Obi-Wan Kenobi is a bit of an enigma, at least he was until the prequel films came out. Growing up, I always wondered about this hermit in the desert. Why is this creepy old man hanging out with this kid? Obviously, we figured out pieces about his past here and there throughout "A New Hope," and a ton more through the prequel trilogy, but there's still this time in between Episodes III and IV where we know where Ben is, but don't know what he's up to.
This week's issue of STAR WARS gave readers more insight into what Obi-Wan was up to during his quieter years on Tatooine. Writer Jason Aaron is joined by Simone Bianchi and Justin Ponsor, and we're going to delve into what's he's up to while "wasting" away on the desert planet.
Ben Kanobi is on Tatooine and he's been alone for years, just wandering around. What's his purpose though? Why is he there? Well, fans of Star Wars all know why, but it gets a bit more in-depth from there.
Obi-Wan is supposed to be there to train a young Luke Skywalker to become a Jedi. There's a problem with that though, Uncle Owen won't allow it to happen, so in a sense, Obi-Wan doesn't have a purpose on the planet, so he uses his abilities to do something else, protect the people.
Jabba's men are collecting water from all the moisture farmers on the planet. However, there's a drought and these farmers don't even have enough water for themselves, let alone enough to trade in town in order to get things like food. These thugs tend to rough folks up that get in their way, but luckily, Obi-Wan is still a Jedi and uses his force powers to make these thieves go elsewhere.
This is the first of a few times we see Obi-Wan put himself in danger for the greater good and for the protection of the innocent. Later on in the issue, young Luke goes out in the middle of the night to steal back the water Jabba's men stole, to return it to the people. However, he is caught.
What happens next, which you really need to read to see, is Obi-Wan, under the cover of night, taking down the same thugs he used his Jedi-Mind-Trick on earlier. It's almost like a ghost attacking them as he protects and saves Luke from Jabba's men. Obviously, Obi-Wan returns Luke to his home.
This stand-alone issue is pretty fantastic and will really make fans gain more respect for Obi-Wan as a character. He's a man dedicated to what's right and protecting the people from thugs and gangs. He's the light at the end of the tunnel. What did you think of this issue? Would you like to see more stories about Obi-Wan during this time period?
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