– Spoiler Review –
Jody Houser’s continuously excellent Age of Republic comes to a close on its strongest issue yet, Age of Republic – General Grievous #1, which is not only a visual feast with spooky, atmospheric art that brings the terror of the metal general to life, it also connects back to the beginning of the miniseries to offer one resilient thought: hope.
General Grievous can be a terrifying enemy, first truly felt and seen as such in Genndy Tartakovsky’s non-canon Clone Wars animated series (well worth a watch, by the way), and this Age of Republic issue manages to embody such frights through a mostly silent issue where the art does all the spooky talking. The issue still leans closer to his overall depiction in The Clone Wars canon animated show, a vainglorious villain with a thirst to wipe the Jedi from the face of the galaxy despite his lack of comprehension regarding the enemy he’s fighting is bigger than the Jedi he cuts down on a regular basis. This issue really focuses on Grievous’ misunderstandings about his most hated enemies: after cutting down two Jedi on the remote planet of Ledeve, he uncovers an ancient Jedi Temple the Jedi were on the planet for, and goes there to plunder its secrets. As much as his physicality makes him an enemy to the Jedi, the Force is forever out of his reach, exemplified here when he reaches out to grab a glowing orb, obscured by a waterfall of sorts, and comes up empty; Undeterred, he dives towards it and gets thrown into a vision where the Force messes with him, digging deep into his psyche and pulling him apart, both psychologically and physically, the latter in a rather gruesome manner. Spurned by the Force’s insinuations he’ll be nothing other than small, he orders an orbital strike to obliterate the Temple, though after the fire burns out and he makes his leave, the mysterious orb still remains, bright as ever. Beyond the wheezy villain of the week, Grievous didn’t get a lot of screentime in TCW to expand upon his past or motivations, beyond the excellent, creepy episode, “Lair of Grievous,” where we got to see Grievous’ innards, literally and figuratively, in his quest to become the most deadly weapon. The Force chastises him here for doing so, showing us his original form before he began to modify himself, saying such changes will ultimately prevent him from his goal of eradicating the Jedi. I really enjoyed this aspect of the issue, as it reminds readers that despite his proficiency in slaughtering Jedi (which we see in the beginning), it means little when his enemy is actually something that binds the galaxy together, through all living things, and he’s barely considered a living thing anymore.
Houser’s ability to distill characters to their cores has been extremely important to the strength of these issues, and the art has been vital alongside it, but in General Grievous, the art team of Luke Ross (art) and Java Tartaglia (colors) are the ones who really tell the story. It’s been no secret I’ve felt like Ross and Tartaglia have been the best team, giving the villains the advantage this miniseries, but they really outdid themselves for their final bow. Every panel is packed to the brim with moody, freaky ambiance, and inspires some real horror, be it Grievous brandishing his four sabers backlit by a spooky forest to the General’s brains and eyeballs floating through a mystical background, all together giving me some real nightmares. And because this issue is mostly silent, though when Grievous speaks letterer Travis Lanham adds to the eerie vibes with some creepy word bubbles, the art needed to do the heavy lifting and it succeeded beyond expectations for this already stellar team. We couldn’t have asked for a better villain art team, who rose to the occasion in every issue but even more so in their final one here, and I will miss them as we move into the new “Age” next month.
The hero and villain pair every month has managed to rhyme themes and ideas, but not only did General Grievous rhyme with its monthly counterpart, Padmé Amidala, it lined up with the very first issue to give the whole miniseries a full-circle feeling. In the case of Grievous and Padmé, they differed in the way I expected them too back in my Padmé review: for her, she might make small waves with her actions in the fight for the greater good, but they will have a lasting impact, while Grievous’ personal quest to eradicate his hated enemies leaves a big initial impact, i.e. orbital bombardment, but the lingering blue orb shows his actions won’t have a lasting impact. As for how the Grievous issue comes full circle with the beginning, Qui-Gon Jinn: Qui-Gon’s issue began the series off with a message of hope, as his vision quest, despite its dark tones, ended with the possibility good can still triumph over evil in the days ahead, while this issue ended with a literal representation of that, once again as seen in the blue orb standing strong in the wake of Grievous’ bombardment.
Here are a few other things:
- Over at Marvel’s website, writer Jody Houser was interviewed, where she talks about the juxtaposition for Padmé and Grievous is one uses words and the other speaks through actions, reveals her favorite Star Wars film, expands on her love of the Force, and more!
- The Jedi Temple of Ledeve looks a lot like the Temple of Eedit, first seen in Savage Oppress introduction episode of the The Clone Wars, “Monster.”
- Expect a full review of the Age of Republic miniseries before April. I’ll be doing one for each “Age” after it wraps up and then a big retrospective on the entire endeavor of the Age of Star Wars maxiseries.
- Seeing as this is the last issue of Houser’s “Age,” April brings us not only Celebration Chicago 2019, but Age of Rebellion, headed by writer Greg Pak. Check out the solicitations for April and May‘s issues of the next “Age.”
Age of Republic – General Grievous #1 is an excellent finale for the first “Age.”
+ Full on horror with this issue
+ Art team absolutely brought its A++++++ game
+ Ripping apart Grievous
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website @MynockManor.
AGE OF STAR WARS Maxiseries Review
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