Michael Stackpole and Timothy Zahn are the two authors who introduced the most important and iconic EU characters in the 1990s, but ranking a close third is Kevin J. Anderson. While he’s not in the same league as the others as a writer, there’s no denying that his creation of Luke’s Yavin IV Jedi Academy in the “Jedi Academy Trilogy” — and further adventures there in “Darksaber” and the “Young Jedi Knights” series — is an essential part of the post-Endor saga. And he — along with wife Rebecca Moesta — was the first to really delve into the personalities of Jacen, Jaina and other Jedi Knights of the next generation, who would take on greater roles in future adult novels.
Anderson’s writing level — good with broad premises and location descriptions, hopeless with plot and character — works better in comics than books. He was a key contributor to the “Tales of the Jedi” saga that opened up the ancient times in the GFFA for the first time.
In the four-issue “Jedi Academy: Leviathan” (1998-99), which gives us the only comic-book glimpse of the Jedi Academy’s early batch of students (the “Young Jedi Knights” generation would later be depicted in the “Invasion” comics), he reteams with “Tales” penciller Dario Carrasco Jr. With dark, rainy vibrancy, Carrasco Jr. and colorist Ray Murtaugh bring to life the destroyed mining colony on Corbos and the Jedi Knights Kyp Durron, Dorsk 82, Kirana Ti, Streen and — back on Yavin IV — Luke and researcher Tionne.
However, a guide to characters would’ve been a preferable outlet for these visual depictions, because “Leviathan” features a padded plot that — despite showcasing the large horror-story monster of the title, who eats people and traps their souls within pods on its back — is devoid of suspense, surprises or scares. Kyp actually kills the monster in Issue 3, but then Issue 4 features an even bigger leviathan. On seemingly every other panel, Kyp frets over the screaming souls he can hear in the Force, yet there’s no room for even cursory character development, such as tying those lost souls into Kyp’s own victims from his Sun Crusher barrage in the “Jedi Academy Trilogy.”
Just as Anderson used Dorsk 81 as a central character in “Darksaber,” he features Dorsk 82 here, but the clone essentially just acts scared and occasionally does something helpful for the group. Thus, inevitably, he’s welcomed as a trainee by story’s end (although he wouldn’t be used much in future stories).
This web article ranked “Leviathan” as one of the weakest stories in EU history, and I can’t argue with that. About the best thing I can say is — because it can be read more quickly — it’s not quite as painful as Anderson’s novels.