Written by Cavan Scott
Art by Ario Anindito
Published by Marvel Comics
One month in, and Star Wars’ High Republic publishing initiative has produced another slate of divisiveness among the online fandom for too many reasons to list here.
Introducing an interconnected story through several books and comics makes it challenging to keep everything straight while learning vital information.
The inaugural issue suffered due to referencing events from the novels and not explaining them while providing trace amounts of character depth. This installment dramatically improves upon the problems of its predecessor while delivering a more entertaining story.
Newly minted Jedi Knight Keeve Trennis accompanies her master, Sskeer, to the Kazlin System to answer a distress call from a ship that is all but destroyed.
They’re joined by a pair of bonded twins Ceret and Terec, known as The Kotabi, who share the same intelligent mind.
Keeve is nervous because this is her first mission as a knight, and she’s working with three Jedi who have legendary reputations.
It also doesn’t help that Ceret and Terec have a playful lightsaber duel while Sskeer is still angry about whatever upset him at the end of the first issue. I say whatever because his outburst came out of nowhere with no explanation. The Jedi board the derelict ship’s flight deck and find dead bodies everywhere, including a Hutt, which increases everyone’s curiosity.
Cavan Scott gives us our first contact with The Nihil as we’re introduced to their murderous calling card of filling an opposing vessel with poisonous gas. Ario Anindito’s illustrations, along with Annalisa Leoni’s various shades of dark greens highlight the mystery and tension as The Jedi explore the ship. The tension rises as Ceret, Terec, and Keeve sense Sskeer’s increasing anger.
As the attacker emerges from the shadows, two crucial things are revealed. A particular Jedi ability that doesn’t work on The Nihil and killing goes against the Jedi code. Ceret and Terec are utterly disillusioned when Sskeer cuts the attacker in half with his lightsaber.
It’s a far cry from the prequel era where Jedi showed no remorse for killing a foe in self-defense. Taking a page out of the traditional superheroes’ playbook with the no-kill rule brings an intriguing element to the series. Jedi that are against taking a life will put them in situations not seen in Star Wars before and speaks to the practices of the High Republic’s more civilized age.
Scott and Anindito, in many ways, accomplish here what the first issue should have done. There was lots of mystery and intriguing elements while introducing new things to the franchise. We also met new characters while learning more about the main protagonists, making their adventure even more enjoyable.
Rating: B+
