jedi is set, as far as I know at least, as far back in the Star Wars timeline as possible. Technically, I suppose they could go even further back, but no one has. It tells the story of the early Je’daii, a group of people of several different races sensitive to the Force, and their struggle against the evil, dark-side-wielding Rakatan.
Because I’m only coming to the end of my review of the first part of the graphic novel, and it’s longer than I intended, I’ve decided to post all this in four parts:
ROSS HARRISON 
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