September 15th, 2008
Lil Formers #114: Clone Wars
This is pretty much my problem with the new Clone Wars show (outside of the weak animation).
We know Anakin turns out to be a bad bad dude, and eventually he’ll massacre the Jedi. So it’s impossible to accept him as the hero of his own show. At least with the original Clone Wars (sooo good!) and in the new trilogy (sooo meh!), we didn’t know EXACTLY how he would end up being Vader.
September 15th, 2008 at 1:03 am
Yea!! Ur right!! I wonder what happens to Asoka in clone wars……:P
September 15th, 2008 at 1:14 am
Yeah. That was my problem with it too. That, and she’s a Mary Sue.
But they have an opportunity at the series ending to do something really mean, something really dramatic, something that reignites the ember of the Dark Side in Anakin. They won’t use that opportunity, of course, but just picture this:
Asajj Ventress, having reached a level of enlightenment after her disappearance, tracks down Anakin, indending to make apologies. She sees him with his new Padawan, smiling and laughing. Something breaks inside of her.
Stealing from the shadows, she incapacitates Anakin, though he remains conscious, helpless but to watch.
Asajj and Ahsoka duel. It appears Ahsoka will win, but in a single instant it all goes horribly wrong. We see a silhouette fall to the ground, lifeless. As Anakin screams in rage, Asajj walks slowly away.
This leads to the angry Anakin, desparate to protect Padme, the one we see in the final volume of Genndy Tartakovsky’s Clone Wars.
September 15th, 2008 at 1:18 am
You know, I’ve always agreed with your criticisms in the past, but this is the one time I think you’re way off.
I mean, if you didn’t exactly how he would end up even before Episode 1 (one of the worst movies ever) you did not pay attention to the original trilogy. Specifically where obi-wan states “Vader helped the emperor hunt down and destroy the Jedi Knights”.
The betrayal was always expected, it was how it occurred that was supposed to be the tragedy. Lucas was going for a “I betrayed my friends and my princibles so that I could avoid losing the one I love most, but in the end lost everything” sort of tragic feel, and it seldom really came across on screen. But in clone wars, finally seeing an Anakin thats not seething with rage ever ten seconds interspersed with abominable whining and horrible romantic garbage, well I thought it finally felt like there was a time being a Jedi meant everything to him in Clone Wars and finally made the eventual betrayal felt like it had some gravitas.
Just my two cents, oh, and another two cents… don’t bring back the bots.
Betcha didn’t see that one coming did you?
September 15th, 2008 at 3:45 am
That is always the flaw of ANY prequel. No real story. A normal story has a beginning, a conflict and a resolution. But in the case of a prequel, the resolution is ALREADY known, thus the conflict is, essentially, meaningless, almost boring. Of course, the same could be said for any movie really, with the “good guys winning in the end”, but the only point of a prequel is to give some kind of added dimension to some important character from the original. And, in this case, I have to agree that there IS no depth real depth to Anakin to make any improvements on Darth Vader.
September 15th, 2008 at 4:02 am
Oh yah, I also thought the animation was quite good. the character designs were hit or miss (droids/clone troopers/vehicles/landscapes = good. Character designs = WTF were they THINKING/DRINKING) I understand wanting to give a shout out to the original clone wars with the character designs, but those designs only work in hand drawn animation due to how stylized they are. In CGI, they just looked even wielder. Especially Dooku and Mace Windu.
September 15th, 2008 at 4:11 am
As a viewer you may have a point about knowing that he will turn out to be the ultimate bad guy in the universe. Storywise however,… The character of Darth Vader was so powerful, because his back story was established early on that Anakin Skywalker used to be one of the greatest Jedi Warriors, if not the best. His betrayal was so powerful that old Ben Kenobi refused to see them as one and the same person. Even after he had passed on, he refused to accept Vader and Anakin as being one as the same, which confused the heck out of young Luke. So the greater the build of him as the hero in this new series, the better it will fit the profile for him to turn to Darth Vader.
As for the bloomin’ ‘Bring back bots’-comments… This is Anakin Skywalker from his Transformers/StarWars Crossover toy. His ship/Transformer is JUST out of frame.
September 15th, 2008 at 6:54 am
Oh, yeah, and by the way, Jabba’s son and Uncle Zero died shortly after the events of this film. Jabba, grief-stricken by the loss of his son and still in shock from the betrayal of his beloved uncle, simply refuses to believe that either one ever existed.
Ahsoka went on to be a great Jedi commander, only to be slaughtered on some distant planet thanks to “Order 66.”
R2-D2 had his hover-jets removed, seeing as they were never that useful anyway, then wished to high heaven he hadn’t when he got stuck in Dagobah’s swamps.
Personally, I’m a little tired of the prequel kick that Hollywood’s been on for the past several years. Like pesatyel talks about above, when the resolution is already known, the conflict feels meaningless. Smallville has had that vibe with me pretty much ever since it came out, but even more so with the CONSTANT references to known future events.
Finally, in reference to “Bring back the bots:” I really like the current format myself; it opens up a much wider range of things that so very much deserve to be made fun of.
September 15th, 2008 at 7:05 am
awsome so funny i love her look
September 15th, 2008 at 7:52 am
speaking as an fan of both SW as TF:
Anakin was an hero en never really bad… yhea sure he did awfullthings and kill 100’s if not 1000’s of his own kind and others by his actions but he didn’t do this because he was evil or anything but more because he was manipilated eversince he was a small boy and could not let go of the one he loved….think about it could you if you saw a change to do so
Ankain was and still is a hero…Darth Vader his alterego was not but this alter ego was not his creation but of palpatine who molded ankain in something he vowed to distroy
plus this makes his fall to the darkside more tragic if you view upon his actions in the clone wars (which weren’t all good btw)
and lets not forget something even luke skywalker has fallen to the darkside at least once at the hands of palpatine so give Anakin a break he is only human after all
September 15th, 2008 at 9:04 am
If you view the prequel trilogy as a Greek Tragedy, than the clone wars fit in perfectly. The hero that will fall must be built up to a point where he is almost godly, before he tumbled down into the abyss. Revenge of the Sith almost had this…but Anakin was already tumbling. This is the chance to have him at the mountain top.
By the way, I absolutely love how happy Anakin is while talking about killing the Jedi.
September 15th, 2008 at 10:32 am
You know, I think I’m one of the only people who really like Ahsoka. I am hoping she’ll make it through the series alive, if only for utilization in the EU- I think her meeting the Secret Apprentice would make for a pretty neat story, somewhere down the line.
September 15th, 2008 at 10:55 am
Havn’t seen it but i agree
September 15th, 2008 at 11:25 am
I agree with Mr Chaos totally, the scene where Anakin puts aside his dislike for the hutts, and decides to meet Doku so Ashoka can succeed in the mission the Jedi Council gave them establishes that there really was a time when being a Jedi meant everything to him. In the original clone wars he started out a whiner, went into being a arrogant jerk, to borderline dark jedi, went back to arrogant for the second series, and segued into rageaholic mode for the conclusion of the first clone wars. And in the movies he was either whining, throwing stuff like a girl, spouting the worst romantic lines in history, or agnsting over how he didn’t want Padme to die. He had a few good moments in Revenge of the Sith, but in Clone Wars the theatrical release, I really felt for the first time that Anakin was a truly heroic character. So in that sense, the theatrical release was a success. I’m not saying it was pure gold, I’d say it’s about as good as Return of The Jedi. My least favorite of the original trilogy.
September 15th, 2008 at 11:53 am
great one this week really liked it lol :))
September 15th, 2008 at 11:55 am
Yeah, I’ve been wondering about that too. What’s gonna happen to Ahsoka?
Drama.
September 15th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
I saw the Clone Wars movie, and was stunned that people hated it so much that even the Star Wars Christmas Special got better feedback. (I also got the soundtrack to the movie; if you liked the music from the Halo series of video games, then you might like this.)
Both the Clone Wars cartoon miniseries are basically aimed at the same demographic (the cartoon was on Cartoon Network, after all), yet when Genndy Tartakovsky animates the Clone Wars miniseries in his “Samurai Jack” style, they laud it and give it Emmys, but when George Lucas has this movie animated in 3D, they ridicule it and throw tomatoes at it? Am I missing something here?
I think it’s called “they saw that George Lucas was directing this movie and couldn’t give it bad reviews fast enough”.
George Lucas may not be perfect, and I’m sure he’s been bitten by the merchandising bug at least once (hey, it can happen to anyone), but now you have this hatred of Lucas which seems to conflict with rationality. Even with the latest Indiana Jones movie, you had critics who seemed hesitant to give it good reviews, just because it was one of Lucas’ projects.
I’m sure the prequels could have been handled better, but even then, I think it’s called “in the two decades after the Classic Trilogy, fans wonder what the prequels would be like, and they have wild expectations but don’t know what they really want, so they are disappointed with whatever Lucas delivers”.
Yeah, in the battle of Lucas-bashers vs. Lucas-praisers, I’m stuck somewhere in the middle. Go figure.
September 15th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
ha ha love the strip.
can’t stand the “animated” series or this movie as the art style makes me yak and wish i could rip my eyes out with a fork, but yeah…
September 15th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
I have mixed feelings about this. I cant wait to see the cartoon but at the same time I don’t think that anakin should have been the hero. We know he is not a hero and so maek it abbout one of the other jedi its not like there isnt enough of them
September 15th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
i prefered the original star wars. the new movie looks rubbish
September 15th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
This one is really good. And there’s even something for the people who keep complaining to bring the ‘bots back. You’ve got to decapitated robots, and a human with a robot arm. Keep the change
September 15th, 2008 at 4:52 pm
is it just me or…
does the Sw droids look like JarJar
O_o
awesome job Matt
and JEDI ARE monks ,,,ANAKIN is not a villan …
to say anakin / vader is a villan is to call Frank Castle / punisher a villan as well.
September 15th, 2008 at 7:08 pm
Anakin says: “I’m gonna be your father…” XD
September 15th, 2008 at 10:41 pm
Umm. Jaganar….Frank Castle and Anaking/Vader are two different entities. Punisher kills bad guys for the greater good; Anakin/Vader killed Good guys for an assumed greater good. Yes; Anakin was manipulated but he killed innocents.
September 16th, 2008 at 3:15 am
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t recall Anakin holding the rank of Master in chronologically later installments (which he would earn by successfully completing the training of his student, a new Jedi Knight)………which makes Ashoka’s future look rather bleak if they stay true to the concept.
Watched the pilot movie, really don’t mind the animation, but Anakin is waaaaay out of character IMO. Which is not good.
September 16th, 2008 at 4:18 am
I wish they would do films set after Return of the Jedi, there are lots of things they could pick up and run with.
September 16th, 2008 at 4:35 am
Bring back the TF drawings, pleeeeeeease!
September 16th, 2008 at 10:23 am
That was really funny.
I personally enjoyed the new Clone Wars, but a few parts like you said were knid of,,,meh. Anyways good work with this week’s comic.
“Why would you even say that?” lol hahaha
September 16th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
Martin6gb///
dude u remember ANAKIN did everything to save padme’
/the greater good /
and no i dont think so , as Dark Hero’s go anakin and Frank are on the same scale.
because they both did what has to be done OUT OF LOVE.
(granted frank , does it in memory of his family , anakin did what needed to be done )
*** The SCENE where he tosses Mace out of the window.***
(mace is still alive as far as im concerned, no Sith or Jedi would be tossed out to die an easy death)
CLEARLY DEFINES his Dark Hero Status.. cus those MONKS did not want to upset the supposed order of the Force.//which they clea.rly did when they became anti- romance=anti love .
atleast the sith have BALLS TO fight for their belief .
*ALL HAIL GRIMLOCK PRIME*
September 16th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
Which is also my problem with the whole thing and why I haven’t been able to bring myself to see the new animated movie. We know how it ends, she either dies horribly or becomes evil or both.
September 16th, 2008 at 4:39 pm
Though flawed, I think the Clone Wars (movie and series) resolves one of my complaints with the prequels. We never really got to see Anakin as the “Hero of the Republic”. He went from annoying child, to emo, to dark side.
September 16th, 2008 at 4:54 pm
Palpatine is Anakins father (refer back to ep 1 when his mom said to qui-gon jinn that one day she was pregnant with Anakin and that he had no father)
September 16th, 2008 at 4:56 pm
I don’t belive you, yet it kind of makes sence
September 16th, 2008 at 11:57 pm
Anakin was immortalized as a bad actor. That’s a stain that can’t be taken away from the character, sadly.
September 17th, 2008 at 8:07 am
How they are turning SW into a commercial thing is just another subject. It is true and everybody must live with it. As long as the final product is nice, no problem. I watched the movie. It did not suck but it was really really bad. I can live with a simple plot, no problem. But Anakin as a father figure like thing… gimme a break. I am really curious about the TV series. I hope they will be better than the movie. Picked up Clne Wars 1 comic. It is better than the movie as well ( the old Clone Wars animated tv series kicked so major ass that i sometimes thing they are much better than the new SW trilogy , They were simply awesome )
But there is a fact that they are trying to make a version of Anakin with less inner turmoil ( so far zero inner turmoil ), If it goes on that way in the new animated tv series, i can wholeheartedly say that it will suck.
September 19th, 2008 at 7:58 pm
anikans emo
September 20th, 2008 at 8:26 am
This is SOOOOO TRUE!
September 21st, 2008 at 9:46 pm
Lol! “W- WHY WOULD U EVEN SAY THAT?! ^_^
September 22nd, 2008 at 2:14 am
So, that thing on osaka jimbo or whatever her name is’s head. Is it a hat or hair or tumor or what?
September 24th, 2008 at 9:38 pm
Nice comic, but please, bring back TFs!
September 28th, 2008 at 11:34 am
45th What i’ve always wanted and oh yeah the animation was prety good in the movie and th models are detaileded
October 9th, 2008 at 9:33 am
Being an avid Star Wars fan and above all a Darth Vader fan i can’t say i even had a problem with it. I enjoyed the movies and i greatly enjoyed the prequels. Though i have grown to greatly hate the EU novels. *shivers*
The prequel hate always came across as very irrational in the case of a lot (not all) people.
October 11th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
[...] Source: Lil Formers.com [...]
October 24th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
hes going to become darthvader evil little dude
October 24th, 2008 at 6:12 pm
Hey,hey,hey. Anakin is hot, okay. Darth Vader is even hotter. General Grievous is ON FIRE.
October 27th, 2008 at 8:22 pm
hahahahaha thats funny girl
October 28th, 2008 at 5:19 pm
papawan you don’t what to know
November 2nd, 2008 at 3:24 pm
I love Anakin, he’s a cute badboy. It’s unfortunate that he’s married to that ugly brat, Padme. T_T
November 20th, 2008 at 10:10 pm
I, ANIKAN SKYWALKER, HAVE SEEN THE FUTURE!!!!!