– Spoiler Review –
When the Jedi send out an honor guard to pick up the remains of one of their own, the series’ overarching story comes back in a big way, making Jedi Knights #6 a fun issue that leaves you eager for the next release!
While Mace Windu and Aayla Secura consider their mission of retrieving a fallen Jedi’s remains from the agricultural world of Mina-Rau (of Andor season two fame!*) routine, Qui-Gon Jinn suspects foul play, trusting his instincts over his cohorts’ indifference. Considering how he briefly sensed his would-be assassin’s presence in the middle of a rather convoluted heist in Jedi Knights #4, I suspected right away we would be picking up this thread again in issue #6, hopefully in a more direct way for the first time since issue #1, but I did not suspect how far it would go, in the best way possible. Once Qui-Gon uncovers Master Etzis died by poisoning, they run through the options, first by discussing it with the local magistrate, who only has positive things to say about Etzis and the simplicity of Mina-Rau people’s wants, which then leads them to look around the planet full of haystacks for a dangerous needle (love Mace’s joke in the issue) capable of poisoning a Jedi Master. Thankfully for us and the Jedi, their search is short, but only Qui-Gon’s prepared and both Mace and Aayla are knocked out as Corlis Rath appears, the assassin who first tried to kill Qui-Gon in issue #1 and then seemed successful in doing so in a vision to Obi-Wan Kenobi at the end of the same issue!
I’ll talk more about what makes their brief fight so dynamic and exciting in the art section below, but for now we’ll focus on how Qui-Gon, demanding to know why Corlis wants him dead, receives a short one-word answer before Obi-Wan’s vision comes true! This reminded me of the Lando comic miniseries from 2015, which put plot armored characters in mortal peril in surprising ways, and to see the vision come true, Corlis stabbing Qui-Gon with his blade with purple edged blades, as it’s a big cliffhanger with lots of questions and leaves you wanting more right away. And anyways, Corlis ‘killing’ Qui-Gon was Obi-Wan’s interpretation of his vision, which we know are often misunderstood by those who have them, and this is a great way to play with expectations. How will Mace and Aayla manage to help Qui-Gon survive? What’s on the planet Sinsara, the place Corlis mentions to Qui-Gon which catches the attuned Jedi Master off-guard? How does it factor into Corlis’ desire to kill Qui-Gon? Who did he kill or hurt when he was there under Dooku’s tutelage, as teased in the Jedi Knights portion of Marvel’s 2025 Free Comic Book Day offering? We might not get the full answer to all these questions until issue #9, the cover of which was teased at the recent SDCC panel and shows a young Qui-Gon, Dooku, and a masked and unmasked person that looks similar to Corlis Rath on it (the solicitation will likely be out the week after this issue released, so more details soon), but I suspect we’ll get a few layers peeled back in issue #7 in September as Mace and Aayla try to find an antidote for Qui-Gon. And I’m glad they will be the ones doing it, as I felt like they were a little too underutilized this issue. Either way, I’m really interested in seeing Sinsara and whatever else writer Marc Guggenheim decides to reveal!
On art remains the talented team of Madibek Musabekov, colorist Luis Guerrero, and VC’s Clayton Cowles on lettering (who just won the 2025 Eisner for Best Lettering, congrats!). This group really makes this issue take off into high gear when Corlis arrives, starting with a little humor, going big when needed, and giving Qui-Gon and Corlis’ fight great kinetic energy. As Qui-Gon draws his blade, sensing danger, on the next page the first panel is Mace and Aayla looking confused yet mindful, searching the area, with the golden crops of Mina-Rau and a light teal plain background giving the sense of silence and emptiness behind them, with Cowles’ word bubble for Aayla hanging in the middle of the pair, as if they are the loudest thing nearby. Then Aayla’s hit first by some little dart, the sound FX tight on the small dart’s passage, barely visible much like the object is, and the following panel Mace is hit, Aayla’s headtails waving upwards as she falls towards the ground, off panel, and the second to last panel is both their bodies hitting the ground, a loud and chunky “fump” SFX making it seem both harmless and humorous, felled so quickly and thoroughly. The negative space for Qui-Gon’s reaction to the event, the final panel of the page, accentuates his shock over what happened. Flipping to the following page, it’s another of Musabekov’s signature full splashes, with Qui-Gon shifting his legs to meet the rising threat of Corlis, who comes blasting out of the crops (are those like rocket boots? He uses them again later in the fight), arms crisscrossed, blades out, the perspective drawing us down from his explosive entrance and into Qui-Gon’s little comment and his defensive stance, the usage of the teal background behind Corlis to indicate he was working with the planet to make this surprise and the whiter background with Qui-Gon following up on the negative space of the previous panel, keeping us sensing his surprise. The slashes and strikes which follow are great, and as Corlis jumps into the crops for cover, I loved the following sequence more, from the silent look at the crops followed by Qui-Gon’s green blade and its large bubble SFX devastating the peace, which leads into a panel where Qui-Gon’s blade is still swiping around him like something out of The Legend of Zelda, with Corlis jumping above the danger. On the next page, it’s another splash that recalls issue #3’s kaiju levels of scale, as a giant harvester, the SFX for its whirring machines giving the impression of its mindless and unintentional danger, rolls obliviously towards the combatants, small little bugs in the crop circle Qui-Gon just cut, and I really appreciated the continuity with the crop circle for this big moment! The team keeps up the tension throughout their fight and does a fun pull away from the dying Qui-Gon, barely able to speak, but the name Sinsara all he can say despite his situation.
Here are a few other things:
- *It’s wild to think Mina-Rau, where Cassain Andor, Bix Caleen, Brasso, and Wilmon Paak hid in Andor season two, is already in a comic book, but at the same time it makes sense, as Lucasfilm Story Group could’ve offered the location and I’m sure the creative teams’ contracts include an NDA so early access to production ideas isn’t out of the question, though maybe they were working on this the second season released.
- I also really liked how Master Etzis was using the Jedi Shuttle designed and used in The Acolyte! Seems like a handy ship they’d offer to members of the Order still before something like the Clone Wars!
- Given Guggenheim’s insight into how Marvel now decides the fate of the series, he might already be aware of Jedi Knights’ fate, as we’re now on issue #6, but I really hope our sales have proven we need more than just 10 issues! But if it does have to come to an end, given everything we’ve gotten so far, I think it would be one helluva ending and could be amongst the all-time greats.
Jedi Knights #6 is an exciting way to revisit the lingering story of Qui-Gon Jinn’s would-be assassin, as he arrives and makes a surprising move that’s leaving me anxious for the next issue!
+ Bringing Corlis Rath back in a big way
+ Dynamic and exciting action from the art team
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him and the website on Bluesky.
JEDI KNIGHTS REVIEWS
Vol. 1 “Guardians of the Republic”: #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 — Vol. 2: