ICYMI! Star Wars: Inquisitors #1 – Jedi Hunt

Star Wars: Inquisitors #1 is one of the first series to look at The Inquisitors, a group of Jedi who survived Order 66, reconditioned to the Dark Side, and tasked with hunting the remaining Jedi throughout the galaxy following the destruction of the Jedi Order, as well as other political dissidents, and retrieving Force-sensitive children.

This first issue follows The Grand Inquisitor, who has been seen in previous Star Wars stories such as Star Wars Rebels, the Disney Plus series Kenobi, and the recently released Tales of The Empire animated shorts.

Barnes wastes no time establishing who The Inquisitors are and the mission they have been given by the Emperor and their leader Darth Vader. Their target is a new Jedi Tensu Run, who along with several other Jedi managed to survive Order 66 and became a beacon of hope in the early days following the rise of The Empire and the fall of the Jedi. Tensu is a compelling character in this issue because he doesn’t want to be a hero or a rallying point for those who oppose the Emperor. He is more of the kind of hero who is not great but has had greatness thrust upon him, simply because he is trying to do what is right.

Barnes captures the demeanor and character of the Grand Inquisitor, although the artwork seems a bit wonky sometimes perspective-wise but it can be dismissed since he is a lanky character, but Ramón Rosanas does an excellent job of always portraying him as intimidating, ruthless, and pompous as he has been shown in his onscreen portrayals. It will be interesting to see the direction Barnes takes the story given that this is only a 4-issue series.

It looks like the next issue will feature another one of the Inquisitors, the 5th Brother (I am guessing from the teaser for issue #2). Hopefully, there will be more interactions between the various Inquisitors and some cameos from characters like Iskat Akaris, from the novel Rise Of The Red Blade. It will be interesting to see how much panel time Darth Vader gets in the series, as this issue contains brief appearances which works well and is only there to build and move the story.