Written by Cavan Scott
Art by Ario Anindito
Published by Marvel Comics
The dark side is creeping its way into the High Republic era via the carnivorous creature from Little Shop of Horrors.
No, not really.
Here, it’s called the Drengir. While their strong connection to the dark side is unexplained, Cavan Scott does a good job making them a credible threat. The nexus that houses the Drengir is similar to the cave Rey encountered in The Last Jedi when she saw multiple versions of herself.
It’s cool to see this primordial aspect of the Force providing connectivity throughout the lore.
Meanwhile, Keeve Trennis has the worst first day ever as a Jedi Knight having to guard the ship where her former master, Sskeer, is losing his mind while simultaneously trying to help a farming community on Sedri Minor.
Keeve’s inner struggle exhibits doubt she’ll never live up to Jedi Knight’s perception of having all the answers. Experience in all things is how someone gets better at their station, and that’s a lesson Keeve has yet to realize. The burden of excellence is stressful and compounded by this era being the Jedi Order’s peak.
Being a Jedi will never be harder than it is in these pages. Standards are higher, and skills and abilities are more refined. Of course, Keeve doesn’t know this, but Scott subtly uses this peripheral knowledge to augment the story.
Scott also fleshes out the era a little more with vernacular choices such as lightsabers are referred to as sabers and spouting “Force-Forsaken” instead of God-Forsaken when expressing anger. This indicates the dogmatic ideology within the Order and abroad is also at its peak, in a backward way.
The depth of field in Ario Anindito’s artwork extenuates various moments throughout the book. Fight scenes, towering monsters, and people jumping into deep caverns nicely convey the directional frame of the action on the page. Anindito also illustrates children adorably, regardless of species, and has a little bit of fun as a Jedi Master uses the Force to keep a cup of tea hovering by their side while conducting an autopsy.
The High Republic series of books continues to receive a lot of vitriol online.
However, more people are starting to get on board as they realize it’s not as “offensive” as they were led to believe. The first issue left a lot to be desired, while the second issue was a fun read. Our third chapter falls in the middle. It’s more safe than boring and tries new things that don’t completely stick the landing but are interesting enough to see where it goes next.
Rating: B-
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