The Star Wars prequels are notoriously not particularly good. While Dave Filoni’s Clone Wars animated series has done a lot to paint the Clone Wars in a new light and rehabilitate the character of Anakin Skywalker, watching The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith can be a fairly taxing experience.
Something else that has served to make the Clone Wars era of the Star Wars saga more engaging is the various comic book series that have been published about the time period. Dark Horse and Marvel Comics have put out several series and miniseries set in and around the prequel trilogy, and many are very good.
10 Star Wars Tales Told Stories From Across The Expanded Universe, Including The Clone Wars
Star Wars Tales was an anthology series published by Dark Horse Comics from 1999 to 2005. It told stories from across the timeline of continuity, though it did largely focus on the age of the Galactic Empire and the Galactic Civil War. However, there were stories that focused on the Clone Wars, including stories about the Republic Commandos, Darth Maul, and Yoda.
Just how canon Star Wars Tales is was always loose, even before Disney acquired the franchise. The creators behind Star Wars Tales didn’t want anything set in stone, and it let them make more creative and sometimes comedic stories without “tainting” the canon.
9 Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures Is A Companion Comic To The Gendy Tartakovsky Cartoon
Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures was a series of kid-oriented comics that told stories in the style and era of Gendy Tartakovsky’s Clone Wars series on Cartoon Network. It had stories about Obi-Wan, Anakin, Mace Windu, Plo Koon, Aayla Secura, Republic Commandos, Master Yoda, and many other heroes and villains from Star Wars.
The series often had the dry humor of the cartoon, and some pretty cool concepts were introduced throughout the series. Writers such as Haden Blackman, Welles Hartley, and Ryan Kaufman wrote for this comic alongside artists like the Fillback Brothers and Ben Caldwell.
8 Star Wars: Kanan Shows How The Padawan Became The Figure He Is In Rebels
Star Wars: Kanan focuses on the character of the same name from Rebels. The series kicks off with Kanan facing down Order 66 at the end of the Clone Wars and follows the young Jedi while he goes on the run from the Empire.
However, the series does still cover a lot of Kanan’s time as a Padawan being trained by the Jedi Order. He brushes up with the shortcomings of the Jedi and their struggles during the Clone Wars from Kanan’s perspective. This series was helmed by writer Greg Weisman and artists Pepe Larraz, Jacopo Camagni, and Andrea Broccardo.
7 Star Wars: Darth Vader – Dark Lord of the Sith Shows The Early Days Of The Sith Lord
Darth Vader – Dark Lord of the Sith is the second ongoing Darth Vader series put out by Marvel Comics. While the first series picked up right after A New Hope, this one starts where Revenge of the Sith left off. Darth Vader is now the Emperor’s right hand, and he is coming to understand what this means.
The series follows Vader hunting renegade Jedi, chaffing against the newly-introduced Inquisitors, and coming to terms with what Palpatine expects of him. This series was primarily crafted by writer Charles Soule and artist Giuseppe Camuncoli.
6 Star Wars: Darth Maul Shows How Sidious Trained The Sith Assassin
Star Wars: Darth Maul takes place before Phantom Menace and follows the training of Darth Maul at the ends of Sidious and comes from creators Cullen Bunn and Luke Ross. Darth Sidious doesn’t think Maul is ready to face the Jedi, and it is vital to his plans that Darth Maul remains hidden. However, Darth Maul thirsts for vengeance against the Jedi, and he seeks a challenge.
This series does a good job of fleshing out Maul as a character. Above all else, Darth Maul is a predator and a hunter. He yearns for violence and combat in a way that Count Dooku and Darth Vader never will.
5 Star Wars: Purge Details The Brutal Extermination Of The Jedi
This is another comic that takes place after the events of Revenge of the Sith. It once again focuses on Darth Vader as he hunts down the remaining Jedi. This was another Dark Horse comic and was made up of a series of one-shots following Vader as he hunted across the planets of the Empire. It came from writers John Ostrander, W. Haden Blackman, and Alexander Freed and artists Douglas Wheatley, Jim Hall, Chris Schalf, Marco Castiello, and Andrea Chella.
This was a particularly brutal series, as it showed how desperate the remaining Jedi had gotten in hiding. It really gives you the idea that being hunted like animals has turned some Jedi bestial themselves. The first issue in particular spotlights a harrowing story with renegade Jedi Bultar Swan and Koffi Arana.
4 Jango Fett: Open Seasons Gives A Backstory To The Infamous Bounty Hunter
Jango Fett: Open Seasons was another Dark Horse comic by W. Haden Blackman and Ramon F. Bachs. It tells the story of Jango Fett from when he was first adopted into the Mandalorians by Jaster Mereel and came into conflict with the Death Watch.
It largely tied into the Star Wars: Bounty Hunter videogame that came out around the same time, as both Open Seasons and Bounty Hunter featured the Mandalorian Montross as a villain. It is really cool that such concepts as the Death Watch and the Vizsla clan were later brought back in Filoni’s Clone Wars and The Mandalorian.
3 Star Wars: Jedi Of The Republic – Mace Windu Spotlights The Master Swordsman
Jedi of the Republic – Mace Windu was a miniseries put out by Marvel Comics and creators Matt Owen, Denys Cowan, and Edgar Salazar. It takes place shortly after Attack of the Clones and finds Mace Windu on the front lines of the Clone Wars.
The Jedi are intended to be peacekeepers, but the Clone Wars have forced them into the position of soldiers and generals. While Mace Windu is a legendary Jedi swordsman, that doesn’t make him comfortable with the situation in which the Jedi Order has found itself.
2 Star Wars: Obsession Provides A Grim Lead-in To Revenge Of The Sith
Star Wars: Obsession was intended to help bridge the gap between the Star Wars: Republic comic and the at-the-time upcoming Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. Obi-Wan Kenobi is fixated on the idea that the assassin Asajj Ventress is still alive even though the Jedi around him are certain she perished in her encounter with Anakin Skywalker earlier in the Clone Wars.
This story follows Obi-Wan and Anakin as they track down leads on the path to Ventress while coming into conflict with Count Dooku, General Grievous, and the bounty hunter Durge. This series came from writer W. Haden Blackman and artist Brian Ching.
1 A Lot Of Star Wars Lore Was Introduced Through The Star Wars: Republic Comic Series
If one is wanting to read some Expanded Universe lore set around the Clone Wars, Star Wars: Republic is the way to go. It started in 1998 as simply, Star Wars, but changed its name to Star Wars: Republic with #46. At #83 it became Dark Times and became an Empire-era book. In addition to central figures like Anakin, Obi-Wan, Yoda, and Mace Windu, Republic largely focused on figures like Quinlan Vos, Ki-Adi Mundi, Aayla Secura, Aurra Sing, and a brutal Jedi mentor known as the Dark Woman.
This series had stellar creators on it as well. John Ostrander, W. Haden Blackman, Jan Duursema, Tom Raney, Timothy Truman, Rod Pereira, Pat Mills, and Ramon F. Bachs are just a few comic book vets who contributed to this series.
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