– Spoiler Review –
The beginning is the end is the beginning, or something like that. With The High Republic: Fear of the Jedi #1, Cavan Scott kicks off his final comic run of the era, focusing on Keeve Trennis and his merry band of supporting characters he’s built up over the years in what is already promising to be an excellent and likely epic 5-issue miniseries!
A lot has happened since we last saw the majority of these characters in The High Republic – Phase III series, be it events in Cavan Scott’s Tempest Breaker audio drama or other comic series and issues he’s written, and it all comes together in The High Republic: Fear of the Jedi. For readers who’ve enjoyed it all, or a grand portion, Fear of the Jedi #1 feels as close to perfect as it could get, as it pulls together all the threads and character journeys so far into what reads like the exact series everything up until this point has been building towards. If you’ve only read the initial Phase I series and the Phase III series, and none of the other issues and series Scott’s done, you’ll still be able to enjoy Fear of the Jedi #1 given how connected it truly makes everything feel, but missing out on Tempest Breaker is the only portion which I feel like could hold some fans’ enjoyment back. Given it’s an audio drama, there are plenty of fans who can’t experience it until the script book is released, which isn’t hitting until May in time for this series’ penultimate issue, so some fans are out of luck until then, even how well this issue does it best to fill in those blanks with mentions of its events. Overall, Fear of the Jedi #1 is immensely satisfying and already packed on an emotional level, doubly so if you’ve enjoyed the aforementioned audio drama, the Ty Yorrick miniseries and the final issue of Dispatches from the Occlusion Zone via The High Republic Adventures, Phase II and Phase I of THR for Marvel, and The Acolyte: Kelnacca #1, to name a few.
By the time Fear of the Jedi #1 starts, Keeve Trennis has been promoted to Marshal of the Stormwall Defense Fleet, which patrols the Stormwall and helps out citizens of the galaxy against Nihil threats, Sskeer is more like himself everyday after Baron Boolan cured his disease, Lourna Dee has been pardoned by the Republic after saving the galaxy from Boolan’s schemes and has started her own bounty hunters guild, Tey Sirrek is without his Hand of Siberus and traveling around with Lourna and her crew, while Ceret and Terec are left on Coruscant though I really hope they’ll be in other stories coming up. The miniseries is sort of split between focusing on Keeve Trennis’ marshalling and Lourna Dee’s bounty hunting, where Keeve is coming to terms with her role and what the Republic is expecting of it, while Lourna is on Naboo and hunting down a rogue Child of the Storm for altruistic and selfish reasons, of course.
With Keeve, since we last saw her in the comics, her promotion to Marshal came due to her integrity with both her efforts to save Sskeer and her trust in Lourna, showing she’s more for Light and Life than any Jedi of the era, always doing her damnedest not to kill, to save everyone she can no matter who they are, and not being afraid to call out the hypocrisy of the Jedi Order and its methods with the Nihil so far. Fear of the Jedi #1’s Keeve is bristling with the new position, especially once reporter Rhil Dairo, who helped broadcast hopeful messages behind the Stormwall, shows up and it’s clearer than ever they are using the whole situation as propaganda, but even Keeve can’t argue with the need to show the galaxy who the Jedi really are as this conflict drags on. Yet it’s not Keeve’s biggest obstacle of the day, as she learns Master Cibaba is set to join her team, which normally wouldn’t be a problem but he’s fresh from rehabilitation after being under the sway of Baron Boolan’s machinations, rescued by his ex-apprentice, Ty Yorrick, in one of 2024’s Top 5 Comics moments! As I said earlier, Keeve’s always up for saving anyone, after all she’s saved Lourna Dee the most out of anyone in the galaxy at this point, so while she’s upset about having Cibaba on her team given what happened to him, it’s not because she doesn’t think he’s worth helping, it’s out of concern for him, as she’s worried this is too soon and too volatile a situation, but also it seems like the Jedi are just using him like Boolan used him. Keeve and Avar Kriss’ relationship has had its ups and downs, and in Tempest Breaker it hit some lows before Kriss comes around and backs Keeve and says she’s the true beacon of light in the darkness the Order and galaxy needs, so while they still butt heads here over Cibaba’s deployment and Keeve’s role as Marshal, they are able to part on good terms despite the situation. Given what Avar and other Jedi are about to go off and do in Trials of the Jedi (per the cover release), we might not get another chance for the two to talk until the final issue of this series…that is, if both survive.
As for Lourna, while she might be behind enemy lines and searching a Nihil occupied Naboo (the Jedi and Republic’s efforts in Temptation of the Force were reversed when they had to flee back across the Stormwall), she’s having the time of her life, joking around with her on-and-off-again relationship with Muglan, eagerly getting into trouble, and sees the opportunity of stopping the rogue Child of the Storm H’tar as something to do good and give her new bounty hunters’ guild big credibility. Alongside her and Muglan is a moodier than normal Tey Sirrek, who doesn’t seem to be enjoying being part of Lourna’s team, and then the crew runs into two Jedi, one being Master Kelnacca, first seen in The Acolyte and later Scott’s special one-shot comic, and his apprentice from the comic, Yarzion Vell, both of whom we know will survive these events due to their appearances. Fear of the Jedi #1 focuses on Lourna, with some good Muglan and Tey moments, while Kelnacca and Yarzion get minor, but still enjoyable bits along the way. As the search for H’tar takes them deeper into Naboo’s ornate palaces, her signature ability to mess with people’s minds swings onto the page with a vengeance, first with Tey seeing a creepy version of his ex-husband, Vildar Mac, and then with Lourna seeing Muglan and Tey dead and a younger, less refined version of herself about to attack her with the old signature giant ax! Keeve’s had great success combating H’tar’s effects, but Lourna, while on a much more solid footing emotionally about herself and her place in the galaxy, still has doubts and issues from her past, so this could be quite the obstacle for her to overcome, especially if there’s no one to help her but herself.
Providing art across all five issues is the team of Marika Cresta, colorist Jim Campbell, and letterer Ariana Maher, all of who have worked on the initial Phase III series and even the Kelnacca one-shot. After the intro section showing Keeve and Sskeer saving citizens of the galaxy, the switch to Lourna’s part of the story is a fun play on iconic imagery. While it’s a thin, page-long slice of a panel, the architecture is very clearly Naboo’s, with the eye-catching domes and greenery, and even Maher lets Cresta and Campbell’s work speak for itself, hiding the narrative boxes describing the location down at the very bottom, our eyes more prone to move towards the next panel than find themselves all the way down at the bottom. Whereas the architecture is recognizable, the several Nihil flags flying and setting the scene at night, during a storm, is an immediate departure from what we know of Naboo, as it’s usually seen in the opulent light of day, its domes and cities gleaming from its nearby star, so the blackish blue skies dim the city and provide readers the impression of how the Nihil occupation has lessened such a beautiful place. It’s an overall wonderful scene-setter of a panel! Avar and Keeve’s conversation was another solid scene from Cresta and team, as we get a good sense of how upset Keeve really is about the situation, though Avar’s concern over her response and desire to see Keeve understand how important this is for the Order also is conveyed well, the normally stern faced Master showing understanding instead. The fake Vildar Mac, creepily standing in the shadows, is such a spooky image, it definitely honors all the work of the artists before Cresta, especially Ario Anindito, while Campbell’s choice of shadows and a light, ghostly blue, make him almost too hard to see and yet too hard to look away from. Lastly, Maher’s word bubble for Jahen’s icy response after Keeve passes off interview questions to her, with dripping icicles under it, brought a good laugh and I hope to see more unique things like this going forward.
As much as I enjoyed the art, it’s very disappointing to see fan art for one of the Republic’s Skywings was used as reference again without permission. I don’t blame this on the art team, but rather the editors for Marvel and Lucasfilm’s own team, both of which could provide internal references and look over these things. This is especially egregious given it happened before and it was resolved, to the point a legally distinct reference was created for official artists to use going forward, so you’d think someone would have this problem earmarked and do a little extra due diligence to ensure it doesn’t happen again. Hopefully they can explain this to/resolve this with the original fan artist!
Here are a few other things:
- We saw H’tar’s tragic Child of the Storm transformation, also written by Scott, in the darkest entry of The High Republic Adventures Annual 2025!
- While it’s not the first time we’ve heard similar sentiments, Cavan Scott teased in his newest newsletter: June’s ending to Phase III of The High Republic is just the beginning!!?? I’ve been thinking we’d get a big ancient Sith initiative next, going even further back in time, but maybe all the Sith hints are smoke-and-mirrors or it means we’re focusing on the Sith during this era next instead? Or will it just be more stories showing how we get from here to the prequels? I can’t wait to find out.
- Also in the newsletter, Scott celebrates the announcement of his new Gwenpool series, updates on his social media presence, and more, so make sure you’re subscribed to get the latest and greatest!
- It’s February and it’s for sure still Black History Month, which we are proud to support! Marvel has special variant covers again, with Mae and Osha Aniseya, drawn by Mateus Manhanini, gracing this issue’s cover!
- This is the last High Republic release in February, but the era is back in full swing in March and keeps picking up steam in April: March 19: The High Republic Adventures #16 – Phase III; March 26: The High Republic: Fear of the Jedi #2; April 1: The High Republic: Into the Light; April 8, 2025: The Edge of Balance: Premonition; April 16: The High Republic Adventures #17 – Phase III. Keep up to date with our release schedule on our High Republic page!
The High Republic: Fear of the Jedi #1 is off to a rousing and memorable start, and as bummed as I am this is the beginning of the end (to some extent), it seems like Scott and this story are set to go out in a way it deserves.
+ Bringing all the threads and character arcs together…
+ Lourna Dee’s selfish altruism
+ Keeve’s staunch stance on the Jedi way
– …though might not hit as well without reading it all
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him and the website on Bluesky.
THE HIGH REPUBLIC – PHASE III REVIEWS
Children of the Storm: #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 — The Hunted: #5 | #6 | #7 | #8 | #9 | #10