NYCC ’22: New The High Republic Phase 2 Covers, Titles Announced!

Posted on by Head Butler Ryan

With The High Republic’s Phase II beginning just this week with the release of Path of Deceit, the opening YA novel by Tessa Gratton and Justina Ireland (and our reviews you can read here!), the New York Comic Con panel easily could’ve been simply covers for some of the remaining Phase II content and fans (me!) would’ve been happy. But thankfully they love to bring more than that, as while plenty of covers were revealed for upcoming Phase II releases, we learned about some new content as well, like an intriguing YA Anthology which will span all THREE Phases of the era. Learn all about the newest reveals for The High Republic below!

Set 150 years before Phase I, Phase II: Quest of the Jedi is giving us a glimpse at how many of the conflicts, grudges, and Jedi blindsided-ness to the Nameless threat came to be in Phase I, though with only one piece of content released so far, we haven’t learned a ton just yet. And while it’s not been 100% confirmed, the blurb for next year’s YA novel Path of Vengeance remains the same, that it’s the thrilling conclusion to Phase II, so this is a much shorter Phase than before. Which means much of the content that got new covers isn’t actually too far away for us to enjoy!! The official site was quick to post many of the covers shown at the panel, while a lot of the extra details below I corralled from the wonderful folks at both the Skytalkers and Friends of the Force podcasts, who were on hand at NYCC tweeting away all the goodies, so big thanks to them for all their hard work!

Our first cover is The High Republic – Cataclysm by Lydia Kang, set to release April 4, 2023 at the tail-end of the Phase. It’s the sequel to Convergence, the first adult novel of Phase II which is out November 22 this year, while is also set after the events of The Battle of Jedha (the Phase’s audiobook original out in January). On Cataclysm‘s cover is Axel Greylark, whose concept art we first got in July, one of the Republic’s Chancellor’s son, holding both a blaster and a lightsaber. But that’s not just any lightsaber, and he’s certainly not a Jedi, it’s one of Gella Nattai lightsabers (who graces Convergence‘s cover)!! As someone who has read over 80% of Convergence, and can’t say much about it at the moment, I can say this: I still quite don’t know how or why this’ll come to be! Looks like I better get to finishing the book! Regardless, the panel teased Cataclysm will feature Yaddle at some point, a blessing considering we just one appearance from her in Phase I and she’s about to get a big, but likely unpleasant appearance in the upcoming Tales of the Jedi!

Also releasing April 4 is Tessa Gratton’s middle-grade novel, The High Republic – Quest for Planet X, which received a temporary cover though I have a good feeling, as covers at this stage seem to go, it probably won’t change very much, maybe little details here and there. It concerns a race for, you guessed it, Planet X, and looks to involve Batuu aka where the Galaxy’s Edge theme-park calls home, which I noticed references in Path of Deceit and Convergence to the food items from the park a few times. As for who is all on the cover, the Jedi on the left is likely Oliviah Zeveron, from George Mann’s The High Republic – Quest for the Hidden City out November 1, so the other two are likely from that novel as well (he also talked about Silandra Sho, the Jedi with the awesome shield, I find she is just to damn neat not to mention any time someone says her name). I just noticed, but I do like how there’s a similar naming convention for each level of novel: the middle grade’s are “Quest for,” the adult novels are a fancy C-starting word, and the young adults include “Path” in the title. Speaking of which…

How about the back to back BEAUTIFUL covers for the YA novels, the center-pieces to this Phase?! The High Republic – Path of Vengeance, written by Cavan Scott and out May 2, features another stunner from cover artist Corey Brickley. He posted a textless version of the cover in this Tweet thread about it, which includes some alternative takes and even the model reference for Marda Ro (yes, those Ro’s!), who stands in this alluring cover’s center. It’s interesting to see the Nihil symbol already! And the fact the Nameless monsters are all around her, the Jedi behind her are in for a not so pleasant surprise from the usually pleasant Evereni woman. Make sure to read Path of Deceit for hints and how and why this scene will come to pass!

As for other content already announced, on the comics side of things, artist Ario Anindito was on hand at the panel as well to reveal some concept art and behind-the-scenes work on his return to The High Republic – Phase II comic for Marvel (the first issue is out Oct 12!). Above you can see new characters Kradon and the Twinkle Sisters, the former being a karate master described as “effervescent” while the sisters, surprise, the strong, silent types. How or why the comic will deal with them remains to be seen, but they should be an interesting obstacle for both Vildar Mac and Matty Cathley, who you can meet already in the preview for the comics’ first issue (which Ario said at the panel the big view of Jedha took him two days to draw!). They also showed off a variant cover the upcoming 5th issue of the series, which sounds like it might be only 10 total to fit in the Phase’s shorter release time.

The first interiors for The High Republic Adventures – Phase II by Daniel José Older and Toni Bruno reveals the young Sav Malagán sneaking off to Maz’s Castle across the lake from the temple, which looks like fun place to be…especially since it includes Dexter Jettster’s first appearance in the era!! The first issue is out Nov 30. UPDATE: Older took to Twitter to not only introduce a few of those characters, but discuss how they are handling Dex’s physical appearance in the comic, and how one amazing fan made it clear to him how to proceed. This is why the luminous team is so incredible, time and time again, folks! END UPDATE As you can see in the tweet above the THRA image, Charles Soule’s The High Republic – The Blade, which delves into Porter Engle’s backstory and will feature his sister, Barash (the source of inspiration for the Barash Vow he later takes!), got some scant details beyond even what the solicitations have been revealing, like that issue 4 will focus on Engle’s obsession and prowess with the lightsaber. The first issue of The Blade is out Nov 9!

The last news for comics or items we already know about brings us the tentative, full cover for The High Republic Adventures – Quest of the Jedi, a 30-page one-shot by Claudia Gray! Coming out February 2023, it follows Baranbus, the rather mystic Jedi who will be after the Echo Stone, the first solicit for the issue teasing, “…what does its existence mean for the continued survival of all those who call Angcord home.”

We also got a glimpse at some artwork of Keeve Trennis for the upcoming The Art of Star Wars: The High Republic Vol. 1, written by Kristen Baver! It’s out November 8.

With all the content we already know about out of the way, how about some reveals!?!

Some of the new stuff announced doesn’t quite fit neatly into any defined Phase, like this upcoming children’s book by Charles Soule and his daughter, Rosemary! I love that they are collaborating for a children’s book, especially since it’ll feature Yoda and…Burryaga!!! The High Republic – Yoda and the Younglings, out October 2023, won’t reveal Burryaga’s cliffhanger fate from the end of the Phase I, instead going back between Phase II and Phase I when he’s a young Padawan alongside Yoda! How cute will this be?!

And lastly, the two big reveals! To start, The Edge of Balance – Precedent brings the manga into Phase II, written by Daniel José Older and Tomio Ogata. It’s set to release May 2023, right at the tale end of Phase II, and will feature a Wookiee and will span a long era of time…now that’s something I’m eager to see more of! And next is a unique release, a YA anthology of stories set across all three Phases, featuring a story from every luminous author involved!! As for when each person’s stories will take place, here’s the reveals from the panel:

“Zoraida: Phase 2 | Tessa: post Phase 2 | Claudia: 1 day after the end of Phase 1 |Justina: post Phase 1 but not Phase 3 | Lydia: post Phase 2 | George: post Phase 2 | Daniel: late-to-mid Phase 1 | Cavan: “so very nearly Phase 3” | Charles: close to Phase 3”

Sounds like a really cool way to fill in some blanks, wrap up some lingering threads, and tease what’s to come in the final Phase. The anthology will be out July 25, 2023, so don’t expect Phase III until sometime afterwards! And that’s it for the panel’s The High Republic goodies! Let’s close out with the authors, artists, and architects of the era enjoying the trailer playing in Time’s Square!

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.

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