Right off the bat, I have to admit - I've never played the Knights of the Old Republic video games. This is not from WANTING to play - I really do want to play them. I've just never had a system that they'll work on/enough memory in my computer to run them. I keep telling myself that this year will be the year I upgrade my computer/buy a new one, and every year December rolls around and I still can't afford/haven't gotten around to doing so. Been doing that for three years now.

Anyway, from what I've heard/read about the KOTOR games, the new Knights of the Old Republic comic series has absolutely NOTHING to do with them. I don't know if that's good or bad, but by gosh, I like this series. Too bad I can't find individual issues anywhere I frequent. So, I'm stuck right now with just the first TPB, and having read it about three times now with this finishing, I'm still thoroughly impressed with it. I kind of wish the creative team from this book would go back and re-do the Tales of the Jedi series. THIS is how comic dialogue should be done - no grandiose statements coming out of everyone's mouth just because the story takes place in the past. No characters explaining what they're doing as they do it. Just normal conversations, with a bit of rehashing of the overall plot every 22 pages or so (and that's only because of the nature of a monthly comic series - you HAVE to rehash the plot every month so people don't forget).

Zayne Carrick is a great little character. I just wish I knew where they were going with him. The last page or two has him seeming almost uncharacteristically dark. Were it not for the single shot of what looks like the back of Darth Sidious' head (yes, I know it can't be Sidious, but that's who it LOOKS like from behind), I would wonder if Zayne IS destined to become the next Sith Lord. Hopefully that hooded man turns out to be someone cool and memorable. I like my Sith Lords to stand out a little and not be ineffective fluff pieces like half the Dark Lords in the Legacy comic series.

Anyway, all and all, KOTOR is a great little story, and I can't wait to see where it goes from here. I do hope we start to get some resolution to Zayne's quest to clear his name. Not all of the masters need to be dealt with within the next, say, 18 issues or so, but it would be nice if at least ONE of them came face-to-face with Zayne and got their comeuppance.

Ratings:

Story: A
Art: A
Impact: B- (Maybe this connects more with the KOTOR games than I know, but there desperately needs to be a little more connection to what's gone before - Tales of the Jedi was supposedly only 40 years before this - many of the surviving characters should still be alive.)
Overall: A- More, more, MORE! I want more KOTOR!!!

Next up is the first novel in my quest, Darth Bane: Path of Destruction. Let's see if I can keep pace. Page count is now up to 930 after 6 days. Still ahead of pace, but as fewer comics hit and more books do, I expect that to drop.