– Spoiler Review –
It’s been quite some time since we got an Annual for any comic and yet The High Republic Adventures Phase III Annual 2025 makes the wait more than worth it with some moving, delightful, and educational tales told by a great group of writers and artists, packed with fan favorite characters!
It’s been over three years since the last The High Republic Adventures Annual and, whereas I enjoyed the previous entry, I feel like overall 2025’s edition is a stronger blend of stories. Each story here adds to the tapestry of the characters and the coming final part of the era, whereas 2021’s edition didn’t feel as uniformly focused on settling some character beats before some big event, rather just another set of stories with fan-favorite characters. One can only hope we get another Tales of Light and Life type of compilation once this era is over, but if this is the last big collection of era author’s new and old, can’t imagine a better way to close out. Without further ado, here’s my thoughts on each story:
“Three Younglings & the Snackfrog of Doom” – Written by Charles and Rosemary Soule, Art by Andy Duggan, Colors by Dan Jackson, Lettering Throughout by Tyler Smith & Bobby Bradford
The younglings from the father-daughter Soule team-up Jedi Brave in Every Way are back, all a little older now, and in charge of looking after children displaced after a Nihil attack. “Three Younglings & the Snackfrog of Doom” is a cute story about Jon, Bree, and Toko getting to showcase their strengths, with Master Torban “Buckets of Blood” Buck there to help bring home the valuable lesson surrounding their actions. Doing the right thing, regardless of its cost, is not only the Jedi way, but something all readers should keep in mind. The story does end with a little hint at something dark coming to Adelphi, even after the first Nihil attack, so maybe something we’ll see in Charles Soule’s Trials of the Jedi.
On art is Andy Duggan, with Dan Jackson on colors, and the team really matches the overall light-hearted tone of the tale, but lets the darker edges of the setting and ominous ending seep in. Jackson’s colors, heavily drab, pale, and dusty around the city really give way to the bright and clean look of the theater’s escapism, but Smith and Bradford’s sound FXs of the lockdown warning, complete with limited lighting and red tinged front row seats of the theater, give weigh to the threat over the dialogue of the kids and the tone brought on by the film’s reference.*
Bonus Thoughts:
- *This story contains a delightful way to make an Indiana Jones-like character canon by making a mock-movie of it!! And the title of the movie they go so see not only mimics an Indiana Jones film title, but it contains some fun references to the Lando Calrissian Adventures from Legends: Sorrco Jaymes and the Starcave of Sharu.
“Heart to Heart” – Written by Alyssa Wong, Art by Liana Kangas, Colors Diana Sousa
When we first met Driggit Parse in Escape from Valo, co-written by Daniel José Older and “Heart to Heart” scribe Alyssa Wong, I didn’t imagine how complex, winding, and absolutely fascinating her story would be throughout Phase III. I thought it was engaging enough in Escape from Valo, but in “Heart to Heart,” and other stories before it, like Dispatches from the Occlusion Zone #2 and “Chronicles of Corellia: Cracking the Mask” Star Wars Insider short (both also written by Wong), it’s expanded to make her story one of the ones to watch as we head towards the ending of the era. “Heart to Heart” really does add another notch in Driggit’s complex belt, as the delicate tightrope she balances on by playing Republic spy and outstanding Nihil underling comes to head against another friendship she’s forged” Emelsine Tarkin (who we first met in Dispatches from the Occlusion Zone #1). Unlike what happened between her and her childhood bestie Jedi Padawan Gavi, Emelsine is better wired to understand Driggit’s choices, but she also knows Driggit needs someone to pull her back from the edge, as this self-destructive need to go as far as necessary to stop the Nihil could sacrifice Driggit’s soul as well. We’ll see how it all goes in The High Republic Adventures: The Battle of Eriadu one-shot (written by, you guessed it, Alyssa Wong and out April 30), but for now “Heart to Heart” is a great final primer before the end of Driggit’s story.
Liana Kangas first drew for Star Wars Adventures (Vol. 2) and makes a grand return, alongside colorist Diana Sousa, for “Heart to Heart.” In particular, the despair and disbelief Kangas brings to Driggit’s reactions, over how she can’t imagine Emelsine is her friend or that she’d understand the way Driggit had to threaten her to maintain her cover, signifies the strength of their bond just as much as the dialogue does. Sousa’s colors, especially in the end, covers Driggit’s internal turmoil, as even in the bright life of Krevlin Tarkin’s home, she’s backed by the darker parts of it and as Emelsine gives Driggit a gift, the purple feels like a sunset on the happiness of their time together, and the final blue from the hologram table in the Nihil stronghold puts her somewhere between darkness and light, but like she’s been operating since the fall of Valo to the Nihil.
“The Adventures of Churo the Hutt and the Heart of Eroudac” – Written by Zoraida Córdova, Art/Colors by Juan Samu
The Hutt from Beware the Nameless we all want to protect with our lives, Churo, returns! Córdova slips right back into Churo’s intriguing quest to save Hal Nutta, while also attempting to be a Hutt on his own terms, for this story and I can never be thankful enough. He ends up on a fascinating journey in “The Heart of Eroudac,” as his connection to nature and exploring it grants him entrance to the planet’s heart, where a solution to his planet’s problems presents itself. The realization of what he’d be doing to Eroudac to save his own planet, and his ultimate choice on what path to take, shouldn’t come as a surprise, while it’ll make Churo fans double-down on their love and protectiveness of him (hi, that’s me!). I hope he’ll get to play a part in the era’s final stories, like maybe the last middle-grade book A Valiant Vow (out May 6), but what I would give for more Churo Adventures regardless!
Juan Samu always seems to find some new way to stun readers and he does so again here! Before I get into the most intriguing stuff, I will have to stop and say, Churo’s frog-like ship is so damn cute, I want to put it in a tank and watch it grow! Seriously, it’s a squat, wide ship that looks like it just wants to hop along and enjoy the world and science, not be the flagship for some type of mean Hutt, so it’s very, very Churo. The unique, neon-colored mountains of Eroudac and the kooky collection of insects and oddities in the caves felt like a mix between Futurama and the Tron series, somehow, but it all works wonderfully against Chur’s wide-eyed excitement and Sal-Nath-Rune lack of certainty anything worthwhile is worth finding on the planet, as it makes readers feel rewarded for being as intrigued and open to the world as Churo is. The peaceful, beautiful heart of the planet, and the little creatures which discuss what Churo wants and how to get it, are almost normal, natural, against what has come before, and I liked this progression as it seems to suggest once you accept something, even if it’s scary at first, it will look normal and you’ll find the true beauty inside.
Bonus Thoughts:
- Glenna Klip, named dropped by Jedi Sul-Nath-Rune, would be quite the interesting person for Churo to team up with, science-wise, and I’d like to see that story, someway, somehow! Klip was first introduced by Justina Ireland in Spark of the Resistance (don’t miss out on this one!) and has been mentioned or appeared in some of her High Republic works.
“Brothers and Sisters” – Written by Cavan Scott, Art by Nick Brokenshire, Colors by Vladimir Popov
Baron Boolan, from young child of the Path of the Open Hand to the nefarious Nihil scientist converting Jedi into dark version of themselves, much like the Empire will go on to do with Inquisitors centuries later, has been an antagonist who’s remained mostly undefined beyond ‘simply evil’ until the Tempest Breaker audio drama. His complexities made him more fascinating than he’d already been shown and Cavan Scott’s revisitation carries this on, as it shows he’s not going to be deterred, ever, from his rather insane goal of freeing the Force. The nice surprise of “Brothers and Sisters” was the background on H’tar, one of Boolan’s Children of the Storm which harassed our heroes in Scott’s The High Republic – Phase III comic, a tragic story that feels like a good episode of Twilight Zone or a fitting entry for another all-ages horror series from the mind behind the Vader’s Castle work and Tales from the Death Star/Rancor Pit works. The more we’ve learned about each of these broken Jedi or Force-sensitive beings, the more sympathetic we become towards them and I wish more of this had come sooner in the Phase, while it also makes me hope Boolan stays locked away until his dying day.
Given its spiritual connection to Scott’s previous works of horror, Nick Brokenshire’s art, alongside Valdimir Popov’s colors, feels the best suited for such a tale, as Brokenshire is in the unique position to create a sense of despair and darkness in an all-ages setting unlike anyone else I’ve seen. The first page alone is such a fantastic progression, as the story’s title and location adorn the top of the artwork, a semi-bright view of the sky around the correctional facility on Coruscant, but the next panel, an insert, takes us inside Boolan’s cell, a plain, green-walled box, little puddles of water on the floor, and Boolan himself, covered in a brown robe, kneeling on the ground, scratching at the walls, which we can see he’s been doing all over. The next insert below is a close-up of Boolan’s face, his focused, yet angry eyes the highlight, his long nails posed for another scratch, while the panel contains the page’s darkest colors yet. The casual progression to the darkness of his face is such a fascinating way to take us from the brighter stories before it and sets the stage of the darker confines of the tale ahead, as the colors don’t become much brighter afterwards, as even H’tar’s white hair seems covered in shadows and darkness.
“Stellan’s Wisdom” – Written by Justina Ireland, Art by Colin Cracker, Colors by Kelly Fitzpatrick
Vernestra Rwoh has long been my favorite Jedi of the era, tying with Keeve Trennis, and it’s been great to see her more prominent in the storytelling as we move closer to the end of Phase III. It was also a damn delight to see her make the jump to live-action (and action figures, mine is on the way soon!) in The Acolyte, and hopefully we’ll get more of that one day, but for now I’m glad her original creator Justina Ireland returns to the character here. Given Stellan Gios’ fate in Phase I, and Vernestra’s status as a Jedi Knight so early, we’ve been short on Stellan and Vernestra stories and “Stellan’s Wisdom” highlights how well-executed and useful they can be. As we’re seeing more and more as we close in on the end, how the Jedi and Republic win against the Nihil and the Nameless threats looks to be the focus of the era’s storytelling, as a win can still have its mistakes and missteps. Vernestra’s memories of Stellan’s advice, placing importance on what we do after our failure rather than letting our failures define us, leads the young Jedi Master to look past her inability to stop Ro and the Order’s failures to stop the Nihil in general and forge ahead, be the light in the galaxy Stellan always wanted them to be. How Vernestra, and her special Path from Mari San Tekka, all factor in will be quite the story to tell, I’m sure! And for readers at home, not a bad thing to take Stellan’s wisdom to heart as well!
With artist Colin Cracker and colorist Kelly Fitzpatrick’s work, there’s a softness to Stellan and Vernestra’s faces which I grew to love. During the era the ‘past’ story is set, there isn’t any conflict with the Nihil, so it fits they’d lack dreary, pained expressions, rather having calm and supportive looks instead, though that doesn’t mean Cracker isn’t able to bring stife: in the ‘present’ set part, as Vernestra meditates, the crinkle to her brow and tight closed eyes shows the struggle she’s having about the path forward, while even in the ‘past,’ as she comes into conflict with the creatures that want to kill the pilgrims she and Stellan are protecting, there’s her shame at not being more effective in the fight. As Stellan and Vernestra watch the pilgrims walk off into the desert oasis, becoming little balls of light as they pass into the Force, the softer, more assured Vernestra blends into the concerned one of the ‘present,’ as her eyes are closed but not tightly and the crinkled brow is gone. Fitzpatrick’s colors for the meditative space feel peaceful, before and after Vernestra remembers her Master’s words and I like how the light of the face is surrounding her, keeping reader’s eyes on her. In the past, the colors suggest she and Stellan don’t stand out as much from the pilgrims, besides when their lightsabers are drawn, and this fits with Stellan’s advice and Vernestra’s thoughts on the future, as they are all one in the Force, all the same, no matter their goals and wants, but she can stand out now and be what protects the Force and therefore everyone else. For light and life!
Bonus Thoughts:
- I’m curious where on Coruscant the ‘present’ set parts of the story take place…is it some garden in the Jedi Temple or some forest setting we’ve not learned the city-covered planet still has? Or was the location a mistake?
- The Acolyte might not be returning (for now, I’m ever hopeful despite being soo bummed and aware of Disney’s reasonings for cancelling), but Ireland penned an upcoming tie-in novel staring Vernestra and the show’s Indara (Carrie Ann-Moss’s character) titled The Acolyte: Wayseeker. It releases on the same date as Ireland’s upcoming A Valiant Vow, and she’s suggested these might be her last Star Wars works for the foreseeable future, but I hope it’s not terribly long before she returns. Just glad she’ll be there to shepherd the link between this era of Vernestra to the show’s.
Here are a few other things:
- It really is the beginning of the end, folks, as the cover for Charles Soule’s Trials of the Jedi, the final novel of the era, was finally revealed this week!
- As for upcoming High Republic releases, January 29 is a big day, as not only does this issue and The High Republic Adventures #14 – Phase III come out, but also The High Republic Adventures: Echoes of Fear #4 and The High Republic Adventures: Dispatches from the Occlusion Zone #4. Beyond January, on February 12: The High Republic Adventures #15 – Phase III; February 19: The High Republic: Fear of the Jedi #1; March 19: The High Republic Adventures #16 – Phase III. Keep up to date with our release schedule on our High Republic page!
The High Republic Adventures Phase III Annual looks at the end of the era and dares to add a little more complexity to its tapestry with a little something for everyone.
+ Adding more dynamics to the upcoming finale
+ Great choice of characters and story decisions
+ Art shines across the various tales
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him and the website on Bluesky.
DISCLOSURE: I received a copy of this comic 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.
THE HIGH REPUBLIC ADVENTURES – PHASE III REVIEWS
Vol. 1: #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 — Vol. 2: #6 | #7 | #8 | #9 | #10 — Vol. 3: #11 | #12 | #13