Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures (Dark Horse) #1
For young Padawan Sav Malagan, joining the ranks of the noble Jedi Order has been all she’s ever wanted.
But a chance encounter with a crew of eccentric misfits makes her question everything she’s taken for granted in her life.
Trapped aboard the ship of infamous space pirate Maz Kanata, will Sav ever be able to rejoin the Jedi? And if she spends much long with Maz and her crew, will she even want to?
Writer: Daniel José Older
Artist: Toni Bruno
Cover Artist: Harvey Tolibao
Publication Date: November 30, 2022
UPC: 7 61568 01030 5 00111
The second you open the pages of the debut issue from Dark Horse of The High Republic Adventures, you’ll have flashbacks. Not only because of the subject matter – this is Phase Two, and we’re a century and half deeper into the mists of the past – but the team bringng you the story. At the tail end of the IDW run we were treated to artwork from Toni Bruno, coming into that run after Harvey Tolibao, and while their styles are totally different (here Tolibao is on covers with Bruno delivering interiors) the consistency is there; a vibrancy and eagerness to excite fizzles off the page thanks to the art and the story by Daniel Jose Older.
We open with young padawan Sav Malagán- a character we first met many years later in the first run of THR Adventures – as a 15 year old, with all the promise in the world but none of the patience. Tired of the Jedi Order, she heads out of her Takodana headquarters every night looking for adventure and taking the ferry across the lake to the castle of Maz Kanata, where we not only meet Therm Scissorpunch of Solo: A Star Wars Story fame but also legendary prospector Dexter Jettster who are both present. The no fighting rule, while usually well observed, is a rule to be broken for Sav, who uses the Force to hurl a tankard at a patron and start a skirmish that’s broken up by the arrival of Maz. It’s here Maz is reunited with Dexter, as he prepares to leave planet and heads for the ferry, Sav following in her keeness to speak to a legend. It transpires that Dexter is tailing a pirate hunter, who turns out to be one of the brawlers in the castle. He in turn is quietly tracking a group in the woods, the Dank Graks, who want both the Jedi and Maz off Takodana.
The Graks send their Death-Dealing Droids to deal with the intruders, and Sav manages to hold them off with help from Dex and the lawman Raf. Alive, they go their separate ways with Dex and Sav returning to Maz to learn why Dank Graks leader Arkik Von is so keen to bring down Kanata. It turns out she conned him out of Takodana – the entire planet – decades ago, and he is keen to see her removed, along with the Jedi. We wrap the issue with Maz – unaware that Sav is a Jedi or even has a lightsaber – offering her a place on her crew as they head out on an offworld mission, which she accepts.
Now this is the stuff. New characters, well-chosen familiar faces from The Force Awakens, Solo and Attack of the Clones, an iconic location and a disatisfied Jedi all contrive – in the very safe hands of Older and Bruno – to give us a fun, effervescent, exciting first issue that begs to be enjoyed and leaves us hungry for more. While pitching at a younger audience, as with most of the young reader material, there’s more than enough in here to satisfy fans of all ages, and when executed as well as this, who’s complaining? Good fun, and just like its IDW predecessor, one to add to your monthly pull list.
- Amazon Kindle Edition
- Older, Daniel José (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 24 Pages - 01/11/2023 (Publication Date) - Dark Horse (Publisher)
