Picking the title for these Star Wars comics year-in-reviews is normally pretty fun, and while I still enjoyed the process for this year’s, anger spurred it on. Some of the anger stems from Marvel’s treatment of its series now, but really it’s from watching the dumb, fascist Trump administration spread its greasy fingers into disrupting any ounce of democracy we had. Businesses, especially small and local, suffering from the burden of tariffs, with the only hope seemingly Costco taking it all to court. Our neighbors and vulnerable communities attacked by the administration’s Gestapo agents, ICE, their rights and their lives trampled out of pure racism, especially thanks to ICE’s ability to use Kavanaugh Stops to spread their hateful destruction. How the genocide by Israel continues to be washed aside by failing legacy media and those who profit most from the destruction. And while anger is the path to the dark side, if you’re standing by, supporting, or the one doing these things, you’ve already fallen. But how do we turn this anger into positive resistance? There’s stepping up for the vulnerable in your community, from whistles to frog-costumes; voting for progressive candidates that want to do more than achieve the status quo prior to this administration and those before it; and donating to families in Gaza who need all the help we can offer. And to bring this all back to discussing Star Wars comics, how do we get a parent company like Disney to hear its fans again, not those of the filth-ridden MAGA media empire, full of sad little men with loud YouTube accounts and vapid morals? How do we help Disney see it needs to forgo its chosen shackles of compliance with the fascist administration and its white supremacist values when petitions (like for The Acolyte or The Hunt for Ben Solo) and planes with signs are clearly not enough? Is it sales? But will affecting sales have enough impact or just teach them the wrong lesson, like with Solo: A Star Wars Story? The answers aren’t easy, as so many variables exist to tackle and overcome, but we’ll examine them in my year-in-review of 2025’s Star Wars comics. Despite all this, 2025 was still full of events like all the wonderful endings to The High Republic, intriguing new beginnings, plenty of delays, yet also an anniversary that felt more like a womp rat flicked off a ledge by Jabba the Hutt than a podrace winning celebration.
— Spoilers for comics released in 2025 —
Here are the things I didn’t think worked in 2025 and how to fix them:
A -Y) Penny Pinching; Fates Unknown; Actual Snowflaking; Creative Restriction; #1 Bonanza; Etc.
Normally I start these with the What Worked aka ‘Good’ section, and while there are certainly aspects worthy of the good category, we have to start with the What Didn’t Work aka ‘Bad’ section to better understand 2025’s Star Wars comics. It’s not because there was overwhelmingly bad work or something, rather there’s a very complex situation. Factors for this stem from sources far outside the panels of your favorite book, which really helped bring down a year which had started off strong and was shaping up to be a big one, especially for Marvel given they were celebrating 10 years of their canon tenure.
While there are many factors to cover, we can narrow down to two vital ones. On one hand, it’s tariffs y’all, a dumb idea from a dumb guy that’s done nothing but strain markets, hurt small businesses as they struggle to make ends meet getting supplies vital to their existence, and generally helps no one given the supposed gains from them isn’t going to anyone who actually needs it. This has caused all sorts of businesses to claw back their outputs, lay off workers, and even shut down, many doing so rather than cut at the bottom line of excessive CEO salaries, so sales and sales margins are all most big companies like Disney care about. And they’d rather invest in AI slop, which is destroying our planet and stealing jobs and sucking out creativity, than pay creatives to creative. On the other hand, bowing to conservative backlash, even the fear of it, and trying to stay out of Trump’s bully sights has let certain CEOs and bigwigs feel more comfortable avoiding anything inclusive. As I mentioned before on the Manor, just look at this corporate word salad about The Acolyte’s cancellation, they don’t want to say the quiet part out loud, but their actions speak louder than words anyways.
Together, these factors have led to the current situation affecting at least Marvel comics. They’ve implemented a sales margin focused approach to a series’ longevity and are, from editor and above, handing down edicts to avoid inclusivity and messages. While the churn of new #1 issues gives them the sales bump they love seeing, it leads to uncertainty for fans and hampered quality in what fans get. For starters, contracting most series to only run for 10 issues means a creative has to ensure their stories make a big splash right away. This means they aren’t allowed to slowly build and grow it, hampering engagement with characters new and old, while bringing swift resolution to something that’s supposedly a big deal in the galaxy but feels like it barely makes a dent to anyone besides those involved. Best example of this is the current Star Wars (2025) run, as we’re 8 issues in and there’s still new names coming in and there’s no emotional connection to them, while we get told more events than shown. While a series could get more than 10 issues, the teams involved won’t know until issue #5’s sales, and even then, Marvel won’t tell fans or let the creatives involved tell anyone either way. Dark Horse might have more delays than C-3PO has forms of communication, but at least we (and the creatives) know upfront how long most of their series will be. Even worse, if everything isn’t selling well, a series might not even GET the full 10 issues anyways, like what obviously happened to Doctor Aphra: Chaos Agent. What makes that cancellation even more egregious is it was the only series with a marginalized character lead, the only female-identifying marginalized creative writing it, and it was the character’s 10th anniversary, so the fact they couldn’t let it have the full 10 it was originally contracted for is a slap in the face not only to fans (in general and Aphra’s biggest supporters), but the creatives involved too.
And are the imposed sales goals even feasible? The world of gaming has dealt with this significantly recently, as it was reported Xbox has been imposing sales margin goals of 30% on all titles, a number most video games outside of a Call of Duty game would have trouble hitting given the average is reportedly 17-22%. Even if you search through old sales data, Doctor Aphra wasn’t outselling Darth Vader stories very often, though this isn’t unexpected given one is more recognizable and likely to sell anyways. If Marvel’s new structure would require both to hit the same sales margin, we can all agree that’s unlikely no matter who or what the subject matter is for either story. Maybe they vary the sales margin per series, but it’s clear Chaos Agent didn’t get this treatment if it didn’t even get to go past issue #5, and as I’ll get into more below, that was clearly the plan. To judge all stories off the same metrics doesn’t take into account all the nuances of the specific characters used, the actual fanbase for such a story, the scale or size of the story, etc., and will likely led to less risks in stories and a focus on the big spectacle ones instead. Factor in how even us always online fans are full of uncertainty if the series we’re reading will even get to 10 issues or not these days, imagine how casual fans who walk into a shop to see if there’s a place to jump in must feel, translating to a hesitancy to get invested, which in turn wouldn’t help sales. If each 10-issue run could build and grow on what came before, like say we get another Kylo Ren comic after Legacy of Vader wraps up, and this was more clearly communicated to fans, this would mitigate things. Fans, always online or casual, might be more willing to go back if it’s just a quick 10 (or 12) issues they need to read to be all caught up. But if creatives keep planning and hoping for more, never sure and always looking over their shoulders, will they be able to tell as full a story as the characters and fans deserve?
The worst aspect to these outside the panel factors is how neutered stories will and already have become. For starters, there is limited time to tell the best and biggest story creatives can, so writers will often have to focus more on plot than character, diving less into what makes many of these characters memorable or unique. As I said before, an example for this is the current Star Wars run. There have been too many plot conveniences used to squeeze its story into 10 issues, be it: everyone’s explaining their actions; we find out someone happened to put a tracker on characters; we’re just told a lot about bigger battles or situations unfolding than shown any of it; or we have these new species and worlds yet not enough context to give it any emotional depth. The same goes for Jedi Knights, an overall fun series lessened by little to no character development, a focus on big spectacle, and a lack of distinct voices for many of its Jedi (leading to two new characters’ deaths which land with a shrug emotionally yet induce anger since they’re both marginalized). When you only get 10 issues to try and make a big story or make your time stick out, certain corners are cut to make it work. Even worse will be the ways stories will lose messaging or inclusive characters and themes, something Disney CEO Bob Iger has been eager to backslide on thanks to the fascists running the US government. We saw this in action already when Marvel’s editorial or above forced their biggest original character to have her queerness on the backburner, on both theirs and the character’s 10 anniversary, thus quickly alienating fans rather than grow them. From Cherish Chen’s interview with Countdown City Geeks, around the 19-minute mark she gets into not only the length of her series, but sort of why it it was structured the way it was. This includes the very clear sentiment that, while she was excited to provide new stories and situations, she was told to incorporate the familiar faces that many fans felt drew down the new series. I’ve seen some chatter blaming her for these choices, but there’s been nothing to suggest that’s the case and she did the best she could with the directions she was given. Fans must remember, it was Disney that cancelled The Acolyte and shelved The Hunt for Ben Solo, so our assumptions should land first on the bigger corporate entity, and those who are higher up in those, than put blame on Lucasfilm or the creatives involved. It makes one wonder if we could ever get anything like The High Republic again, as not only was it largely so inclusive, it didn’t shy away from making clear allegories for political situations in the world too, which has long been Star Wars’ bread and butter. Will its Phase More content contain the same level of what made it such a fan favorite for so many different people, making many feel seen and heard and loved in a way this franchise never has before? Or will these new restrictions come for the era as well? Regardless of the era, it’s not good for the Saga across the board.
Change comes for everything and I’m usually able to roll with the punches, but when the change comes from such factors, it’s a little harder to accept. Do I ever think we’ll get back to 25-50 issue tales, regardless of bigger factors like tariffs and rampant white nationalism swaying decisions? I don’t think it’s going to be as easy to happen again, but I always have hope. Given we come to comics for something that’s a half-way point from a novel and a TV show, and yet so much more and its very own thing, if all comics are just 10 issues that feel like a 1hr 45min to 2 hour film, why come to the comics at all? A few miniseries here or there with such a feeling makes sense, but everything? I’m all for change, but that doesn’t feel like in fans’ and the medium’s best interests. At least some transparency on when stories come to end could make this new normal a little more tolerable.
So that’s why we had to start the 2025 comics year-in-review here and this section is named so many things. It’s all so connected, it’s hard to single out one issue, as they cascade and fall like dominoes until it’s basically a bunch of Rube Goldberg machines running their course. It’s important to remember, nothing’s easy and this situation, and the answers to get out of it, certainly never will be.
Z) Diversity Update: Stagnant Waters Continue
I guess at least it’s not gotten worse, percentage-wise? Since 2021’s watershed results, Star Wars comics’ diversity numbers, both for characters and creatives, haven’t returned to such a high. Instead, they’ve maintained a status quo, which is like the least rotten meiloorun in a batch of rotten meilooruns, and 2025 is another notch on the stagnancy train. This outcome was not totally surprising thanks to The High Republic still being in full swing in the first half of the year, I was just worried how much not having it for the second half could or would set things back. It seems it was still a force to be reckoned with as parity levels dropped 6% without THR comics in general, character-wise. In 2026, without the big, diverse notions of THR, will the current stagnant waters be disturbed, and not in the right direction, even worse than 6%? Given how little we know about what they have in store for 2026, and how reduced the output for both Marvel and Dark Horse is currently looking, it’s hard to say, but without a single marginalized creative in a writing or artist position announced as of this time, it’s not looking great. History and the data show, the more marginalized creatives involved in such roles, the more parity in the stories told, hence my less than stellar beliefs for what’s in store. While I’d rather see growth in the parity numbers, or at least get back to 2021’s levels, I have no faith we’ll get anywhere close to that, so I guess stagnancy in 2025 and hopes for the same in 2026 is all I can honestly have. As I said before, it’s the least rotten meiloorun in a batch of rotten meilooruns.
{For full transparency on my data collection, you can see the raw numbers and data sets for 2022, 2023, and 2024. The link to my diversity article contains more}
Here are the things I liked the most/thought worked the best:
A) Era Disbursement
After 5 years of two very interconnected stories in the comics, be it Qi’ra’s Saga or The High Republic, 2025’s stories launched all over the timeline as a welcomed change of pace. As much as I harped on too many crossovers the last few years on Marvel’s side, I still quite enjoyed the overall story and grand nature of everything, but I was definitely ready for a break and embraced the change. It was refreshing then to read the exploits of the Jedi Order prior to The Phantom Menace, check in with Chelli Aphra after Return of the Jedi, or experience Kylo Ren’s journey in the year before The Rise of Skywalker. Sure, the mainline Star Wars (2025) series and Doctor Aphra: Chaos Agent took place in the same era, but the only crossover was familiar faces and had nothing to do with the story. And with Dark Horse, they had stories set during the Clone Wars featuring the Bad Batch or Poe Dameron’s exploits before The Force Awakens. For the first time in a while, fans could choose to focus on what they wanted, sticking to an era that interested them, and not experience heaping amounts of FOMO in the process. Before this year, most comics made more sense if you read all the connected series, thus it was hard to want to just read one or two series, as hints and references spilled through the crossovers and showed a glimpse of what fans were missing out. And this was a problem for even the always-online among us, so imagine the casual fans who wandered into the shop, curious if Crimson Reign was before or after Hidden Empire, and when one should read certain issues of the Star Wars (2020) run compared to the crossover events. Given how 2025’s new stories weren’t as connected, even casual fans were more likely to walk in and pickup a series because the barrier to entry was much lower.
It still seemingly hasn’t translated to better sales, at least on Marvel’s end given they’ve not extended any of the series they relaunched with, so we’ll see how the next relaunch goes to truly judge if disconnecting all the stories work or not (and if they choose not to connect them again). And just because stories are spread across different eras doesn’t mean better quality either, so hopefully Marvel works with a good mixture of new or reliable talent to give everything a breath of fresh air. In the end, giving fans the choice to get into how much or little they wanted by disbursing the eras was a welcomed change for 2025.
B) The High Republic’s Curtain Call…For Now
All good things come to an end and we knew The High Republic’s was coming, but it didn’t make it any less sad to see it go. Since 2021, fans have come to know, love, theorize, and worry insistently about a favorite character’s fate, so as the end loomed, so did our time with an eclectic and enjoyable cast of characters. In the comics specifically, Daniel José Older and Cavan Scott resolved the storylines of many beloved characters. For Older, his final slate of issues for The High Republic Adventures – Phase III had some of the highest emotional stakes with the most prescient message about our times. And for Scott, he had to make the ending we all knew was coming for Keeve Trennis work given her journey so far. For both, they landed their ships in the fashion readers had come to expect, with plenty of heart, fun, and tears. Elsewhere, Alyssa Wong closed out the twisted tale of the broken bond between Driggit Parse and Jedi Padawan Gavi, all set to the explosive final conflict of the era (which won a Top 5 spot below!). And many of the writers got to tell one final tale for some of their side characters in the wonderful opening comic of 2025, The High Republic Adventures Phase III Annual. As the dust settled on the High Republic initiative, there was a sense we’d experienced lightning in a bottle. Creatives curating a story, providing inclusive or prescient messages along the way, and it was all somehow wrangled across multiple publishers and mediums. Given all I’ve spoke about above, at least on Marvel’s side, regarding the potential censure of content in stories we love, the types of messages The High Republic stood for don’t seem so possible anymore. We’re lucky the comics not only managed to provide enjoyable and heartful endings full of promise while being so vital to the overall story of the era, but that they were able to end the way their architects wanted. There is a “Phase More” on the way, starting with March 2026’s The High Republic Adventures – Pathfinders, yet given how sporadic it seems we’ll get such content, it’ll never truly be the same again. Yet it was bound to happen, it’s just something we’re all going to have to get used to.
Top Creatives:
Top Three Writers:
Daniel Jose Older: The High Republic Adventures – Phase III (#14-20)
What can I say about Daniel José Older’s work beyond what I already have? Between coverage of his many High Republic works and two previous Top 3 Writers wins, I don’t want to sound like a broken record. But spots on this Top 3 aren’t won just because writers make a story really entertaining or land an ending worth all that’s come before. These spots also consider the additional impact of their work, beyond the page and in fans’ hearts. And I’m hard pressed to find someone who has touched on so many different subjects that mean so many different things to so many different people than Older has, especially in these final days of his 5 year run of The High Republic Adventures. So I appreciated how he focused on memories more than endings in the finale issue for Phase III’s run, as, per Svi’no Atchapat’s song, memories are what we are all made up of. No matter where the Saga goes from here, even if the future seems less bright when it comes to inclusive stories, we have these memories of the characters. This includes all their ups and their downs, leading them to the ending of the story. We’ll want more, but when memories and what we can learn from those memories and their stories are more important in the end, the ‘more’ can wait. And without Older’s gentle goodbye, seeing The High Republic close would’ve been much harder to deal with. He’ll certainly be missed, for now!
Charles Soule: Legacy of Vader 1-11 | A New Legacy “The Grand Imperial Jubilee”
What’s a year without a Star Wars comic from Soule? We haven’t had to figure that out for a while and he proves again we probably won’t want to after his work in 2025. It all started with “The Grand Imperial Jubilee” from A New Legacy, Marvel’s one-shot celebration of their 10th Anniversary with the license again. With some fun cameos (Terex in 2025?! Yes!), a heist-y good time with Aphra, Valance, Sana, and more, and fantastic tongue-in-cheek Darth Momin moments, it read like a good celebration, indeed. And then came the first 11 (of 12) issues of Legacy of Vader. From how it involves some utterly unique explorations of the Force, doesn’t overstay its welcome with Vader memory lane, fills in some sequel era blanks, and manages to put Kylo Ren’s fluctuating soul front-and-center, Legacy of Vader feels like a spiritual successor to Soule’s Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith series. For Kylo himself, we see him struggle through his pointed goal of killing the past, learning maybe the past is worth learning from as he kills it anyways. If that’s not enough, Soule’s packed the first 11 issues with some esoteric Force shenanigans, from an Order 66 survivor who sharpened the mind trick into a devastating weapon to Kylo visiting the good and bad netherworlds of the Force, speaking with Luke Skywalker’s Force Ghost on his plane, not ours. Check below, it’s one of the Top 5 Moments of the year, especially with the way Soule writes Jedi Master Luke vs Kylo in the improbable yet mesmerizing scene. And now we’re all on the edge, waiting to see what secrets and sorcery Kylo finds within Vader’s vault in his Mustafarian castle in the series’ finale! To think this all came in the same year we learned about The Hunt for Ben Solo’s cancellation by Disney, it felt like Soule retroactively struck while the coals were hot.
Cavan Scott: The High Republic – Fear of the Jedi #1-5 | The High Republic – The Finale: The Beacon #1 | The High Republic Adventures: Dispatches from the Occlusion Zone #4 | Tales from the Nightlands #1-3
As I said when Cavan Scott secured his spot in 2024’s Top 3 Writers, his usage of the GIF with the words “Time Will Tell” wasn’t just to tease fans. It’s a promise, more than anything else, a promise waiting and trusting him will be worth it. In 2025, he proved not only will time tell, but trusting him with patience was rewarding as all heck. In the main High Republic series, Keeve Trennis’ long and winding road to leaving the Jedi Order bore fruit, not just for getting us to the ending, but for how emotionally it landed after the hard work Scott, plus the art teams and full cast on the audio book entries, put into her journey to the end. But it wasn’t just about her, as Scott was able to give a sense of resolution to other characters, like Lourna Dee and Sskeer, providing fans of all flavors something to enjoy and appreciate. Scott also checked in with Ty Yorrick one last time, showing us how tapping back into the Force and trusting others put her in a place to help the galaxy without the need for credits or her own enjoyment; it also made her surprising appearance in The Acolyte: Wayseeker all the more satisfying. Yet his 2025 wasn’t only about endings, as he also helped create and explore the boogeyman-esque Nightlander! It’s tough to make something as frightening and satisfying enough to stand up against the franchise’s storied and memorable villains, and let alone do it in three comic issues! Armed with a collection of talented artists, Iain McCaig providing the haunting inspiration for the Nightlander, and tales as much about the heroes as they were about the lengths this spooky new villain could go, Scott pulled it off. Time will tell what other Star Wars stories he’ll spin for us in the future, but we couldn’t have asked for a better batch from him in 2025.
Top Three Art Teams:
Chris Allen (Penciller), Chris Allen & Craig Yeung (Inkers), Rachelle Rosenberg (Colorist) {Issue #1}; Ramon Rosanas (Artist/Colorist) {Issue #2}; Juan José Ryp (Artist/Colorist) {Issue #3}; Sara Pichelli (Artist), Rachelle Rosenberg (Colorist) {Issue #4}; Joe Caramagna (Letterer Throughout): Boba Fett: Black, White & Red Miniseries
The previous Black, White & Red entries contained some memorable art, but the teams behind Boba Fett’s BW&R absolutely delivered like no collection of artists before. I’m not a big Boba Fett fan, though I appreciate how canon’s depictions of him have been versus some of the Legends stuff we got towards the end, yet these artists pulled me into each writer’s story about the bounty hunter in ways that made me wonder if I should be more of a fan. With issue #1’s team, Rosenberg’s colors gave claustrophobic depth to prison escapes and a haunting sense of beauty to dangerous star systems, drawn by Allen and Yeung in such a way they’re showing off how they rose above the script. Issue #2 saw some fun usage of the conceit where it felt like readers were playing Where’s Waldo? one second and being tapped into the truth behind characters’ words as they formed alliances the next. As for issue #3, Ryp ripped out some of my nightmares and put them to the page, the spider-like B’omarr bodies skittering into abundance on a two-page splash that haunts me to this day. Combined with his atmospheric work, setting up the sense of nefarious deeds being attempted under cover of a storm or a false desolation to make the aforementioned two-page splash hit that much harder, his work left quite the impression. With the 4th and final issue, Pichelli’s interior artwork debut for Star Wars comics was well-worth the wait. With a story centering on three armor and masked characters, her ability to convey their personalities through expressive movements made the issue’s big fight a delightful brawl I couldn’t take my eyes away from. As canon positions Boba Fett as more than just a cool looking armored suit with a badass personality, the collective art teams for this series made sure to realize this too, playing up the thematic conceit to color in both him and those around him.
Artist Madibek Musabekov, Colorist Luis Guerrero, and Letterer Clayton Cowles: Jedi Knights #1-10
The Force unleashed, amiright?! Regardless of your feelings about the variety nature of the Jedi Knights series or its lack of character development, the writer’s choices unleashed Musabekov, Guerrero, and Cowles and fans were all the better for it. An issue of only splash pages, full of kaiju and an eye-watering sense of scale? Check. A first-person point-of-view issue that felt like stills from a VR game? Check. Bringing to life the main villain from a cancelled storyline by the toy brand Kenner and making it as cool as those teams dreamed? Double check. You name it, Musabekov was game to give it all he had, and then some. While his disarming and varied expressions is what finally tipped him over the edge and landed him a Top 3 spot last year, it’s the combination of such details with a shifting sense of scale that made him an easy pick for 2025. It’s wild to think the same artist could bring such variable magnitudes to life, like issue #3, where the awe-inspiring scale of the kaijura creatures made me feel like the Dr. Grant from the Jurassic Park meme, and issue #8, where scaling down to a youngster’s point-of-view raises the stakes of a harrowing pirate attack but also makes her eventual powerful reveal so memorable. Alongside him on colors was Luis Guerrero, who helped match the tone of the animated episode one issue tied into and ensured the Kaijura monsters had a vibrant, top-of-the-food-chain yellow against the deep forest greens like they deserved. And letterer Clayton Cowles brought his own memorable parts, from Atha Prime’s larger-than-life sound FX to match his deadly precision to making the VR-esque lightsaber ignition as brilliant and as thrilling as it would’ve looked in one’s own hands. As for 2026 Artists, could Musabekov win a spot again? The early previews for his work on the upcoming Shadow of Maul, a prequel tie-in to the animated series Maul: Shadow Lord, is making it look like a possibility already!
Vincenzo Riccardi Artist, Comicraft’s Jimmy Betancourt and Tyler Smith Lettering: The High Republic Adventures: Dispatches from the Occlusion Zone #4; Tales from the Nightlands #2
There are distinct, eye-catching styles, and then there’s Vincenzo Riccardi. The moment you see the first swirling pattern of dazzling color, you know not only exactly who is behind those gorgeous images, but also what kind of journey you’re in for. What might look like chaos in anyone else’s hands is really just the beauty of the storm in Riccardi’s, and that beauty, even if depicting something dark and scary, seeps into the stories he helps tell. Bookending the year, we started January 2025 with his work on Dispatches from the Occlusion Zone #4, which visits the recovering Dalna, a planet devastated by the Nihil. A world in flux, Dalna is fighting to reclaim its former grace, yet the volcanic destruction still ravages the land. In Riccardi’s hands, both the reclamation and the destruction are something awe-inspiring to behold. Above, there are the vibrant throes of volcanic destruction still covering the land, yet below in the caves, pleasant colors of rebirth dot the walls. When the young Lonto woman bursts onto the scene, her vines both feel natural yet deadly and suffocating. It balanced a fine line, while it created the impression Ty Yorrick’s escape from said vines was almost angelic. With the second Tales of the Nightlands issue, he builds on Soo Lee’s opening salvo with the nightmarish Nightlander. He hints at a final form yet to be glimpsed, while the nightmares she pushes onto Luke Skywalker are concerning images of his friends torn to swirling chunks and pieces, in an all-ages friendly way of course. For how outlandish those nightmares look, it helps project how frightening she is and how precious our reality is compared to what she wants to bring to the galaxy.
Top 5 Moments (in no particular order):
Lost, But Not Forgotten (The High Republic: The Finale – The Beacon):
Between 5 years of waiting to see why Keeve Trennis leaves the Jedi Order and Keeve becoming one of my (and many other’s) favorite from the era, could Cavan Scott do the moment justice? I think the fact before we get into her reasoning why, the simple image (from the art team of Marika Cresta, Jim Campbell, and Ariana Maher) of her in her new ‘do and outfit still bringing me to tears just thinking about it proves he definitely did. For someone who always found the third option to any situation, avoiding violence at all costs, Keeve’s concerns regarding what the Jedi Order learned from the whole conflict are well-founded. Despite her actions and viewpoints, she’s offered to be the next Marshall of the Order and then offered spots on the Jedi Council in the wake of the sacrifices of others. Rather than confront what led to the rise of the Nihil and how the Nameless threat could be so misunderstood, the Order sees their success as leaders in battle, in fighting for light and life, and are eager to move on to be that beacon. But rushing to be at the forefront of the fight, without stopping to think of another way, is what concerns Keeve most, and we all know, centuries later, they do just that when the Clone Wars come knocking, a final move in their downfall. Keeve understanding this and making a stand, leaving the Order because they were so eager to move on from the conflict and not consider her concerns, feels as fitting as it can get for this part of Keeve’s life. How she lives with this choice and makes the galaxy a better place where she can afterwards is something I hope we’ll get to see one day, but I’m content with what we got for now, Keeve and Sskeer together again, like father and daughter, with the whole galaxy ahead of them. Keeve may be one of the Lost, but she’s definitely not forgotten.
“See you around, kid.” (Legacy of Vader #10):
Luke Skywalker’s final line to Kylo Ren in The Last Jedi took on a whole new meaning in Charles Soule’s Legacy of Vader, leading to a moment almost as legendary. Kylo Ren, tired of feeling the ever-watchful eye of his Uncle from the great Force Ghost beyond, demanded to find a way to shut him out. Darth Vader’s servant Vaneé obliges with access to the Sith Lord’s meditation chamber, leading to an out-of-this-realm experience like none other. Kylo finds himself judged in the Netherworld of the Force, a slice of dark side hell with spooky skulls on bone chains. Realizing it’s not where he’d find Luke, Kylo concentrates on the man, the myth, the legend…his uncle, and finds himself transported to Force Ghost Paradise. It’s wild to think he got to visit either, let alone the light side paradise, and it surprises even the Force Ghosts there, besides maybe Luke himself, who steps out to chat with his nephew. The conversation which follows is even more memorable than Kylo’s insane and surprising journey to get there, as Luke shows why he’s a Master Jedi and makes Kylo seem as petulant and short-sided as ever. It also does a lot to build cohesion through the sequel trilogy, from Luke’s acceptance of his choices to the through-line of what everyone kept trying to tell Kylo…it’s only Kylo that’s alone, not Ben Solo. And like I said earlier, somehow this arrived AFTER we learned about The Hunt for Ben Solo’s cancellation by Disney, so it was one-two punch of unforgettable Kylo Ren news and happenings, especially as this gave us hints on how the film could’ve brought back Ben Solo. Doesn’t get more Top 5 Moments than that!
Karking Sister?! (Doctor Aphra: Chaos Agent #5):
What do you mean, Chelli Lona Aphra has a sister?! Given how much we’ve seen of Chelli’s past, and how many issues we’ve had focused on her so far, how could we go so long without knowing about a sister? Given the idea for this development was just created, we have our answers on the meta-level, but it was going to be more interesting to see how this sister was slotted into what we already knew anyways, and it would’ve been even more so intriguing to see why Chelli’s been unwilling to mention/interact with her. While those revelations will remain unknown for who knows how long, as Chaos Agent was unceremoniously cancelled just as Dellen Aphra burst onto the scene, such potential and how Cherish Chen introduced her certainly made a splash worthy of the idea. Chen does a lot in one issue, contrasting Dellen with Chelli to tell us as much about the half-sister as our plucky and chaotic heroine. While Chelli felt like she slightly regressed in Chaos Agent, especially without her polycule anywhere in sight, Dellen is a reminder of how far she’s come and changed. Dellen is Chelli more like when we first met her, independent, unwilling to believe in the system, and happy to live on the run. Least we thought Chelli hadn’t changed, given she’s willing to work within a system like the New Republic via the DAGGERS and clearly misses what she had with her polycule (without saying their names), it reveals how the series has shown her development from Doctor Aphra (2020) is still intact and would come more into focus if the series had progressed. The potential and excitement was blazing all over Chaos Agent as it came to an end: the hints how Dellen factored into Chelli’s early life poked at what all of that story could bring, like maybe some more Korin Aphra; having someone who is more like Chelli once was could’ve tried to run back how she’s changed, challenging her new views on life; and the fact she was leaving the DAGGERs behind for now and going out into the galaxy again, less cameos required. Too bad real-world factors brought it down before it could bring all the potential to fruition, not something I thought would ever be a factor in these Top 5 lists, but here we are.
A Jedi (And Friend) Never Gives Up (The High Republic Adventures: The Battle of Eriadu {Phase III}):
Gavi Takitaken and Driggit Parse’s friendship went through the absolute grinder because of the Nihil crisis, including when Driggit stabs Gavi. Most friendships would be over after something like that, yet for a Jedi like Gavi, despite his youth and training yet to come, hope is never far away. And for Driggit, she thought it was over, as she was so eager to push away those she cared about so they wouldn’t be harmed when she finally takes down the Nihil from inside, her life be damned. Their tale spun through different mediums, starting with a middle grade book, into short stories for Star Wars Insider (RIP!), and then the comics, yet despite the winding journey, it still packed an emotional wallop when these two couldn’t avoid one another any longer. Despite the larger battle unfolding around them, and Driggit’s big part in stopping a vital Nihil war effort, Gavi pulls on the threads in the Force he sees to find his way to her. Their meeting, with twisting tendrils and the series’ trademark merged narration boxes, and the hug that follows is a tear-inducing confrontation. Gavi’s able to share his forgiveness and Driggit’s able to hear it, to realize her actions haven’t ruined the relationships she relied on to power her choices, even if she can’t accept it. Driggit’s a complex character, which really shined in the Insider short story, and the fact writer Alyssa Wong left her story on a complex point, without a simple happy ending, felt more real and powerful than any other outcome. It’s enough closure for us fans to accept the arc for both characters, but it leaves it open to see if Driggit can find the acceptance within herself and come back from the edge, after everything. The way it lingers, and how it jumped to the top of story threads I hope gets pulled in the High Republic’s “Phase More” era, is what makes this a Top 5 worthy moment.
Fighting Eternity (Boba Fett: Black, White & Red #3):
There’s something about Ethan Sacks’ story of Boba’s dogged pursuit of a missed bounty of his youth, and the mind-numbing good artwork that comes with it, which left me unable to take my eyes away. I think it’s because Sacks shows this bounty is not one to be trifled with. Be it his near destruction of a young Boba, and then the reveal of the bounty’s new body and his legion of spider-like friends, the whole situation feels impossible, even for Boba Fett. There’s an inevitability to the other stories, Boba’s plot-armor not hidden enough, yet there’s enough time-jumping, stakes, and detailed, horrifying art that one can almost see the plot-armor melt away. The entire sequence of Boba fighting against Corm and his B’omarr’d friends is not only inventive in how the battle plays out, but gorgeous to look at. Ryp’s visuals, as I said earlier, are so packed with detail, the fight feels claustrophobic and overwhelming for Boba. And then when he turns the Firespray against the very structure he’s battling in, leading to a flight through falling debris like the scene in Rogue One, yet he’s towing a heavy and deadly droid-body behind him? You can almost feel and hear the crumbling building around them. What really brings this whole pursuit home is the reality the bounty’s been expired for years, yet Boba couldn’t let the slight against him, and his father, go. His stubborn sense of justice, and projection of reputation as the best, shine through in this great tale. So seriously, when is Sacks being announced as the shepherd of the Fett family future?!
Honorable Mentions: Watch Out Watto, This Mind Trick Will Work On ANYONE (Legacy of Vader #8) | Grandea’s Wild Mind Churo’s Choice (The High Republic Adventures – Phase III Annual)| Emerick and Sian Kiss…and a hope for what a post-The Rise of Skywalker Jedi Order comes with it? (The High Republic Adventures #19 – Phase III) | Tey’s Final Goodbye to Vildar Mac, His Husband (The High Republic: Fear of the Jedi #3) | BB-8 Bowling Ball (Hyperspace Stories: Codebreaker #2) | Kaijura Splash Page Bonanza (Jedi Knights #3) | Atha Prime Gets His Time to Shine (Jedi Knights #2)
Legendary Line of the Year:
Aren’t we all, Boba, aren’t we all.
Final Thoughts
Thus comes to a close one of my favorite articles of every year, even if this one wasn’t as much of a celebration as it was a deconstruction and demolition. With a smaller output on the horizon for the comics, at this moment, and Star Wars heading back to the movies and at least three TV shows on the way, maybe publishers like Marvel can go home and rethink their lives, coming up with a brighter, more engaging future after champagne-less anniversary party. As for Dark Horse, they can keep on keeping on, but, hey, just a few less delays will be appreciated. Good luck out in the world, everyone, and may my 2026 year-in-review have plenty of reasons to be hopeful again.
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him and the website on Bluesky and Instagram @mynockmanor.
All comic images are credited to Marvel/Dark Horse/Lucasfilm
Comic Years-In-Review:
2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024