Originally published on Set The Tape
The latest issue of Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures continues where the last one left off, with a small group of Jedi trying to formalise their alliance with the criminal Hutt Cartel in order to combat the deadly Dengir; but someone’s taken over their ship and fired on the peace talks, resulting in our heroes either captured or on the run.
The issue opens in a similar way to the last one, with the padawan Farzala remembering watching holovideos in his youth, depicting the adventures of the legendary Jedi master Tal Bota. At first Farzala thinks of his old adoration of the stories to be foolish, and chastises himself for feeling fear now that he’s a prisoner of the Hutts. We even get a nod to other stories in The High Republic as he thinks of the great Jedi of his era that have been lost of killed in the fight against the Nihil and the Drengir.
This is what the focus of the issue really is, as we get to see Farzala coming to terms with the things that he’s been through, remembering the lessons taught to him by his own master, and realising that being without fear is impossible, but it’s his job to overcome the fear that he’s feeling. It’s a nice narrative journey for him, as whilst we’ve seen him overcoming some dangerous situations in past issues he’s always been surrounded by his friends. This is the first time that we see him having to get by on his own, and it gives us some more insight into the character that’s been fairly lacking up to this point. The flashback to his learning from his master is a particularly good moment, and a pretty poignant one too.
Elsewhere, the issue also checks in with the rest of the crew of Vessel, as well as fellow padawan Qort, who are currently trying to both hide from the mercenaries that have taken over the ship, as well as figuring out a plan to regain control. These segments are a lot of fun, especially when they start freaking out about how creepy Geode is (which is completely understandable).
If I have one criticism about the issue is that the story gets wrapped up a bit too quickly. I’ve found that this story has been a lot better than the initial arc for the series, and I’m a little disappointed that it wrapped up in just two issues. I’d have enjoyed spending longer on this story and seeing more time given over to the characters; but perhaps this is something that Daniel Jose Older will be exploring more in future instalments.
Harvey Tolibao and Rebecca Nalty provide the art and the colours for the issue respectively, and do a good job with things. Everywhere has a specific look to it, with the interior of Vessesl having blue shades to the panels, whilst the prison that Farzala is in has sickly green tones, and the flashbacks to his lessons with his master have rich oranges and reds. These distinct colour pallets mean that you instantly know where you are whenever the scenes change, and make it a lot easier to keep track of things without even realising you’re registering it. Tolibao does has some great moments with the artwork, with the few spots of action looking very nice, particularly the moment when Obratuk Glii deploys several light sabres with his many arms.
Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures continues to be an entertaining and engaging book, one that seems to have found an excellent balance between action, story, and character development; a balance I hope continues into the future stories.
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