– Spoiler Review –
The Battle of Jakku maxiseries continues in Republic Under Siege #1, where Grand Moff Adelhard considers what allies to bring to his fold, Leia and Mon Mothma debate what’s next in their response to his rise, and Luke Skywalker and Rynn Zenat deal with more Acolytes of the Beyond…and run into a fan-favorite in the process!
The Battle of Jakku – Republic Under Siege #1 begins the middle arc of the maxiseries, where the opening four issues, titled Insurgency Rising, attempted to show Grand Moff Adelhard as a credible threat to the burgeoning New Republic and introduce many of the different players to the board. It wasn’t always the most coherent, skipping over developments big and small along the way, but it was a fast-paced bit of fun overall. By the end of Insurgency Rising #4, Luke Skywalker acted like the Jedi of old and knocked Adelhard down to size while saving a New Republic team behind enemy lines, but the Moff was incensed by the show of force and willing to finally work more with the Acolytes of the Beyond and their tenuous, self-proclaimed connection to the dark side. By the start of Republic Under Siege, we see the Moff and Reyna Oskure still figuring out the Acolytes place in his efforts and reaching out to other Imperials to shore up forces, away from the Imperial Summit on Akiva as seen in the Aftermath Trilogy, while Mon Mothma and Leia Organa debate the way forward and Luke Skywalker does his best to keep valuable artifacts from falling into the wrong hands aka the Acolytes. There’s a backup story, much like in Insurgency Rising #1, which explores more of Adelhard’s point-of-view, how he’s considering the recent events and how much he knows about a potential traitor in his midst, but altogether Adelhard this issue doesn’t seem as changed as the previous issue suggested he would be. Overall, Republic Under Siege #1 doesn’t read much different than what’s come before in that it’s also all a little disjointed, especially when you consider the other events happening during this time, but it still remains an entertaining story nonetheless. And it really helps, despite us already knowing she’d make her debut in the story soon, this issue ends with the glorious return of the one, the only, and this writer’s personal favorite character: DOCTOR APHRA!!!
With Luke and Rynn, beset on all sides by the pesky Acolytes of the Beyond, they are hunting down a compendium written by Jedi Master Ky Narec, which leads Luke to make an indirect reference to Asajj Ventress (whose ultimate fate remains uncertain thanks to her return in The Bad Batch but he claims she went down an irredeemable path). These Acolytes are all largely cannon fodder and having them this way makes them feel like window-dressing the more this series goes on, not an actual threat, but Howzell’s constant return at least keeps them interesting, especially since the red-headed woman won’t ever escape fans’ questions over her being Mara Jade until this series is over and/or her death. She goads Luke often and he doesn’t rise to her bait, though she claims they are purposefully wasting his time in the fight to get the artifact, how they are playing a much larger game than he is, but whatever the game may be, how Luke factors into, and if they actually won like she claims all remain elusive by the end of the issue. I do like having Luke teamed up with someone and while Rynn is still a little too new for me to connect with, as the series isn’t slowing down so we aren’t getting to really meet her, they bounce off one another well, while her willingness to go a step further than he will makes them a potent pair. While they have Howzell dead-to-rights, trying to get her to talk, she manages to slip away when Rynn’s dropped bag holding the artifact is stolen, though the chase after the thief ends rather quickly when they are revealed: Doctor Aphra!
This is the first time Chelli Lona Aphra has been in a comic since January’s Doctor Aphra #40 (Vol. 2), the finale for Alyssa Wong’s run. It ended with the tease the Imperial Security Bureau was looking to hunt her down, sending the bounty hunter Raslin Grace, while the first canon polycule was confirmed with Aphra, Sana Starros, and Magna Tolvan! I don’t suspect Aphra’s time in Republic Under Siege will answer if she’s been evading Raslin already or if her Sana, and Tolvan are still together, as I assume it’ll fall to whatever Marvel has in store for her next beyond the upcoming A New Legacy one-shot,* but I do look forward to more interactions between Luke and Aphra, as they always combine for some fun and interesting stories, while I’ll be curious to see how her and Rynn get along as well. Either way, I’m really happy to have Aphra back, even if only for a little bit!!
On the New Republic side of things, the omniscient narrator returns to regard Leia Organa and how she’s realizing, once again, nothing is ever easy, yet I feel like she already understood this, as seen in The Princess and the Scoundrel, the Aftermath Trilogy, and well, most other stories with Leia, like even Bloodline, set many years after these events. Regardless, to fit in with the Aftermath Trilogy a little more, we get a scene where Leia’s contacted by the Wookiee resistance on Kashyyyk, now able to understand Shyriiwook, and commiserating with Kerrithrarr about the situation and wishing they could do more (Han Solo and Chewbacca eventually are able to do more, helping free the planet in Aftermath: Life Debt), while he tells her what he knows about Han and Chewie’s locations at the moment. Mon Mothma comes in after the conversation is over and agrees she’d love to help, but Adelhard is too much of a threat to what they are building, they must divert focus to him, even over more building. They sort of debate this point and quickly agree, in the end, it’s for the best to fight and build, as if they don’t take someone like him down, will they ever be able to finish what they start? Inspire galactic confidence in their new rule? It’s a good point to make about the New Republic during this era, though the other stories also sort of make this point as well.
I’m still very confused about why Luke called Reyna “Adelhard’s Counselor and Blade” last issue and Republic Under Siege #1 doesn’t help matters, as the Moff’s dismissive greeting to her makes them sound as cold to one another as we’ve seen so far, like they don’t know or deal with one another much until now, and then she randomly attempts to kiss him, maybe finally hinting at a past there, but his deflection doesn’t help matters one way or another. Regardless, he’s still not ready to fully use the Acolytes’ services, despite his vow at the end of Insurgency Rising, and Reyna’s point about Lt. Alaytia’s suspiciously quick shutting up a captured NR pilot screaming traitor seems to go unnoticed by him, so the issue looks to end without much movement on Adelhard’s part since the previous. He does reach out to a Grand General Kenner Loring, also first from Life Debt, to gain an ally, but Loring is too cautious and wants to know more about who Adelhard is already working with, mentioning Reyna being a problem after the two end their conversation. Are we the only ones who aren’t going to actually see Reyna and Adelhard have worked together more extensively, just being told instead? Loring’s caution makes more sense if readers knew he already tried to get allies himself and Gallius Rax, the self-proclaimed ruler of the Empire as it stands now, got them killed, but it doesn’t break the story not to know this. Among Loring’s men is one of Calder Behrens’, the new NR Intelligence guy introduced for Battle of Jakku, and he manages to barely get off a transmission about the potential alliance, so I’ll be interested to see how Mon, Leia, and Calder all react to the news.
Thankfully there’s the backup story still to take into consideration, as while it once again gives a nice, yet minor glimpse into Adelhard’s mindset, it does resolve some lingering threads. For starters, it seems Adelhard is ready to start relying on the Acolytes a bit more, as they come through for him by having their contact amongst Loring’s men turn on him and get him to join Adelhard’s forces. Next he allies himself with Zeva Bliss and her Spice Runners, a thread which felt over after Insurgency Rising ended, so glad we got the clarification on Adelhard’s choice. And then it shows us he’s concerned about a traitor amongst his ranks, already suspecting Alaytia it seems, and his Commander Bragh ends up finding some pretty damning evidence as the backup story ends. I wish some of this clarity could just come packed in the main story, but I’m glad it’s included nonetheless.
On art it seems the main story of Republic Under Siege will have a new art team, with Stefano Raffaele taking over, with Alex Sinclair on colors, while Jethro Morales returns as artist for the backup tale, alongside Jim Campbell coloring, while overall Joe Caramagna remains on lettering. Howzell’s face is rather wild, especially in some early close-ups, but it felt a little more fitting as the fight carried on, as it helps drive home her fanaticism in the cause and juxtaposes with Luke’s always calm, even, though sometimes stern face. While she can tell him they are playing a whole different game, we can see the game they are playing in the way they present themselves, Luke in solid stances and Howzell in frantic , off-kilter looking ones. Sinclair has quite the job for himself with the lush greens of Lehanis vs Luke’s green lightsaber blade, and by dulling its green to a more yellow-ish hue, it helps it stand out against the swampy forest around them, while also recalling, to me at least, the way his lightsaber looked for “The Power of the Force” Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker toy with removable cloak, so check out an image of the toy and compare to the comic! Aphra also looked GLORIOUS in her return, as I loved the return of her bigger brown clock and red scarf, while the signature cap with googles helped bring it all home, and Sinclair’s colors really made her pop as something completely unrelated to the story that just inserted itself in. I have a small preference for Morales’ work, as I feel like he can bring a little more subtly to faces, and I particularly liked the change in Loring’s demeanor, even though one side is filtered through a hologram, as he looks rather perplexed about his men turning on him, correctly guessing it’s Adelhard’s doing, and Caramagna’s word bubble helps draw out the reveal he capitulates, as it takes from his face and back up to the top of the panel, only to take us over to the next one’s narration from Adelhard and then the look of anger, yet compliance on Loring’s face as he explains his new thoughts on teaming up. Campbell’s colors overall come off darker than the main story, though his flashback work, when Adelhard remembers Darth Vader choking an Imperial officer, takes on a muddied green hue, almost sewer-level looking, so while we might feel disgusted by Vader’s methods, Adelhard talks over the memory with reverence, looking back at what Vader does and doing something similar, forcing Loring to take his offer of an alliance.
Here are a few other things:
- *A New Legacy is a special one-shot from Marvel coming in January which will feature three stories focusing on most of the comic original characters from Marvel’s output (Original Years and since 2015), but those stories all seem to take place prior to the events of this comic, one even being before A New Hope.
- The Wookiee Leia speaks with? He’s a Legends character who was once his home planet’s senior Senator, so seems like he’s likely set to be so in canon, once again!
- Never forget! In a funny little error, when the covers for the Republic Under Siege miniseries were first released, they spelt Republic as “Repuplic.” It’s obviously been updated, but it was fun while it lasted!
- Writer Alex Segura’s new miniseries, The Question: All Along the Watchtower for DC Comics also released this week!
- Here’s the current release schedule for the remaining Battle of Jakku story: 11/27 Republic Under Siege #2; 12/4 Republic Under Siege #3; 12/11 Republic Under Siege #4; 12/25 Last Stand #1; 1/8/2025 Last Stand #2; 1/15/2025 Last Stand #3; 1/22/2025 Last Stand #4.
The Battle of Jakku – Republic Under Siege #1 keeps things light and enjoyable, offering a few pieces of clarity, yet is still rocketing towards its conclusion.
+ Putting some clarity on the table
+ Escalation certainly continues
– Pacing still leaving stuff behind
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website on Bluesky, Twitter @MynockManor, and Instagram @mynockmanor.
THE BATTLE OF JAKKU MAXISERIES REVIEWS
Insurgency Rising: #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 – Republic Under Siege: