The Starwars universe is a mixed bag for me. It was the first science fiction I was introduced to since I saw Return of the Jedi in the cinema in Northwich. I couldn’t understand what was going on, I couldn’t read the subtitles and but I was overwhelming impressed by the Empire. The next day I wore my dressing gown around my neck wanting to be Darth Vader.
Over the years my interest has waxed and waned and focus shifted. As I have grown up I came to understand that empire is wrong (important lesson for an Englishman) but as I have gained a better understanding of morality I find the Rebellion wanting. In my teens and twenties I saw grey heroes as better than absolutely good heroes but again I grew up and now want my goodies to be good and my baddies to be vanquished. The rebellion is not as pure and good as I would like and the empire not quite evil enough. In fact my enjoyment of the Star Wars mythos is punctured by the sheer mindless cruelty of the Republic. This can be contrasted with Lord of the Rings, Gandalf pities the slaves of the Dark Lord and Faramir loves the sword not for itself but for what it protects. It seems to me that the rebellion have very little vision for what they want to reestablish and happy throw away Imperial lives at the wave of a force powered hand. The inhumanity of an Imperial Space Marine from 40K is preferable to the sanctimonious republic space wizards.
So I was pleased a few years ago to discover a series that did actually engage me and met my criteria of goodies and baddies. That was The Bad Batch. This series follows the adventures of a squad of defective clone troopers. Unaffected by Order 66 because of their abnormalities and refusing to carry out atrocities they find themselves on the run from the Empire and engaging in a series of exciting missions. The clones themselves are personable and engaging characters who you can root for (don’t get excited Australians) and buy into. Hunter the moody tracker and leader is a fascinating character who seems the most well rounded. He has a brotherly rivalry with Crosshair and is most hurt by Crosshairs betrayal of the group. Wrecker is the tank a powerful but childlike character, comic relief without being a clown or joke a perfect foil to Tech who is a genius with an acid sense of humour and finally Echo who was a regular clone until he was captured and augmented with technology. They are joined by Omega who is prima facie the ordinary character for the audience but who proves in the end to be as odd as all the others.