Star Wars – High Republic #2: We Are All the Republic

After establishing Jedi Keeve Trennis as the hotshot, foul-mothed, lucky, but capable Jedi, the young Padawan finds herself a knight. Upon discovery of a derelict ship, signs of the marauding Nihil must have been involved come to light. She travels with Mastrer Sskeer and a set of Jedi twins who practically share a mind. Action heats up, and the quartet of Jedi find themselves squaring off with a survivor. As Keeve and twin, Ceret look for the flight deck, Sskeer and Terec investigate the bowels of the ship. The action ends quickly, but something has deeply disturbed Master Sskeer. After reporting back to the Jedi on Starlight Beacon, the Jedi are then sent elsewhere throughout the galaxy to looks for further clues as to why the Nihil have struck a ship full of grain.

This issue marks the real beginning of the series. While the first issue was great at establishing the individual characters of the series players, it is almost more of a self contained story. It acts as a doorway into the larger High Republic world for anyone who might be reading this as their first introduction to the basic setting of this era. Issue two is where the specific series plot comes in. The heroes now have mysteries to solve and plots to uncover. This sets a very detective tone for the series early on. The reader might very well get a sense of Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon in The Phantom Menace capering about confidently, picking up pieces to a larger puzzle. This is where the bulk of where Jedi work is done and this issue doesn’t forget that. The issue wastes no time cutting to the quick, starting mid-mission. No need to visit any kind of briefing first. Their purpose it told throughout the story in context. In this way, a lot of story can be effectively crammed into an important plot-establishing issue. The mission is completed, the council is briefed, a new strategy is established, new missions are given. Simple, sweet, and effective, much like the Jedi of the High Republic themselves.

The most important trick this series needs to pull off is unifying the other books and comics tied to the High Republic series as a whole. Although the individual plots of each novel or comic series are very different from one another, they are meant to take place in a larger world with intersecting events and characters. This issues does well to tie in the first two High Republic novels. It portrays a flashback where Master Sskeer has his arm cut off in the final battle of Light Of the Jedi, and offers a possible reason for Sskeer’s erratic behavior. There is also a very nice moment were the audience gets to briefly see Jedi prodigy Vernestra Rwoh, the main character from the younger reader book A Test Of Courage. The art in this chapter is very detailed. This issue contains so much information, and not all of it is from narrative. It is always impressive when the art itself can make an audience gasp, and this book has that moment a few times. The interconnections to the other High Republic stories are important, but still takes a back seat to the visuals. The books can only describe things. It is up to this comic series to really show them in detail and establish the overall look of the era.