Sometimes I wish that I had the same sort of candid experience as selling bizarre things at a yard sale or even being behind the register of a porn store, when looking over who reads this column. I would like to know, who is secretly looking here, and when they are doing it. Are you looking over your shoulder, when you are here, reading about comic books? Or are you so secure enough with who you are, that it doesn’t matter who knows you like Aquaman or that you know at least five people in the Legion of Superheroes?

Nowadays, thanks to the success of ‘The Dark Knight’ and ‘Iron Man’ it seems like people are proud to say they are comic book fans. But you see, you can’t have your cake and eat it too, and it would seem that there has to be a true sense of balance at the box office. In movie theaters, comic book characters are on top, and with the recent bombing of ‘Star Wars: The Clone Wars’, the animated movie that takes place between Episode II and III of George Lucas’s epic Tale, Star Wars seems to be on the bottom. You have to love the Force in secret, these days.

It is fab now to bash Star Wars, even though we all slept underneath a blanket that had Luke riding a tauntaun on Hoth, when we were five years old. We were first in line when the classic trilogy movies were re-released in theaters, yet, less than a decade later, we scoff whenever we hear the words ‘Lucas’, ‘Sith’ or ‘light saber’. So, right now, to be reading this, you must really love Star Wars to the core (well either that, or you are bored at work, and are just clicking on articles). Now, I am about to tell you everything you wanted to know about the FORCE UNLEASHED. So, going back to my weird, yard sale/porn store metaphor- you have walked into the porn store, and now you have made your way to the Anal section. Welcome to pure Star Wars comic goodness.

You see, that is what THE FORCE UNLEASHED is, everything you loved about the classic Star Wars trilogy, and everything you thought was salvageable from the prequel trilogy. THE FORCE UNLEASHED is a comic based on a novel, that was based on a videogame (I shit you not) that actually delivers on a dramatic level. It tells the story of Darth Vader’s secret apprentice, a man only known as ‘Starkiller’. True Star Wars geeks will note that Starkiller is the original last name George Lucas wrote down for Luke Skywalker’s character, when writing the script for the first Star Wars movie. But who cares what true Star Wars geeks think? They already know what this Apprentice’s midichlorian count is (Star Wars’ humor).

Starkiller is trained by Darth Vader to hunt down and exterminate the Jedi that have lived on after the end of Episode III. On the side, Vader has also been training Starkiller to take out the Father of all evil old man bad guys, The Emperor. In a way, Starkiller is like the son, Vader thought he had accidentally killed when choking his wife Padme- a Luke before there was an idea of Luke, who Vader was able to turn to the dark side. I really don’t want to give away too much more of the actual plot of the story, since some of the twists are quite satisfying for Star Wars fans. Let’s just say that this Starkiller character, though never mentioned in any of the movies, has a tremendous effect on the entire Star Wars universe.

Starkiller, in the videogame, and therefore in the comic book, was modeled on the actor, Sam Witwer. You most likely will not recognize his name, but you will probably recognize his face. He was in the first season of ‘Dexter’ as well as the second season of ‘Battlestar Galactica’ and could also be seen in the movie, ‘The Mist’. Witwer was an excellent choice to be the model for this character, since he has proven to be as intense an actor as the Apprentice is as intense a character.

I recommend this book to all Star Wars fans, whether you read comics or not. THE FORCE UNLEASHED bridges the gap between the prequel trilogy and the classic trilogy, and does so using characters with unspecified morals, the struggle between the light side of the force and the dark, that can be found in every character, and pure lazer blast filled excitement. Pick up this book, and don’t worry, the comic shop owner will hide it in a brown bag, so that no one outside the store knows what you bought.