– Spoiler Review –
The High Republic – Trail of Shadows #2 brings the two investigators together while simultaneously answering questions and opening new ones in the big mystery of the era.
It didn’t seem clear how Sian Holt, private investigator, and Jedi Master/Investigator Emerick Caphtor would link up by the end of issue #1, as their cases seemed very unrelated despite Caphtor’s final words of everything being connected, but I’m damn glad it did work out. Turns out, Sian’s partner, who died by the hands of giant, imposing Tarnab in the belly of Coruscant, was an undercover agent for the Republic, looking into the potential sale of a powerful weapon the Nihil are offering to the underworld. It’s Chancellor Soh who believes the weapon which laid Loden Greatstorm low and the one her undercover agents are after could be one in the same, so since Sian’s got a personal stake in the game, she pits the two investigators together to uncover the truth.
As I imagined, Sian’s impulsiveness and directness clashes with Emerick’s steely, calm demeanor and I am here for all of it and lots more of it. Right away she confronts him regarding his dispassionate face and if he has a problem working with her and he tries to deflect, but than he’s straight with her, saying they are two separate missions considering she seems motivated by revenge. She doesn’t waste time and reveals otherwise, playing the Chancellor in the hopes for more credits, as she’s more concerned about Arathab Fal almost killing her and him getting away with it. They don’t get to discuss this information as Emerick’s wardrobe change catches her off guard, as she wasn’t going to let him wander around a hive of scum and villainy in his gleaming robes, trying to teach the Jedi investigator a little subtly, something the Jedi of this era (or well any) aren’t concerned about/don’t take into account often. He does look dashing in the clothes she provided, and there’s some thirst moment with a glimpse of him changing, a nice change of pace from a franchise more known for the Huttslayer outfit or Padmé’s mid-riff exposing moment. Either way, despite their differences they are more alike than they’d likely care to admit, at first with how these cases have messed with them, the very noir-like opening spelling out how each one is dealing with a case with dead-ends and no clear answers, and second when they dissect the scene of a crime with the same precision, capturing details lost on the local police force (who, considering the area, probably see way too many crimes like this anyway to care). No matter how they feel about working together, they worked well together, picking up important details, while Emerick gets a chance to show off his skills and resources with his droid Cue tagging Arathab’s speeder after they tussle with some Nihil who were fighting and losing to Fal, while her blaster efficiency comes into play in their scuffle with the Nihil. I’m thankful there’s still three issues left of having these two together, as writer Daniel José Older has made these two a unique, fun pair that have even more potential than the great content we already got with this issue.
As for that crime and what Arathab Fal is up to, before Emerick and Sian arrive, Fal meets with a potential buyer and things to haywire when the Nihil show up. The buyer, a supposed member of the Wandering Star* syndicate but actually another undercover operative for the Republic, tries demanding seeing the weapon before buying it, but the Nihil storm in, the resulting chaos leaving the undercover agent dead, by Fal’s claws, and Fal on the run from the Nihil after jumping out the window. Considering Director Barquet said their information claims the person selling the weapon is a higher up in the Nihil organization, it comes as a surprise the Nihil break into the meet, and when Fal checks in with his boss, they aren’t happy the Nihil found them. Fal stalks the Nihil to get rid of them, which is when Emerick and Sian catch up to Fal. So who’s selling the weapon? Who is Fal’s boss? And what weapon is it…the Leveler, something else…or a smoke screen for a bigger plan? Cue’s tracker leads them Fal and his boss…Dr. Uttersond?! He’s not named in the script and we haven’t seen him often in any of the visual mediums for the era, first in a Tale of Villainy {written by Older} for Star Wars Adventures (Vol. 2) and the other in the recent The High Republic #10, so if you didn’t quite know who it was initially that’s alright, but it’s a curious twist in the tale regardless. Uttersond, responsible for helping Marchion Ro with Mari San Tekka as originally seen in Light of the Jedi, Mari’s death in Out of the Shadows has meant he’s moved on to focusing on work with the Leveler, to the point he’s given it to Lourna Dee to use in the most recent The High Republic comic issues, #10 and #11. So how could the weapon they are selling be the Leveler, unless he’s found a way to recreate its effects or they uncovered more of its kind? And why would he want to betray the Nihil, selling a weapon of theirs, when he’s still gainfully employed by them? Is it like I said earlier, some type of smokescreen for something far larger, much like the Drengir were used to spread the Jedi thin before striking at the Republic Fair?
This issue isn’t as unnerving as the first, even if the spooky lullaby makes an appearance in the opening pages, but the art team of David Wachter, with Giada Marchisio on colors and Joe Sabino lettering, don’t let up on the moody, noir-infused work. There’s not a panel that goes by that isn’t in low lighting, either the sun is setting, shadows engulf alleyways, or Sian and Emerick keep their personal spaces dark and sparse, and this pervasive darkness adds to the mood of the story, its setting’s, and makes bright or lighter moments stand out so much more. For instance, Sian and Emerick bursting through the Nihil’s fog of war gas, a thick and all-encompassing darker green, Fal’s spooky stalking of the Nihil in its cover giving me the chills, but when Sian and Emerick burst in, Emerick clearing it with the Force, his yellow saber, her blue outfit, and the effect behind them as they pierce the fog is almost blinding, as if they are justice in the darkness. Fal is drawn in such a stellar way, his imposing size and face often framed in a way which makes him even larger than life, while his red eyes often have close-ups or peer out from the darkness, making him even scarier as time goes on in this series. Sian’s face is far more expressive than Emerick’s, as she’s often smiling, sneering, and even a little impressed at Emerick’s resourcefulness/way he wears those fancy new clothes, and once again Wachter ensures Emerick’s face is often emotionless, calm, though the time he shows emotion here it’s a least smugness and not fear, as seen at the end of last issue. Sabino uses the creepy earworm effect again for the lullaby’s reappearance, while SFX for Fal taking out the Nihil the fog is violent and large, much like the Tarnab himself, while I loved Sian’s gun’s sound being as big as imposing as well, much louder and deadly than your average blaster. My favorite spread overall this issue is the crime scene, as there are so many little details to the big, zoomed out image of it, while the little zoom in rectangles next to the either investigators’ revelations highlight all the details hidden in bigger image. Is not often we have a crime scene moment in a Star Wars story, if ever, and this felt right at home in detective shows.
Here are a few other things:
- It was neat to see Ghirra Starros, Senator and mother of Avon Starros, for the first time since Out of the Shadows and I’m curious if her being part of the committee in the beginning is all we’ll see of her here or if there will be more. Ghirra’s concept art was released in the most recent The High Republic Show and her look her matches well with it.
- *Wandering Star was created by Older for his novel and first Star Wars work: Last Shot! It’s a stellar novel and I totally get why that alone was probably enough to get him invited to the Luminous team.
- We are almost a month away from the launch of Wave III, the end of Phase I, and there will be another livestream special for THRShow in early January to celebrate it!
While not as pervasively spooky as the first issue, the noir-like tone doesn’t let up, while the meeting of our two investigators lives up to the hype and the reveals make the mystery even more compelling in Trail of Shadows #2.
+ Sian and Emerick together is already a blast
+ Mystery deepens
+ Art team ensures noir pervades the script
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.
TRAIL OF SHADOWS REVIEWS
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