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March 26, 2008
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 For supposedly being the "biggest Star Wars event of 2008," Dark Horse's Vector series has been decidedly underwhelming, at least through its first two issues, the second of which hits newsstands and comic shops today. Debuting in the pages of the Knights of the Old Republic title, the series will be the first cross-over in Star Wars comics' long history, eventually finding its way through Dark Times, Rebellion and Star Wars: Legacy.
The second issue, also KotoR #26 for those keeping track, finds the mysterious Muur Talisman in the hands of Mandalorian marauders, one of which has delusions of grandeur regarding his ability to fill the void left by the notorious Demagol, a half-mad butcher famous for his experiments on Jedi prisoners-of-war.
As the Talisman works its as-yet-unexplained magic on the Mando crew, Zayne Carrick, Marn 'Gryph' Hierogryph, and Jedi Covenant agent Celeste Morne stow away aboard their ship as they flee the Rakghoul plague sweeping through the streets of the city-planet Taris. The issue ends on a cliff-hangar, of sorts, as Zayne and his mates are treated to an Attack of the Clones-style long shot of a massive military staging area, signifying a new thrust into the core worlds by the rampaging Mando army.
 As Star Wars stories go, Vector isn't horrible, and, with ten issues yet to go, may end up being a worthwhile read. However, the title fails spectacularly when measured against the heavy hitting stories ongoing in Dark Horse's other Star Wars books, as the plot, the characters, and the artwork seem amateur in comparison.
John Jackson Miller's script for issue #2 is average at best; he relies on a series of semi-comic vignettes featuring the same Zayne/Gryph banter that we've seen for the past twenty-odd issues of Knights of the Old Republic. Ordinarily this wouldn't be a problem, but it seems as if he's run out of material since the jokes are rarely funny this time around, and the rest of the dialogue consists of variations on 'oh no,' ' uh oh,' and 'let's go.'
 Scott Hepburn's artwork doesn't help; he paints the Mandalorians in gaudy candy-colored armor that seems more at home in the Power Rangers universe than a galaxy far, far away, and his faces seem much more cartoonish than the previous issue, to say nothing of the rest of the realistically drawn Dark Horse Star Wars pantheon.
While I'm willing to give the complete Vector story arc the benefit of the doubt until I've read all twelve issues, the first two strike me as more marketing filler than man, twisted and evil. One only has to look at the advertisements for the series to see that the editors are fairly desperate to expand their audience. "No one should miss "Vector," screams the Dark Horse website. "This is Star Wars on its grandest scale-a galaxy-spanning, era-defining, sure-fire hit with fans both casual and hardcore!"
While casual fans may lap it up until they manage to get a hold of a copy of Rebellion, Dark Times, or Legacy, Vector is anything but a sure-fire hit, and is of surprisingly average quality, even for a Star Wars product.
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