Star Wars: The High Republic #1 Review

By: Kyle Scully

STAR WARS: THE HIGH REPUBLIC #1

Writer: Cavan Scott

Artist: Ario Anindito

Inker: Mark Morales

Colorist: Annalisa Leoni

Letterer: VC’S Ariana Maher

Cover Artist: Phil Noto

The High Republic is here! The exciting new Star Wars storytelling initiative arrives with several new books (including Light of the Jedi) as well as a terrific new comic book written by Cavan Scott. 

All the stories tie together but what’s nice is that it’s immediately clear you don’t need to read everything to enjoy some things. The comic references events I’m unfamiliar with but keeps a pace that makes those gaps feel irrelevant. The crux of the story focuses on Keeve Trennis, a young padawan, facing her trials on the way to becoming a full-fledged Jedi Knight. She’s guided by her Jedi Master, Sskeer, but ultimately deviates from the planned trial to take on one of her own. The story is constructed in a way that centers on Keeve’s personal journey but still manages to incorporate a larger threat to the Starlight Beacon, a High Republic cornerstone. 

Keeve herself is a great character in all facets of storytelling including action, dialogue and design. It’s no wonder she was chosen to lead this book. In addition, I love that she is a person of color. Star Wars needs more representation and this is a very small step but one I still appreciate. 

To be fair, this is not a fresh story. Many padawans have faced their own trials in many different incarnations but its familiarity is the perfect way to be introduced into this new world. Keeve’s journey brings her to the Starlight Beacon where she meets other Jedi including Avar Kriss (also featured in Light of the Jedi). This book presents her as a bit of an enigma. There just isn’t enough time to truly meet her but she’s a strong presence. Yoda makes an appearance and while he doesn’t have a lot to do he definitely feels like Yoda. If you’re talking Yoda his voice is the most important part. The scenes on the Starlight Beacon feel a bit like Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, which is the highest compliment I can give. If Kriss is anything like Kira then this book is going to be something truly special. 

The art is another wonderfully strong element in this book. Star Wars is for everyone and the art always has to reflect that. A book like this can’t be too dark or too cartoony and it finds a smart balance. The colors are bright and vibrant, the characters are expressive but the threats always feel real and compelling. 

I love the little details found within the artwork. Keeve’s saber is so delicately drawn it feels like you could almost reach out and touch it. There are also some great splash pages including a ripping action beat featuring Keeve and Sskeer. Keeve herself goes through a lot of emotions and the art highlights each one without falling into any repetitive traps. 

The final pages leave you with some lingering questions. Sskeer seems upset about something despite Keeve becoming a Jedi Knight. It’s not a strong finish. The book almost feels like a one-shot but it’s enough to leave you curious. This book does enough to hook me and I’ll be using all my Jedi powers to pick up the next issue.  

Star Wars Adventures: Shadow of Vader's Castle

By: Kyle Scully

Star Wars Adventures: Shadow of Vader’s Castle #1

Written by: Cavan Scott

Art by: Derek Charm, Nicoletta Baldari, Nick Brokenshire, Francesco Francavilla 

Letterer: Valeria Lopez

Cover Artist: Francesco Francavilla

Published by: IDW

THE STORY: The book features three stories centered around Vader’s Castle. Intertwined throughout, two Mustafarians dare to enter the foreboding castle and destroy it once and for all. It’s worth noting, this all takes place after the battle of Endor. 

THE REVIEW: Darth Vader’s Castle has been part of Star Wars lore ever since Ralph McQuarrie drew the fortress in advance of The Empire Strikes Back. It found life in the expanded universe and Rogue One marked its first film appearance. Its legacy lives on in comics. Star Wars Adventures: Tales From Vader’s Castle, Star Wars Adventures: Return to Vader’s Castle (both written by Cavan Scott) and now a new entry Star Wars Adventures: Shadow of Vader’s Castle #1 continue the haunting tales of the mysterious castle.   

The book opens right before Obi-Wan lands on Mustafar to confront Anakin during the events of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. I loved these pages. A young Mustafarian dares a glance of Anakin only to find he’s not the Jedi he expected but an agent of evil. The art is big and energetic. It boasts a lot of red and yellow swaths of color. Giant panels easily convey Anakin’s pain and guilt. His former allies are ghostly images that taunt Anakin towards the dark side.  

Diving into the three short stories, I found the first entry to be the most compelling. It gave some insight into the origin of Vanee, Vader’s servant who appears in Rogue One and some of the previous Vader’s Castle books. It also serves to showcase Vader’s immense power and his innate ability to manipulate and control. It’s clear the castle’s location wasn’t an arbitrary choice. Charm’s art is superbly stylistic and meshes well with the overall aesthetic of the story. Anything darker might make the proceedings too scary for children. At the same time, Charm’s art handily works with the script to form a perfect artistic combination. 

The next yarn felt like the book’s weakest point. A young Twi’lek retrieves a jewel for the Emperor. It reminded me a lot of Aladdin but without much of its charm. The art feels unfinished and messy. Character images don’t quite fit with some of the dialogue and the tale ends as abruptly as it starts. It also didn’t feel terribly connected with the castle or Vader. 

The final narrative about a wayward scientist was a bit off the beaten path but it continued to explore Vader’s psyche. The quick plot manages to squeeze in a few twists and the way Vader handles the situation proves how cunning he really is. The art is a bit lacking. It feels busy with too many lines and the colors are a little too pastel for such a dark story. 

The whole book ends on some dramatic action and a well-crafted turn that puts a firm grip on the book’s horror aspirations. 

FINAL THOUGHTS: This comic is a bit of a mixed bag but I don’t regret picking it up. I enjoyed the art, the horror elements and the it’s skill in highlighting Vader’s strengths and what makes him a true monster. 

Dooku: Jedi Lost Book Review

By: Christian Corah

Descriptives

Page count: Hardcover, 460

Author: Cavan Scott

Timeline: Precedes The Phantom Menace

Main characters: Count Dooku and Asajj Ventress

Brief synopsis: In order to accomplish a mission involving Dooku’s sister, Ventress dives deep into research to find out more about Dooku’s childhood.

Gut Feeling

Since Dooku was just thrown into Attack of the Clones without much explanation, I’ve really been wanting more content on his infamous character. I knew that Dooku was a former Jedi and that Yoda was his master, but we didn’t have many details about it. This book definitely gives the content on Dooku that I was wanting. It starts at his childhood and paints a picture showing how Dooku went from a promising young Padawan to the villain that we best know him as. Because of that, the book was successful in my opinion. There was also some information about how Ventress fell to the dark side, but I wish it was given more detail. These background stories were the strength of the novel. It was background information that was much needed and I’m glad this book was created.

Characters (9/10 pts)

Characters were the strongest component for Dooku: Jedi Lost. Since Scott was dealing with existing characters in the Star Wars universe, I look for what additional content we can learn about them. I loved the Dooku that we saw in this book. Going from a padawan to Count, Scott significantly developed Dooku in a way that made a lot of sense. We obviously see a different side to Dooku than seen in the movies, and because of that, characters must get a strong score. But Dooku isn’t the only character that Scott gave more background information to. Both Ventress and Sifo Dias got fairly significant development in this book. While I do wish that we got more of Ventress, the content we got was very good. There were also strong new characters, one being Jedi Lene. She seemed different than any Jedi we had seen, and I thought she was very interesting. The only weakness I see for characters is that an emotional attachment to them was lacking. The character’s strength was more conceptual than emotional. So I am giving 9 points.

Writing Style (7.5/10 pts)

The writing style is quite different because it is written like a script. I was a little worried about this as I started reading, but I quickly adapted to the style. I didn’t feel that too many details were left out due to most of the content being dialogue. I still had a strong sense of what was going on at all times. So I am not deducting any points based on the book being told like a script. What I am going to take away points for is that some ideas seemed a bit undeveloped. I would sometimes have to re-read a section and I was surprised that so much happened in just a couple lines. It seemed uncharacteristic of the rest of the book. Because of that, I am giving 7.5 points for the writing.

Plot (8.5/10 pts)

While in the present, I enjoyed the content that I was reading, I had a hard time of predicting where the story was going. It seemed just like a cool story where we learned more about Dooku, but for most of the book, it didn’t feel like it was building towards something. Ventress’s storyline also seemed a bit awkward. It was a pretty insignificant part of the story, but it felt like it should have been more important. This will probably make more sense to you if you read the book. So despite having great content, the plot wasn’t developing very well for about the first three - quarters of the book. However, there were two main strengths that give points back to the plot. First, the book had a large scope. We got to see glimpses into Dooku’s entire Jedi career, from Padawan to him leaving the order. This was a great plus. Second, the book ended VERY well. While the plot was confusing for most of the book, it started to make sense in the end. Because of that, I am giving a good score of 8.5 points.

Intrigue (7/10 pts)

I think the intrigue could vary from reader to reader based on their interest in Dooku’s character. I have a lot of interest in Dooku as a child, so my intrigue was fairly high, even when the story wasn’t moving very quickly. However, even with this interest, at points, I felt bored because the story wasn’t really going anywhere. I feel that I should have been reading this book quicker, especially because of the writing style (the script style made it an easier read). I simply put the book down too many times while reading it. And because not everyone will have the same interest in Dooku as I do, I am going to give a slightly less than average score of 7 points.

What does it add? (9.5/10 pts)

Along with the characters, this section is the book’s greatest strength. As mentioned before, Dooku and Ventress needed an “origin” story, and this book supplied that. But that was what I expected from Dooku: Jedi Lost, so it won’t receive a great score based on that alone. However, Scott gave us more information that also added to Star Wars. There is more information on the Force, Sith lore, and what the Jedi were like before any of the Star Wars movies. I was very pleasantly surprised about this, so I am giving 9.5 points for what the book added.

Logic (+0.5 pts)

Dooku: Jedi Lost was able to explain something illogical in Revenge of the Sith. This is the moment when Palpatine slices through three Jedi, before fighting Windu, with way too much ease. At first glance, the scene doesn’t make sense. But in the book, we learn that the Jedi’s lightsaber skills were mostly ceremonial. They didn’t have a need to actually fight with them, so they weren’t trained to fight another lightsaber user. This explains why the Jedi looked rather helpless fighting Palpatine. This was a great explanation, so I am giving an extra half point back for logic.

Final Thoughts

So my final score for Dooku: Jedi Lost is a 8.4/10, or a solid B. The strength of the book definitely came from the book’s characters and what it added to Star Wars. The story itself is not as well developed, but it does not ruin the experience of reading the book. For Star Wars fans who want more content on Dooku, Ventress, and the time period before The Phantom Menace, this is a must-read.

I hope you enjoyed this book review and if there is a book that you want me to read or review, please let me know at christiancorah@gmail.com. As for now, I will only be doing Canon books (but in the future that might change).