Originally published on Set The Tape
Based upon the junior novel of the same name by Jason Fry, published in the build up to the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Alec Worley brings this overlooked Luke Skywalker adventure to a new audience. Originally made into comic form across four parts in Star Wars – The Official Magazine it’s now being presented in two extra sized issues from IDW.
The story takes place after the events of Star Wars: A New Hope, Luke is a hero in the Rebellion for having blown up the Death Star, and whilst our heroes are still riding high from that victory they know that they still have a lot of work ahead of them. As such, Luke has been working with the rest of Red Squadron to harry Imperial forces, and perform covert missions. After a brief encounter with Imperial forces Luke gets assigned to collect important communication logs with the assistance of C-3PO and R2-D2.
However, whilst on his mission he feels something tugging on his mind through The Force, strange visions of him at some kind of temple deep in the forest of a planet. Whilst on his mission he feels that same pull when he nears the planet Devaron. When his Y-Wing is damaged by an Imperial patrol Luke decides it’s the perfect excuse to head down to Devaron and investigate these strange visions.
The Weapon of A Jedi is one of the better books for adaptation into the Star Wars Adventures series. Much like the last junior novel adaptation, Star Wars Adventures: Smuggler’s Run, it was always written with younger readers in mind, and whilst there is going to be work needed to adapt it it’s certainly an easier job for Alec Worley over the more adult oriented books in the canon. And for the most part the story hasn’t really lost anything from the original book, with Worley being able to bring a lot of what made that book a lot of fun into the comic.
That being said, it does feel a little weaker than some of the other issues of Star Wars Adventures, though this has nothing to do with the work Worley has put into it. The main thing that jumped out at me as feeling a bit off was the artwork, created by penciller Ruairi Coleman, and colourist Chris O’Halloran. I’m not even sure how to describe my issues with the art, because it’s mostly great, though it does at times feel more anime inspired than other issues of Star Wars Adventures, and the colours can feel a bit flat at times. But I think this might be because, as previously mentioned, the story was originally produced for a magazine rather than specifically as comic issues, and perhaps this means there wasn’t as strict demands on the quality of the piece.
Despite my issues with the art the book was very enjoyable for the most part, and it was great seeing the team put in new details to the story, such as filling the backgrounds of the spaceport and the settlement on Devaron with aliens from across the Star Wars universe that weren’t mentioned in the original novel.
Overall the first issue of Star Wars Adventures: Weapon of a Jedi was an enjoyable read, though not one that really set my world on fire. Knowing that the second half of the story has much more happening in it I’m hoping that the conclusion will at least be a little more exciting once that issue arrives.
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