– Spoiler Review –
When you have an issue as fun and refreshing as the previous The High Republic Adventures, it makes the wait for the next one so agonizing, especially as you know it’ll be worth it. The creative team of Daniel José Older, Toni Bruno, Rebecca Nalty, and Johanna Nattalie certainly delivered for The High Republic Adventures #9, bringing us the first appearance of Maz Kanata to the era and a cute yet tantalizing glimpse into Qort’s past!
It’s only been a month since the last issue but all the fun it brought means the wait for The High Republic Adventures #9 has stretched on, as I’ve been eager to see more of all the Padawans together again, Sav Malagán, and the introduction of Maz Kanata into the era. By the end of the issue, I almost didn’t want it to have released, as its cliffhanger ending will turn the wait for next month’s issue even more excruciating than the wait was for #9. But let’s look at the rest of the issue before we tackle that gundark in the room.
Arriving on Takodana, Qort, Farzala, Lula Talisola, Ram Jomaram, Zeen Mrala, Torban Buck, and Kantam Sy are greeted by Sav Malagán and pirate queen extraordinaire Maz Kanata, welcoming them to the planet and introducing them to the Jedi Temple there. For one Padawan, it’s a return home of sorts, as it turns out Qort was left on Maz’s doorstep when he was just a child! There was a promise this current arc would reveal Qort’s past and maybe explore why he wears a mask and it’s fulfilled in this issue, as we learn about all things Qort! For starters, he was absolutely adorable with a white hair swirl as a baby…but also an incredible mischief maker, as the ones who drop him off attest to and Maz finds out about via him destroying her droid HURID-327. Nothing will quiet him or stop his outbursts until he waddles off into Maz’s basement, finding the mask he currently wears, an item he’s drawn to by the Force, much like Rey finding the lightsaber there centuries later; I love this mystical aspect to Maz’s basement of junk and the connection between who Jedi on different part of their journeys, all these years apart.
With the mask on, he’s subdued, calm, and quiet, finally showing off his Force abilities, which brings in Sav and Qort’s official training as a Jedi. So why did the mask calm him then…and why does he wear it still, all these years later? Maz finds the being who brought the mask to her and he knows its story and therefore likely Qort’s, but it’s far more surprising and darker than I ever imagined. Along with revealing his home planet, we learn Qort belongs to a race called the Aloxians, born violent and insanely strong, who are sent out to hunt the local vicious crabs and wear their skulls upon defeating them! Not our meek little quiet Qort!?! Born to a violent race?! The crab’s skull eventually stops growing, but the Aloxians’ heads don’t, so when it shatters, it’s considered the moment they’ve become themselves. While I made the connection to going through puberty, albeit a very violent and macabre one, what I love about Older’s writing of these moments is they could fit or mean what they want to for each reader, as one could easily connect it to their own experiences with finding their identity, coming out, or something like that, and it’s important that creators leave room for all types of fans to find themselves in these adventures; Older does it with such ease it’s a blessing to have him so involved with Star Wars. It’s also interesting to consider Qort’s fight against his upbringing and race alongside Jedi Master Sskeer’s own fight as well. Both are born with violent tendencies from their inherited traits and both struggle with it in their own way: Sskeer always has to fight it and recently nearly got lost to it thanks to the Drengir worming their way into his head, though he’s still losing his connection to the Force; while Qort has the mask to rely on to seemingly keep his past under control, but I’m sure he’s nervous about the day it breaks. Who will he be when he emerges? Will his violent past overtake him again, driving him away from the Jedi path? From his friends? One thing is sure, his friends will accept him afterwards, which I’m so sure of mainly since we’ve spent so much time with all these characters now and it’s what they do (their surprise and jealousy regarding Qort knowing both Maz and Sav also helps); Sskeer thankfully has Keeve Trennis, his former apprentice, who is always there for him, the Order’s rules on attachments be damned. Like all things in Star Wars, while it’s fun to learn specific details about people, places, and things, all the Wookieepedia pages this opens up isn’t as captivating as how these details effect the characters we know and love and the overall story going forward. Information for information’s sake is dull and doesn’t help move the story forward.
After her appearance being teased by Justina Ireland’s recent Out of the Shadows novel and the solicits for this series mentioning the story was going to Takodana, the moment has finally arrived: Maz Kanata’s first appearance in the High Republic era! One of the best parts of her appearance is how easily she fits into the era, and while it’s mostly true for other long-lived characters like Yoda too, she almost feels more seamless since her time in the Sequel Trilogy wasn’t as extensive and we’ve not had as much time to associated her with it like Yoda is with the other two trilogies. On top of that, her part in Qort’s backstory and some of the history between her and Sav only serve to flesh out the character who’s mainly remembered for thinking Chewie’s her boyfriend before she’s only making cameos in the other two sequel films. Her reminiscing with Sav about their past exploits, laughing at all their near-death experiences, was a blast of a scene, while the tantalizing line about Sav going undercover to infiltrate Maz’s gang during the Battle of Jedha instantly requires explanation and a whole comic/novel of its own! Maz offering these details with Sav builds out the new Jedi character, giving her depth in the era, though I didn’t need much after her stellar appearance last issue taking down a bunch of Nihil in ships with just her two lightsabers. Maz’s line are about as much of Sav’s past we get, because even after Lula inquires why she wears the Kyuzo hat despite being a Jedi, Sav keeps the full truth covered for now. I hope we’ll get more of Maz and Sav together, as well as the story behind the hat, though this issue’s nasty little surprise at the end certainly leaves one wondering if that’ll be possible, but to talk about that we have to talk about Maz and Sav trusting the two Nihil whom Sav found after the rest of them fled last issue. Sav and Maz take the Krill Sisters in, not entirely trusting they’ve denounced the Nihil, but as Lula points out when she meets them, they shouldn’t cast people out just for making mistakes (hope she doesn’t go back on this comment if any of her friends make a mistake!) while Zeen makes sure the sisters know they’re still watching them. While everyone’s showing the new arrivals around the Jedi Temple and watching over the sisters, a little droid is sneaking around the temple, placing explosives. Right when Sav figures out the sisters are up to no good, two Temple staff alert Sav about the encroaching mass of Nihil fighters Krix promised to return with last issue…and then the explosives go off and the issue ends! It’s a) extremely rude, b) even more rude to finally show us the Jedi Temple of Takodana in the Galactic Data File and then blow it up, and c) severely rude doing it while all these characters we care about but also don’t know their fates are in the Temple. Now you can understand why I would almost be happier waiting for issue #9 again rather than next month’s issue #10, which doesn’t have the most uplifting cover with Qort’s mask shattered in his hands before him. Could his explosion destroy it before it’s naturally supposed to break off? And what would that mean for our sweet Qort?!
This issue gives us not only cute baby Qort, but also cute baby Qort’s butt! For that alone, the art team of Toni Bruno and Rebecca Nalty, with Johanna Nattalie’s lettering, deserves all the praise and rewards and really there’s nothing else for me to cover…besides Qort’s baby butt, for his decency of course. Bad jokes aside, it is a hilariously cute moment to have the littlest baby, with his swirl of white hair and blue butt, tearing off the giant HURID’s arms and using it to beat the droid! It’s a scene that works really well with Bruno’s more cartoon-like art, adding to the comedy of the moment yet grounding it despite its semi-absurdity, while the style also captures the issue’s more relaxed and jovial tone throughout, like with Sav and Maz hunched over and laughing. Bruno and Nalty’s Maz looks much like we saw her in the sequel trilogy, but the lack of intense wrinkles around her eyes makes her appear a little younger, much like Yoda has similarly drawn to better match how these long-live characters looked during this time period. Nalty’s effect with the story panels showing us the lifestyle of the Aloxians, giving the colors some opacity to push the scene in the background/point out it’s a story being told so its details might not be as clear as the main story. The final page is a great juxtaposition of the first one, as the issue starts off with a serene look at the lake separating the temple and Maz’s castle and then ends on the final page with the serenity in smolders, the Jedi Temple bursting with explosives through every window, door, tower, and wall imaginable. Nothing ever lasts forever on the shores of this Takodanan lake.
Here are a few other things:
- I was a little surprised Ishnar Ti-Kharata, who just got a big introduction to the Padawans of Starlight Beacon, wasn’t along for the ride to Takodana but maybe she’ll factor into the next issue somehow, though I sort of get it as it’s already a big cast.
- We’re now a week away from the release of Older’s next High Republic project, Trail of Shadows for Marvel! The recent preview, BIG SPOILERS for The Rising Storm, reveals the series will focus on exactly which Jedi’s death we all thought it would. Definitely not as friendly to the younglings as this series!
- Jake Bartok, an excellent illustrator sharing his fan art of Star Wars characters and other genre content, recently revealed an early sketch he did of Sav that’s phenomenal!
- Bims and Madoob’s dialogue about the approaching ships is hilarious and classic Older, turning a mundane moment into something special and memorable.
The High Republic Adventures #9 opens fascinating new avenues for Qort’s story going forward, Maz Kanata’s first appearance is a delight, and damn you Older for that cliffhanger!
+ Qort’s backstory and what it means for him going forward
+ Maz Kanata appears & her history with Sav/Qort
+ Explosively drawn cliffhanger!
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.
THE HIGH REPUBLIC ADVENTURES REVIEWS
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