REVIEW: ‘Star Wars Adventures: The Clone Wars – Battle Tales,’ TPB

One of the most endearing things about the Star Wars: Clone Wars media is its deep dive into the characters outside of our silver screen heroes: like the clones. IDW Publishing brings readers all that and more in the Star Wars Adventures: The Clone Wars – Battle Tales TPB. Written by Michael Moreci , the stories were originally released as five issues from May 2020 through September 2020. Much like Star Wars Adventures: Tales from Vader’s Castle and its sequels, Star Wars Adventures: The Clone Wars – Battle Tales features a format that follows a main story that is supplemented by a tale told through the characters in the main story. By following this format, the book has varied stories but also varied art styles from artists Derek Charm, Arianna Florean, Mario Del Pennino, Davide Tinto, Valentina Pinto, Megan Levens, and Phillip Murphy, and colorists Luis Antonio Delgado, Valentina Taddeo, Charlie Kirchoff, Thomas Deer, and Rebecca Natly. 

The story takes place just before the Battle of Christophsis, the main conflict in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars film. The main story follows Commander Wolffe, Captain Rex, and Commander Cody, along with other clones on the planet Hisseen. They are joined in their mission by Jedi Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Plo Koon. While the group embarks on their mission, characters reflect on stories from the past relevant to their situation in the main story. The tale that is told is typically from the clone’s perspective and includes many of the characters from the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars. 

With Michael Moreci serving as the writer for all of the issues, the main story and the secondary tales follow naturally as each tale has something directly relevant to the events of the main mission. The art style in the tale switches from the main story thanks to the amazing work of the large art team. Artist Charm and Colorist Luis Antonio Delgado take the reigns of the main story while the rest of the art teams switch between the five stories. The differing art styles give appropriate weight to varying perspectives of the characters. Since the writer is the same throughout, the change in art style is never jarring as panels flow together seamlessly with the story.

Coming in at just over 120 pages, Star Wars Adventures: The Clone Wars – Battle Tales is perfect for the trade paperback format. While the individual issues can stand on their own as they did in 2020, the flowing nature of the story makes the pages fly by. While the main stories can serve as canon, the tales told by the characters are, shall we say, told from a certain point of view. However, the tall tale style featured in Star Wars Adventures: Tales from Vader’s Castle gives way to much more believable secondary stories here, as they are told by the honorable clones.

Overall, I can’t recommend Star Wars Adventures: The Clone Wars – Battle Tales enough if you are a fan of the animated series. The timeframe of the book puts it just before the events of the animated movie and series to give readers great characterizations of fan favorites. It works as both an introduction to the animated series as well as a great jumping-off point for the next seven-season rewatch. The stories are deep enough to envoke the notion that the clones as just important as their lightsaber-wielding counterparts, while still being accessible for all audiences.

Star Wars Adventures: The Clone Wars – Battle Tales is available wherever comics are sold.