#marco checchetto
It’s Anakin Week again! Yesterday I shared a panel of young Anakin rescuing a womp rat on Tatooine; today, here’s a panel of Anakin after lashing out at a group of attacking animals. Though he struck in self defense, in context this violence is still a failure, since Obi-Wan was able to calm his animals down.
(Interestingly, during the arena monster battle in “Attack of the Clones,” Anakinis the one who calms his monster down. Nothing is simple with these two!)
The two comics were created by two different writers – two different publishers, even – but they make an interesting narrative together. Though his childhood on Tatooine was difficult, Anakin took every opportunity he could to be kind and generous. His time as a Jedi, however, was more stressful, with more high-stakes situations and moral quandaries. He obtained more power, and he faced more vicious opponents, until violence and death became more and more normal for him. So much for learning control…
I love animals a lot, but Star Wars – like a lot of adventure-genre fiction – treats them pretty terribly. So I always appreciate when characters are good to animals, or at least feel bad when they are mean to them.
“Obi-Wan & Anakin” (trade paperback). Marvel. July 19, 2016. Writer: Charles Soule. Penciller and Inker: Marco Checchetto. Letterer: Joe Caramagna. Colorist: Andres Mossa.
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It’s Anakin Week again! This panel shows a perfect example of Anakin and Obi-Wan’s emotion-vs-logic conflict. But what I love most about it is how scary it makes Obi-Wan look!
The first time we meet Obi-Wan, he has obscured his face in his hood in order to scare the Tusken Raiders off of Luke. The shadowy hood has been a visual motif in Star Wars ever since. Usually it is a false front that hides a heroic Jedi, but in the case of Darth Maul, the face underneath can be even scarier.
In this comic’s case, Obi-Wan’s dark hood emphasizes his coldness and power over his Padawan and the citizens they are trying to help. Anakin knows what Obi-Wan really looks like, but in this moment the visual cues tell us to take Anakin’s side and even to see the darkness within Obi-Wan’s point of view.
Yoda in “Empire Strikes Back” said that Anakin chose the quick and easy path. The prequels show us that Anakin is an impetuous character who follows his heart before his head. But though Anakin makes terrible decisions and later adopts a villainous personality, other details in the bigger story – like this small moment in a comic – show us that the quick and easy path isn’t always the evil-looking one.
“Obi-Wan & Anakin” (trade paperback). Marvel. July 19, 2016. Writer: Charles Soule. Penciller and Inker: Marco Checchetto. Letterer: Joe Caramagna. Colorist: Andres Mossa.
Old Man Hawkeye #10 - “Blood From a Stone” (2018)
written by Ethan Sacks
art by Marco Checchetto & Andres Mossa
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