Star Wars: The High Republic: Trail of Shadows #1
A Jedi Master is dead. Another is in a state of complete shock. It’s a murder the likes of which the Jedi Order has never seen before. There are no leads. There are no suspects. There is no motive.
But Jedi Investigator EMERICK CAPHTOR must solve the case before it’s too late. The fate of the Jedi, the Hutts, the Nihil and everyone in the galaxy, hangs by this tangled thread of lies and deceit. Emerick will need to dive into the darkness, testing himself and his Jedi ideals like never before. He’ll need help.
Luckily, Private Eye SIAN HOLT lives in the dark. Together, they’ll follow this trail of shadows wherever it leads. If they can work together, that is.
Writer: Daniel José Older
Penciller: David Wachter
Letterer: Joe Sabino
Colorist: Giada Marchisio
Cover artist: David López
Publication date: October 13, 2021
The end of The Rising Storm shocked and delighted fans in equal measure, laying down a story that showed (almost) no one was safe in the High Republic era as the husk of Loden Greatstorm lay on the ground and the Jedi were hit with a feeling they rarely experienced – fear. Here, after the Battle of Grizal we see Master Stellan Gios, Jedi Knight Indeera Stokes and Greatstorm’s Padawan Bell Zettifar look down in horror at his petrified body as the rain begins to fall, dampening his ashes to sludge as they walk away. Another Jedi approaches, Emerick Caphtor, and it’s clear from the off that his mission is to determine what has happened to Greatstorm. His initial investigation and findings show no physical sign of Greatstorm, just ‘bio-matter and detritus’, but an insistent Master Gios will not be swayed. He knows what he saw, and he wants answers, his usual solid demeanour shaken by what he has seen.
We cut to a rowdy bar on Level 1347 of Coruscant and Sian Holt, a private detective on the trail of an old albeit somewhat untrustworthy ally called Keefar Branto, who she tracks to the shadowy Steebark District, finding him and his associate the Narquois criminal Urk Pango with their weapons drawn, ready for trouble. Back with Emerick, who is pondering an old nursery rhyme which has been in his thoughts since Stellan Gios mentioned it, one familiar to him from his own childhood. He touches base with Gios as he prepares to head out to Vrant Tarnum with a squad of troopers, and we’re back with Sian and Keefar as they flee a hulking red-eyed Tarnab from the Coruscant tunnels, and back to Vrant Tarnum as Emerick lands, his troops engaging the remaining Nihil there in the ruins. On Coruscant Sian and Keefar and hit by blaster fire, Sian almost impaled by the Tarnab until she blasts him down and back to Vrant Tarnum and Emerick and his troops standing over the slain Nihil, entering a cave and finding ancient markings which his small droid Cuetoo manages to decipher…
The comic looks great, the art by David Wachter evoking some mid-80’s Marvel greats including Tom Palmer, while the colours by Giada Marchisio match the mood of the moment from scene to scene. Smashing it over at IDW in the excellent The High Republic Adventures, Daniel Jose Older is well versed in the details of the era – he is one of the five Project Luminous members after all, this is his baby – but the comic did require reading and re-reading. There are parts that are initially hard to follow, and while familiarity with the characters in later issues will no doubt bear fruit and the capacity to carry such swift cuts from scene to scene, planet to planet, right now it makes for a slightly confusing read. Slightly confusing, but still vibrant and engaging, and one that leaves us hanging at the perfect moment, the nursery rhyme ringing in our ears as we await the second issue and more mystery unveiling.
If this was a film it would be Attack of the Clones, a movie built around a mystery and one that made us work for our answers. That film – unbelievably 20 years old next year – continues to intrigue, and the first issue of Trail of Shadows does much the same.
Star Wars: The High Republic: Trail Shadows #2 (Hetrick Variant) @ ForbiddenPlanet.com
