SPOILER Marvel's Star Wars #7

It turns out Obi-Wan Kenobi's alone time in the Jundland Wastes of Tatooine was not the spiritual retreat Revenge of the Sith hinted it was going to be.

The titular series of Marvel's recent onslaught of Star Wars titles takes us on a little detour between story arcs. For those of you who have been following along, a little item has been teased the last couple issues. Luke managed to get a hold of it after a brawl with Boba Fett in the last issue. We knew it had something to do with Obi-Wan, but now it's clear to be his journal, and he wants Luke to know what he has been up to the past twenty or so years.



Journals and points of view have been a theme from very early in Star Wars conception. The original Star Wars novel gives a brief recount of how the Empire came to be in what Lucas called the Journal of the Whills. It's nice to think that an Obi-Wan interlude between story arcs of this series involving the big three will be a regular thing and help add to Luke's understanding of the Force by the time we meet him in TESB. I know I have been guilty of searching for any connection to the sequel trilogy, so let me just say I doubt Luke is going to whip this journal out in TFA and start reading it to Kylo Ren or Rey as the Ten Commandments. This journal is fully cemented in the time of the original trilogy and I believe the only implications it will have is if Obi-Wan pops up somewhere in Rebels or an Anthology film is devoted to the Jedi Master.



With all that in mind, this story finds us a very disillusioned Obi-Wan Kenobi. For the first time we are seeing the man Obi-Wan Kenobi. Not the Jedi. Not the heroic general. Just a man, trying to forget the tragedies and failures in his past, but stuck in the purgatory of his present, unable to focus on his task of training a young boy. The Jedi we all knew from the prequels and Clone Wars is almost nowhere to be found on the opening pages of this book. He wanders the edge of an outlaw planet in a conquered galaxy, not being able to ignore the fact that he must forget the man he once was to keep the galaxy's last hope safe.



Tatooine is in the midst of a drought. It's strange to think a desert planet would suffer such an ecological dilemma, but the moisture farmers are unable to collect little of anything to keep them alive. It doesn't help that Jabba the Hutt has dispatched his goons across the planet to wring every drop of water out of them to add to his cache. The situation for Tatooines residents is a bleaker one than they are accustomed.



All Obi-Wan can do is try to focus on remaining the man he has chosen to become, "Ben", and making sure young Luke Skywalker and his adoptive family is safe. There is no conversing through the Force with Qui-Gonn or Yoda. There is no master plan Obi-Wan is drawing up to overthrow the Empire and take back the Galaxy. Ben Kenobi wanders through the days with the singular purpose of keeping Luke Skywalker safe in the hope that he will one day realize who he is and what is capable of becoming.



That is essentially what this issue recounts through the journal of Obi-Wan. Luke, who we meet as a child, has gotten himself into a sticky situation and Obi-Wan must do what he can to save him. It's a very brief, but touching, tale of the selfless life Obi-Wan leads to ensure the Jedi will endure. Obi-Wan is playing the long game, counting on the Force to bring Luke to him to begin training when it is time.



This issue requires no reading of any previous issue to get your bearing. If you are reading this you know all you need to. Jason Aaron and Simone Bianchi have put together a terrific issue that stands apart from anything we have seen so far. Obi-Wan conveys an almost Bruce Wayne/Batman duality in the ghosts that drive a haunted man to focus on the grey areas of selflessness as catharsis.

Pick this up as soon as you can. As a fan of Obi-Wan I hope this is just the beginning of the story they are going to tell regarding his Tatooine years.

 

You raise a great point about what I consider to be one of the largest plot holes in the OT: Why Obi-Wan did not raise Luke on his own? The prequel trilogy really negated a lot of what the original trilogy taught us about Jedi training. I believe these comics and forthcoming literature will answer how Luke went from being someone who barely understood the concept of the Force to Jedi Knight in a matter of a few years when the prequel trilogy tells it takes an entire childhood and a good portion of young adulthood to attain Jedi status. Obviously, Luke was already gifted in his strength with the Force due to his lineage, so that helped him. Perhaps TFA will provide some insight into this when we find out why Luke is hiding out for most the film.

Back to the original issue, Obi-Wan must have been afraid that Vader would've been able to find him somehow through the Force. That's the only reason I can think of for Obi-Wan separating himself from Luke. But why didn't the Lars family change Luke's last name? It's beginning to become more clear that most people did not know who Darth Vader was, so perhaps Obi-Wan just told Uncle Owen the same yarn he told Luke: Anakin was killed by Darth Vader. Owen kept the name out of respect to Anakin. Of the things I wish the prequels had gone over was Obi-WANs conversation with the Lars family when he brought them Luke. It still makes no sense for them to keep Luke's last name as Skywalker, whether they knew Anakin was Vader or not, it would be pretty foolish of Obi-Wan not to mention the Empire is hunting down everyone associated with the Jedi and killing them.

I hope in these Obi-Wan interludes these topics end up being covered. I feel like we are off to a good start.

 

Could not have said it better myself. Take my money. Obi-Wan should get his own damn trilogy as far as I'm concerned.