– Spoiler Review –
Lula Talisola’s friends rally around her as she works to remember who she is, but will she like the answer? The High Republic Adventures #3 – Phase III does wonders again with her return and moving the story forward, all with some brilliant usage of the comic medium thanks to the synchronized art teams.
Lula Talisola might be back, but as we saw last issue, amnesia has taken her memories of her time before Starlight Beacon’s fall, so in a way, she’s not totally back. I had some theories in my review of issue #1, including if her desire to be a Jedi and her feelings for Zeen Mrala helped caused it or if Krix Kamerat was involved somehow, and issue #3 peels back another layer to kick off explaining what’s caused it and how she can work her way back. The way the issue does it is nothing short of spectacular by the art team, as Nick Brokenshire and Harvey Tolibao, alongside colorist Michael Atiyeh, and letterers Jimmy Betancourt & Tyler Smith use the medium to its full advantage, leveraging some great tricks that better realize how Lula’s dealing with some trauma than any words maybe really could. That’s not saying Daniel José Older’s script wouldn’t be up to the task, as it more than is already, but it feels more appropriate to show it the way the team does than having too much dialogue.
The issue opens with Lula and Zeen in an old routine, the Mikkian brushing the human woman’s hair, seen in Tolibao’s artwork, but the page is already bleeding into Nick Brokenshire’s work as Lula’s ready to discuss more of what happened to her. Wearing the mask and the outfit countered her fear, as she was too scared to even talk to anyone about what was going on even, so she was totally in the dark about Nihil, the Jedi, or anything, really in her year of exile. It was Zeen and her holo that kept her centered, happy even the whole time, despite her fears, which we see initially in Brokenshire’s art, after a series of pages of Lula in a little scuffle that earns her the castle she was holding up in, and then a version of his art is shrunk to fit between Zeen and Lula by Tolibao, just a small hint at what these masterminds had up their sleeves for later.
The nearly romantic moment of Lula telling Zeen how vital her holo was ends up interrupted by the wildly fun 5A-G3, who alerts Zeen to her time to take the stage alongside a special guest: Svi’no Atchapat! If Svi’no is here, then you know Alys “Crash” Ongwa is close by too, bringing two of Older’s characters from Midnight Horizon, and later Alyssa Wong’s “Rogue Element” from The High Republic: Tales of Light and Life collection, to his Adventures series ahead of their special one-shot issue out in March: The High Republic Adventures: Crash Landing! Their appearances are brief here, yet Crash’s questions to Lula are vital to the story and the Jedi’s return to normal. Crash pulls up a holo of her latest target, the Nihil leader who messed with her home, Corellia, and Lula both has no idea yet can’t help but react with shock upon seeing the person’s face. We don’t get to see who it is either, though Tolibao’s art of the figure and Lula’s reaction tells us all we need to (and most readers will already know), yet she can’t stop looking at it, spiraling into her memories, as Brokenshire’s art breaks into the panels again, slowly at first, taking over more and more, as we see the events of the Free Comic Book Day 2023 issue begin to play out, her on the burning Starlight Beacon, the face of the Nihil individual taking over the space behind her: Krix. It’s such an unsettling effect and really digs into how terrible the events and these memories of them are. Zeen breaks through the memories taking over, holding Lula tight and telling her she’s safe, though the series of panels ends and opens to a full-page image, where the bottom half is their embrace and the top part is Krix, Force choked by Lula, as seen from her POV, letting the dark action really sink in. There’s no doubt about it now, Lula’s amnesia seems to be brought about from the very un-Jedi-like way she lashed out at Krix. Now that we see what’s caused this, and she’s been confronted by it again, will she be willing to talk it out with her friends? And will it be enough? And if not them, if not her love Zeen, then who?
How about Lula’s Master, Kantam Sy! The cover already told us we’d get to see them soon, but it was still a pleasant surprise to have them back on the page. When Kantam finally sees Lula again, there’s apologizes and words of caution to start, but it quickly ends with a hug between the two. Kantam decides the best way to cheer Lula up is to engage in a little friendly duel and she comes on rather aggressively, throwing off her Master, but they enjoy seeing her happy and how easily it seems to come back to her. When Kantam calls her the best Jedi they’ve ever seen, the recent reawakened memories of her encounter with Krix seem to weigh on her, but Kantam offers some wonderful advice on how Jedi always strive for the light but that doesn’t mean they can’t have failures and missteps. The pair don’t get to discuss it more, as they are interrupted by 5A-G3 (which seems like her special skill as a droid), but it was definitely a great moment between the two and it could be just what Lula needed to hear to help her through this.
5A-G3 interrupted because they have a droid friend, B-EEE, from a black market hauler who has learned a prison ship G3 has been watching will exit the Stormwall for a supply run! It’s not clear why the prison ship is of such importance, initially, but when B-EEE and the pilot Argomon make it aboard, it all makes a lot of sense. For starters, they’re delivering mycopram to Niv Drendow Apruk, and if that doesn’t quite make any sense, then you’ve not read The High Republic: Escape from Valo by Older & Alyssa Wong yet!! It’s a wonderful, engaging book to say the least and towards its end it sets up this confluence of events as well, though it’s there we initially learn mycopram, a beauty cream, is part of Niv Drendow’s plans with the Nameless creatures, which we see resting on his shoulder! The taste of Niv Drendow lives up the pre-appearance hype, especially after his role in Escape. The script here delivers enough where readers of this issue won’t feel left out what’s going on, but it’s cool to see the threads from Escape continuing here. As Argomon deals with Niv Drendow, Bee moves about the ship, his discomfort with the facility a fun little bit, only to find his contact: FARZALA TARABAL!!!!! More of our favorites have thankfully survived the fall of Starlight Beacon, which isn’t stealing any of the tragedy from said event for me yet, and despite this new story thread with the prison ship and dealing with Lula’s amnesia, this issue feels paced out well, to the point it both felt appropriately long yet I wanted more!
I’ve mentioned it a few times, but I want to focus a little more on the art team’s work bringing out the trauma for Lula. I can’t gush enough over how the team here made this issue work, as we got our initial taste of two artist last issue and we continue along the same thread in the opening, as they transition us between her memories and the present, Brokenshire’s style more fitting for her darker events in the past and Tolibao’s able to balance both but feels right for the happier-ish events in the present. While these transitions are delightful in their own right, they are a visual shorthand that, while done extremely well, feel like what you’d expect. So when Lula’s mind begins to unlock her memories chasing Krix, the change is different, as instead of it being like a peaceful sort of change between the styles, Brokenshire’s is breaking in on the edges of the panel, pushing Tolibao’s work out, slowly, with only Lula in his style remaining once the fire and destruction on Starlight takeover the background. Atiyeh’s colors also aids in these changes, a darker, more muted look for Brokenshire’s art, which lends a murkiness to Lula’ recollections and her memories which matches with the mood of these past events well. The flames from the slowly dying Starlight Beacon have this morbid heat, especially since they cast shadows on Krix’s face, obscuring it for us as it is for Lula, while when her lightsaber is ignited and she’s Force choking him, the blue of the saber almost looks ghostly, as if it’s done by someone else even though the POV is Lula’s. Betancourt and Smith keep the word bubbles tight on Lula, adding to the claustrophobic feeling of her memories coming back to haunt her. Later on, their sound FX for the baby Nameless is both adorable and decidedly frightening, fitting with the older versions we’ve encountered so, as cute as it maybe could be, we know exactly what horrors it can bring, for now, for the Jedi. This has been some masterful and fun artwork to enjoy, but it won’t be continuing, at least for now, as issue #4 will see Elisa Romboli take over! I’m intrigued to see what they’ll bring to the table in the next two issues!
Here are a few other things:
- Confirmed: it is Sian Holt as part of the band on Eriadu! She was the co-lead of Older’s Trail of Shadows miniseries in Phase I and I hope she’ll get more than these little cameos at some point in Phase III!
- More Ady Sun’Zee! She gets a brief appearance this issue, a little shorter than even her time in Shadows of Starlight #1, but it’s great to have her around regardless. After going without a Phase I novel/comic appearance despite her starring role in side-stories in the Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge VR games, I’ll take whatever little crumbs we can get!
The High Republic Adventures #3 – Phase III is cooking on all cylinders, delicately handling Lula’s return and pushing ever forwards.
+ The way the art brings back the horrors of Lula’s memories
+ Many familiar faces appearing
+ Balancing exploring Lula’s trauma and pushing forwards very well
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.
DISCLOSURE: I received a copy of this book from the publisher at no charge in order to provide an early review. However, this did not affect the overall review content. All opinions are my own.