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Star Wars: Obi-Wan #4
- WRITER:
- Christopher Cantwell
- Artist:
- Madibek Musabekov
- Letterer:
- VC's Joe Caramagna
- Cover Artist:
- Phil Noto
- Publisher:
- Marvel
- Price:
- $3.99
- Release Date:
- 2022-08-31
- Colorist:
- Sebastian Cheng
In his old age, the Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi leads a solitary life on the desert planet of Tatooine, watching over young Luke Skywalker while keeping an eye out for devastating sandstorms. But he didn't always hold such a lowly station. At the height of the Clone Wars, he was a General serving the Republic alongside his Padawan and Luke's father, Anakin. Together, the Jedi duo faced countless Sith adversaries and multiple precarious situations, but they also shared some dark moments in the blood-soaked battlefields across the Star Wars galaxy. Marvel's Star Wars: Obi-Wan #4, written by Christopher Cantwell with artwork from Madibek Musabekov and Sebastian Cheng and lettering by VC's Joe Caramagna, tells one such painful story.
Star Wars: Obi-Wan #4 opens in the quaint residence of an elderly Obi-Wan Kenobi as he continues to revisit his wartime memories. After the Battle of Abrion Bridge, Obi-Wan and Anakin Skywalker reunite to fight the Separatists on multiple fronts, going wherever the war took them. During one such outing, the Jedi Master and Knight embark on a secret mission. Commander Makedrix, who fought alongside Obi-Wan on Abrion Bridge, has gone rogue, killing both Republicans and Separatists alike. Reluctant to kill Makedrix, Anakin proposes to bring him into custody.
A penitent Obi-Wan Kenobi disregards the howling havoc outside to add another sordid account to his memoir. After a brief recap of past events, the story opens at a sluggish pace, covering a fair amount of ground on the exposition. Writer Christopher Cantwell stacks one building block over another leading up to the antagonist's mysterious heel turn. But that emotional side of the story seems inaccessible to the audience despite the traumatic circumstances surrounding it. While Obi-Wan's narration is ominous, it can also be monotonous. But the exchanges between Obi-Wan and Commander Makedrix feel like poetic verses, deep in thought over life and death.
The Clone Wars may be distant memories for fans, but Madibek Musabekov's artwork brings back the nostalgia. Using flowing lines, Musabekov skillfully illustrates some brilliant portraits, framing them up close at the center of each panel. The expressiveness in the faces comes from the eyes that exude the horrors and grief of the war in its rawest form. The detailed layouts make each scene look cinematic, with colors from Sebastian Cheng adding a sheen that immediately makes the background pop. From a serene rainforest to the orange sands of Tatooine, the range of colors on display is breathtaking.
Obi-Wan is a religious Jedi, but the war has made him a killer. Like him, his Padawan also feels the weight of the responsibility to walk a path between the two ideologies of making peace with the enemy and raising the lightsaber to protect lives. Makedrix becomes the perfect foil for them, a former ally who formulates a completely different dogma and violently implements it. Star Wars: Obi-Wan #4 may be slower in pacing, but it is lofty in its ideals.