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,” Anakin is 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.
