– Spoiler Review –
After nearly a year of waiting, The High Republic initiative begins! After the opening salvo of the first two novels, Marvel introduces their on-going story to the unfolding era with The High Republic #1! Written by Cavan Scott, with an art team of Ario Anindito, Mark Morales, Annalisa Leoni, and Ariana Maher, The High Republic on-going comic picks up towards the end of events from Light of the Jedi, focusing on Padawan Keeve Trennis’ Jedi Knight Trials and her relationship with Trandoshan Master Sskeer. Both are rewarding and interesting characters to get to know in this opening chapter, while the art absolutely stuns due to its detail heavy work, all which promises an excellent and thrilling series ahead!
In my A Test of Courage review, the middle-grade novel which released January 5 alongside Light of the Jedi, I called Avon Starros my favorite character in the initiative so far, but now that I’ve met Keeve Trennis, Avon drops to number 2, though she’s the number 1 non-Jedi character still. Keeve is such a compelling and funny character right off the bat, and I think a lot of it has to do with including her interior thoughts, something we’ve seen very rarely in Star Wars comics (I think it was only the Han Solo miniseries, which I’ll mention again later…) and I’m glad we got here. Keeve outwardly seems like the Jedi of the era, sure of herself and her purpose, but her inner thoughts clue us in on how she doubts herself at times or is worried about losing her chance at completing her Jedi Trials, and it’s such a wonderful bit of insight that makes her even more relatable, which the all swearing certainly helps with! Keeve swears, a lot, and even tells herself to stop often, and it provides tons of humor throughout the issue, but her sarcasm, dry wit, and calm under pressure provide their own humorous and enjoyable beats as well. She proves she’s a capable Jedi Knight as her Trial is interrupted by a swarm of giant red bugs and she doesn’t go chopping them up or shoving them around with the Force, but instead relies on the information from Starlight Beacon’s Jedi overseer, Master Maru (a new species!) and her ability to connect with the creatures to find an alternative way to deal with them peacefully. It’s an entertaining and thrilling scene to watch unfold, thanks to the stellar art, pace, and Keeve herself, and I hope to see more of Keeve’s ability to think on her feet and solve problems without much violence. Her ability to connect with creatures is something they’ve been teasing before, and is played for comedic effect with the Ximpi following her around on her mission, constantly asking her if she’s scared, but how she’s able to connect to the Ridadi and understand their purpose, intentions, and lives was such a unique moment I look forward to seeing her use the ability in the future with whatever obstacles come in her way next. Scott has introduced one of the era’s most exciting Jedi to read with Keeve, as she has style, humor, swears, and a whole lot of work still to do in her journey through the Force, especially if she’s the Trennis mentioned in Dooku: Jedi Lost. I also want to take a moment and say, beyond Aphra and Shara Bay, the amount of women, and women of color at that, taking front and center in Star Wars comics has been sorely lacking, so it was a breath of fresh air to see Keeve as the main character, leading this bold new initiative in the flagship Marvel comic series! Bravo, Cavan Scott!
Along for her Trials, and who sets up the entire scenario despite it seeming like a surprise at first, is her Master, Sskeer. A massive and imposing Trandoshan, Anindito and team’s art really highlights the scarier aspects of Sskeer’s species, though his actions, for the most part this issue, betray the usual assumptions about his kind. Sskeer genuinely cares about Keeve, that much is clear, but something is obviously bothering him. The issue contains a small spoiler from Light of the Jedi, revealing Master Jora Malli, the original pick to be the Marshall of Starlight Beacon, the giant station that will act as a waypoint and base for the Republic to bring light to the Outer Rim, dies during a battle with Nihil. Sskeer and her were very close, something the novel covers more, and her death is obviously weighing on him heavily, given his outburst to close the final page of The High Republic #1. One of the strengths so far this initiative is how one could pick up any of these opening pieces of content and not miss something by not reading the others, as this issue lightly touches on events from the book and is pushing forward with its own story anyways. So while Sskeer’s connection to Malli, and therefore his aloofness, makes a tad more sense after reading LotJ, there’s enough here where it’ll make sense and land just as effectively. What happens to Sskeer as he keeps his feelings secret, and away from his Padawan turned Jedi Knight, will be captivating to watch (especially going by the cover for issue #4, revealed on the closing page of the comic)!
We also briefly meet several other characters, like Avar Kriss, the new Marshall of Starlight Beacon and Hero of Hetzal, reading LotJ will reveal her amazing efforts saving the system from utter and total destruction, and I hope she’ll be a somewhat constant figure in the comic going forward. Then there’s Maru as mentioned earlier, who Keeve contacts for help, and the whole situation gave me Star Trek-vibes, like when they get beamed down into a situation and call the remaining ship crew for assistance, and I think it’ll be cool to have this aspect used more often. Then there’s Grandmasters Yoda and Veter, another new species! Yoda isn’t the comfy chair sitting type at this point, some 700 odd years old, and he’s out training Padawans in the field still, not mired in ceremony; he’ll star alongside a bunch of Padawans in next month’s The High Republic Adventures from IDW! We don’t get much on Veter, but he looks pretty ancient, even more so than Yoda ever did at 900, so I imagine he won’t be Grandmaster-ing for much longer, but maybe we’ll get more time with him regardless.
And then the art, and holy kriffing Force, is it beyond exceptional. We’ve had great artists across the board, but one of the most impressive displays was Mark Brooks in the Han Solo miniseries from 2016 (it was so good, George Lucas even bought original copies of the art), and while they’ve come close since, the team for The High Republic not only meets the same level, it surpasses it! Ario Anindito (artist), Mark Morales (inker), Annalisa Leoni (colorist), and Ariana Maher (letterer) provide stunning, detail rich, and compellingly put together panels, resulting in the best art team yet for Star Wars comics. Even in the black and white previews of Anindito and Morales’ work, it was clear something special was being made and now the full picture is here, it’s even more glorious. The detail packed into each panel is often flabbergasting, be it all the straps, lightsaber markings, scuff marks, and more on Trennis in the panel of her inside the Vector, the shear amount of chaos when the Ridadi swarm through the needles she climbing, or simply the look of her hopes being dashed when she’s unsure of how Sskeer feels after she saved the Ximpi village, these panels are packed to the point I felt like it was tracing from a movie or something. Leoni’s colors are so vibrant, but muted when needed, that it’s really the icing on the art cake. And Maher’s lettering, especially the green boxes for Keeve’s thoughts or the shining gold with white writing for time/place information, are inspired, awesome choices that flow well with both the era and what’s going on around Keeve. Seriously, this art team is unprecedented and the strength of their work really brings it home how special, important, and large this launch for publishing really is!
Here are a few other things:
- We have a page dedicated to The High Republic, which is where you’ll find all our reviews, news articles, and a list of what content is yet to come. I’ll cover that below, but you can always refer to our THR page in the future!
- Prior to The High Republic’s release, hints and teases were hidden across the canon and we’ve complied as many as we could find or recognize!
- After The High Republic, there are plenty more The High Republic stories to enjoy! Also releasing this week, on January 5, were: Light of the Jedi, an adult novel by Charles Soule and A Test of Courage, the middle-grade novel from Justina Ireland!; The Great Jedi Rescue, written by Cavan Scott, is a young readers retelling of LotJ. Claudia Gray’s young adult novel Into the Dark drops February 2, which I’m currently reading and will have a review for on release day. And Daniel José Older’s The High Republic Adventures from IDW comics arrives on February 21, and will be a monthly on-going as well; IDW will have a backup story in its #6 issue of their mainline (our February 17) which will take place in THR era. Further out, June 29 sees the release of the second adult novel, The Rising Storm, by Scott.
- Much further beyond that, there’s of course the upcoming TV show The Acolyte, set at the end of the era, which seems to be about 50 years or so before The Phantom Menace (so 150 years after LotJ), according to a video about an upcoming Chinese specific novel for The High Republic, with no word if other audiences will get a chance to read it.
- Big shout out and thanks of support 😉 to Mr. Scott, who seems to understand the majesty of the Mynock, as Anindito reveals in the closing letters section Scott showed off one as the artist was showing off his Kowakian lizard-monkey in their first video conference meeting!
- Speaking of Scott, check out his site for a look at all the variant covers, as well as a thank you video!
- I wouldn’t have guessed/known Republic Chancellor Lina Soh was at the Starlight Dedication in one of the panels here until Monday’s livestream panel revealed her look!
The High Republic #1 is an excellent, humorous start to the comic’s arm of the initiative, introducing us to a well-written and entertaining character in Keeve Trennis, with art that truly excels in all aspects; I just wish it’d be longer/we could have the second issue already!
+ Keeve Trennis is a true delight
+ What’s coming with Sskeer?!
+ Art team stuns
+ Well-paced…
– …to the point we need the next issue today!
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website on Twitter @MynockManor and Instagram @mynockmanor.