A'sharad Hett & Dark Lady

When Obi Wan Kenobi told Luke Skywalker about the Jedi, he made them sound like paragons of justice and light. As the prequels and the associated comics showed us, however, that was anything but the case. There were some who walked the line between Light and Dark their entire lives. The Jedi High Council sends A'Sharad Hett, Ki-Ad-Mundi, and Adi Gallia to capture bounty hunter Aurra Sing, who has killed two Jedi on Coruscant and is the murderer of Hett's father. The Dark Woman, Sing's former teacher, also asks to join the hunt but is denied. Events - and the Force - lead them all to a remote jungle world, where Hett confronts Sing in a lightsaber duel, and the Dark Woman seeks atonement for her failure to help Sing. A'sharad Hett was created by Tim Truman for the "Outlander" arc in Star Wars: Republic. The story was actually about his father, Sharad, but A'sharad's maturity ritual was part of the story. He would eventually become a main character during the Clone Wars and beyond. Though he's dressed like a Tusken Raider, A'sharad Hett isn't one of them. He grew up among the tribes, but he's a human. However, since Tusken custom forbids exposing any part of the flesh, very few people knew he was just wearing their clothes - so you can imagine how Anakin Skywalker felt when he was assigned to A'sharad's command during the Clone Wars: after all, Sandpeople killed his mother. Honoring his heritage, A'sharad's Jedi robes are augmented by wraps on his arms and legs, a scarf around his neck and that familiar Tusken mask. The mask can be removed to reveal the face beneath. In the comics, A'sharad has complex facial tattoos, and they're duplicated very nicely on this figure. The paint is blue, and the edges are entirely crisp. A long ponytail reaches down to the figure's waist, but there's a notch in the back of the mask to let the hair through. There's no real person to compare the figure's likeness to, but the sculpt is much like what was shown in the comics. A'sharad kept his father's lightsaber after the man was killed and developed a two-saber fighting style, so the figure includes two lightsabers: one metallic and modern, the other more rustic, with a barbed braid hanging off the pommel. The blad can be removed from his father's saber, and the hilt plugs into his belt. Additionally, the set includes a modified version of the typical Tusken gaderffii stick, which can also be plugged into the lightsaber hilt to form the complete weapon. The figure features a swivel neck, balljointed shoulders, swivel elbows, swivel forearms, swivel waist, swivel hips, and balljointed knees. Paired with A'sharad Hett is his master-to-be, the Dark Woman. He wants vengeance on Aurra Sing for killing his father, while the Dark Woman just feels responsible for the way her former padawan has turned out. Together, they fight crime! Okay, no. The Dark Woman was originally An'ya Kuro, until she abandonned her name in a show of humility before the Force (sort of - the argument could be made that "An'ya Kuro" means "black woman" in Japanese). The Dark Woman is wearing a purple dress over a brown jumpsuit. Her boots are black, and she has gold armor on her shoulders. She moves with balljointed ankles, swivel hips, swivel waist, forearm pegs, balljointed shoulders and balljointed neck. The lack of elbows is only mildly disappointing, because her arms are sculpted with a slight bend, and her left hand is designed with a distinct gesture: pretend she's giving someone a Force push. By the time of the Clone Wars, the Dark Woman's black hair had turned white. She's got an angry look on her face, which suits the character - she usually seems kind of annoyed to have other people around. Her hair falls in front of her face, slightly, and is sculpted well all the way around. Her lightsaber is fully purple - the blade is violet, and the intricately ornate hilt is dark magenta. This comic pack, eighth in the series, includes a reprint of Star Wars #31. Though the story does feature both the Dark Woman and A'sharad Hett, neither of them is wearing the outfits seen on these figures. How about that! Still, who cares? It's a decent book, even though in reading it you'll have skipped over the first three parts of the story. Everybody gets something to do, but the main bulk of the story is the throwdown between Hett and Aurra Sing. Nice interior art, too. With two all-new sculpts of characters that have never had toys before, plus a nice reprint comic, Comic Pack #08 is a worthwhile purchase. A'sharad Hett and the Dark Woman are both good figures, and both play important roles in the Star Wars Expanded Universe.

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